Grace Jones - Bulletproof Heart (2004)

×

Grace Jones - Bulletproof Heart (2004)

Close

Time has been kind to Grace Jones who co-wrote and co-produced most of the tracks on this 1989 album. The amalgam of styles on Bulletproof Heart sounds better than ever and it's not at all clear why some fans disliked this work when it was released. There's little of the menacing half-spoken vocals first introduced on Warm Leatherette and much real singing on a variety of power ballads and dynamic dance tracks. David Cole and Robert Clivilles of C + C Music Factory fame and Chris Stanley are the Sly & Robbie of this magnificent album.
With its fast funky rhythm, SFX of screeching tires and car horns plus swirling percussive patterns, Driving Satisfaction has just a hint of her risque and notorious classic Pull Up To The Bumper from Nightclubbing. Still on the fast track, Kicked Around has Grace wailing like a soul or gospel belter, her voice reaching striking levels of intensity. The tempo slows down a bit for the bouncy Love On Top Of Love with its innovative arrangement that includes male voices weaving in & out of the mix and a segment of exotic percussion that sounds like the knocking of a poltergeist.
On the straight melodious ballad Paper Plan, Grace delivers the profound and poetic lyrics with aplomb before the polyrhythms bubble up again on Crack Attack which is introduced by a male rapper. With its edgy beat, synth bursts and rattling percussion that includes charming chirps, it's a tour de force. The impressively arranged title track with its prominent backing vocals and jerky rhythms boasts an arsenal of instruments including electric guitar and moaning sax, whilst the brooding ballad On My Way is the most experimental number containing a variety of samples, weird electronics, sweeping synthscapes and echoed vocals. It and the following track Seduction Surrender with its jungle drumming and eerie vocals most resemble the atmospheric electronics of the 2008 album Hurricane.
The aforementioned Paper Plan is joined by the equally tuneful and catchy ballads Someone To Love and Amado Mio, both of which count amongst the most memorable songs of her career. In seamless sequences of tenderness and exuberance, one moment Grace's voice soars on the rousing Someone To Love with its stirring melody, and the next she gets all soft and sensual again in whispered and spoken French. The majestic Amado Mio is the album's masterpiece. Introduced by a romantic dialogue between her sensitive singing and a spoken Spanish male vocal, the song explodes in a Wagnerian surge of hypnotic drums, skittering percussion and whistles that eventually alternates with softer segments of accordion and romantic French vocals, all held perfectly in place by Grace's vocal prowess.
The 2004 CD re-issue of Bulletproof Heart includes four additional tracks, of which the duet Don't Cry Freedom with Chris Stanley, the garage-house `Killer Kiss' remix of Love On Top Of Love and the Brazilian mix of Amado Mio are the best. A pop-dance album like its 1986 predecessor Inside Story, Bulletproof Heart may not be Jones' most experimental work but it remains an excellent album that has stood the test of time very well. If her fans knew they would have to wait 19 years for the follow-up, they probably would have appreciated it more.