paul weller

[CRAZY-HORSE]

PAUL WELLER "22 dreams" 2008.

not content to rest on his laurels and reminisce about the old days Weller keeps changing,chopping and reinventing himself. here we have it, Paul Weller turns 50 in 2008 and he releases his most ambigious/ambitious album ever.

its been three years since Weller's last 'real' studio album, and one year since the covers album. let it be said, that like doing a covers album the other idea that has been floating around for a long while,since 1984s 'cafe bleu' in fact, is the idea of double album, and with this one, this one this is what we get...by accident no less.Weller and band headed into the studio with no demos or ideas 'to see where it would take me', and what we have is a respectable double album,as with all double albums(apart from 'the wall') is a concept that could have been edited down to a classic single album. the only down side here is Weller's persistance to include more lame instrumentals,six in fact, and fifteen good tracks. the instrumental tracks do break up the album nicely though but im not a fan of instrumentals as a whole.
'echoes round the sun' is a psychadelic track which came about from an instrumental track Noel Gallagher had and asked Weller to put lyrics to it. 'god' is a spoken word piece,unneccessary to the whole album,whereby God is talking to someone???
elsewhere theres solid rock/soul songs, ballads and an ever increasing amount of folk songs,which Weller seems to embrace and do very smartly. probably the most haunting/disturbing song on the album is "where'er you go", a track describing the horrors of watching a loved one die of dementia,you'll get it if you've seen someone go that way, and Weller nails it perfectly, in this case he is singing about his father's decline with the disease. Weller wanted to released a fistful of singles from this one but decided on three double a'side singles:
echoes round the sun b/w have you made up your mind #19UK
all i wanna do b/w push it along #28UK
22 dreams b/w push it along #59UK
the album reached #1 in the UK and became his biggest selling album since 'stanley road'.
if you get a chance to see the vinyl album cover,it is a work of art which loses all effect on cd sized cover, the cover is of an english country garden which wraps around the gatefold sleeve...fantastic!

worst track: pick an instrumental
best tracks invisible & where'er you go

tracks:

1. light nights**
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGqDn00As0c live
2. 22 dreams***
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bR-CjqBuL8s live
3. all i wanna do(is be wih you)***
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIN_s6XRHsc live
4. have you made up your mind***
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=civFHU3HC...re=related live
5. empty ring***
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLZOUVGUX...re=related audio
6. invisible***
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSfU7jg5GJw live
7. song for alice*
8. cold moments**
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wnr04SebSSQ live
9. the dark pages of september lead to the new leaves of spring*
10.black river**
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2UJPGWkUKw live
11.why walk when you can run**
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYdH41T7LDw live
12.push it along***
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2HyBZUNybU live
13.a dream-reprise*
14.echoes round the sun*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zim0o1X4cn0 live
15.one bright star**
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McIYMGMXziE live
16.lullaby fur kinder*
17.where'er you go***
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIVKmW2GW...re=related live
18.God*
19.111*
20.seaspray**
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaYEyAfYhQ8 live
21.night lights*

3s=8
2s=5
3s=8

rating with the instrumentals 1.9
rating without the instrumentals 2.3

to be continued,next..."wake up the nation"2010.

[CRAZY-HORSE]

PAUL WELLER "wake up the nation" 2010.

