Paul Weller
(Yep Roc)
Sometimes Deluxe/Legacy/Bad Muthahumpa editions don’t the original work a favor; there’s a reason for its original incarnation, which is largely responsible for its impact. Paul Weller’s second solo album is a start-to-finish listening experience where each song builds on, or plays off, its antecedents. The driving miss-you soul of “Sunflower” leads off, giving way to the sonically similar, and bitingly relevant, “Can You Heal Us (Holy Man).” Then, Weller’s spare empowerment anthem (title cut), before “Instrumental One (Pt. 1)” is poised to, at least ostensibly, interrupt the roiling verve—but doesn’t. Instead, the dreamy wah guitar, sleepy keys and Stax horns are a fitting prelude to the wistful release “All the Pictures on the Wall.” And henceforth, the humdingers—“Has My Fire Really Gone Out?,” “The Weaver,” “Moon On Your Pyjamas”—keep coming, always spot-on and bolstered by whatever preceded it, even instrumentals or a slight return (“Holy Man” is reprised as the penultimate track).
Wild Wood just works—probably because Weller walked into the studio possessed, with fully formed songs in hand and head. Ironically, that’s where this fattened platter fails: in illuminating Weller’s potency, they dilute it. Copious album track demos are rough, dull diamonds compared to the brilliant final versions. The live stuff (“Magic Bus” and “This Is No Time”) is just okay, and Portishead’s abysmal remix of “Wild Wood” is an insult to a powerful song whose weight comes from its simplicity and organicity—it didn’t need a fucking dance beat. Thankfully, some bonus tracks are very good. The demos of “Changes” (blink and you’ll miss what it became) and B-sides “Price to Pay,” “Love to the Loved,” and both the single version and acoustic BBC exclusive of UK album track “Hung Up” are nicely rendered.
Standout Tracks: “Wild Wood,” “Sunflower” RANDY HARWARD
