|
|||||
Amazon.co.uk allows you to pay for your items in your local currency. Restrictions apply. Learn More. |
Special Offers and Product Promotions
- Purchase a product from the Music Store sold by Amazon.co.uk and receive £1 to use on an album download in our MP3 Store. Here's how (terms and conditions apply)
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
Listen to Samples and Buy MP3s
Songs from this album are available to purchase as MP3s. Click on "Buy MP3" or
view the MP3 Album.
|
Product Description
Review
Over the course of Paul Weller’s career, he has displayed the kind of restless genre-hopping that saw him dissolve The Jam at the height of their powers in favour of experimenting with Motown, funk and synth-jazz with The Style Council. His resurrection as solo artist and exalted figure of the Britpop scene in the 90s saw this experimental spirit recede somewhat in the face of traditional rock releases that propelled him to the peak of the UK charts. As a result, casual listeners tend to identify Weller with the kind of dad-friendly trad-rock that blights record store shelves every time Father’s Day rolls around.
However, with 2008’s 22 Dreams and now Wake Up the Nation, fans are being reacquainted with Weller the innovator. Here the Modfather is making full use of his exceptional musical vocabulary, and Wake Up the Nation feels like an unrestrained sonic exploration. On muscle-bound opener Moonshine, Weller’s vocals are reminiscent of the mischief and threat of Nick Cave’s recent releases, backed by atonal guitar breakdowns that echo early QOTSA’s washed-out acid rock. No Tears to Cry and Aim High are glorious reconnections with 1960s soul-pop; lazily waltzing Gallic instrumental In Amsterdam manages to be both nostalgic and strangely unsettling; and Whatever Next mixes dreamy strings with a bowel-loosening bassline that wouldn’t be out of place in a dubstep set. As the record progresses, one can almost hear Weller as he limbers up and stretches ever further.
The album shares 22 Dreams’ long tracklist (16 songs in all), but Weller has stripped each song down to bare bones, with few tracks straying past three minutes and many barely scratching two. This is a blessing and a curse. The album roars along at an impressive pace, taking the listener on a hallucinogenic expedition through Weller’s varied stylistic terrain. But while brevity mitigates the songs that fail (Fast Car/Slow Traffic, with bass by Bruce Foxton, feels like a discarded Jam curio), it also makes the album’s successes frustratingly fleeting. It’s only Trees, a magnificent, morphing epic centred on old folks recounting the strength and beauty of their youth, which gets a full four-minute hearing.
Nevertheless, what the album lacks in depth, it more than makes up for in the length and breadth of Weller’s imagination. Above all, it’s an album that is entirely unsuitable for inclusion on a Top Gear dad-rock compilation, and for that it’s a parade-worthy triumph. --Chris Lo
Find more music at the BBC This link will take you off Amazon in a new window
Product Description
titolo-wake up the nationartista-paul weller etichetta-islandn. dischi1data16 aprile 2010supporto-cd audiogenere-pop e rock internazionale---- brani1.moonshine 2.wake up the nation 3.no tears to cry 4.fast car / slow traffic 5.andromeda 6.in amsterdam 7.s
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The album of his career?,
By Mark Watkins "Weller fan" (Roskilde, Denmark) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Wake Up The Nation (2 Disc Deluxe Edition) (Audio CD)
This is as unexpected as it is brilliant. Just pause to consider these facts -- Weller is 52. All of his contemporaries from the late-70s have disappeared from view. And he has probably just made the album of his career. I've enjoyed Weller's solo work. In particular, his solo debut, Wild Wood and As Is Now are outstanding albums. But this... this is in a different league. It lacks some of the plodding of other collections -- it's urgent, fun, moving, and energising. If you're a selective downloader, you'd be doing yourself a disservice by cherry-picking selective tracks -- it feels like an organic piece of work and merits 'start to finish' listening. But clear stand-out tracks are the title track, 'No Tears to Cry' with its 'Broken Stones' vibe, 'Andromeda', 'Find The Torch/Burn The Plans' and the astonishing 'Trees'. Lyrically, this song covers the same ground as Elvis Costello's 'Veronica' -- imagining the previous life of residents in a nursing home, but it's so much more than that. It's proud, musically wonderful, and wistful too, when you consider that one of those residents was Weller's own Dad, John. Maybe it's the emotional trauma of his loss that gives this album its rawness, or maybe Weller is just having fun these days. Either way, he has delivered the best album of his solo years, his most musically interesting since 'Confessions Of A Pop Group' and maybe his career masterpiece.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Absolutely Awesome, Pat on the back for self!,
By Felipe Havana (Alicante Spain) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Wake Up The Nation (2 Disc Deluxe Edition) (Audio CD)
Shall I or shall I not? To Deluxe or not to deluxe? Stanley Road Deluxe; great but nothing special. In the end the lure of getting a second CD for not a lot of money was too great. After a minor fall out with the other half withdrew to the shed to pack a few more boxes (we are moving house). Listened to Wake Up The Nation for the first time. Abolutely brilliant. Short sharp excellent examples of just what Weller is. Everything is there. Every creation, mood, influence, style, mode, arrangement Paul Weller has ever experienced and provided for us to enjoy and wonder at is there. This is the culmination of everything Paul Weller has been to date but it is absolutely original, not just churning out the same old crap as too many do today but building on all that has gone before. Absolutely brilliant Paul Weller as we all love him. The pinnacle of his career; or so I thought.
The second disk is without question one of the greatest musical creations I have ever experienced. I still cannot believe what I hear. Argument forgotten I rushed into the kitchen..... What do you think of this then? I enthusiastically enquired of one who is no mug when it comes to Weller. It's awesome was the reply. Who is it then? I asked. No idea, sounds like an upbeat remixed Paul Weller. Exactly what it is. This is Weller being Weller; using everything he has and then encompassing modern beats, electronica, vocals, mixes and techniques to produce something that is a musical milestone. Dubstep with raw aggression, The Jam gone electronica, The Style Council with melodious backing, Weller truly embracing every musical style and using every device available to produce the Michelin 5 star album. (Yes I know Michelin only gives 4 that is why I say 5) No Tears To Cry (Leo Zero Remix) has everything; but all the tracks do so ......... There really is nothing much else to say except that the second disk could be released as a stand alone. Anybody who declines to add Wake Up The Nation to their collection is missing a treat. Is it "Mixers using great source material to produce masterpieces or is it Weller using modern mixes to make his stuff even better? Half full or half empty; same result different explanation: who cares? Everyone who enjoys music of any description should beg steal or borrow; maybe even buy, the Deluxe edition for it is the deluxe bit that epitomises Weller and really is one of the greatest albums I have ever heard.
15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
AN ALBUM OF QUALITY & SUBSTANCE,
By
This review is from: Wake Up The Nation (Audio CD)
If like me, you have grown up grown old with the music of Paul Weller then you are in for a bit if a surprise. Do you remember all that gritted teethed aggression and unashamed exuberance at Weller's wild and slightly crazy expressive side ? Well, my fellow music lovers it's time to get very excited indeed at this latest offering by yer' man. The sheer energy and passion of this album will take you back to that of the Jam. Our man has combined every element of his musical journey to culminate in a diverse but surprisingly addictive collection of tunes. He probably doesn't need any more plaudits and pats on the back and I'm sure he's aware by now how truly talented he is but I have to say this maybe is the best solo album of his career. Thank god for Paul Weller, imagine the size of the void in the music industry without him the last 30 years. Yes, that's right it's unimaginable....
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews |
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
![[Start the discussion]](http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/02/x-locale/communities/discussion_boards/start-new-discussion-sec._V192198663_.gif){kind=small}
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
