Oh lord. You know, I loved the Jam back in the day. I bought all their albums and even went to see them play up in Vancouver. I found their music cool, hard-edged and slightly angry. By 1983, the Jam was finished and Weller forged ahead with the Style Council. They were utter crap. I hated every single tune. I couldn't figure out what the hell he was trying to prove. Did he want to be some kind of fashion icon? Did he want to be known as a man of taste and distinction? Did he have a fervent desire to make the world's worst soul music? The answers are: probably, probably and absolutely. I lost track of his pretentious ass soon after that.
A few years ago, I got out my old Jam albums and gave them a listen. Wow, they sure don't travel well into the 21st century. Especially dire is their magnum opus, Setting Sons. At the time, I thought it was their Sgt. Pepper's. Where did I get that idea?? Gosh, it's kind of terrible, with bad tunes being sung poorly amidst muddy production to make them sound bigger. Except their last few singles, everything sounds lousy. Gosh, I can't believe I liked them in the first place.
These days, my feeling about Weller is such that I wish I could be across town and out of his orbit. Perhaps I will be.
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