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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
By bootcut
Format:Audio CD
The previous reviewer is certifiably insane. The Style Council were a beautiful sllice of pop, and they still sound cool as ****, baby.
21 of 24 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
There are many Style Council compilations out there. This is one of the best. Why? Because it's one of the most comprehensive. It includes A sides, B sides, album tracks and even a tune from their unreleased final album (A New Decade of Modernism). Sweet Loving Ways is merely a compilation...so there's obviously a lot missing. Most of the Council's studio albums are still in print. All four of them are highly recommended.
Despite their inital success, the Style Council have always been rather underrated. Most folk refused to forgive Paul Weller for splitting The Jam in the Autumn of '82. Most folk didn't *understand* the Council's sense of humour nor their desire to take modernism BEYOND the restrictive confines of The Who and an oversized green military parka. Detractors have described the Council as "The Jam for girls" and "Wham with Marxist pretentions" Personally I couldn't think of two better descriptions of this wonderful British pop group.
The Style Council are best described as a cheeky fusion of Curtis Mayfield, The Small Faces and the classic pop sensibilities of Burt Bacharach/Hal David.
Anyway, I could go on for days...but I won't. The Style Council were one of the few reasons to get out of bed each morning during the dreadful 1980s. Purchase this CD immediately...and the next time your *mod* Uncle Steve starts whinging on about how "Weller lost the plot after The Jam"...play him Mick's Up, Fairly Tales, Piccadilly Trail or Changing of the Guard.
Here come the classics. Indeed.
Despite their inital success, the Style Council have always been rather underrated. Most folk refused to forgive Paul Weller for splitting The Jam in the Autumn of '82. Most folk didn't *understand* the Council's sense of humour nor their desire to take modernism BEYOND the restrictive confines of The Who and an oversized green military parka. Detractors have described the Council as "The Jam for girls" and "Wham with Marxist pretentions" Personally I couldn't think of two better descriptions of this wonderful British pop group.
The Style Council are best described as a cheeky fusion of Curtis Mayfield, The Small Faces and the classic pop sensibilities of Burt Bacharach/Hal David.
Anyway, I could go on for days...but I won't. The Style Council were one of the few reasons to get out of bed each morning during the dreadful 1980s. Purchase this CD immediately...and the next time your *mod* Uncle Steve starts whinging on about how "Weller lost the plot after The Jam"...play him Mick's Up, Fairly Tales, Piccadilly Trail or Changing of the Guard.
Here come the classics. Indeed.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By S. McDonagh
Format:Audio CD
Well what can I say except that everyone is entitled to an opinion. Most of the early Style Council songs are actually work Weller conceived with The Jam. A Solid Bond is a demo on Direction, Reaction, Creation after all. True, Weller could have gone on for years doing the same thing but the guy was savvy enough to know that the punk/new wave thing had run its course and to carry on would only dilute what The Jam had stood for. The Style Council was a mixed bag for me too - some great and some very forgettable. This can clearly be seen on this Album. Check out Party Chambers a classic b-side. To me "Sweet Loving Ways" represents the best of the "best of".
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
I think this is a great CD, well worth your few quid. I've given it a low score to indicate to your more discerning Councillor that the versions of The Paris Match, My Ever Changing Moods, You're the Best Thing and The Lodgers on this 2 CD set are the album versions, NOT the single versions.
This is a pity as the versions on the singles are quite different and only available on other comps or the box set. Because the tracks are arranged in strict chronological order you can tell that it's a mistake, i.e the Tracey Thorn version of the Paris Match (released in 84) coming before A Solid Bond (83)...
But there's a lot to recommend it, lots of B sides and album tracks and most of the A sides on one collection, the selection is a bit inconsistent, only one track from The Cost of Loving but 3 bsides from the 1987 singles..but this might be useful if you don't already have those b sides on Cd...
note on packaging - the CDs come in the old style double cd case - sturdy. Good collection of a great band.
