release date: Mar. 1, 1984
format: vinyl (TSCLP1) / cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,56]
producer: Paul Weller, Peter Wilson
label: Polydor Records - nationality: England. UK
Track highlights: 2. "The Whole Point of No Return" (4 / 5) - 4. "Blue Cafe" - 5. "The Paris Match" (3,5 / 5) - 6. "My Ever Changing Moods" (4 / 5) - 10. "You're the Best Thing" (5 / 5) - 11. "Here's One That Got Away" (3,5 / 5) - 12. "Headstart for Happiness" (4 / 5)
Studio debut album by The Style Council. The album is a stylistic mix of pop soul and sophisti-pop with bits and pieces of jazz. It's pretty good, and frankly, it's the best by this band who, despite the bold pop expression, holds tight to a lust for experimentation. The best tracks are the ones solely composed by Paul Weller. Whenever Mick Talbot is credited as composer it becomes too jazz-fueled and it loses everything connected with soul. Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt (aka Everything But The Girl) feature on "The Paris Match" and Weller's future wife Dee C. Lee sings backing vocals on "Strength of Your Nature" and "Headstart for Hapiness".
The album is enlisted in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5 stars ]
