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I've gone and reviewed Paul Weller!
And that means listening to his entire career; covering 6 studio albums with The Jam, 6 albums with The Style Council, and 12 (and counting) solo treats*. I've also tried my best to hunt down rarities, re-mixes and live albums**. Basically, I've had a lot of Weller in my life lately!!
Why have you reviewed Paul Weller I hear you ask?
Firstly, why not?! Secondly, I was inspired by James' infamous sandwich reviews. Thirdly, felt it was a good time to further expand my musical diet outside of early 90's boom-bap. Lastly, the man himself is playing our shows this week; better be prepared for small talk in the lunch queue.
Ok, let's summarise!!
I have reviewed 3 Weller-good eras:
The Jam (1976-82) Paul is a trendy front-man who is a little bit angry like a punk, but not too much, and often wears smart suits. The Jam become an iconic part of the Mod scene, which means they endorse boys who drive scooters.
The Jam make some banging tracks, which have lots of rough energy and eventually over time start to become megga hit pop ticklers. By the time The Gift is released (1982), Weller is adding too many trumpets and funky bits for the other two to cope with and they split ways (It's a shame as the Gift is my fave Jam album).
I give this era of Weller 5 Wellers out of 5: 6 solid albums with a ton of hits. Starts off super raw, end up polished and crisp. All memorable.
The Style Council (1983-89) Paul decides to team up with Keyboardist Mick Talbot (a man who looks exactly like Jesse Eisenberg). They go on a mad experimental pop-jazz adventure together, spanning up and down through synth-pop, lounge music, RnB and folksy ballads. For a while the public lap it up wholeheartedly, especially with pop hits like 'Shout to the Top'. People were even willing to accept a song about Milton Keynes (which has one of the oddest music videos ever created).
Hats off to Weller and Mick; they had a good little experiment and threw it all in the ring. They even had a few crackers in there! Unfortunately a lot of it feels like badly placed lift music or something from an 80's soul bargain bin. In ‘89 the pair finished an album which their label downright refused to release. That kind of killed the trip.
I give this era of Weller 2 Wellers out of 5: Nice one for giving it a go, and there was some proper success in there! Pretty inconsistent and at times down-right weird, but never boring. Ok, sometimes boring.
Paul goes solo! (1990-present) Paul jumps onto a Solo career and ends up part of a wider Brit pop movement. He kicks this off with a self titled album, which features poster-boy artwork that looks more like a Steps release. That said it’s a top album, and I especially dig the samples and brass notes.
As the 90′s progress onwards, Paul starts to move back towards his roots and gets a bit more rocky. His success grows with it and he drops some big chart-hitting albums like ‘Stanley Road’.
Into the naughties Paul starts to throw in a few cheeky reminders of his varied past, including more elements of funk and soul which recaptured my attention.
I give this era of Weller 3.8 Wellers out of 5: All in all, some great work Weller! My only personal quip is there’s soo many albums, it’s hard to get through it all. Also, I’d love to hear a greater ratio of funky to rocky sounding tracks from this legendary Modfather!
One additional smack-down is the spelling of 2015′s ‘Saturns Pattern’ album, which appears to be missing an apostrophe in the title. This is something Steevie from PR rightly pointed out to me; it really angered that wordsmith!
Oddities
Have you watched the music video of Paul rubbing himself in a boat? It’s out there.
Did you know Paul produced a rap track? True story.
Have you heard Weller’s forgotten 80′s Chicago House album? This was the lead weight that was the final nail in the coffin for The Style Council. Talk about going out with a bang!
Paul Facts!
Paul has been married twice and has seven children!
Paul declined a CBE for his services to music in 2007 (modest gent).
Oddly, in the 80′s Band-Aid single ‘Do they know it’s Christmas’ video, Paul mouths the words that Bono recorded.
Paul takes his tea with a drop of almond milk and three sugars.
(I’m afraid that last one’s a wild guess, he might not even drink tea. Ok obviously he drinks tea - he’s a rockstar, not a savage!).
Here's a few of my stand out tracks:
Going Underground - The Jam Girl on the phone - The Jam
Carnation - The Jam
Circus - The Jam
Shout to the Top - The Style Council
It didn't matter - The Style Council
Fairy Tales - The Style Council
Uh Huh Oh Yeh - Paul Weller
I didn't mean to hurt you - Paul Weller
Wild Wood - Paul Weller
Aim High - Paul Weller
Al’s Favourite Weller albums:
All Mod Cons (The Jam) Setting Sons (The Jam) The Gift (The Jam) Paul Weller (self titled)
* I haven't yet heard his upcoming new album 'A Kind Revolution' or the soundtrack to 'Jawbone'. ** Ok, so I didn't properly listen to every single live album. Come on, give a brother a break. Even I can have too much Weller!
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LISTEN LEARN MUSIC: A new event put on by the charity I now work as a designer for; Teenage Cancer Trust. These are snippets of the branding I have created for the digital ad campaign - slapping you right in the face with fuchsia pink!
‘Listen Learn: Music, which will take place on Wednesday 18 November at the Gibson Showroom, has been curated by us in association with KID talks and is designed to help young people gain a valuable insight into the inner workings of the music industry.’
Find out more here
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Beautiful script logo and identity for Dripp - more from Turner Duckworth
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Really impressed with the new brand update for PG tips by JKR. Always felt like the previous packaging was quite 90′s; oozing with generic mainstream imagery and felt generally quite forgettable. The new refresh puts the brand at the forefront; stripping it right back to the essentials. The minimal contrasting coloured sides are also quite striking, as are the overlapping imagery!
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Swoomp up the Jam!! New video from Swoomp Theeng, featuring lots of my illustrations.
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Short film about Perrot bespoke printers who are keeping traditional die stamping, blind embossing and lithography techniques alive.
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New Norwegian Bank notes coming out, with graphics by Snohetta
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