471. The Jam - Sound Affects (1980)
















Track Listing

1. Pretty green
2. Monday
3. But I'm different now
4. Set the house ablaze
5. Start
6. That's entertainment
7. Dreamtime
8. Man in the corner shop
9. Music for the last couple
10. Boy about town
11. Scrape away

Review

The Jam again sound like they are in the middle of two different worlds, the brit pop to come and the music that has come before, like the Beatles and the Kinks. They are innovative enough not to be a throwback but they do send you hints like crazy, so you know exactly where you are coming from.

So did I like it? Yes, yes I did, in fact I really enjoyed this, and curiously The Jam were not a band I thought I would really like and by the second time they prove me totally wrong. IT takes a bit to settle in but when it does it doesn't leave you.

So if you are into the Kinks, Beatles or the whole 90's brit-pop this is definitely the missing link that you need to listen to. And do it today. Also lyrically few are better than Weller in the early 80's if you are British or have lived in Britain for a while songs like That's Entertainment really hit a nerve.

Song Highlights

1. That's Entertainment
2. Start!
3. Boy About Town
4. Man In The Corner Shop

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

After the ambitious, harder-rocking Setting Sons, The Jam returned to the pop-oriented outlook of All Mod Cons, albeit with a noticeably different sound. The most salient influence on this album is '60s British psychedelic pop, such as The Beatles' Revolver, The Who's The Who Sell Out, and The Kinks' The Village Green Preservation Society. The psychedelic overtones run throughout the album: in the backwards guitar on "That's Entertainment"; in the swirling, gauzy feel of "Man in the Cornershop"; in the punchy British horns of "Boy About Town" and "Dream Time". Other obvious influences are post-punk groups such as Wire, Gang Of Four, and Joy Division and, particularly evident in Rick Buckler's drumming, Michael Jackson's Off the Wall album. Indeed, singer/guitarist/songwriter Paul Weller said at the time that he considered the album a cross between Off the Wall and Revolver.

That's Entertainment: