I saw on Pause & Play where they have reissued his first solo record. Anyone have this yet, or know if it offers anything not on the previous release?

Tracklist is the same as the original UK and USA release, but it's remastered:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000025TE9/?tag=imwan-20

One of my alltime fave mashups is one done by Go Home Productions that was Weller's "changingman" vs. "Don't Stop Moving" by S Club 7. I'll see if I can't dig up a clip of that when I get home.

Linda,

Do you still buy Paul Weller releases? I'm just curious about your favorites?

I'm a big fan of the first two albums (self-titled and "Wild Wood") as well as "The Gift" by The Jam but I enjoy everything when it comes down to it.

Oh yes. Fan since In The City. Wild Wood is my fave too but I still love what he's doing today. There's just something evergreen about his style, he always sounds contemporary to my ears no matter what's going on in the rest of the music scene in any given era ... it's sort of inspirational as I get older (and older and older and older!) that there's this musical link to my youth who's still cool. Maybe the way people from the Woodstock generation might look to Neil Young? I don't really expect "important works" from Weller anymore, I just expect stuff that sounds solid and real, you know? He never disappoints in that sense.

You have a great way of putting it. I discovered him later than you but his music has been there for me during some tough times and even when his albums are not brilliant (for a while I EXPECTED brilliance from him) there are still songs like arrows right at the heart of things. It's great to discover another fan of his.

By the way has anybody seen that this is coming out in October? It's an overview of his work. Pretty impressive (although I would love to see a boxed set with lots of rarities and stuff)

CD 1:
In The City
All Around The World
The Modern World
News Of The World
David Watts
''A'' Bomb On Wardour Street
Down In The Tubestation At Midnight
Strange Town
When You're Young
The Eton Rifles
Going Underground
Dreams Of Children
Start!
That's Entertainment
Funeral Pyre
Absolute Beginners
Town Called Malice
Precious
Just Who Is The 5 O'Clock Hero
The Bitterest Pill (I Ever Had To Swallow)
Beat Surrender

CD 2:
Speak Like A Child
Money Go Round (Part 1 & 2)
Long Hot Summer
Solid Bond To Your Heart
My Ever Changing Moods
You're The Best Thing
Big Boss Groove
Shout To The Top
Walls Come Tumbling Down
Come To Milton Keynes
The Lodgers
Have You Ever Had It Blue
It Didn't Matter
Waiting
Wanted
Life At A Top People's Health Farm
How She Threw It All Away
Promised Land

CD 3:
Into Tomorrow
Uh Huh Oh Yeh
Above The Clouds
Sunflower
Wild Wood
The Weaver
Hung Up
Out Of The Sinking
The Changingman
You Do Something To Me
Broken Stones
Peacock Suit
Brushed
Friday Street
Mermaids

CD 4:
Brand New Start
He's The Keeper
Sweet Pea, My Sweet Pea
It's Written In The Stars
Leafy Mysteries
The Bottle
Wishing On A Star
Thinking Of You
Early Morning Rain
From The Floorboards Up
Come On/Let's Go
Here's The Good News
Blink And You'll Miss It

Yeh, that's the Hit Parade box ~ it's actually being released here in the States! Amazing. Nothing here for completists like you and me, but for "passersby" who don't want/need everything Weller's ever done it doesn't get much more thorough than this set. A best-of from every stage of his career:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000LRZ034/?tag=imwan-20

i believe that the style council is one of the most underrated of the '80's bands.

great tunes, nice insturmentation and good singing, yet never really got "huge".

more amazingly i wanted so much to like the jam and paul weller's solo material and just couldn't get into it.

renny

The Style Council is a radical departure from the more basic rock'n'roll sound of The Jam and Paul Weller, much more orchestrated and slicker. A lot of people who are into The Jam and Paul Weller don't care for The Style Council and vice versa. Personally, I haven't listened to The Style Council since the '80s, but will probably get around to them again sooner or later.

I like all three--The Jam, Paul Weller, and The Style Council.

Renny, the first solo album simply entitled "Paul Weller" has a very style councilish vibe to it. A little warmer sound, less gloss, but still soulful and very little electric guitar.

My favorite Style Council stuff is the early stuff and the last album, which I think is genius. The middle stuff is kinda blah to me--too slick and nondescript.

Witchgirl

There is also a single disc version of "Hit Parade" that will combine Jam, Style Council & solo tracks.



