Lady Q and I have been listening to music together on our jogs, and a lot of classic albums she's never listened to in their entirety, so it's been a great chance for us to assess and reassess everything and to discuss. I'm thinking of doing threads on some of these albums.
Last night was The Jam's Sound Effects. What are your three favorite tunes on the album? Have your views on the album changed over the years?
On our run, I resequenced it to reflect the U.S. sequence, with "Start!" at the beginning. Non-canonical I know, but so good that way. I'm interested if any of you have any thoughts on this ... or why such an immediate song/single -- named "Start!" no less -- as this was placed fifth. I assume it was to be less obvious?
Sound Affects
- Quaco
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Sound Affects
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- Ranking Ted
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Re: Sound Affects
I haven’t listened to it all the way through in years - which I have done with All Mod Coms and Setting Sons - so it’s hard to be definitive. My entrenched view is that it’s a genuinely great, progressive in the literal not genre sense, record - full of that restless forward momentum that Weller has brought to the majority of his career.
It’s well known as a post punk influenced lp that marks - along with Funeral Pyre, Dreams Of Children, Going Underground and Absolute Beginners - their Revolver-esquire mid period, all metallic and angular guitar sounds, studio concrete, jerky funk and so on. The best songs are probably the big hitters - Monday, That’s Entertainment, Start! Or Pretty Green, but I’d need to give a spin to be sure. I think I’ll do so soon.
It’s well known as a post punk influenced lp that marks - along with Funeral Pyre, Dreams Of Children, Going Underground and Absolute Beginners - their Revolver-esquire mid period, all metallic and angular guitar sounds, studio concrete, jerky funk and so on. The best songs are probably the big hitters - Monday, That’s Entertainment, Start! Or Pretty Green, but I’d need to give a spin to be sure. I think I’ll do so soon.
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Re: Sound Affects
It's the only album of theirs (or his) I've ever been able to enjoy, and...yeah, there's something special about it.
"Monday" and "That's Entertainment" are absolutely fantastic. Any of the others could be third (though, I suspect it's "Scrape Away").
A young person "discovering Revolver" seems like the sort of thing I should hate, but...somehow, it works.
"Monday" and "That's Entertainment" are absolutely fantastic. Any of the others could be third (though, I suspect it's "Scrape Away").
A young person "discovering Revolver" seems like the sort of thing I should hate, but...somehow, it works.
- Moleskin
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Re: Sound Affects
I think it's their best LP. And perhaps the best Weller has made in any incarnation.
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Re: Sound Affects
I can tolerate it. Nice cover too.
Looks like the special edition CD that came out a couple of years ago is now OOP...
Looks like the special edition CD that came out a couple of years ago is now OOP...
Matt 'interesting' Wilson wrote:So I went from looking at the "I'm a Man" riff, to showing how the rave up was popular for awhile.
- Graham Murakami
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Re: Sound Affects
Man in the Corner Shop
Monday
Boy About Town
It wouldn't be such a good album if every song was like these three though. The unusual sonic experiments add to the album and I still enjoy it. Setting Sons doesn't have the coherence of All Mod Cons or Setting Sons (- Heatwave), however, and I would lump it together with the Gift and the difficult number 4 singles, rather than including it in the band's purple patch.
Monday
Boy About Town
It wouldn't be such a good album if every song was like these three though. The unusual sonic experiments add to the album and I still enjoy it. Setting Sons doesn't have the coherence of All Mod Cons or Setting Sons (- Heatwave), however, and I would lump it together with the Gift and the difficult number 4 singles, rather than including it in the band's purple patch.
- echolalia
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Re: Sound Affects
Start should definitely have been at the… beginning.
Start, That’s Entertainment, and Boy About Town are my favourite tracks just now. BAT always has been, but not the other two. And their position is always threatened by Dream Time.
Graffiti about slashed seat affairs! I like this:
https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/slashed-seat-affairs.2768243/
Start, That’s Entertainment, and Boy About Town are my favourite tracks just now. BAT always has been, but not the other two. And their position is always threatened by Dream Time.
Graffiti about slashed seat affairs! I like this:
https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/slashed-seat-affairs.2768243/
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Re: Sound Affects
I'd forgotten all about Dream Time - that's a good one!
- yomptepi
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Re: Sound Affects
It is thin and earnest. It is derivative and crass. Just the sort of thing Weller fans are into.
Pathetic.
Pathetic.
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- Quaco
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Re: Sound Affects
Side one is pretty impressive, pretty much wall-to-wall hits. Side two is subtler. Strangely, one of my favorites this time was "Music from the Last Couple". What an odd piece. Any insight into its origins? Being the one three-way-written Jam tune, it must have some story behind it.
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- The Prof
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Re: Sound Affects
Quaco wrote:I'm interested if any of you have any thoughts on this ... or why such an immediate song/single -- named "Start!" no less -- as this was placed fifth. I assume it was to be less obvious?
Polydoor were all set to release Pretty Green as the first single. I think the artworks had already been signed off but Weller put his foot down and Start got released first instead.
Maybe they were hoping if Start was just an album track George Harrison wouldn't hear it and sue them after his court case with My Sweet Lord.
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Re: Sound Affects
Graham Murakami wrote:Man in the Corner Shop
Monday
Boy About Town
It wouldn't be such a good album if every song was like these three though. The unusual sonic experiments add to the album and I still enjoy it. Setting Sons doesn't have the coherence of All Mod Cons or Setting Sons (- Heatwave), however, and I would lump it together with the Gift and the difficult number 4 singles, rather than including it in the band's purple patch.
Yeah this is a pretty good summary. To be honest it really doesn't fall that short of AMC or Setting Sons, I'd say the only weak tracks are 'Music for the Last Couple' and 'Scrape Away'.