Zinc - The Green Album | ||||
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Studio album by Eddie Jobson | ||||
Released | 1983 | |||
Recorded | 1982-83 | |||
Genre | Synthpop, progressive rock, electronic | |||
Length | 46:21 | |||
Label | Capitol/EMI | |||
Producer | Eddie Jobson | |||
Eddie Jobson chronology | ||||
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Singles from Zinc - The Green Album | ||||
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Professional ratings | |
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Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
Allmusic |
The Green Album is a 1983 album by English musician Eddie Jobson, former member of Roxy Music, who had also played with Curved Air, Frank Zappa, UK, and Jethro Tull. Jobson's credits for the album include keyboards, violins, and vocals. This album is notable for the fact that it contains Jobson's first (and only) lead vocal performance (although previous efforts with Roxy Music and Zappa had him on backing vocals). The album also features ex-Gentle Giant guitarist Gary Green on some tracks along with other musicians loosely referred to as 'Zinc'. The album was re-released on CD during the 1990s by One Way Records, but is currently out of print.
The album features a mostly synthesiser based synthpop / progressive rock sound and is a concept album of sorts, with the lyrics centring on a somewhat Orwellian dystopic future society where everything is tinted green. At the end of the song "Listen to Reason" Jobson sings the line "Green is now, Pink is next". However, no "Pink Album" was ever recorded, even if it was planned. Jobson instead went on to record the album Theme of Secrets (1985) on the Private Music label. Demo versions of "Resident", "Easy for You to Say", "Listen to Reason" and "Green Face" have been leaked to the public, and appear on some bootlegs. "Nostalgia" and "Walking from Pastel" were included (although in slightly different versions) in UK's last tour and do appear on some bootlegs.
A videoclip for "Turn it Over" was shot and broadcast. The bass on the videoclip was mimed by bassist Doug Lunn, who doesn't actually play on the album.
Allmusic gave the album a mixed retrospective review, deeming it "an honest effort of when-prog rock-meets-synth pop", but criticizing the lyrics as uniformly poor. They commented that the album seems to run out of ideas in the second half, but were pleased with the first half, marking the tracks "Green Face" and "Resident" as "two of the best synth pop songs produced in that era."