The Album Review Club - Week #128 - (page 1587) - Pretty Vicious - The Struts

[mancity111]

I'm not going to argue that it's better than the original but I dont think it suffers much in comparison. I like it partly because of the novelty of Foxton on vocals. Also it's quite possible without the Jam's version most people wouldn't be familiar with the original because it was only ever a b-side for the Kinks on a single that only did business in the UK. The story of how it got written is quite funny if Ray Davies is to be believed.

Re. your last comment, clearly I wasn't being serious in suggesting that US popular music of the time was a cultural void. After all that was the year Copacabana came out ;-)

Love the pun TS because BM was Copacabana after he Wrote the Song but anybody who changes a virtual one hit wonders title from one female name to another to kick off their career to allegedly not confuse it with another song by the same name by another virtual one hit wonder leaves a lot to be desired.

I rate Debbie Boone higher than I do Barry Manilow but it is difficult to rate music that when played and sung is in tune but nothing more.

 

[RobMCFC]

All Mod Cons – The Jam

This really isn’t my cup of tea. Yes, it’s a competent band doing their thing, but it bustles along mechanically and for the most part leaves me cold.

Too often, Paul Weller goes into that cockney chanting thing that ruins so much music of the time. “English Rose” is probably the pick of the bunch, a song where the attitude is dropped and instead, it’s a sung from the heart. The tail of “In The Crowd” with its psychedelic guitar is more to my taste but there’s not enough of this sound to keep me interested across the album.

Once he’d shrugged off this mediocrity, dialled down the attitude and injected some much-needed heart and soul into his music, Paul Weller would go on to much better things – his Wild Wood has all the things that are mostly missing from this album – melody, guitar solos, instrumental passages, a bit of groove and brilliantly structured songs.

There’s no doubt that The Jam have a uniform sound and style, which is probably why so many people love them, but unfortunately, I’m not one of them. 5/10

 

[mancity2012_eamo]

All Mod Cons – The Jam

This really isn’t my cup of tea. Yes, it’s a competent band doing their thing, but it bustles along mechanically and for the most part leaves me cold.

Too often, Paul Weller goes into that cockney chanting thing that ruins so much music of the time. “English Rose” is probably the pick of the bunch, a song where the attitude is dropped and instead, it’s a sung from the heart. The tail of “In The Crowd” with its psychedelic guitar is more to my taste but there’s not enough of this sound to keep me interested across the album.

Once he’d shrugged off this mediocrity, dialled down the attitude and injected some much-needed heart and soul into his music, Paul Weller would go on to much better things – his Wild Wood has all the things that are mostly missing from this album – melody, guitar solos, instrumental passages, a bit of groove and brilliantly structured songs.

There’s no doubt that The Jam have a uniform sound and style, which is probably why so many people love them, but unfortunately, I’m not one of them. 5/10

Wild Wood is a very good album.
Much more mature.

 

[journolud]

I''ve not heard Wildwoood bt do have Stanley Road and would agree, obviously much more mature. Was thinking when I heard English Rose that it's a pretty naive and not particularly good track, compared to the likes of You do Something to me and others. Can't balme him for having been young though...

 

[bigstanhibbert]

Some great reviews here, for anyone interested Foxton is still touring in FTJ, saw them last Friday in Holmfirth, fantastic night with many old fat blokes having a great time. They are just coming to the end of their 45th anniversary tour for 'All Mod Cons', they will start the 45th anniversary tour of Setting Sons' in November, can't wait

 

[bennyboy]

Wild Wood is a very good album.
Much more mature.

To be fair it should be.
Paul was 15 years older when that came out.
He was a teenage song writer when All Mod Cons came out.An angry teenager at that.
The Jam came around at the right time for me.
A teenager that was writing songs that I got right into.
Wild Wood another great record that I got into.
A thirty something still following a thirty somethings writing.
His latest release 66 I'm loving as well as a 60 odd year old.
I have followed Paul Weller career from this album onwards.Over 45 years old and loved every minute of it.
Yes even the Style Council.

 

[mancity2012_eamo]

To be fair it should be.
Paul was 15 years older when that came out.
He was a teenage song writer when All Mod Cons came out.An angry teenager at that.
The Jam came around at the right time for me.
A teenager that was writing songs that I got right into.
Wild Wood another great record that I got into.
A thirty something still following a thirty somethings writing.
His latest release 66 I'm loving as well as a 60 odd year old.
I have followed Paul Weller career from this album onwards.Over 45 years old and loved every minute of it.
Yes even the Style Council.

I hear ye.
I had a soft spot for the Style Council also.
I actually appreciated his change in direction.
As you outlined above it reflects his different stages of life as you follow his musical progression.

 

[FogBlueInSanFran]

Well, if this selection did one thing, it got me going back through their catalog. There are very few bands I can think of who changed their sound more distinctly over their life as a band — and not to meet the market, mind, but because the band was growing up. It’s really quite winning actually. That said, I was listening to “Saturday’s Kids” last night and found references to eight different things I couldn’t identify as a Yank because they were so English — and I’m a hopeless Anglophile. Need to go through AMC again a few times before I write but as an outsider looking in it’s somewhat charming to see you FOCs who grew up with this music wax rhapsodic about the days when “Mr. Clean” was your fist-raising anthem :).

 

[mancity2012_eamo]

Well, if this selection did one thing, it got me going back through their catalog. There are very few bands I can think of who changed their sound more distinctly over their life as a band — and not to meet the market, mind, but because the band was growing up. It’s really quite winning actually. That said, I was listening to “Saturday’s Kids” last night and found references to eight different things I couldn’t identify as a Yank because they were so English — and I’m a hopeless Anglophile. Need to go through AMC again a few times before I write but as an outsider looking in it’s somewhat charming to see you FOCs who grew up with this music wax rhapsodic about the days when “Mr. Clean” was your fist-raising anthem :).

Hey! Less of the F if you please.

 

[bennyboy]

We all surely have a group we all followed in our teenage years onwards.
Although I do not care for the later Morriissey stuff I understand where Mad Eye Screamer is coming from with his Smiths and Morrissey posts.