Paul Weller hates nostalgia

If it's up to him, 53-year-old singer Paul Weller will always have his focus on the future. "I don't want to reach a point where the best times are behind me." He transfers that philosophy also into his work, as can be heard on his eleventh solo album Sonik Kicks. "I'm always looking for a new sound", says the former singer of The Jam.

[westonsea]

Ironic that weller now pads out his live sets with a good percentage of Jam and Style council songs - and usually encores with ‘Malice’ …..all of which get a far bigger roar and response from the crowds than his more recent solo meanderings!

[bengunns]

I love nostalgia you can learn alot from it and memories shape the way you are, but that's just my opinion

[revol]

you remember that covers album he released from a few years back as well do you!

[revol]

I certainly am NOT even pretending to be an authority on the works of Weller after "the Paul Weller experience" - apart from once sharing a house with a huge Weller fan and having seen him live on two occasions in the past 20 years.In any case music is a very personal thing - if you like his solo stuff then that's fine by me - taste is a personal matter hence I wouldn't want to contradict what your ears suggest to you is good music.

[HelenGarland-dq]

Being a Mod is about looking and moving forward!! Don't look back in anger. Slot of So called Mods get stuck in a certain decade. They have got it wrong onward and upward always ❤

[techdad]

Everyone here must be a disgruntled Jam fan whos still pissed off that the they broke up in '82. Or, maybe everyone here is from UK and are tired of Paul Weller. As a newer American fan who didn't grow up with Weller, I appreciate his talents, and love how he's continued to change his sound and make great records. Either way, great songwriter, a bit of an ego, but talented nonetheless.

[revol]

just to clarify I meant that the Jam did pretty much the same thing throughout their career - not too sure whether that is a bad thing or not come to think of it.However by comparison the Clash were far more experimental - compare their debut with say Combat rock or Sandanista.Agreed some of BAD was quite good - but still Strummers career was mixed - I was only aware when reading his biography just how many bands he was in.Ever heard "earthquake weather" - if you haven't count yourself lucky!

[mr.magister]

They could play one of their 'classic' solo albums in it's entirety, that should clear the room in about 5 minutes! Cornwell plays to about 300 people a gig these days if he's lucky, if he could drag Weller away from the Vintage magazine store in Soho perhaps they could walk up to the Marquee together and perform to a lunch time crowd of about 200 playing all their fabulously well known songs of the past 20 years ! Some of these blokes simply have their own head up their arse!

[chrisbacos]

I respect what Pau says about doing new things.

[luzhizui]

I'm glad that you're feeling smug. That he now claims to hate nostalgia is another discussion, but I was also going to add before I saw your comment that Weller was one of the best lyricists of his, indeed any, generation, especially if you look beyond the hits. The Jam were abit limited musically, but their output stretches form groundbreakers like 'down in the tubestation' to 'little boy soldiers', the new wave 'bohemian rhapsody' to the soul of 'town called malice' to name but 3

[luzhizui]

'revolutionary' posturing of The Clash. I'd strongly suggest a re-listen to 'Setting sons' where Weller shows his, I would say astonishing, ability to empathise with stock-brokers and genuinely desperate housewives, or 'The Gift' where, apart from the social critique and Weller's exploration of new musical directions, he addresses issues such as the darker side of human natuer and the nature of life and death itself. I have to say that, in

[luzhizui]

By the way, I have had 'Earthquake weather' inflicted upon me, which underlines my point - Weller continued to explore new avenues in the 80s and even the 90s, with mixed success admittedly, but you can hear even on 'all mod cons' that he was able to write about subjects no other 'punk' or other songwriter would even attempt to get near, sometimes misguidedly. Have you ever listened to 'Ghosts of Dachau' by The Style Council for example?

[steffanhoffmann]

This new stuff he spoke about sounded like a fusion of Velvets/Bowie/Joy Division

[MrBazzabee]

I hadn't thought about that, but yeah-you're spot on, thanx revo !!

[luzhizui]

I'm so happy that you are the ultimate arbiter of what constitutes a good song. If I said Strummer was a one-trick pony, which I don't think I did, that was a mistake - he was more diverse than that, but I would suggest that to sustain a career over at least 2 decades of good material suggests that Weller was abit more versatile. Just because you don't like something doesn't mean it's not 'decent'. There's more to life than political posturing :)

[luzhizui]

Joe Strummer was something of a lyrical 'one-trick pony;. Also, bare in mind that Strummer-Jones was a song-writing partnership, as opposed to Weller who more or less takes on these 'duties' single-handedly, but, as you say, musical beauty is somewhat in the eye of the

[revol]

thanks for the reply - I am currently feeling way too smug at the moment to respond in detail to you. Just to reiterate: the man above hates nostalgia YET did a covers album a few years back! (I'm laughing while I type this!) The Jam were a one trick pony - the Clash went in many musical directions.However Weller had a far better career (both critical and commercial) after the collapse of the Jam - as for Strummer and Mick Jones it was all down hill to semi-obscurity (sadly).

[franklampard]

Its not that the old bands haven’t got new songs, it’s because the fans like the songs they grew up with, and that’s what brings in the money. Well we didn’t mind imitating the old bands when he started with The Jam.

[mr.magister]

Both Weller and Cornwell still think they are relevant today? They're not.They are both heritage acts, both great in their day and it's wonderful they are still alive doing what they want to do, the problem with Weller is he hasn't embraced his past the same way Cornwell has.At least Cornwell goes out and plays the old stuff for an audience that still appreciates it. Weller doesn't have that same affinity with his audience, he still has that old chip on the shoulder that he had back in 1982!

[nicholas_porter]

"We're gonna play a classic album, but it's a new one."