The Modfather

"While you got your head in the clouds
And talking so loud,
Can’t you see past the stages.
It’s only when you finally arrive
That you recognise
You been going through changes."

Blink And You'll Miss It - Paul Weller

In 1989, Paul Weller was becoming quite jaded with the conventions of the music business. The cycle of put out a record, do publicity and tour, then write and record a new album, and on and on, had become an albatross around his neck. Having immersed himself in the new Rave scene, the final Style Council album, Modernism: A New Decade, heralded the new Acid-Jazz genre that was a favourite of the ecstasy-fuelled Ravers. His record company, Polydor, refused to release the record, saying it had no sales potential. To these ears, they were correct as it is a mish-mash of instrumentals and half-baked ideas that really go nowhere. (The album was finally released in 2001.) Weller had always been known as, first and foremost, a songwriter with a tremendous sense of melody and lyrical prowess. After the Style Council disbanded in 1989, he took a hiatus of sorts from music to concentrate on raising his family. My theory is that he was just burnt-out and had run out of the energy and time required to put his all into his craft.

He re-emerged in 1991 with the Into Tomorrow E.P., soon followed in 1992 by his first solo album, Paul Weller. While still leaning heavily on his love of soul music, it hinted at a new direction which would find its legs on his next release, 1993's Wild Wood. He still didn't have a permanent band, but he had brought with him drummer Steve White, from the Council days. Whitey had started with Weller when he was a mere babe of 17, having grown up next door to Bill Bruford (Yes, King Crimson) who taught him to play the drums. Wild Wood relied heavily on guitar music, both rockers and more folky numbers. The album was credited with kicking off the Brit-Pop movement in the '90s, and was cited by bands like Oasis and Blur as having given them true inspiration. Weller had now regained his status as a leader in the U.K. music scene and his spirited live shows at the time were hailed as must-sees. 1994 saw the release of Live Wood, a concert album culled from various shows on his '93 world tour. For his next record, 1995's Stanley Road, he delved back into his roots, not so much musically, but personally. The album was named after the street he grew up on in Woking and he wrote about his life and the changes he had gone through. Musically, the album still has some soul influence, but he was now getting further into a Traffic-like feel, with some songs featuring extended jams by his band, even going so far as to have Traffic singer-keyboardist Steve Winwood play on the record. This feel continued on 1997's Heavy Soul and his band became more of a constant unit, with White on drums and Steve Craddock and Damon Minchella, of Ocean Colour Scene, on guitar and bass respectively. It is a psychedelic and bluesy record, with the band stretching out its sound even more. Lyrically, Weller had reached another point of personal crisis and the album is quite introspective and lacks some of the optimism of his earlier works. His next album, 1999's Heliocentric, had a much different feel, offering up odes to his children and, lyrically, much lighter and happier fare. It is my least favourite album of his though, as I found it to be too light on dynamics and rather forgettable. His next project was an ambitious acoustic solo tour, from which sprang the live record Days Of Speed. The album was critically acclaimed and his fans also lapped it up, partly due to his playing old Jam faves like That's Entertainment and Town Called Malice for the first time since The Jam broke up in 1982. Illumination, from 2002, found Weller more relaxed and showing that he could age gracefully. The songs are not as jam-bandy as before, as he crafted a more soul-tinged record. His guitar is still prominent, but it serves as a great foil to the horn loops and other more groove-oriented touches on the album. 2004 saw him release an all covers album, Studio 150. He pays his respects to his heroes here, covering Neil Young, Burt Bacharach and Bob Dylan, as well as a great version of Rose Royce's Wishing On A Star. Having played and recorded covers since his days with The Jam, this was a natural progression. For As Is Now, which he put out in 2005, Weller returns to the more guitar-based sound of his earlier records. It is a lean and muscular record, but lacks any surprises. Not that it is a bad album, far from it, but it would be his last with the band he had been working with for the better part of the last decade. 2008's 22 Dreams saw him using no set backing band, with guest musicians including Graham Coxon of Blur and Noel Gallagher and Gem Archer of Oasis. The record is rather shambling and lacks any sort of cohesiveness, but this is not necessarily a bad thing. Weller is expanding his musical palette again, and rediscovering a sense of adventure that had been missing for the last few albums. This adventurous spirit has continued on his latest album, released in April 2010, called Wake Up The Nation. Most of the songs hover around the 2 minute range, but these tunes pack a lot into these short spaces and never sound too busy. It is easily his most psychedelic record, with buzzing guitars and imaginative arrangements, making it one of his strongest records ever in my books. I find it totally enjoyable and love to listen to it through and through again. Weller has shown once again why he ranks at or near the top of the music totem pole in my life.

Best Of Paul Weller

1. Blink And You'll Miss It
2. Here's A New Thing
3. Out Of The Sinking
4. Up In Suze's Room
5. Find The Torch / Burn The Plans
6. Friday Street
7. Broken Stones
8. Sunflower
9. Wild Wood
10. The Changingman
11. Woodcutter's Son
12. Fly On The Wall
13. Push It Along
14. Into Tomorrow
15. The Weaver
16. Aim High
17. Mermaids
18. Hung Up
19. Peacock Suit
20. Whirlpool's End
21. Kosmos