Have you made up your mind (Paul Weller) (LP 4835 - 4839)

Paul Weller  22 Dreams (CD, Island Records, 2008) ****  

Paul Weller  Wake the Nation (CD, Island Records, 2010) ***

Paul Weller  Sonik Kicks (CD, Island Records, 2012) ****

Paul Weller  A Kind Revolution (CD, Parlophone Records, 2017) ****

Paul Weller  True Meanings (CD, Parlophone Records, 2018) ****

Genre: Indie rock

Places I remember: Kings Recording, Charity shops in Caterham, JB Hi Fi

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Cold Moments (22 Dreams)

Gear costume: No Tears To Cry (Wake the Nation), Satellite Kid (A Kind Revolution)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7; Part 8

Active compensatory factors: I only have a smattering of his albums with The Jam and Style Council, but quite a few of his solo albums from 22 Dreams onwards. That's thanks to perusing the CD racks at a few of the charity shops in Caterham when we lived there.

CDs were out of fashion in the late 2000's so there were loads of good CDs going for a pound each. I bought the bulk of these Paul Weller albums that way.

I had bought 22 Dreams from my favourite CD shop in Abu Dhabi because of a stonking good review that I'd read in Mojo magazine. I loved the cover, the idea of 22 dreams in song form and the experimentation hinted at in the review. Sounded vaguely like a double album a la The Beatles.

It's certainly an eclectic collection and for the most part I enjoy the variety of songs on offer. Unlike the Fabs, Paul's voice is the consistent element to these 22 songs which encompass, rock, pop, electronica, soul, and jazz styles. Being a double album makes it ripe for further listens and exploration.

Wake the Nation came after 22 Dreams. It was a much more in-yer-face effort with Weller delivering his vocals with full on commitment. 

He still uses different styles for effect. I particularly like the Motown-ish No Tears To Cry and the sixties psych drama of Andromeda. Barking mad, but great! Not all of it works (Trees is a mess), but, like 22 Dreams, it's always intriguing.

Sonik Kicks came after Wake the Nation. It's another eclectic set of styles. It starts with a hiss and a roar and rarely lets up with the intensity. There is a lull for some psychedelic folk musing but generally it's a lush sound bed that Weller delivers on Sonik Kicks. His album titles are certainly accurate descriptors for the songs and sounds he delivers.

A Kind Revolution is an album that covers more mainstream pop territory, and I like it a lot for that very reason. It covers gentler ground than those last two albums and feels warm and cozy as a result. I particularly like Satellite Kid with its extended workout.

True Meanings is the final album on my list. It's a real change in pace for the sonic adventurer of Wake The Nation and Sonik Kicks. This time it's a pastoral, acoustic approach that really pays off. It certainly presents Weller in a more reflective, mellow mood (but not laid back!) It's about the only album here that I would recommend for the WTWMC album of the week.

Where do they all belong? He's prolific, but I don't live in England anymore, so I can't scoop up any further albums on the cheap. This will have to suffice.

And the public wants what the public gets (The Jam) #176 - 177

The Jam Going Underground/ The Dreams Of Children (Polydor, POLY 73, 1980)

The Jam Town Called Malice/ Precious (Polydor, 2059 456, 1982)

I don't buy into the whole Paul Weller as national treasure, modfather figure that he seems to have morphed into over the last dozen or so years. 

You can extrapolate from that statement that I was never a Jam fan. Never bought any Jam albums. I hated The Style Council pose and I only have one of his solo albums - the rather wonderful, I admit, 22 Dreams.

But I did love these two A sides at the start of the eighties. Going Underground was a thrill when I heard it in 1980 - full of passion and punkish attitude with those slashing guitar stabs. It still sounds great but the lyrics have me a tad perturbed in 2014. In hindsight these lyrics now sound a little disingenuous. Going underground? I want nothing this society's got? Do me a favour!

I guess it's wrong to do that though - judge a piece of music from hindsight. Weller was at least denouncing hate in 1980 and trying to stick it to the man.

So - let's go back.

As a middle class university student in Nu Zild in 1980 I liked The Jam's energy (as I did The Damned and Sex Pistols) but I was a million miles from understanding youth attitudes in early eighties Britain. 

The Motownish Town Called Malice has, in comparison, stood up better as a set of lyrics. I like the social commentary without preaching stance he takes here. Lamenting what is without getting overtly nostalgic for what's been lost is a pretty neat trick, so hats off to Paul Weller.

Hidden gems: The Dreams Of Children is run of the mill Jam. Supposedly a double A side (which went to number 1 in the UK) it pales in comparison to the A side for me. 

Precious is a funk shuffle with horns that doesn't hold any appeal to me. The single was also billed as a double A side at the time (and also reached number 1 in the UK) but I'm not sure how much it was due to the uncharacteristic sound of Precious.