Paul Weller Vinyl Reissues of S/T and Wild Wood-November 2016

Disagree about Springsteen. He's a legend, no doubt, but he's been coasting on doing the same thing for decades now, he hasn't progressed creatively for a long time. He's an institution, but hardly "relevant", unless we're defining that word differently.

 

And as for the singles he's released throughout his career..........amazing.

 

Well, I found that a typical "Weller cycle", new album comes, being declared as his best since "Scary Monsters" "Wild Wood" only to be put back in its place when the next album arrives. Dunno, maybe it's a journalist thing with certain artists that have been around for quite a while.

But "As Is Now" was great when it arrived in.... God.... it can't be twelve years, can it?

Agreed that PW hasn't really made a bad album yet. His "muso" and "elder statesman" poses can be quite tiresome but his albums are never bad.

 

I think at a certain point, it's difficult for a journalist or a reviewer to come up with an angle other than "this is the best album since (fill in the blank)." The worst of these reviews typically involved Neil Young, and I've stopped falling for them. With Weller, I'd argue it's a little different. Every album from Heavy Soul to As Is Now was greeted with comments about Dadrock and how Weller was in something of a rut after Stanley Road, then 22 Dreams was this huge revelation. I would argue that Heliocentric was very different (and much better) to Heavy Soul (which wasn't a bad album at all, though listening to songs like "Golden Sands" and "Science" indicate a series lack of lyrical inspiration – "Science" in particular is both clumsy and lazy), and it was actually As Is Now that kicked off the purple patch most critics identify as starting with 22 Dreams.

 

I hope they keep on releasing his albums on vinyl

 

Love that song and always look forward to it when I put on Heavy Soul, along with Up In Suze's Room.
Good job we all have different tastes otherwise there would be a lot of monotonous records out there.

Heliocentric was an album I overlooked for years, but it has been a real grower with me. I go back to it quite often and really enjoy it now.

Not much has been said about Studio 150. Probably a good career move on his part as I think he needed a break and refresh his creative juices. He has a history of coming back with a strong album after a lean period. All Mod Cons , Cafe Bleu (and the early singles) , Paul Weller & As Is Now.

 

We were just talking about Studio 150 in another Weller thread. It's my least favorite of his solo albums, not because it's bad per se, but because I value his own songwriting so much. I also think he put some of his better covers on b-sides, as both Fly On the Wall and the Studio 150 b-sides attest.

 

One major thing wrong with "As Is Now" though....

 

That it ends?

 

I could do without Bring Back The Funk. It sounds way too forced... y'all.
Shoulda replaced that with Oranges and Rosewater. !

 

Alright, here's my ranking of Weller's solo albums - of note is that while it's in my preferred order, there's not a huge gap between the quality of these albums for me...

1. Stanley Road
2. self-titled
3. Heavy Soul
4. Saturns Pattern
5. A Kind of Revolution
6. As Is Now
7. Wild Wood
8. 22 Dreams
9. Illumination
10. Wake Up The Nation
11. Heliocentric
12. Sonik Kicks

I'd put that 12-album run against any artist's consecutive 10+ albums, and for me, it's maybe only bested by Manic Street Preacher's 12-album run, and just barely.

 

Yeah, fair point -- that's not a favorite of mine, either, and for exactly the reason you mention. There were some good b-sides for that album's singles, and either "Oranges and Rosewater" or "Golden Leaves" would have been great additions to the album.

 

I was just revisiting all those b-sides as I was typing...wow....what an amazingly rich period of writing/recording. Many of those could have/should have been on the album. "Alone" was another beauty IMO.

 

As of today, I'd probably go...

1. Paul Weller
2. Wild Wood
3. Saturns Pattern
4. A Kind Revolution
5. As Is Now
6. Sonik Kicks
7. Heliocentric
8. 22 Dreams
(Live Wood)
9. Stanley Road
10. Heavy Soul
11. Wake Up the Nation
12. Studio 150
(Days of Speed)
(Jawbone)
13. Illumination
(Catch-Flame!)

 

Studio Albums

1. Heavy Soul
2. Wild Wood
3. Paul Weller
4. As Is Now
5. Stanley Road
6. 22 Dreams
7. Wake Up the Nation
8. Sonik Kicks
9. Studio 150
10. Heliocentric
11. Illumination

Live Albums

1. Catch-Flame!
2. Live Wood
3. Days of Speed

Have yet to listen to:
Saturns Pattern
Jawbone
A Kind Revolution

 

Wow...AKR is really growing on you. Nice.

 

The more I listen to it, the more it seems like a natural progression from Saturns Pattern, which makes sense as he said some of the ideas started during those sessions.

 

Nope, "Golden Leaves" isn't on it.

 

Good point. That's such a good song, it's hard to understand why it didn't make the cut for the album.

 

I loved the original material b-sides from that era. Oranges and Rosewater & Shine On are fantastic as well. I always wondered when he wrote and recorded Wild Blue Yonder as well, I'm guessing probably after As Is Now. It seems a little different, but still pretty much fits the As Is Now vibe. I loved Are You Trying To Be Lonely as well, I loved that period. It makes me wonder what hit the cutting room floor, because as he rolled into 22 Dreams everything was pure gold.

I can't forget This Old Town either, another great song. It would have been nice if those collaborative singles had made it onto More Modern Classics.

 

I like "Wild Blue Yonder" a lot – it sounds a little like Weller fronting The Coral. "Small Personal Fortune" on the b-sides of that wasn't too bad, either.

 

Crazy. Another purple patch had started. And where's Butch by the way?

 

Picked up Stanley Road and Heavy Soul in my local shop for $24 each today, along with Kind Revolution. (Sadly they didn't have S/T or WW) I'll report back on the reissues when I get a chance to spin them. I couldn't help but start with the new album.

 

It's funny, Weller does always seem to have brief lulls followed by extended periods of creativity. With The Jam, that lull came early, with This Is the Modern World, then he bounced back and was more or less on fire up through Our Favorite Shop with The Style Council. He had another lull around The Cost of Loving – I would argue that Confessions of a Pop Group was not part of that, nor Modernism: A New Decade, as I think those were both interesting pieces of work that found zero support at Polydor – but his next lull actually resulted in a lack of actual recorded material. That space between the end of The Style Council and the beginning of his solo career was his longest break in recording, and after that, he really didn't stop producing original solid work up until Illumination. That lull was extended somewhat by doing a covers album, but he came back strong with As Is Now and it's been full speed ahead since then. Contrast that with Bowie going off the rails post Let's Dance and not recovering until the late '90s, or McCartney's erratic output post-Tug of War, and Weller's later period career arc looks very, very impressive.

 

My copy of S/T showed up from Amazon.fr today. I can't remember when Amazon made the switch to their current record packaging style, but this package was saved thanks to that. I actually really like buying vinyl from Amazon these days thanks to that. So anyway, the record. My experience pretty much mirrors what everyone else has said thus far. It's a quiet, low noise, pressing- sounds good. I can't get it very loud on my system, but cranked is still a good listening volume. I'm fine with the quiet mastering, and will definitely pick up the other releases. That said, it really is a shame they didn't take this opportunity to higher quality releases. It sure doesn't make me want to make $40+ for Wild Wood, I may as well hold out for an original copy unless these ever show up at American retailers. Bring on the next four.