The Great Puzzle
Studio album by
Jules Shear
Released1992
GenrePop
LabelPolydor[1]
ProducerStewart Lerman, Jules Shear
Jules Shear chronology
Unplug This
(1991)		 The Great Puzzle
(1992)		 The Trap Door
(1992)

The Great Puzzle is an album by the American musician Jules Shear, released in 1992.[2][3] The initial pressings of the album were packaged with the acoustic EP Unplug This.[4]

"The Sad Sound of the Wind" was the first single.[5] Shear promoted the album with a North American tour, including shows with Alison Moyet.[6] The album sold fewer than 100,000 copies.[7]

Production

The album was produced by Stewart Lerman and Shear.[8] Shear considered it to be made up of independent songs taken from his life experience; he tried to avoid writing songs that contained overt social themes.[9] Shear employed the lower end of his vocal range on many tracks.[10] Tony Levin played bass on the album.[11] "Something Else to Me" is about the death of a former girlfriend.[12]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[13]
Calgary HeraldA−[14]
Chicago Tribune[11]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[15]
The Indianapolis Star[12]
Los Angeles Times[16]
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide[17]

The Philadelphia Daily News deemed the album a "philosophical jigsaw of love's fragmented state."[18] The Chicago Tribune praised the "fresh-sounding chord changes, articulate lyrics and irresistible choruses."[11] The Calgary Herald determined that Shear "tempers his incredible facility for hook-drive melodicism with a bracing dose of metaphorical allusiveness."[14]

Rolling Stone note that Shear "focuses primarily on the games lovers play ... Shear mitigates his skepticism with tenderness."[19] The Washington Post called the title track one of Shear's "would-be metaphysical riddles."[6] The Los Angeles Times stated that the album "finds him wading comfortably within the more eccentric rapids of the mainstream."[16]

AllMusic wrote that "The Great Puzzle stands as Shear's high point."[13] The Gazette considered it to be "one of 1992's finest pop albums."[20]

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."The Trap Door" 
2."The Great Puzzle" 
3."We Were Only Making Love" 
4."The Sad Sound of the Wind" 
5."Something Else to Me" 
6."Make Believe" 
7."Much Too Much" 
8."Dreams Dissolve in Tears" 
9."The Mystery's All Mine" 
10."Jewel in a Cobweb" 
11."Bark" 

References

  1. ↑ Pick, Steve (10 Jan 1992). "Jules Shear Puts The Case For Pop". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. p. 4F.
  2. ↑ "Jules Shear Biography, Songs, & Albums". AllMusic.
  3. ↑ "Concert and Interview with Jules Shear". Fresh Air Archive: Interviews with Terry Gross.
  4. ↑ Johnson, Greg (16 Apr 1992). "Shear's best recordings ever fit together on 'Great Puzzle'". Onward. Austin American-Statesman. p. 18.
  5. ↑ Flick, Larry (5 Jan 1992). "New releases by old favorites top the list". The Province. Billboard Publications. p. C4.
  6. 1 2 Jenkins, Mark (28 Feb 1992). "Moyet's Vocal Heft; Shear's Dylan Notes". The Washington Post. p. N13.
  7. ↑ Moon, Tom (3 May 1992). "SINGER-SONGWRITERS LOST IN THE CROWD". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. N1.
  8. ↑ "Album Reviews — The Great Puzzle by Jules Shear". Billboard. 104 (6): 44. Feb 8, 1992.
  9. ↑ Fisher, Harry (17 Jan 1992). "SINGER-SONGWRITER JULES SHEAR IS STILL IN SEARCH OF THE BIG TIME". The Morning Call. p. D1.
  10. ↑ Erskine, Evelyn (7 Mar 1992). "Jules Shear". Ottawa Citizen. p. G3.
  11. 1 2 3 Rothschild, Dave (30 Jan 1992). "Rave recordings". Tempo. Chicago Tribune. p. 7.
  12. 1 2 Hall, Steve (30 Mar 1992). "RECORD REVIEWS". The Indianapolis Star. p. D2.
  13. 1 2 "Jules Shear - The Great Puzzle Album Reviews, Songs & More | AllMusic" – via www.allmusic.com.
  14. 1 2 Tremblay, Mark (1 Mar 1992). "Recent Releases". Calgary Herald. p. C4.
  15. ↑ Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 7. MUZE. p. 398.
  16. 1 2 Willman, Chris. "For Jules Shear, Love Is Still a Puzzle". Calendar. Los Angeles Times. p. 63.
  17. ↑ MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1999. p. 1005.
  18. ↑ Takiff, Jonathan (17 Jan 1992). "THE MAN BEHIND THE HITS". FEATURES YO!. Philadelphia Daily News. p. 41.
  19. ↑ Gardner, Elysa (Feb 6, 1992). "For the Sake of Song". Rolling Stone (623): 73.
  20. ↑ Griffin, John (9 May 1992). "Appeal of Great Puzzle isn't hard to figure out". The Gazette. p. D7.
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