Sound Affects

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Weller's voice is in great form, but here the anguish and the anger sit closer together and in my humble opinion show a more mature and majestic depth to one of the great English bands of all time. If That’s Entertainment doesn’t move you on some level you deserve to have your speakers burnt in front of you. That was the sort of sound he imagined we should be going for: hard, metallic, quite stripped-down… jagged. I'm 55 and have been enjoying this absolute gem of a record since it was released in my graduating year of high school in 1980. With extensive finagling I was able to extract the record from the way-too-tight inner sleeve without resorting to Caesarean surgery!

Weller's poetic and sarcastic wit combine with edgy but poppy tunes to really make this the jam's standout album. Reading texts on Paul Weller afterwards have made it even easier to grasp the meaning of these lyrics. The song is also the only recording by the Jam to include sitar lines, which are buried in the mix, but are more prominent in the demo version. On Sound Affects’ opener, Pretty Green, Paul Weller barks about one use for his money in a teeth-gnashing staccato: "I’m gonna put it in the juke box".Between tracks, the vinyl is dead-quiet, this amplifier is at 7 and this record is begging for more power. There are plenty of wonderfully catchy hooks and great songs that made me think The Jam's overblown and overrated reputation may not be entirely exaggerated. Still beloved of original fans and new supporters through Paul Weller’s solo career – he still plays many of the Jam songs in his live sets today.

And it does contain at least two of the best Jam singles that never were, in "Pretty Green" and "Boy About Town"; to say nothing of "Start!If `The Gift' and `Setting Sons' are given the deluxe treatment, and remastered by the same engineer, I'll happily re-purchase those as well.