Which phase of Paul Weller's career do you think was his best?

'Sweetpea, my Sweetpea' era :hihi: x

The bit when he couldn't get a record deal.

The bit when he couldn't get a record deal.

Now now Basil....:hihi:

Jam definitely.

I like The Jam and Paul Weller as a solo artist.

But The Style Council stuff is rubbish.

I like The Jam and Paul Weller as a solo artist.

But The Style Council stuff is rubbish.

same for me

the style council stuff is plain awful

the style council stuff is plain awful

The early stuff was pretty decent,and a few classic songs emerged,but the later stuff was terrible,i must agree.
Shout To The Top,Long Hot Summer,My Ever Changing Moods among others were classics in their time.

Certainly the Jam period

Well I have to confess to liking The Bitterist Pill I Ever Had To Swallow, excellent vocal. And I did part with my cash and buy Speak Like A Child and Long Hot Summer.

But there's just something about Mr Weller that makes me wish I could squash him under my thumb till he goes splat. And if Bruce Foxton happened to by standing by then I couldn't resist the opportunity to whack him in the face with his Fender bass....,

Beat surrender indeed.

The Jam without a doubt.

The day he retires! :hihi:

1973-77 relief cashier Kwik Save, Woking, Surrey.

The Jam .. coming from an old modette :D

The best personally for me was The Style Council. Before you all shoot me down in flames, hear me out!!

I discovered that the songs I'd liked as a little 'un were all by this band called The Jam just as The Jam were, well on the verge of splitting up. I remember watching Beat Surrender on the telly and crying as I'd only just proper started being a fan that year. It was the first band that I 'discovered' really and that fun of having a back catalogue to look back to. Never got to see them in their full glory but went to see From the Jam last year.

However 1983 I was just twelve, had just really started having money to spend in record shops (had discovered Circles in Rotherham) and The Style Council's output that year was prolific (3 singles, one an EP, an import album and a proper album). Weller was writing loads as The Cappucino kid, he was releasing stuff on Respond records with other artists like Tracie Young and Big Sound Authority. I embraced this "new mod" and the clothes that went with it, whilst still playing at the bowling shoes and dogtooth skirt look.
I love all the political stuff - our favourite shop was played to death! I'd also started going to gigs by then and remember watching them at the city hall and being so overwhelmed by it all.
I didn't quite get the house era, still not sure about Modernism:a new decade. However Weller was firmly installed as my icon then and I was lucky enough to see him at the Octogan in 1990(1?) when he didn't have a record deal and was toying with a lot of the Paul weller movement stuff.

Show me a Jam fan who doesn't like what should have been the last Jam single anyway, A solid bond in your heart... a fantastic record!
He is my most respected singer/songwriter. :)

Style Council definately, I love Long Hot Summer, Your the Best Thing, My Ever Changing Mood and lots of the others too :)

Oh I also loved his version of Carpenters 'Close to You' and Sister Sledge's 'Thinking Of You' on Paul Weller live and unplugged :)

Well that was a tricky one Steve... lots of good periods. I really, really like the Jam. Some of my earliest music memories and one of my first pop crushes. I was gutted by the split but was quite happy with the Style Council. As Shaznay said, Long Hot Summer, Best Thing, Changing Mood - how totally delicious. And now there is Paul, who never seeks to amaze me. It is not necessarily his best, but is interesting.

I will say the Jam as they made such an impression in my formative years, but then, oh I just can't do it.

Sound affects, great album, but David Watts live at the Rainbow Theatre takes some beating

I recently bought a style council collection from sainsbury because it was only £3 and I thought it might be worth a listen.

Several tracks were utterly embarrasing and badly advised, especially the one about Monetarism in the 1980s and Stag Hunting..

A couple of tracks were great but those ones were the famous singles.

As for the rest, it was a mixture of a kind of soul music which Weller was struggling to sing, and the other bloke sang one he was utterly off key at times.

On these Style council recordings, Weller was trying to achive a type of music which requires a great lead singer with a much larger and higher vocal range than he posseses. He is himself a decent singer but within his own boundaries. For instance he was singing in a staccatto style which suits punk songs but they were utterly innapropriate for this stuff. Especially as most of the songs were well written.

My conclusion was that the Style council had a few good moments, but the recordings were badly produced, possibly in a rush, they could have done with a better producer to make them do the songs in a better way.

I like most of Paul Weller's stuff.I think he's reinvented himself many times, admittedly, some of the style council stuff was a mistake, but some of it was great.The Jam were phenomenal, but I have to say I love nearly all his solo stuff.I once saw him on an old Jools Holland show, and he just went from Jam stuff to solo stuff and was fantastic.

I used to listen to the album 'Wildwood' a lot...if I remember well..you can listen to it all the way through...as there's little riffs and melodies that return throughout. Nice. :)

Couldn't listen to it now though...as it's reminiscent of an era gone for me.


Still like 'A Town Called Malice' from 'Jam' days though...(for years I thought it was 'Alice'...what a nerd!)