All Mod Cons - Jam (The) > Reviews > The Boy Wonder Becomes A Modfather

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Definitely a cut above the rest
Lyrics	Sublime
Quality and consistency of tracks	Flawless
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Outstanding
Value for Money	Excellent

Advantages:	Era and career defining
Disadvantages:	Some tracks starting to show their age

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

After the initial adrenalin burst of their first album, In The City, came the mildly disappointing This Is The Modern World. After just two albums questions were already being asked about Paul Weller's songwriting. It looked for a time as is Paul Weller was washed up at the age of 19.

And then came All Mod Cons, and all the fears were dispelled in one fell swoop!

From the first chiming Rickenbacker chords on the title track you know that you are in for a treat! The original ingredients are there, anger and drive, but they are joined by a new maturity in Paul's songwriting.

The wonderful To Be Someone follows, with Paul reflecting on the trappings of stardom. Mr Clean aims for the solar plexus of those corporate fools who were much despised by the Punk generation. The comes Weller's reading of Ray Davies' David Watts, adding a degree of vitriolic irony to an already perfectly formed song.

Then comes a true beauty. English Rose is full of melancholy and yearning. A love song written by a man who is obviously in love for the first time. It's probably Paul Weller's first soul song. In sentiment if not in style.

Billy Hunt is Weller's David Watts, and then we go from The Kinks to The Who with the unbelievable It's Too Bad.

Fly and A Place I Love are lyrically interesting. Ideas that Paul Weller would revisit on his Wildwood and Stanley Road albums 15 years later.

Then comes the double whammy! A Bomb In Wardour Street follows the story of a violent struggle in the middle of Soho. Vivid images of blood and mob clashes sum up the era of Mod versus Punk versus Skinhead versus anyone!

The album ends with the classic Down In The Tubestation At Midnight. A story of a mugging, told hauntingly in the first person. The lyrics conjour up images that are so easy to picture in your mind: Take away curry, smell of brown leather, the echo of stone steps and the rumble of the train.

This is the exact moment The Jam went from being brash Punk upstarts to fully fledged members of the great British guitar band club.

The Kinks, The Who, Slade, The Clash, The Jam, Oasis, Kaiser Chiefs. The list is endless, but The Jam are in there. Influenced by those who came before, and a major influence on those who followed.

If you only own one Jam album, please make sure it's this one.