The second World Party album from Karl Wallinger begins with the apocalyptic urgency of "Is It Too Late" and progresses through the guarded optimism of "Love Street," "Sweet Soul Dream" and "Thank You World." As it moves from fevered desperation to a romantic, almost dreamy utopianism, Goodbye Jumbo displays an ambition as broad as the emotional range of its music.

Formerly the Waterboys' keyboardist, Wallinger wears his influences on his sleeve. It's unavoidably easy to hear his borrowings from Dylan, Lennon, Prince, Sly, the Stones. To dismiss the album as pastiche, however, is to miss the conviction that makes Goodbye Jumbo so audaciously cohesive, so compelling.

With its one-two punch of "Is It Too Late" and "Way Down Now," the album opens with the most bracing anthems for the millennium this side of Midnight Oil. World Party can't sustain such intensity (what party could?), but Wallinger's multi-instrumental textures suggest the freshness of first-take inspiration, and his reedy vocals bristle with immediacy. While Private Revolution, World Party's 1986 debut, was pretty much a one-man show, this album features the support of a three-man band – including key contributions from guitarist Jeff Trott – and guest spots by Sinéad O'Connor and Waterboys violinist Steve Wickham.

Wallinger's missionary zeal occasionally belabors his messages, but the music throughout is sufficiently vital to overpower resistance. If the first World Party album represented a big step, the followup finds Wallinger making far greater strides. Confronting the challenge that has faced everyone from U2 and R.E.M. to Terence Trent D'Arby and Lenny Kravitz, Wallinger attempts to reclaim the glories to which rock once aspired, while avoiding mere imitation. For all of the timeless influences it incorporates, Goodbye Jumbo demands to be heard as an album for these times. (RS 579)

DON MCLEESE