Tracks:

1. Town Called Malice
2. Going Underground
3. Shout To The Top /Full Version
4. From The Floorboards Up
5. Down In The Tube Station At Midnight /Single Edit
6. Peacock Suit Single / Album Version
7. The Changingman /Single Edit
8. Eton Rifles/ Single Edit
9. Come On/Let's Go
10. Sunflower
11. Beat Surrender
12. Walls Come Tumbling Down
13. That's Entertainment
14. Broken Stones
15. Out Of The Sinking Original / Single Version
16. Long Hot Summer /Single Edit
17. You're The Best Thing /Single Edit
18. Wild Wood
19. You Do Something To Me
20. Hung Up
21. My Ever Changing Moods/ Single Edit
22. Speak Like A Child
23. Start! /Single Version

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000L213QC/?tag=imwan-20

Ok, on my visit to Tower, one of the items I put down was Weller's 2006 "Catch-Flame". This thread intrigued me, but I was not sure if this would be a good intro (I love live albums), but what's the opinion of this disc?

They had dozens of them, so I'm sure I can snatch it up next week. Thanks!

I think the performances on catch-flame are very, very good but the sound quality is not that great. If you are an audiophile then it's going to disappoint a little bit on that end.

Thanks Witchgirl...after listening to 3rd gen casettes all those years ago, I find it almost nostalgic. If there's fire in the performance, that's all I need. BTW is it muddy sounding? or a lot of bleed, like an audie?

I have a couple of friend heading out to New York next month to see Paul's 3 night stand at Irving Plaza. First night, music of The Jam, second the Style Council and third his solo career.
Should be an impressive run

The performance is stellar, and the song selection is excellent if you're wanting this as a career overview for Weller, but the recording leaves something to be desired as Witchie said. It's not muddy so much as it's thin-sounding ... the vocals are mixed a bit loud for me, with the bass too quiet and the drums sounding a little "hollow" compared to his studio recordings which usually have a heavy, thick-sounding rhythm section. Sounds more like a boot of a soundboard recording than a commercial-level release. (That might have been deliberate on Weller's part to keep the album sounding "real".)

You can get a decent idea of what the mix is like even from the lo-rez clips at Amazon's listing for the album:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000F2CAGK/?tag=imwan-20

There are lots of cheap secondhand copies available there.

There's also an older (from 1993) live Weller album, a single disc not a double, which is mixed much more like his studio recordings and sounds nice and "fat":

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000025C3V/?tag=imwan-20

I really like Catch-Flame. Great performances, as Witch-Girl says.

By the way, Witch-Girl, you might want to track down a copy of Illumination. Not his most consistent album, but it definitely has some nice highlights. It's a shame it hasn't been released here (last I knew). I think the import is pretty inexpensive.

Weller has still got it. It's nice to see one of my heroes not fading into irrelevance as he gets older.

Nice to see some positive comments about the Style Council. So many people seem to trash or just ignore that part of his career. I actually think they were ahead of their time, what with their lounge-inspired sound.

Style Council was the first Weller thing I got into so The Jam's material was a bit off-putting at first, although now I'm a big fan. I've only heard his solo things once or twice when a friend of mine loaned them to me. I was kind of indifferent, but after reading these comments I think I'll have to give them another listen.

I think the first couple of years of the Style Council are incredible. Those early singles and albums are just wonderful. The breeziness of the music, the intense political anger, the soulful singing--I really love it (but you probably knew that already).

What I'd REALLY like to see is a boxed set or 2 cd collection of unreleased Paul Weller solo stuff--alternative versions, live versions, etc. I'm sure he has a lot "in the vaults", as they say, and it would be cool if a collection of real obscurities hit the market soon (as opposed to just a collection of b-sides, which is great, but not something for someone who already owns the singles).

Can anybody tell I'm really on a Paul Weller kick lately?

Speaking of Paul Weller, this week I picked up a live album by Terry Callier -- induced by Tower's going out of business sale and the fact that I'd seen Terry's name in an article somewhere, sometime, about Paul Weller. I don't remember the specific comment but it seemed to imply that Terry Callier was a great influence on Weller. If that's the case it certainly shows on this live set. But does anyone have anymore info on Callier? From the notes in the set, it appears he may have recorded as far back as the 60's. The songs are dynamite and his voice certainly lends itself to Weller's style -- especially in the Style Council days.

Info anyone?

Some Terry Callier info:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Callier

http://www.soulwalking.co.uk/Terry%20Callier.html

_____________________________________


Weller actually did a duet with Callier on one of Terry's recent albums, Speak Your Peace:



Amazon's third party dealers have plenty of inexpensive pressings in stock at these links:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000063CLN/?tag=imwan-20

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000646F2/?tag=imwan-20

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000DESNQ/?tag=imwan-20

____________________________________


The duet is also available by itself as a single:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000066SCT/?tag=imwan-20

Callier's best work is probably from the 1970s, those are the albums which Weller cited as a big influence such as What Color Is Love:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000026HWR?tag ... SXRMT00X0&

Linda,

Thanks for the links. I'll definitely take advantage of the deals on Amazon.

It's always exciting to "discover" an artist of this caliber but a little worrisome to realize he's been recording for so long and I'm just now learining something about him.

Oh to be an English Acid Jazz DJ or Northern Soul punter!!!