LOS ANGELES (Top40 Charts/ UMe) On
September 9, 2014, Universal
Music Enterprises (UMe) will release the digital box set Classic Album Selection: Vol. 1 featuring the first five albums from Paul Weller's highly successful solo career as he gathered pace to reach his now iconic and legendary status.
It was a few years after disbanding The
Style Council in 1989 before
Paul Weller released his first, eponymous, solo album for his new label Go! Disc in 1992. It was a Top 10 album in the U.K. and marked a return to his first love, '60s Soul and R&B. The follow up, Wild Wood, launched him on a run of critical and commercial success: The album went to No. 2 in the U.K. and was nominated for the Mercury
Music Prize; its multi platinum, million seller successor, Stanley Road (featuring guest appearances by
Steve Winwood and Noel Gallagher), spawned two U.K. Top 10 singles ("The Changing Man," No. 7, and "You Do Something to Me," No. 9), went to No. 1 and he picked up BRIT Award for Best Male Artist (which he won again the following year). 1997's
Heavy Soul saw Weller twist his sound again to take him back to the top of the charts (No. 2 in the U.K.) and 2000s Heliocentric (erroneously rumoured to be his last album at the time), which was a much lighter affair, did the same and peaked again at No. 2 in the U.K.
These classic albums represent the first half of the catalog of an exceptional songwriter, guitarist and lyricist. It features some of his most successful albums and showcases his constant drive to progress as an artist, never afraid to take chances and desire to always stay fresh.
The albums are:
Paul Weller (Island) 1992
Wild Wood (Island) 1993
Stanley Road (Island) 1995
Heavy Soul (Island) 1997
Heliocentric (Island) 2000
(track listings below)
About the albums:
Paul Weller (Island) 1992
Having split the
Style Council and leaving his record label -Polydor, Paul was at something of a crossroads. Forming the
Paul Weller Movement, he began playing live shows again. He released the first solo single -"Into Tomorrow" in 1990, on the small Freedom High label. Its modest (by his standards) Top 40 chart placing secured a deal with new label -Go! Discs, who released the album in 1992. Paul re-established his Soul and R&B roots and influences with the new material, as well as his love of Curtis Mayfield, Steve Winwood, Funkadelic, Blue Note jazz records, and new groups such as
Gang Starr and A Tribe Called Quest.
It includes the hit singles "Above The Clouds," "Uh Huh Oh Yeh" and "Into Tomorrow," and reached No. 8 on the U.K. album chart. This eponymous solo debut is one of Weller's most under-rated, charming and important albums in his solo career.
"I still really like the record -we weren't making it for any other reason than to make a record and it re-introduced real music to a lot of people again in the way it was made. We were coming out of the technology of the '80s, with those sterile recording methods, and it became about musicians playing live again and enjoying the experience."
Paul Weller -2009
Wild Wood (Island) 1993
Paul Weller re-established his place at music's top table with this life affirming, second solo album - gaining the nickname 'Modfather' reflecting his revered status within the U.K. 'Britpop' movement. There was a feeling of stretching out with more diverse influences -particularly the pastoral British folk/pop of Nick Drake, Traffic,
Van Morrison and even Crosby, Stills, Nash & (particularly Neil Young!). The hugely successful album features the classic hit singles "Wild Wood," "Sunflower," "Hung Up," "The Weaver" and "Out Of The Sinking." The result is his first true masterwork since ending The Jam.
"Everything seemed exciting, fresh and new. It was almost like starting over. I wasn't making Wild Wood for anyone else. I was making it for myself. And it was a very positive and creative time. I have very fond memories of it." Paul Weller, 2007
Stanley Road (Island) 1995
Weller's landmark, multi-platinum selling No. 1 album stayed on the chart for 87 weeks and spawned the classic hits "The Changing Man," "You Do Something To Me" and "Broken Stones." It's a timeless record, full of great tunes and very personal lyrics. Stanley Road also includes a stunning rendition of Dr John's "I Walk on Gilded Splinters" featuring Noel Gallagher on guitar. The album also features legendary British musician
Steve Winwood on two tracks. The album's famous cover collage was created by the British pop-artist
Peter Blake, designer of The Beatles' legendary Sgt Pepper's album artwork. The album's title comes from the street in Woking where Weller grew up.
"Essentially it's all the great things about '92's debut solo album magnified and put through a multi-coloured shaker of mod cool, and then filmed in Woking."
NME May 1995
Heavy Soul (Island) 1997
After Stanley Road came the more 'rootsy', stripped-down style of
Heavy Soul. Once again the influence of British 'blues-rock' -Free, Spooky Tooth,
Cat Stevens shone through (perhaps no coincidence that the album appeared on Island Records label!). Weller's typical Soul and R&B influences are filtered through 1960s psychedelia, and folk -"Up in Suze's Room" is a hazy gem, and the soulful apology "I Should Have Been There to Inspire You" is deeply affecting. The album included hit singles -"Brushed," "Friday Street," the jaunty 60s-inspired "Mermaids" and the riotous, Jam-like "Peacock Suit."
Heliocentric (Island) 2000
A fascinating and often overlooked album, Weller's 5th solo record includes the beautiful ballad "Frightened," the psychedelic grandeur of "Love-Less," the epic "Dust And Rocks," which was recently re-introduced into his live set, and the magnificently strange "There's No Drinking After You're Dead."
Sadness and regret underpin themes of the album, but there's also humor, affection, and, ultimately, optimism running through it. With a varied and slightly experimental feel in its songs and performances, Heliocentric features the hit singles -the rocker -"He's The Keeper," and the catchy "Sweet Pea, My Sweet Pea."
Track Listings:
Paul Weller (Island) 1992
Uh Huh Oh Yeh
I Didn't Mean To Hurt You
Bull-Rush
Round And Round
Remember How We Started
Above The Clouds
Clues
Into Tomorrow
Amongst Butterflies
The Strange Museum
Bitterness Rising
Kosmos
Wild Wood (Island) 1993
Sunflower
Can You Heal Us (Holy Man)
Wild Wood
Instrumental One (part 1)
All The
Pictures On The Wall
Has My Fire Really Gone Out?
Country
Instrumental Two
5th Season
The Weaver
Instrumental One (part 2)
Foot Of The Mountain
Shadow Of The Sun
Holy Man (reprise)
Moon On Your Pyjamas
Hung Up
Stanley Road (Island) 1995
The Changingman
Porcelain Gods
I Walk On Gilded Splinters
You Do Something to me
Woodcutters Son
Time Passes
Stanley Road
Broken Stones
Out Of The Sinking
Pink On White Walls
Whirlpool's End
Wings Of Speed
Heavy Soul (Island) 1997
Heavy Soul (Pt. 1)
Peacock Suit
Up In Suze's Room
Brushed
Driving Nowhere
I Should Have Been There To Inspire You
Heavy Soul (Pt. 2)
Friday Street
Science
Golden Sands
As You Lean Into The Light
Mermaids
Heliocentric (Island) 2000
He's The Keeper
Frightened
Sweet Pea, My Sweet Pea
A Whale's Tale
Back In The Fire
Dust And Rocks
There's No Drinking, After You're Dead
With Time And Temperance
Picking Up Sticks
Love-Less
PAUL WELLER SEPTEMBER TOUR DATES
Sep 6th - Toronto, ONT - Riot Fest
Sept 7th - Cleveland, OH - House Of Blues
Sept 8th - Detroit, MI - St. Andrew's Hall
Sept 10th - Minneapolis, MN - Varsity Theatre
Sept 12th - Cincinnati, OH - Bogart's
Sept 13th - Chicago, IL - Riot Fest.
