Synkronized

Infobox Album | Name = Synkronized
Type = Album
Artist = Jamiroquai


Released = June 14, 1999 (UK)
June 8, 1999 (US)
Recorded = 1998-1999
Genre = Acid Jazz / Disco / Funk
Length = 48:21 (original release) / 53:06 (with bonus track)
Label = Work
Producer = Al Stone
Reviews =
* Allmusic Rating|4|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:d9ftxqykld0e link]
* RollingStone Rating|3|5 [http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/jamiroquai/albums/album/211040/review/5944662/synkronized link]
Last album = "Travelling Without Moving"
(1996)
This album = "Synkronized"
----
1999 Remixes
(1999)
Next album = "A Funk Odyssey"
(2001)

"Synkronized" is the fourth album by Jamiroquai. Released in 1999, the album contains funk, disco and acid-jazz elements.

Album information

The classic "Canned Heat" is featured on this album. "Where Do We Go from Here" rocks with a leap-frogging blues piano and tangy bongos. The album's grand finale, "King for a Day," is a regal rock-operatic excursion embellished with fully orchestrated piano and strings. The lyrics in "King for a Day" are written about Stuart Zender, Jamiroquai's bass player for their first three albums, who left the band during the making of Synkronized. It is noticeable that there is no bass guitar or bass synth sound in King for a Day.

Recording sessions for the album began with Zender installed on bass, but he left partway through the recording in mid-1998, and rather than credit Zender for the tracks he had played on (and possibly co-written), Jay Kay decided to scrap all the tracks and start again. Clips of two of these tracks were shown on MTV and have been bootlegged, although not in their full form. The clips display a much more latin / fusion sound than the songs that made it on the final album cut. Another outtake from Synkronized is known, and it's called "Snooze You Lose". The song was later released on a promo CD called "An Online Odyssey".

The bass on the album is either played on a synth bass, or by new recruit Nick Fyffe, in a style that is basically an imitation of the departed Zender.

Reception

"Professional reviews":

*Rolling Stone (7/8-22, pp.144-145) - 3 Stars (out of 5) - "Synkronized is fifty minutes of sleek, sexy fun, a party album delviered with something like conviction. It's not exactly irresistible, but, really, what's the point of resisting it?"

*Spin (8/99, p.154) - 6 (out of 10) - "...redirects the band's British tendency toward smoothed-out old black jams....soaring strings, gyrating congas, hell-bent wah-wah's, and an undeniably live rhythm section that'll hustle your muscles and make you freak to the beat..."

*Entertainment Weekly (6/11/99, pp.63-4) - "Imagine if [Stevie Wonder] had made a disco album in 1977!....Synkronized is a hat trick done with the sharpest chapeau in the store." - Rating: B-

*CMJ (6/7/99, p.5) - "This incessantly upbeat expedition travels into the regions of Travolta-era disco...feverish funk...and instrumental iridescence...keeping your ears tuned to their funktastic audio adventures."

*Mojo (7/99, p.100) - "Synkronized proves Jamiroquai...are capable of knocking up fluid and thrilling grooves at the drop of an enormous hat....Jay's voice is wonderful throughout, delivering his admittedly toe-curling lyrics with...conviction."

*Q magazine (1/00, p.85) - Included in Q Magazine's "50 Best Albums of 1999."

Track listing

#"Canned Heat" – 5:31
#"Planet Home" – 4:44
#"Black Capricorn Day" – 5:41
#"Soul Education" – 4:15
#"Falling" – 3:45
#"Destitute Illusion" – 5:40
#"Supersonic" – 5:15
#"Butterfly" – 4:28
#"Where Do We Go From Here?" – 5:13
#"King for a Day" – 3:40
#"Deeper Underground" [Bonus Track] – 4:46 or "Getinfunky" [Japan Bonus Track] - 5:35

Chart positions

succession box
before = "By Request" by Boyzone
title = UK number one album
years = June 26 1999 – July 2 1999
after = "Surrender" by The Chemical Brotherssuccession box
before = "Californication" by Red Hot Chili Peppers
title = Australian ARIA Albums Chart number-one album
years = June 21 - June 27 1999
after = "The Distance to Here" by Live