Did Weller hit his peak here?

lovestrat74

I used to listen to Stanley Road and Moseley Shoals back to back in my car on my way to work some time last century!

Admittedly, Oasis did figure, but not on the level of Weller and OCS. Both had more about them than the anthemic, terrace tunes coming out of Manchester imo.

Anyways... I listened to Stanley Road on my morning commute today... For me this album has stood the test of time. No fillers, just great songs. I think I stopped following Weller after Heliocentric, but was this his "finest hour" (Whirlpools End) ? 


  

munckee

Surely the Jam was his peak?

ICBM

I’m probably in a small minority but I think the Style Council were as good as anything he’s done - OK the keyboardy lounge-pop arrangements sound a bit dated now, although also definitive of the mid-80s, to take the opposite view - but the songwriting is as strong as ever, maybe some of his best.

22 Dreams is probably my favourite of his solo albums, but Stanley Road is up there.

lustycourtier

munckee said:

Surely the Jam was his peak?

The Style Council were much better than the jam, It just took me decades to realise it. 

darthed1981

I know we are all supposed to love "studio albums" and so on, but really this compilation...

https://open.spotify.com/album/2qgyvODrXPODZphzwuvSOR?si=ZSVjguPiQAaTxecfgSokcQ

Wazmeister

lustycourtier said:

munckee said:

Surely the Jam was his peak?

The Style Council were much better than the jam, It just took me decades to realise it. 

Have a word...

Offset

Wild Wood is the Weller album I remember most fondly, but Stanley Road is a belter.  I was never a huge Jam fan oddly enough but they were the soundtrack to an important period in my life, so I remember them more affectionately than I liked them at the time.

LastMantra

That's is my favourite weller era. Changing man, pebbles on a beach etc. 

I don't think I know any style council. Think I was put off by the general image of the band. 
Maybe I'll check them out. What's a good tune? 
I know a few of the obvious jam tunes which I like but wouldn't go out my way to listen to. 

I liked OCS. 

lovestrat74

LastMantra said:

That's is my favourite weller era. Changing man, pebbles on a beach etc. 

I don't think I know any style council. Think I was put off by the general image of the band. 
Maybe I'll check them out. What's a good tune? 
I know a few of the obvious jam tunes which I like but wouldn't go out my way to listen to. 

I liked OCS. 

LastMantra

lovestrat74 said:

LastMantra said:

That's is my favourite weller era. Changing man, pebbles on a beach etc. 

I don't think I know any style council. Think I was put off by the general image of the band. 
Maybe I'll check them out. What's a good tune? 
I know a few of the obvious jam tunes which I like but wouldn't go out my way to listen to. 

I liked OCS. 

Yeah, that's kind of what I thought. Not really my bag I'm afraid.

Thanks though. 

LastMantra

I can barely remember but I bet a few the jam fans were pretty shocked by the style council move.
Maybe that was the plan? 

richman6100

It's hard to compare The Jam, The Style Council and Weller's solo work. They're very different. For me, The Jam will always be what I gravitate to because the band was a big part of my youth. All Mod Cons and Setting Sons remain my favourites, although I do like the other albums. Some of Weller's solo work is wonderful too, Wild Wood probably being the best and Stanley Road a close second. There have been a number of weaker albums though. The Style Council? Hmmm...some nice individual songs, but erring on the side of twee at times. I don't think the SC stuff has aged terribly well.

monquixote

I think Weller hit the ground running and the Jam were brilliant from the start. 

I first became aware of him around the time of Wildwood and I didn't realise he was the "Jam guy" for a while.

Getting into him correlates with my learning to play guitar and I used to really intently study his songs and marvel at how well written they were and want to emulate that style. Sunflower is still a go to riff for me if I pick up an SG.

Stanley Road is probably the better album, but Wildwood has more memories for me.

I think Heliocentric was the last album I rushed out and bought. In fairness I don't really listen to a lot of indie/Britpop type music these days so I couldn't say if that was due to his quality dipping or my interest in the genre.

Shrews

Paul Weller peaked at All Mod Cons and slowly descended from there IMO

- In The City - 5/10 
- This Is The Modern World - 6/10 
- All Mod Cons 9.5/10
- Setting Sons 9/10
- Sound Affects 8/10
- The Gift 7/10

Style Council albums. I bought the first two but they were both 5/10 IMO. Lost interest after that. They had some decent singles though which is perhaps why I bought the second album expecting a similar standard but not hitting the spot. 

I was disappointed with him after he left The Jam. I thought he might have gone on to progress when he became free of his Jam shackles, but I don't think that he did.  

lovestrat74

Heavy Soul weren't bad either..

Shrews

For anyone who likes The Jam, there is a programme tonight on Sky Arts about them at 11.40pm 

The Story Of The Jam: About The Young Idea. (105mins).

maharg101

Picking up sticks

Specifically this live version, it transports me.

richman6100

Shrews said:

For anyone who likes The Jam, there is a programme tonight on Sky Arts about them at 11.40pm 

The Story Of The Jam: About The Young Idea. (105mins).

Excellent. Thanks for the heads-up.  :-)

mudslide73

Aside from the Jam I think those first two solo albums are his peak for me. 

I like Stanley Road v much but I think my anticipation upon release made it very difficult not to be slightly disappointed.

Also Whirlpool's End sounds like Tin Soldier's dour young cousin imo - once I noticed I couldn't let it go. Apologies if this has a similar effect on you. (See 10538 Overture also).


Edit: I listened to Stanley Road on the way into work this morning and really enjoyed it. I'd completely forgotten about Out Of The Sinking and Time Passes.. and particularly enjoyed them. He really wears his Marriott and Faces influences on his sleeve and some of them were not apparent to me in 1995 - lots of Faces I hadn't noticed particularly.

Hattigol

I named my company after WildWood but only because 'Stanley Road Legal' didn't have the same ring.

Stunning album and as much as I love him, yes, sadly it's been a slow but steady run downhill for him since then.

I think his solo stuff has much more depth than his Jam days personally. Each to their own eh...

MrSwanson

Randomly appeared outside his house last week whilst visiting London, was a bit of a shock to see him in the garden