"THE NEW JOE JACKSON ALBUM!" screams the sticker from the demented cartoon-figured cover of Beat Crazy. But it doesn't quite explain itself; this isn't Joe Jackson's new album, it's the album by the New Joe Jackson. Jackson must have swallowed a bottle of ludes after I'm the Man and, while recovering, composed Beat Crazy. Nothing else could explain such a major departure in style, lyrics, and sound. Casting away his previous power-pop label, Jackson casts himself in the reggae/innovative rock mold.

A primal scream opens the record, and from then on, Jackson emerges as a more affected and effective persona than the "Spiv" of his first two efforts. Those concentrated on a poppy guitar, steady beat, and musical hooks, with songs about women, the working class, and the media. Suddenly, Jackson's oft-avowed affection for reggae has taken over. Graham Maby, one of rock's most melodic and dextrous bassists, assumes center stage, as Jackson acknowledges by allowing him to sing the title track. And Maby holds it well--the bass lines are entrancing, polished, and danceable.

Jackson's lyrics have become even more pessimistic. He was content to rip apart "Sunday Papers" on his first 1.p., but here he explores deeper social problems. Misfits, racial tensions, and uncontrollable fate, all these have been boiling under his pop songs, but he had to recreate his musical genre to find proper release for them.

In "Battleground," the most radical departure, the musicians tinkle in the background and Jackson talks through the following gripping scene:

White niggers out dancing on the floor tonight

Theband'snotgoodbutthebeatseemsright

Theband'sallblackandthefloor'sallwhite

Clenching fists unite and fight

Rock against Racism rules tonight

But in the real world

No one rules.

The ominous voice--speaking rythmically, not singing--drives home a point too ominous to sing.

JACKSON'S VISION is of decay and chaos. Even when he touches subjects more familiar to him, he bites. "Mad at You" offers not the singsong despair of his hit, "Is She Really Going Out With Him?" but a guttural snarl that he lashes at his lover:

When you're fixing your makeup

You know you take too long