CD-Charts Position 1
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22 Dreams

by: Paul Weller

Release Date June 02, 2008
This has been variously described by others as a concept album, theatrical, self-indulgent and rubbish. I don't agree with any of those descriptions (and certainly not the last one!).

While I don't like every track on this album, there are more than enough great songs for anyone. I can understand that it's not everyone's bag, but let's face it, PW can't just keep on recording new versions of the changing man and peacock suit! We went to Paul's Bristol gig earlier this year where we heard lots of these for the first time. Sometimes difficult to hear a song for the first time, but you could still tell they were quality!

Have you made up your mind? is, for my money, an absolute classic, and one of the stand-out tracks ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 2
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At The BBC

by: Paul Weller

Release Date November 03, 2008
This has been variously described by others as a concept album, theatrical, self-indulgent and rubbish. I don't agree with any of those descriptions (and certainly not the last one!).

While I don't like every track on this album, there are more than enough great songs for anyone. I can understand that it's not everyone's bag, but let's face it, PW can't just keep on recording new versions of the changing man and peacock suit! We went to Paul's Bristol gig earlier this year where we heard lots of these for the first time. Sometimes difficult to hear a song for the first time, but you could still tell they were quality!

Have you made up your mind? is, for my money, an absolute classic, and one of the stand-out tracks ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 3
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Modern Classics - The Greatest Hits

by: Paul Weller

Release Date February 06, 2006
This album shows the progression Paul Weller has made as a purely solo artist from 1992 to 1998. The tracks on it are stunning and include "Changing Man" "Out of the Sinking" "Broken Stones" "You do something to me " and many more it does not however include any of the stunning tracks which were not released as singles and therefore the collection is rather incomplete.

I would advise anyone buying this to treat it as an introduction to Paul Weller's solo work and then go on and buy his back catalogue as I am sure you will find songs on the albums which are better than some of the tracks included. I say this as a die hard Weller fan that first saw the Jam in the 1970's and still enjoys his work today.

CD-Charts Position 4
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Stanley Road

by: Paul Weller

Release Date March 29, 1999
I simply cannot understand the plaudits dished out to this elevator music reincarnation of late '60's white soul boy funk.

Ever heard of Traffic? The Faces? Oh, there are countless bands from the period, and most of which Weller was very keen to dismiss as "hippy" back in the days of The Jam.

Something has definitely happened to Weller. He's got older and matured well, but that's half the problem. This music is suitable for playing whilst you're busy hanging wall-paper or decorating your youngest's playroom. It is so bland, both musically and lyrically, that I have difficulty believing that this album WAS actually written by the same man who wrote Start, Going Underground, That's Entertainment, to name a few.

Lyrically ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 5
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Wild Wood

by: Paul Weller

Release Date September 01, 1993
The later version of this album is even better, with the inclusion of "Hung Up", but all the tracks are great.

Check out "The Weaver"....and the accompanying video!

Where will we find meaning after Weller?......

CD-Charts Position 6
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All I Wanna Do/Push It Along

by: Paul Weller

Release Date August 25, 2008
The later version of this album is even better, with the inclusion of "Hung Up", but all the tracks are great.

Check out "The Weaver"....and the accompanying video!

Where will we find meaning after Weller?......

CD-Charts Position 7
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Hit Parade

by: Paul Weller

Release Date November 06, 2006
I read recently that Paul Weller regarded his time with The Jam as his creative low point, prefering both his solo material and that of the Style Council. I can't help thinking that this is in some way to further scupper any notion that the original 3 members of The Jam might reunite once and for all, after all, why should he revisit material that he regards as inferior?

However, what this Weller collection which covers some of his most famous material from all three stages of his career proves is that he is a songwriter of immense talent, an almost incomparable musician who offers very good value to his audience and that all of his musical phases are at least worthy and admirable. However, it also proves to me that while some of his solo material is ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 8
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Paul Weller

by: Paul Weller

Release Date December 15, 2000
How did The Style Council go so badly wrong (at the end) when PW still had music like this inside him?

If truth be told, he probably didn't at the end of the 80s. I never heard the "new decade in modernism" album til it came out on TSC's box set, and to be frank, I've never been so grateful for a "skip" button on a CD player.

But this is something else. A man cornered, perhaps, but if so, he certainly knows how to come out fighting. This album is to Weller what All Mod Cons was to The Jam. A new beginning, a new hope. It still makes me glad to be alive!

CD-Charts Position 9
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Heliocentric

by: Paul Weller

Release Date April 10, 2000
If you're expecting Stanley Road all over again then you're in for some disappointment. This isn't Paul's best album by a long way, but there are still some fine songs on here!

Worth buying in it's own right, but more so, for me, from the perspective that it got me into some of Ronnie Lane's solo stuff, which truly blew me away. When we remember The Small Faces, we almost inevitably think of Stevie, but check out some of Ronnie's own tunes, too, and you'll be as pleased as I was! We pass this way but once.....

CD-Charts Position 10
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Heavy Soul

by: Paul Weller

Release Date December 15, 2000
I've been best mates with my best mate(dur!...obviously!) for over 25 years. He got this album before me, and when he remarked to me that it was "obvious filler", we fell out, and he had to buy me several pints before I would speak to him again.

I really like it. It oozes class. Right from the opening riffs of Heavy Soul Part I through to Friday Street. The tracks that will live forever are obvious...Peacock Suit, Brushed and Friday Street, but there are other unforgettable songs in between, too.

Who else gives you a dozen anthems every time you buy one of his albums?