release date: Sep. 1, 1992
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,42]
producer: Paul Weller, Brendan Lynch
label: Go! Discs / London Records - nationality: England, UK
Track highlights: 1. "Uh Huh Oh Yeh!" - 2. "I Didn't Mean to Hurt You" - 5. "Remember How We Started" - 6. "Above the Clouds" - 11. "Bitterness Rising"
Solo studio debut by Paul Weller after leaving The Style Council, and after leaving behind various stylistic attempts. This is a better effort than his last releases with The Style Council. On this, he continues his fascination for pop soul but blends it nicely within a modern context of jazz pop influences and mod revival elements, which again links to his glorious days in The Jam. He makes an original blend without making it sound entirely as sophisti-pop, and he builds songs with a stronger sense of singer / songwriter and mature pop / rock. It's still a first sketch with hints pointing here and there, but generally it's just nice to hear him challenge his talent on his own instead of wasting time on polished posh. This is his first solo album in a long journey that propels him up to current time. Some tracks sound like shaped for The Style Council and in that way makes it a half success.
[ allmusic.com, Mojo 4 / 5, Rolling Stone 2 / 5 stars ]
