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The JamAlbums ReviewedSound Affects (1980)The Very Best of (1997) Collection (1996) Sound Affects(1980)Sound Affects wears its sixties influences proudly; most blatantly where 'Start!' steals the bass riff from The Beatles' 'Taxman', but there's a general sixties aura in many of the themes and arrangements. 'That's Entertainment' is dreamily psychedelic, while 'Boy About Town' has an air of bouncy innocence. While Sound Affects' heart might be back in 1966, the album is clearly a product of its 1980 context, with lots of taut new waveisms thrown in; it's entirely logical that frontman Paul Weller describes Sound Affects as a mixture between Revolver and Michael Jackson's Off The Wall. Sound Affects begins strongly with the urgent psychedelia of 'Pretty Green', neatly encapsulating the inclination of the entire album. The rhythm section is aggressively new wave, but the pretty melody and swirling guitars are a throwback to the sixties. The other three standout tracks ('Monday', 'Man In The Corner Shop' and 'Boy About Town') achieve a similar synthesis, but the punchy 'But I'm Different Now', 'Set The House Ablaze' and 'Scrape Away' are far more connected to their new wave context. Sound Affects is an alluring album, alchemising conciseness and urgency with dreaminess and texture experimentation, although it is let down by an adventurous second half, less memorable than the first even though it is punctuated by the catchy 'Man In The Corner Shop' and 'Boy About Town'. It is also surprising that Weller never recruited a fourth member for The Jam, as his often indecipherable vocals and limited guitar skills do hold the group back occasionally; his primary skills are as a songwriter and visionary. Ridiculously, a 1980 poll acknowledged The Jam as the best group, male vocalist, guitarist, bass, drums, songwriter, album, single, and cover art. Bassist Bruce Foxton and drummer Rick Buckler (sporting a cute little beard) are more than competent, but a lot of the other awards seem misguided. Personally, I would have picked Remain In Light as 1980's best album but Sound Affects is still a deserving candidate, charging sixties innocence with new wave cynicism and energy. 
 The Very Best of(1997)Like other groups of their era, The Jam jumped on the punk/new wave bandwagon, establishing a reputation before developing their own style. For their colleagues The Police, musical development entailed a long march towards sophisticated Adult-oriented pop via the sunny island of Reggae. Judging from this collection of singles, The Jam's musical journey resembled a frenetically hectic game of Snakes and Ladders. The Very Best of The Jam riccochets through aggressive new wave, politically charged rock, mild psychadelia, funk, and even a slick ballad ('The Bitterest Pill (I Ever Had To Swallow)'). If the schizophrenic nature of their singles output isn't enough to deter listeners, group leader Paul Weller's vocals are difficult to decipher, owing to his often aggressive delivery and thick British accent. Behind his incomprehensibility Weller was an accomplished songwriter; as the CD booklet smugly points out, Weller was merely twenty years of age when he was churning out classics like '"A" Bomb in Wardour Street' and 'Down in the Tube Station at Midnight'. Weller broke up the group in 1982 due to his frustration at the limited scope of his rhythm section but it's difficult to see why, as drummer Rick Buckler and bassist Bruce Foxton cope admirably with the incoherent range of styles that he tosses at them. While The Very Best of The Jam isn't accessible, it contains some of the best music of the new wave era. My favourites are concentrated around two periods; the more conventional rock of 'The Eton Rifles', 'Going Underground' and 'The Dreams of Children', and their funk era of 'Town Called Malice' and 'Precious'. This is the major frustration of The Very Best of The Jam; the group just don't stay in one place long enough to be satisfying in this format. Arguably, Weller is most talented at crafting evocatively mellow songs like 'Liza Radley' or 'Ghosts', and there are regrettably few songs of that nature to be found here. While The Very Best of The Jam represents an accomplished body of work, listeners may be advised to start with individual albums. Lots of these singles ('Dreams of Children' 'Going Underground') were non-album tracks, however, so a singles compilation is still necessary for serious fans eventually.
Collection(1996)Every other critic in the world seems to regard this compilation of The Jam's album tracks and b-sides as a waste of plastic. While owning Collection virtually precludes the listener from purchasing apparently classic Jam albums All Mod Cons and Setting Sons, as it includes large portions of them, it provides an excellent overview of the group's work. In my nonconformist opinion, Collection is a more enjoyable Jam assortment than the complementary singles disc. There is a logical development in the Jam's work on Collection, from the aggression of 'Away From The Numbers' through to the psychedelia of 'Tales From the Riverbank'. More remarkably, the material on Collection is more accessible than the singles. Most of the material is relatively low key and relaxed, making it easier to decipher Weller's vocals. 'Wasteland' and 'Ghost' have beautiful melodies, while 'Thick as Thieves' and b-side 'The Butterfly Collector' are catchier than any of The Jam's singles. There's little deadweight on Collection either; Weller's lyrics are focused and there is always purpose in the group's performances. The completist box set Direction, Reaction, Creation has garnered far more critical approval, presumably offering the same charms as Collection on a larger scale.
Feedback: from Rick Buckler (!) |
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Written 2001-2009, Graham Fyfe
