KNOCK ?EM DOWN (The Sound Of The Jam - The Jam)

Member Name: thehud

Product:	The Sound Of The Jam - The Jam
Date:	04/07/04 (108 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Brilliant

Disadvantages: None

Punk imperative number one: never admit you like a melody

Punk imperative number two: never admit you can play

Punk imperative number three: use safety pins and tears

Now if that was the case how the hell did Paul Weller and the Jam become darlings of the new wave, because that was certainly what they were back in the late 1970s. Weller, Foxton and Buckler flew madly in the face of the accepted wisdom of the time with their nice haircuts, smart clothes and fiendishly clever reworkings of songs by the Beatles and particularly the Who. It was odd that they were always accused of being Who copyists, and it was always too easy to trace the similarities between Weller and Townshend, because the Rickenbackers, the mod stylings, the manic live gigs and the whirlwind guitar playing always call to mind the Tommy boys.

However, listen to the music, at least after the first album, In The City, with its shallow touch of mod style, and it is more the memory of Lennon and McCartney than that of Daltrey and Moon that fills your mind. God, they even lifted Taxman by George Harrison for one of their major hit singles. It was, I suppose, when they got onto All Mod Cons when they really went for it with their homage to Mersey beat and finally left behind mod music, and those were dreamy days indeed.

The Jam were always about Paul Weller, not the other two faceless nonentities who failed on his divine coattails to find their way onto Top of the Pops. He wrote all the songs, well at least 95 per cent of them (sorry Rick), sang as many and was always the focal point of their performance, making all the little girlies wet their pants with excitement at his moody looks and floppy hair. That's not to say that they didn't have a part to play in the magic of &
#84;he Jam, its just that they always looked like they would have been more at home watching football or working in a hairdressers.

It makes me feel my age to think that this is all nearly 30 years ago now, the days of the Pistols and the Clash, who were really what punk was about, although bands like The Jam used the time and the movement to make their big break and they shouldn't be decried for that.

Weller was brilliant, very credible and was one of the very few who never really sold out. The rage of his first songs quickly gave way to the beauty and social commentary of many of his later efforts, and for every mad blast of aggression there is a counterpoint in songs like the wonderful The Butterfly Collector, with its dreamy acoustic guitars and soft feel. And I remember when I first heard that song and it still affects me in the same way to this very day -- just perfection, Mr Weller.

Weller eventually dumped The Jam to go his own way with the Style Council and Mick Talbot, who I always really disliked with their crap soul offerings, but then came back in his own right, a boy, a guitar and his songs, singing his songs of darkness and disgrace. Shifting Stones, I loved that.

Yeah, well, this review is about The Jam and their time in history so let's stick to the knitting.

The Sound Of The Jam is a 25th anniversary celebration of the life and times of the rockers, covering all their hit singles and filling your mind with the gorgeous memories of when you were young and innocent and convinced the world could be a better place, poor naive losers that we were.

It captures their sound perfectly and serves as a fitting tribute to one of this country's finest ever rock bands.

Dig this: In The City, Away From The Numbers, &
#84;he Modern World, David Watts, Down In The Tube Station At Midnight, It's Too Bad, To Be Someone, Mr Clean, English Rose, The Butterfly Collector, The Eton Rifles, Private Hell, Thick As Thieves, Smithers Jones, Saturday's Kids, Going Underground, Start!, Liza Radley, Pretty Green, Boy About Town, That's Entertainment, Tales From The Riverbank, Town Called Malice, Ghosts, Carnation, Beat Surrender!!

Can you ever imagine a better collection of songs by an English rock band than these? Perfectly capturing the time when we were young. The three of them stare out from the sleeve in their smart casual, Foxton and Buckler dumb sidemen and Weller the all knowing genius who kept them in work. You will never ever know what you've got until it?s gone. Happily this album is here for all time even when you and they are grey and frail. Enjoy!

I'm not going to bother going the details of the songs on this album, because they'll either mean something to you already or I'm wasting my time - if you like The Jam, then you'll love this album, if you're indifferent to them, then not much I can say will change that world view - suffice to say that this band were masters of rock pop, eloquent wordsmiths who made extremely strong and elegant statements over some of the best choons you could ever waggle a stick at. The Butterfly Collector, Going Underground, In The City, Down In The Tube Station At Midnight and Away From The Numbers are my favourites, but make your own mind up - like Paul Weller, you're an adult...

Summary: