What's impressive with Hit Parade is not what's absent but what's present, which is not only enough to make a case for Weller's strengths as a songwriter and restless rocker, but which helps explain the transitions in his career in a way that may be revelatory even for longtime fans. This means that there are great songs left behind - whether it's the Jam B-side "Tales from the Riverbank" or the soulful "Can You Heal Us (Holy Man)" from Wild Wood - but that's the nature of hits compilations: great songs get left behind. Given the great wealth of music that Weller made during these three decades, the compilers picked the simplest and best solution to whittling down his rich, complicated career to the basics: they picked the A-sides of all of his British singles. It's one of the great careers of the post-punk era, and the four-disc 2006 box set Hit Parade is the first attempt to tell it in its entirety, from the bright, brilliant early years of the Jam to his role as an elder statesman in the new millennium. That ornery side gave his music an edge and also gave it a riveting humanity that earned him a passionate, devoted audience who stuck with him through a roller coaster of ups and downs in his career, from his abrupt disbandment of the Jam to form the slick, soulful Style Council to his comeback as the trad-rocking Modfather in the '90s. From the outset, Weller was different - too tense, too difficult to fit into the crowd even when he was the most popular musician in Britain, as he was when he led the Jam at the turn of the '80s. Certainly, they rarely keep performing into middle age, but Paul Weller has never been ordinary.
Weller the elder statesman sounds more invigorated than ever as he cheekily tries every musical trick under the sun.Teenage rock & rollers often don't last.
If there’s one thing On Sunset doesn’t evoke, it ’ s the twilight of a career. Weller diehards, however, will be all the more impressed by his reunion with former Style Council partner Mick Talbot, who deliciously lathers a trio of tracks with his one - of - a - kind Hammond o rgan sound. ” Th e latter tune is less glammy than straight up gypsy folk, of all things, but its Tom - Waits - meets - Rod - Stewart vibes make for a unique mix of artsy accessibility. The fact that Weller is unafraid to revel in the confines of this genre, despite its lack of trendiness today, make s “Village” all the more fun to listen to.īlues and gospel are also ripe for Weller’s picking on the swaggering “Baptiste,” and a glam rock legend of his youth, Jim Lea of Slade, play s violin on “ Equanimity. The same can be said for “Village,” whose smoothly crafted bridge and harmlessly hummable chorus would make Elton John or Rod Stewart jealous as they strived for AM radio stardom in the ’ 90s. Those elements differentiate the record from the standard easy - listening fair that Weller isn’t merely competing with, but is clearly trying to blast past. However, a smoldering escalation of tempo and volume give s the song unexpected art isan textures. Lead single “Earth Beat” harkens back to Weller’s ’ 80s second act, thanks to its stadium - sized guitar and fuzz y, outsized synths. Not all of O n Sunset ’s songs are so varied, but the sounds between the tracks certainly transition quickly. Weller un locks each sonic shift like opening up a Russian Doll, deftly capturing the listener’s attention and leaving them eager ly awaiting the next twist. Purring, robotic synths contrast the low, lumbering rock of the rhythm section, before hand - tapped drums rattle and resound. ” Calling it experimental or eclectic would be an understatement-instead, Weller stuffs the song’s seams with a myriad of genre elements. Be it the violin- laced glam rock of the early ’ 70s before forming T he Jam, the blue- eyed soul he sang as part of The Style Council in the ’ 80s, or the raw and esoteric pop rock of his solo career in the ’ 90s, every facet of Weller is encapsulated i n this richly detailed LP. For nearly half a century, Paul Weller has been immersed in Britain’s music biz, and t he breadth of those decades of experience are nearly as vast as the title of his 15th solo album, On Sunset.
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