Wanna Know: Paul Weller - Modern Classics [1999]

Friday, August 3, 2007

Paul Weller - Modern Classics [1999]

1. Out Of The Sinking

2. Peacock Suit
3. Sunflower
4. The Weaver
5. Wild Wood
6. Above The Clouds
7. Uh-Huh Oh-Yeh
8. Brushed
9. The Changingman
10. Friday Street
11. You Do Something To Me
12. Brand New Start
13. Hung Up
14. Mermaids
15. Broken Stones
16. Into Tomorrow

After making his name with the Jam and then nearly losing it (in some quarters) with the Style Council, Paul Weller reemerged in 1992 with a self-titled album. Since then he's released four studio albums (and one live set, Live Wood); Modern Classics is a democratic collection, choosing three tracks from Paul Weller, four tracks from each of the rest, and adding one new single, "Brand New Start", for good measure. There's not a loser in the lot, but the remarkable thing to note here is the coherence of this collection: Weller's mature rock and love of classic soul has resulted in a sound that's remained remarkably consistent over the course of the 1990s.
For the U.S. market, the word "classics" is perhaps employed here with a certain irony, given that the vast majority ofAmerican listeners continue to turn the proverbial deaf earto Weller's work. (of course, back in England, where he's agod, of course, these songs really were hits.) In any case,MODERN CLASSICS collects the best cuts from Weller's four solo albums released between 1992 and '97, the period when the former Jam-meister finally forged a coherent style out of his love for late-'60s artists like Traffic, the Small Faces, the Move, et al. What's particularly impressive is how thewhole thing coheres. Despite the varying recording locations, dates, and personnel, the songs here sound like they wereall bashed at one marathon all-night session.