Excellent Disc by One of My Favorite Artists

Paul Weller is a fine and very gifted artist and one I consider to be the King of Cool. This CD is a great solo effort. Above the Clouds, I Didn't Mean to Hurt You, Round and Round, Strange Museum and Bitterness Rising are my favorites here and boy are they good! With that gorgeous voice and cool music, how could he possibly ever record anything that's bad? His songs seem to embody what all of Europe is all about and since I left a piece of my heart over there I always enjoy hearing it. I don't know how else to describe it but I really love it all. This man mesmerizes me.

Style Council's Final Album-Proper

Paul Weller's first solo album feels quite like any of the Style Council's albums- Jazzy cords, funk interludes and romantic themes. Most of the members of Style Council play the music.



It makes sense that Paul Weller "disbanded" the Style Council. Although I believe they were an amazing band it had definitely run it's course with the final unreleased album of house music that record label refused to release (although you can hear it in it's entirety on the box set). Paul Weller needed to brake out of the box he had created with the Style Council- much what he did with The Jam but with a lot less controversy.



Paul Weller in some ways is a cathartic album in that it is him shaking out all the ideas that he wanted to get out on Style Council albums while going into the new direction that he would hit his stride with on his next album Wild Wood.



Song's like Uh-Huh Oh Yeah and Into Tomorrow were definitely new directions for Weller. Earthier more soul less polish. While Round & Round, Amongst the Butterflies, Above the Clouds and Remember How We Started fit in with plenty of The Style Council's catalog, there is a an earthiness that wasn't present before which makes for a nice cohesiveness between the old and new styles.



Paul Weller is an excellent album; he was on top of his game but in a transitional mode; every song is engaging and moody. This and Wild Wood are excellent solo albums to check out if you are interested in Paul Weller. Also check out The Jam's All Mod Cons and Sound Effects as well as The Style Council's "Introducing..." or just about any of their compilations (but try to find one that has "Heaven's Above").

Top Ten CD

"When you wake to find that everything has left you and your clothes belong to someone else..." - Just one of the great lyrics on this soulful, soul-searching recording.

This is one of my top ten CDs. The music is reminiscent of Innervisions by Stevie Wonder and classic Traffic (as well as Marvin Gaye). Above The Clouds is straight out of a dream... excellent. Throw in a little of the Who's Magic Bus and you have one of the most complete CDs ever made. It honors the past while boldly heading Into Tomorrow.



[DW]