Product Description

In the Year of Punk, the Jam's exploded onto the music scene with this seminal debut album. The raw, unfettered aggression of the band's approach was well in keeping with the spirit of the times, but the heart of their songs and sound lay in the mod movement of the mid-'60s (early Who, Creation, etc.). Singer/guitarist Paul Weller comes off like a cross between Joe Strummer and the young Pete Townshend, bashing unreservedly through "Slow Down", one of the R&B tunes that inspired the original mods.
Weller extols the virtues of frenzied dancing and nonconformist youth culture ("Non-Stop Dancing", "Away From the Numbers") over the raging three-chord attack of bassist Bruce Foxton and drummer Rick Buckler. The pure punk insouciance of his words and delivery is a perfectmatch for the raging but hooky "arrangements", which basically consisted of the band walking into the studio and blazing through their live set. Rickenbacker guitars never soundedso thick, and skinny ties never seemed less geeky.

Track Listing

1. Art School
2. I've Changed My Address
3. Slow Down
4. I Got By In Time
5. Away From The Numbers
6. Batman Theme
7. In The City
8. Sounds From The Street
9. Non-Stop Dancing
10. Time For Truth
11. Takin My Love
12. Bricks And Mortar

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #30178 in Music
• Released on: 1997-08-04
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Running time: 32 minutes

Customer Reviews

Loud, brash. But punk it ain't !
This is a great album. Not much more than 30 minutes in length it was The Jam's supposedly "punk" album - their response to the eponymous "The Clash" and "The Ramones". Granted it was played at breakneck speed, but that is as far as the punk thng really goes. Scratch under the surface and the 60s beat group, American r'n'b and motown influences are discernable. The Who, The Small Faces, The Spencer Davis Group are all in there.

Some of the lyrics are trite and "third form" English lesson-type, but you have to remember that Paul Weller was barely eighteen when this was released and seventeen when he wrote some of the songs. "In The City", even now, is spine-tingling stuff. That great three-pronged attack - Weller, Foxton, then finally Buckler bringing us two minutes of sheer power and unadulterated youthful anger, energy, call it what you will. I call it one of the best albums in British pop history.

THE BEST DEBUT ALBUM OF ALL TIME !!
This was the one !!

The album that turned me into a Weller fan for life.

I can vividly remember going to buy it, the day it was released, and it blew me away.
The punk aggression mixed with rocking tunes and every beat of the album telling me that "this was the time" !!

And it certainly was. All Mod Cons is the most accomplished Jam album but nothing touches the raw energy of this one.

Anyone into Punk, Mod, Rock music will realise what an album this is once they have graced their "turntable" with it.

If you want power and energy, dance and aggression,..........LOOK NO FURTHER !!

A MUST for any music fan !!

This is Weller at his most potent, make no mistake !!

Superb !!

An Important Debut
In The City was the Woking boys powerful angst ridden opening shot and was seen by many as the LP that jump started the Mod revival in the UK.

Weller's emotive political lyrics were yet to fully take form but there are flashes of what was to come in the songs 'In The City' and the pithy 'Bricks and Mortar'

The Jam's music at this time owed a lot to the harmonies of Motown, the energy of the early Who and the anger of the current Punk scene.

Along with 'Bricks & Mortar', and 'In The City' the powerfully assured 'Art School' and the venomous 'I've changed my address' are the best tracks although the energetic cover of 'Slow Down' and the poignant 'Away From The Numbers' are also worthy of mention.

This was a stunning debut and a rallying flag for the coming Mod revival.

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