another year,another about turn of sound and style by The Modfather.
there are sixteen tracks on this one and all are good, including the two short instrumentals. Bruce Foxton,the Jam's bass player teams up on two tracks,playing with/for Weller for the first time in tweny-six years, and the chemistry is still there. Kevin Shields(my bloody valentine) and Bev Bevan(move/elo) also come along for the ride on this one. the majority of the tracks last little ove three minutes,some as short as two minutes,only one exceeds four minutes(trees).
the album opens with a rock track(moonshine) to excite your aural cavity and send shivers up your spine with pumping piano, it then launches into the title track with no let up for you to catch your breath, a bit of a breather follows with the Walker Brothers inspired 'no tears to cry',then its back to the fast paced 'fast car/slow traffic'...very Jam sounding.
the album then flits between light pop and vague psychadelic tracks. one of the more interesting tracks on the album is the five part montage of 'trees', a song about stages of life, inspired by visiting his father in a nursing home and looking at all the elderly people, about how theyre waiting to die where once they were young strong like 'trees' and beautiful. theres several dreamy/surreal songs like 'andromeda', 'pieces of a dream' and the falsetto vocalled 'aim high' which are different again and work extremely well with this record.
the tracks on this album tend to fare better as live tracks where they have raw energy and spark as opposed to the cd sound, to confirm this check out the november 2010 dvd release of 'find the torch,burn the plans' of a royal albert hall gig around xmas 2009,
the album reached #2 in the UK,and sold exceptionally well across the world,except US. two singles were released from the album:
the double a'side "wake up the nation" b/w "no tears to cry" #26UK & "find the torch,burn the plans"#68UK. the latter features the "woking gay community choir". it is a good honest album which tends to grow on you,and had the tracks all been live the rating would have been several points higher.

I LIKE THIS ALBUM

worst track: 7 & 3 is the strikers name
best tracks: no tears to cry & trees

tracks:

1. moonshine***
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEYK73ogxug live
2. wake up the nation**
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMuMoFTGLuc live
3. no tears to cry***
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnTHBNGTz-0 live
4. fast car/slow traffic**
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXT8CXfvKCk live
5. andromeda**
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwCjHZ5pZqM live
6. in Amsterdam**
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxOQeYBZKaw&feature=related audio
7. she speaks**
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjumW_6m7AE audio
8. find the torch,burn the plans**
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ki8mv9EKFUU live
9. aim high**
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDwzEaPezic live
10.trees***
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtQxs0O1yAo&playnext=1&list=PL90C71C11ED0302EC&index=10 live
11.grasp and still connect**
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8wecmJbdHQ audio
12.whatever next**
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eMpnlEG_HM&feature=related audio
13.7 & 3 is the strikers name**
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0i6L1Q9kzU&playnext=1&list=PL3C7BCF932B204496&index=39 audio
14.up the dosage***
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A98gPhBTjD0 live with 'wake up the nation'
15.pieces of a dream**
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcOYnH42Y7Y live
16.two fat ladies***
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ri_Y1SBFeUg audio

3s=5
2s=11
1s=0

rating 2.3

to be continued,next...stand alone singles-so far.

[CRAZY-HORSE]

PAUL WELLER: the non album singles

1994 hung up** #11UK
a good guitar driven song,short and sweet,was added to later editions of 'wildwood' album
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPr92VbsyrM live

1998 brand new start** #16UK
a nice acoustic country styled single complete with slide guitar,a song of regret and needing to change: inspired after a drunken binge which saw him smash up his hotel room in france earlier in the year
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgd7qMVuD...re=related live

2006 wild blue yonder* #22UK
horrible,horrible song, not fit to be a b'side,lyrically and musically very weak
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Joe731Qcy4Y live

Paul Weller has recorded numerous singles with other artists including:
Dr.John, Robert Wyatt, Terry Callier.
below are three of the better efforts

1995 come together** under the name smokin' mojo filters featuring Noel Gallagher and Paul McCartney,the song was recorded as part of a charity album,at the time this was billed as ' meeting of three generational legends',the single failed to sell,but with Macca guesting on a Beatles cover it is worthy of inclusion here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jPO2-zvSQ0 video

2006 this old town** with graham Coxon(blur). #39UK.
graham Coxon is the 1990s Johnny Marr, Coxon also co-wrote 'black river' on Weller's 2008 '22dreams' album.this one features Zak Starkey on drums.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdvWR3prbzg live

2007 are you trying to be lonely*** with andy lewis #31UK
a good soul song in the vein of motown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcoKaUoMx...re=related video

to be continued,next...b'sides and essential rarities.

