JOE JACKSON “Blaze of Glory.” A&M; ***: <i> Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor) to five stars (a classic). </i>

There’s a very funny song by They Might Be Giants called “Youth Culture Killed My Dog.” Serious Joe Jackson, too, is concerned with just what has expired in the wake of the youth culture of the last three decades, and his semi-autobiographical 12th album tracks the jet trail of this new morality, from childish optimism through crushing cynicism and back again.

His look-back-in-irony tone is reminiscent of Donald Fagen’s “Nightfly” opus, especially in the opening “Tomorrow’s World,” which looks toward a rosy future with similar space-age optimism. The legacy of Elvis and Eddie Cochran is explored, as is that of the ‘60s counterculture: “They’re gonna sell out everything, but I won’t get fooled again, ‘cause I’m gonna be 19 forever,” sings balding Joe, tres ironic. As we move into the ‘80s, of course, things get ugly.

The music never does, though, for better or worse. Most of this effort has much the same elegant big-band, big-hall feel as other recent recordings. He shares lead vocals, skips genres, varies instrumentation, leaves room for wonderful trumpet, violin and bass solos, is big on melody; that’s nothing to grow cynical about.