paul weller

[CRAZY-HORSE]

THE JAM "the gift" 1982.

'sound affects',the previous album was released in 1980,1981 produced two stand alone singles and Paul Weller suffered from a breakdown also in 1981,brought on by the stress and pressure of being famous....and the apparent 'spokesman for a generation',whereby he had to watch everything he said as teens around the UK and some parts of europe were hanging on his every utterence.
come 1982 The Jam were back in the studio recording their sixth album in six years... but there was discontent in the camp, Weller wanted to explore more styles of music namely soul,blues and jazz,Foxton and Buckler were opposed to this expansion of their successful sound. Weller also felt confined and boxed in having to write songs for his three piece band and didnt feel his bandmates could play the styles he envisioned.
so what we have here is a good album,but one made through malice(pardon the pun). the album ended up being a hybrid of the Jams traditional sound and soul/funk beats. most of the song themes deal with 'being stuck in a groove/rut and confusion.the album cover even shows three seperate images of the band members,signifying where the band were at...three seperate entities.
'ghosts' is a slow haunting electric guitar/vocal track summing up his feelings perfectly. 'precious' is a very good funk based track inspired by Curtis Mayfield.'running on the spot',as the title suggests, about not being albe to move out of comfort zone. 'carnation' is the best track on the album with lines like :thought that i was a devil,but im an angel waiting for my wings' which sums up the perceptions of its writer from his point of view and those of his cohorts. 'town called malice' encompases the theme of the entire album into just over three minutes of near perfect pop music via a Motown beat.'thats entertainment' from the previous album was the first import single to make the Uk singles charts,'just who is the 5o'clock hero' was released in Europe as a single but not the UK, it became the second single to make the UK charts reaching #8 as an import,which shows just how fanatical Jam fans were in their pursuit of wanting everything paul Weller. in fact the three tracks that dont cut the mustard are the ones that sound like The Jam's trademark sound,so either Weller wasnt interested in pursuing that route and was just doing it to appease his bandmates or he had outgrown that style of writing.
the album reached #1UK/#82US. the double 'a' side single 'town called malice b/w precious' reached #1 in the Uk charts, two interesting facts about the single are:
1. only the second time in 'top of the pops' history that a band were asked to perform both sides of a #1 hit on the same show(the firts being Beatles 'day tripper/we can work it out'.
2. the first single to top Uk charts to be released in conjunction with a 12" single version containing alternate versions of the 7" single, in this case live versions. incidently Stranglers who were #2 in the charts at the time with 'golden brown' protested to the BMI about this saying that it was the same people buying both versions and not double the people purchasing the single...i think they were right in their assumption.

I LIKE THIS ALBUM

worst track: circus
best track: carnation

tracks:

1.happy together**
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8PKXp5zR...re=related live
2.ghosts***
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIfuvJ3W5J0 live
3.precious**
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cz0opBIJDzg live
4.just who is the five O'clock hero**
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GnOhpQMk...re=related live
5.trans global unity express*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPsJmyCi9Q0 live
6.running on the spot**
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZfReolEX...re=related live
7.circus*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySJ8q02YMuY live
8.the planner's dream goes wrong**
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMXNV4cKjK4 audio
9.carnation***
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yp1NBpY2jEo live
10.a town called malice***
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgaOPygW-...re=related live
11.the gift*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1zQLTon6is live

3s=3
2s=5
1s=3

rating 2.0

to be continued,next...the non album singles and essential b-sides of note.