All Mod Cons - THE JAM****

All Mod Cons/To Be Someone/Mr Clean/David Watts/English Rose/In The Crowd/Billy Hunt/Its Too Bad/Fly/The Place I Love/A Bomb In Wardour Street/Down In The Tube Station At Midnight

All Mod Cons was the second album from the mod revival band The Jam and was a big improvement on their debut. Led by Paul Weller they would become one of the most prominent rock acts in the UK during the next few years. Features the UK top 20 hit Down In The Tube Station At Midnight. (UK:6)

“That's the conundrum of All Mod Cons - a simple question about Weller's allegiances that never gets properly answered. Even the album's two best songs sit on either side of the divide. English Rose is a delicate, pretty acoustic ballad, but Down In The Tube Station At Midnight is a different beast altogether - a tale of far right politics and gang violence.”

“Paul Weller became a real songwriter and the result is the seminal All Mod Cons. This is genius. Every 70s mod group wanted to emulate the sound, but none of them could touch the songwriting level.”

“In the age of new wave and punk rock, The Jam decided to meet in the middle. Songs like Billy Hunt and the title track show the punk side, while songs such as the beautiful English Rose display the true genius of this band.”

“This is, by all accounts, The Jam's masterpiece. It's clear the songwriting has improved by leaps and bounds. The music has also developed: most of the raggedness is gone and the musical ideas are more complicated.”

“One of the best albums to come out of the British new wave movement. Paul Weller suddenly hits maturity both lyrically and musically, to produce an album which sums up a lot of the mixed up emotions of what it was like to be young in Britain in the late 1970s.”

“A Bomb In Wardour Street and especially Down In The Tube Station At Midnight are classic Jam; flowing streams of superb lyrics set to simple but insistently catchy, rock tunes.”

“The Jam bounced back in a major way with this razor sharp collection of pop-punk gems. Weller ably demonstrates his growth as a songwriter, lyricist and guitarist on this album. Perhaps their strongest set of songs.”