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Paul Weller - Paul Weller Audio CD

A fair review of the Paul Weller "Paul Weller" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Paul Weller reviews here, or go back to the Paul Weller tabs.

Paul Weller Band: Paul Weller
Title: Paul Weller
Rating:
Release Date: 2006-09-26
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Uh-Huh Oh Yeh 2: I Didn't Mean to Hurt You 3: Bull-Rush 4: Round and Round 5: Remember How We Started 6: Above the Clouds 7: Clues 8: Into Tomorrow 9: Amongst Butterflies 10: Strange Museum 11: Bitterness Rising 12: Kosmos

Weller's welcome solo phase begins with this wonderful album
He's come a long way since his 70s mod-punk days with the Jam and his 80s jazzy pop Style Council phase. If only all musicians could age as well as Paul Weller has. Not that his work with those bands wasn't good (and sometimes great), but Weller's solo work reflects an artist who's matured and grown utterly comfortable with himself as a singer and musician.

This album, Weller's first after disbanding the Style Council, is chock full of excellent songs and is infused with more soul than all of Weller's previous works put together. Some of the jazz undertones that marked the Style Council still drift through the songs here, but it feels less like imitation and more like inspiration this go round. Whereas the Style Council always felt like an effort in musical experimentation, the album marks the beginning of a self-assured phase for Weller. He inaugurates his solo phase with songs that are much more personal and reflective than his past work, singing honestly about fear, anger, and regret while refusing to give in to despair. The lyrical transparency fits well with the more organic musical direction Weller takes on the album. Gone is the synth-heavy 80s feel of his Style Council work and in its place is a subtle and soulful blend of Motown, old school R&B, jazz, and classic rock (especially Traffic) influences that suits Weller extremely comfortably.

There are no weak songs on the album and standouts include the melancholy & wistful tunes "Round and Round," "Remember How We Started, "and "Above the Clouds," the uptempo gems "Uh Huh Oh Yeh," "Bull-Rush," and "Bitterness Rising," and the funky soul of "Amongst Butterflies" and "The Strange Museum. " I am amazed that Weller has remained so under the musical radar in the US, but fans of intelligent pop music for grownups simply must give Paul Weller a listen. This album would be the perfect place to start.


Amazing, his best
I vaguely knew about The Style Council but didn't connect the two, as Paul's never really made it in America. I got introduced to The Jam by a high school friend (this would be late 80s). Then Weller did his solo album in the early 90s and I passed it by. Flash forward fifteen years. A friend of mine gave me a copy of Wild Wood and I decided I'd really missed something. . . or maybe I'd just grown into the music in the first place in the intervening years. Anyway, I've now gotten all of the Modfather's solo back catalog, along with a chunk of The Style Council (I still had my old Jam CDs).

It might be that the songs on this disk just perfectly fit my mood right now. It's a transitional album for sure, but I really feel it captured what those classic '70s soul albums I'd come to love over the last several years. Paul was going from the very jazzy/poppy Style Council to much more straight rock later and managed to land in the intersection between the two. . . right smack dab in the best of early '70s soul, which is some of the most vital music ever to come out of the rock 'n' roll songbook. One hundred years from now people will still be listening to Marvin Gaye and Al Green, and hopefully to Paul. It was as if Paul had a time machine that took him back to the headspace of "Let's Get Together," "What's Going On" or "That's The Way of the World," though the material is, of course, his own. I really love the production and instrumentation here. It's stripped down and totally fits the material. .


Paul Weller

"Remember how we started" sounds much better on Live Wood, but enjoy it here too. This album reintroduces former Style Council leader Paul Weller, with some great songs.

After recovering from The Style Council's career end (at the hands of fans and Polydor alike), Paul emerges to commence a solo career lasting longer than either of his previous bands.


Bit of Both Worlds
Foremost the songs are good. Solid album with songs that sound like the 'new' Paul Weller and some that sound like the Style Council Weller.
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4.5 stars Weller's return to form
In the same vein of much of what he recorded with his followup band after the jam- Weller ditched the cheesy synths and made a clean break with a more "earthy" soul sound and better production. This first selfmade and coproduced solo album from the modfather was what the Style Council failed to do. Wellers voice also improved greatly from this point on. Songs like above the clouds- remember how we started- and bullrush all sound like council numbers in their style but they succeed on all levels- something the STC only managed a few times despite some great tunes. Into tomorrow sounds like what the Jam may have sounded like if they stayed together. (this is one of wellers best tunes still!) Part Curtis MAyfield-Marvin Gaye- with a heavy nod towards early Traffic- Paul weller rose from the ashes and became a force again. I cannot recommend this and Wildwood enough- both are essential for fans of any music- rock pop soul r+b mod. Other highlights include kosmos and Bitterness rising. .


You can see a complete list of all Paul Weller discography, or go back to the Paul Weller tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.

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