Yep, if you started out like I did with his 1973 Solid Air album, everything else is likely to be a disappointment I think.
I went to see him a couple of times in London when Solid Air had given him a cult following with its "druggy" sound. At one concert in a small hall, everybody went in and sat on the floor: apart from outdoor festivals, I think that doesn't happen much, does it? It showed a kind of respectful approach to the music, I felt, and he didn't disappoint; he did a great job of recreating all those electronic effects on stage. Very much a one-man show, on another occasion he was pretty drunk and kept telling rambling stories between songs. After a while, one story went on so long, a guy shouted at him, "Play some music!", and when he did, the JM magic took hold; a note-perfect rendition of one of his classics.
As for later albums, I have Glasgow Walker(1999) but don't play it much. It has a couple of ok songs, but suffers imo because instead of one voice, one guitar, he is backed, or should I say swamped, by a four-piece band. His vocals, or the songs themselves, really aren't strong enough to carry that much extra weight.
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"Am I enjoying this moment? I know of it and perhaps that is enough." - Sybille Bedford, 1953
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