I played the living daylights out of Stanley Road as a teenager, and it’s refreshing to revisit today without the convenient Britpop lens I forced it through at the time.
Paul Weller had ignited Brit culture with the mod-punk revival of The Jam, and divided fans over the following decade with the soulful pop of The Style Council, before finding his feet again by going back to classic guitar songcraft tinged with soul and psychedelia and an amplified British identity.
Having already shaped his sound with two great solo albums, Stanley Road landed at the explosion of the Britpop scene and its insatiable appetite for music bursting with British heritage and swagger. In a full-circle moment, the movement he’d done so much to cultivate through his years with The Jam and The Style Council became the catalyst for his return to British rock’s top table.
Weller still refuses to tread water, dabbling with various influences from Soul and Motown to Jazz and Funk with ever more erratic degrees of success. For me, Stanley Road remains the sweet spot of his solo sound.
Key Tracks:
Changingman
You Do Something To Me
Out Of The Sinking
Artwork:
8/10
Design: Peter Blake
The perfect choice to cement Weller’s place in British music history and culture.
Further Listening:
The Jam / All Mod Cons
Paul Weller / Wild Wood
Ocean Colour Scene / Moseley Shoals
