new introductory bit here.

This is a reviews page based on my own collection, which just keeps growing despite itself. If it isn't listed here, it's because I don't own it yet, or I haven't gotten around to it yet.

Also, bother your local "new rock" radio station and make sure they are playing "new rock" and not "Rock the Casbah," which is not new.

note: entries in red text indicate my pick for the artist's best available album. A gold numeral indicates the POPocalypse winner of the year's best album; second- and third-place winners are in blue. Green lettering indicates an obviously exploitative record company compilation without apparent artist input.

Paul Weller is the Modfather. He's the working-class man who knows how to dress, how to write a song and beat unholy hell out of a guitar. He was the frontman of the Jam. He quit that band to form the Style Council in 1983. It became irrelevant and stopped having hits and so Weller ended it as well.

That really simplifies things. The Jam was enormous; one of the biggest British bands of the late 70s and early 80s, but the Style Council had only three years of chart hits and critical success before releasing some wretched material and becoming laughingstocks. So when Weller re-emerged in 1991 with the "Into Tomorrow" single, few believed he could make it. The single, however, got good press and charted mildly.

In 1992, "Uh Huh Oh Yeh" became his first top 20 appearance in five years and set the stage for his return to the album racks. Paul Weller is a shuffling, churning guitar record with a lot of soul. Weller plays most of the material himself, with Steve White on drums and Jacko Pierce on horns. While the Style Council could bury themselves in politics and produce passionless thumping, this record is full of romance and love, but without any cliches in the delivery. It's honest and direct and it's played wonderfully. It was evidence that a full-scale career resurrection was in the works.

His voice racked by years and by alcohol, Weller phased into more soul-searching songwriting and soulful performances for 1993's remarkable hit album Wild Wood. Now cited as an influence by most of that period's hitmaking British rock acts, Weller was content to slip away from the tabloids and the festival appearances, producing top 20 hits with some of the best guitar work heard on any record of the day. Wild Wood is introspective and honest, a totally perfect album for an aging hipster to consider while Weller, closing his second decade in the business, wrote some really personal rock songs like "Has My Fire Really Gone Out?". It's an essential album for any man in his thirties. (This is not a unanimous opinion; The Trouser Press Guide to '90s Rock considers Wild Wood the weakest of Weller's first three albums.)

1994 was spent on a mammoth world tour, including a token dozen dates in America, where Weller has remained a cult act. September saw the UK release of a concert album, Live Wood. In October, a one-off single "Out of the Sinking" made the top 20. It contained a respectful cover of the Beatles' "Sexy Sadie" and an astonishing dub remix of "Sunflower" which experimented with stereo so much that you could imagine the Beatles of 1968 creating that, too.

After some time in the studio, Weller had his first solo top 10 single in the spring of 1995 with "The Changingman," which was featured on that summer's Stanley Road. His most successful work to date, it debuted at #1 in the UK. His commercial peaks continued into 1997 with another top 10 single, the spectacular little guitar monster "Peacock Suit," which preluded the Heavy Soul album. A very honestly titled record, Heavy Soul is one of the best British blues records ever issued, with a powerful guitar sound reminiscent of Gary Moore or some of Cream's loudest material. There's lots of fuzz and lots of stereo experimentation (notably on the thrilling "hiss" part of "Friday Street"). The coolness quotient is enormous. With "Brushed," a four-song EP featuring a cover of Bobby Bland's "Ain't No Love in the Heart of the City," he had another top 20 hit.

1998 saw the release of "Brand New Start," which would be his last hit single to date. It was part of his hits album Modern Classics, as was a remix of "Wild Wood" which only troubled the lower regions of the chart.

The British radio world began a tidal shift towards pop for small children after Heavy Soul, and Weller was one of many older acts unable to find radio support. 2000's Heliocentric was a well-reviewed hit which sold very well, but didn't draw any hit singles. ("He's the Keeper" missed the singles chart entirely, despite the delightful, oddball inclusion of Sonny Bono's "Bang-Bang.") The record was compared to some of Neil Young and Van Morrison's stronger work and was also reminiscent of Wild Wood, with its mix of honest love songs and reflections of some of life's harsher facts ("There's No Drinking After You're Dead"), played with gusto by a guitarist who plays his instrument better than practically anybody. (5/02)

PAUL WELLER: Modern Classics: The Greatest Hits (1998, UK #7, ****)
A really good 1998 compilation, six years into his resurgent solo career. All 15 A-sides are year, along with the new track "Brand New Start." Packed full of photos, with full musician credits and repros of the sleeves, but sadly the songs are in random order.