This is a pity as the versions on the singles are quite different and only available on other comps or the box set. Because the tracks are arranged in strict chronological order you can tell that it's a mistake, i.e the Tracey Thorn version of the Paris Match (released in 84) coming before A Solid Bond (83)...
But there's a lot to recommend it, lots of B sides and album tracks and most of the A sides on one collection, the selection is a bit inconsistent, only one track from The Cost of Loving but 3 bsides from the 1987 singles..but this might be useful if you don't already have those b sides on Cd...
note on packaging - the CDs come in the old style double cd case - sturdy. Good collection of a great band.
3 of 44 people found the following review helpful
By Paul Ess.
Format:Audio CD
Style Councils' worst crime among many is that they've stained the memory of the mighty Jam.
Weller was a god to me. I spent a large part of my teens following him and his co-Jammers around the country. Spending a fortune, days off college, followed by days off work. Sleeping on floors, in bus depots, train stations, with itinerants under flyovers - anywhere a Fred Perry wearing suede-head could squeeze in there you'd find me.
Worth it? You betcha! Every delirious second of it.
Good live band, great albums band, brilliant singles band! If all Weller had in his back catalogue was 'Funeral Pyre' he'd still deserve his place in rock history.
I was distraught when they split, but the harsh reality eventually dawned that it probably WAS all over. 'Beat Surrender' was a poor single, and the last thing I wanted was for Weller to go on infinitum on a creative downward spiral.
So I waited eagerly for his re-emergence. Talk of 'soul' set the alarm bells ringing. It always does, but in this instance, much more so. I wanted (needed!?) top quality punk/pop in my life, not some watered down hash of Tamla, not from Weller.
Imagine my joy then, when I heard 'Speak Like a Child'. Wow! Talk about unfounded fears melting away.
Straight for the jugular, no messing, BELIEVABLE pop music. I wiped the beads from my brow, everything was going to be alright.
Next up 'Money Go Round' and 'Long Hot Summer'. Both dreadful. The old fears returned. This couldn't be! It wasn't happening. Oh, it's a blip, just you wait. He'll be back in a jiff with more of that good-music-thing. Just wait.
'Solid Bond in Your Heart' and 'Ever Changing Moods' arrived, worse than the two before. 'Bond' in particular, is a disgrace.... Read more ›
Weller was a god to me. I spent a large part of my teens following him and his co-Jammers around the country. Spending a fortune, days off college, followed by days off work. Sleeping on floors, in bus depots, train stations, with itinerants under flyovers - anywhere a Fred Perry wearing suede-head could squeeze in there you'd find me.
Worth it? You betcha! Every delirious second of it.
Good live band, great albums band, brilliant singles band! If all Weller had in his back catalogue was 'Funeral Pyre' he'd still deserve his place in rock history.
I was distraught when they split, but the harsh reality eventually dawned that it probably WAS all over. 'Beat Surrender' was a poor single, and the last thing I wanted was for Weller to go on infinitum on a creative downward spiral.
So I waited eagerly for his re-emergence. Talk of 'soul' set the alarm bells ringing. It always does, but in this instance, much more so. I wanted (needed!?) top quality punk/pop in my life, not some watered down hash of Tamla, not from Weller.
Imagine my joy then, when I heard 'Speak Like a Child'. Wow! Talk about unfounded fears melting away.
Straight for the jugular, no messing, BELIEVABLE pop music. I wiped the beads from my brow, everything was going to be alright.
Next up 'Money Go Round' and 'Long Hot Summer'. Both dreadful. The old fears returned. This couldn't be! It wasn't happening. Oh, it's a blip, just you wait. He'll be back in a jiff with more of that good-music-thing. Just wait.
'Solid Bond in Your Heart' and 'Ever Changing Moods' arrived, worse than the two before. 'Bond' in particular, is a disgrace.... Read more ›
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3.7 out of 5 stars
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