Following the release of Grace Jones' 1989 album 'Bulletproof Heart', she made several comeback attempts throughout the 1990's, including the aborted 'Black Marilyn' project in 1994, but her next full-length record would not appear until almost two decades later. In 1996 she released the 'Love Bites' single, which was taken from the Sci-Fi channel's Vampire Week special, and in 1997 she started a collaboration with trip-hop producer Tricky and his Durban Poison label, recording tracks for an album to be called 'Force Of Nature', with a proposed release date of 1998. The first results of the partnership were 'Cradle To The Grave' and 'Clandestine Affair', but due to heavy disagreements between Jones and Tricky, the album was never completed, and only a scarce white label 12" single featuring two DJ Emily mixes of 'Cradle To The Grave' slipped out. To date, these are the only tracks to ever have surfaced of the three or four that they had apparently finished (Jones once said three, Tricky reportedly alleged four) from their sessions, and 'Cradle To The Grave' was later to be re-recorded as the title track to her 2008 album 'Hurricane'. Tricky himself had also previewed another version – one which he had remixed himself on a radio show that he hosted in September 1999. Despite the apparent demise of her partnership with Tricky, there still seems to have been some resurgent interest in Jones' career at the turn of the millennium, as she appeared with Lil' Kim on 'Revolution' from her album 'Notorious K.I.M', while a remix of 'Pull Up To The Bumper' by Funkstar De Luxe became a top 5 hit on the Billboard Club Charts in November 2000. In 1998 she'd re-recorded the classic 'Walking In The Rain' from her 'Nightclubbing' album, but of all the one offs she did during this time, her finest would have to have been 'Storm' from the soundtrack of the ill-received 1998 'Avengers' movie. With its epic orchestration and Jones' larger-than-life cinematic presence, 'Storm' sounded like the the Bond theme that she had never been given. Having signed a record deal in 2000 with an emerging web-based company, MCY.com (with planned distribution by EMI), things seemed to be looking hopeful once again. A prominent press interview with The Independent gave hints to an imminent album release, with appearances being cited by the likes of Roni Size, Stevie Wonder, and P. Diddy (or Puff Daddy, as he was known then). Around mid-2001, there were also some reports mentioning that 'Storm' producer, Marius De Vries had been enlisted as a co-producer on the project, but not long afterwards hopes of an album release seemed to be dashed with the project appearing to be all but scrapped. She did issue the single 'The Perfect Crime' in 2000, which was featured in the Danish crime thriller 'Rejseholdet', and in 2001 two performances from her character Christoph/Christine were included on the soundtrack to the TV film 'Wolf Girl' (a.k.a. 'Blood Moon'), but it was to be another seven years before she released the 'Hurricane' album, to generally positive reviews. Much of her music which was recorded during this fairly quiet period of her career is too good to be forgotten, and so by taking the best of her singles, collaborations, lost sessions and soundtrack offerings, we can piece together a pretty good album from just before to just after the millennium, with another earlier soundtrack contribution tagged on the end as it seemed to fit the loose 'vampire' concept.
Track listing
01 Cradle To The Grave (from the 'Force Of Nature' sessions 1997)
02 Love Bites (from Sci-Fi Channel's 'Vampire Week' 1996)
03 World Of Wonders (from the soundtrack of the film 'Wolf Girl/Blood Moon' 2001)
04 Revolution (from 'Notorious K.I.M.' by Lil' Kim 2000)
06 Storm (from the soundtrack to the film 'The Avengers' 1998)
06 Clandestine Affair (from the 'Force Of Nature' sessions 1997)
07 Walking In The Rain 1998 (re-recording 1998)
08 The Perfect Crime (from the Danish TV show 'Rejseholdet' 2000)
09 Two Sides To Every Story (from the soundtrack of the film 'Wolf Girl/Blood Moon' 2001)
10 Vamp (from the soundtrack of the film 'Vamp' 1986)
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