release date: Nov. 18, 1977
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,52]
producer: Vic Coppersmith-Heaven, Chris Parry
label Polydor - nationality: England, UK
Track highlights: 1. "The Modern World" - 3. "Standards" (4,5 / 5) (live) - 4. "Life From a Window" - 7. "In the Street, Today" (4 / 5) (live) - 10. "Here Comes the Weekend" - 12. "In the Midnight Hour"
2nd album by The Jam released through Polydor Records and like the debut produced by produced by Vic Coppersmith-Heaven and Chris Parry. After the great debut album In the City (1977) filled with mod songs wrapped up in angry punk rock, this is a progression to a change of sound only some six months later. The album was and still is a disappointing release. A few great tracks like "Standards", and "In the Street, Today" cannot save the overall impression of a weak release. Bruce Foxton wrote "London Traffic" and the cover song "In the Midnight Hour" (by Wilson Pickett) is fine but not really as great as some live versions suggest it could have been, and Paul Weller wrote the remaining songs. The style is a mix of influences - it's perhaps the album where the trio sounds the most like The Who) and mostly reflects the band's progression towards a more unique new wave and mod revival sound.
[ allmusic.com 3 / 5 stars ]