[CRAZY-HORSE]

PAUL WELLER "b'sides & essential rarities"

as with Style Council and Jam before them,Weller makes interesting,sometimes great b'sides and has recorded numerous cover versions that are worth listening to.

1994 sexie sadie**
Beatles cover, b'side of 'out of the sinking'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYfxysyJiqE audio, link includes cover of 'dont let me down' Beatles cover

1995 my whole world is fallin' down***
acoustic cover version of William Bell's classic soul song,this was the b'side of 'you do something to me'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXo7ITuKgf8 audio

1995 i'd rather go blind***
cover of Etta James classic,completed in one drunken/emotional take, b'side of 'the changingman'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJOcZUDmSXo audio

1996 i shall be released**
Dylan cover, b'side of 1996 reissue of 'out of the sinking'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aekunoeXoZs audio

1997 aint no love in the heart of the city***
another good cover,this time its a Bobby Bland, b'side of the terrible 'brushed' single
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCIhY_NR5CE live

2004 family affair***
Sly & The Family Stone cover,nice soul version,TSC should have done this one, b'side of 'wishing on a star'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2v1Y6K3sBMU audio

2008 pretty flamingo**
worthy cover of the Manfred's classic mid 60s hit, b'side of 'all i wanna do(is be with you). the version in the link is the initial demo,prior to recorded/released version.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2v9ypwURerk live

2010 how sweet it is(to be loved by you)**
another old soul song, nice cover,probably the weakest of those featured,but includes lauren pritchard on duet vocals.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jfn9dX-IZ7M live

HERE ARE SIX RARITIES FROM PAUL WELLER:

instant karma**
you cant beat Lennons version,but not bad,musically heavier than the original
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__VvPXbdyhU live

bang bang***
superior to the Sonny & cher version, with more feeling and emotion in the vocals
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQy8fkmFOIQ live

black sheep boy***
a great version of the Tim Hardin classic folk song,done to perfection here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2bk9Os_0HY audio

waiting on an angel**
nice acoustic version of the little known Ben Harper song,Weller makes it into a folk song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAJ4G96mZxg audio

i heard it through the grapevine* with Amy winehouse
not too keen on this one,thought amy could have done far better,interesting nevertheless.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVT-BokwmWY live

what's going on**
another Marvin Gaye song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lk-uTURSEc live

[Thraak]

Another good one which i don't think you've mentioned is his cover of Etta James' 'I'd Rather Go Blind' which is featured on the deluxe edition of Stanley Road. If you haven't got it its a worthy addition to your collection and has lots of cool demo/jams/outtakes from Stanley Road recording sessions.

Lastly another from the Wild Wood sessions is 'Ohio'. Whilst the demo version is messy and Weller tends to forget half the lyrics throughout the song, this live version from glastonbury (I think) is outstanding!

"Pity Neil Young can't be here"- Indeed!
[video=youtube;5CIvKCvAvCE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CIvKCvAvCE[/video]

[CRAZY-HORSE]

"i'd rather go blind" has been mentioned in the post above your one Soulman.
"ohio" was also the b'side to "the weaver" single and it is good, but others i didnt put up were equally as good like "the talisman" , "push button automatic", "the riverbank" "ends of the earth" , "shoot the dove",
as ive said before,its impossible to put up every track all the time, hopefully if anyone is interested they will 'youtube' PW themselves and find some of these other tracks, but thanks for your imput lewis.

[Thraak]

Yeah I think I meant 'Its A New Day Baby' which is the track below it on the album. Never mind and you're right it's too hefty a task to include every single track. Glad to help out.

[CRAZY-HORSE]

i did try to find that one but there wasnt a link on youtube, 'its a new day,baby" is a great song

[Thraak]

Yeah I believe its also an original composition. I was shocked when I found out as I assumed it was another cover.

[CRAZY-HORSE]

its always good to go back and look at something a few months after its finished to see it objectively, and im really proud of this one, it turned out really well, heres hoping i can say the same thing about the Neil Young one sometime in the future.