★★★★★
There's a new narrative emerging from Paul Weller's career, one that supplants his Britpop fame, his parka-clad Modfather status in favour of his role as 21st century inspiration. Listening to 'More Modern Classics', it's easy to see both the truth and falsity in this statement. A solo compilation, cuts such as 'Sweet Pea, My Sweet Pea' reveal that the songwriter's millennial phase is perhaps not as creatively arid as critics often assume...
- www.clashmusic.com
2014-06-09
★★★★★
The proud father of twin boys born in January, Weller is keeping it in the family on the follow-up to 2010's acclaimed Wake Up The Nation. Wife Hannah provides the duet vocal on the jazzy Study In Blue (serious shades of The Style Council), daughter Leah and son Mac weigh in on the swaying anthem Be Happy Children, while the lyrics to the trippy trance of Dragonfly were inspired by a poem Weller's youngest daughter, Jessie, wrote at school...
- recordcollectormag.com
2013-04-02
★★★★★
So here's how it goes. It happens to most everyone. You get a little bit older, you start to retreat from the new and take solace in the old and the familiar. One would be very tempted to think that after a Nineties where Paul Weller did exactly that with albums like Stanley Road and Wild Wood, the 21st Century would be VERY MUCH the same...
- www.ink19.com
2012-08-30
★★★★★
Summary: Weller, Weller, Weller...tell me more. Life must be fairly peachy for one Mr. Paul Weller. A storied career in music with The Jam, The Style Council and his own solo efforts has seen him eternally deemed 'Modfather'. His personal life appears to be more than steady too; comfortable, re-married and with children ranging from young to adult ages. This is where some people fall down. Familiarity does not only breed contempt...
- www.sputnikmusic.com
2012-04-12
★★★★★
Paul Weller doesn't usually come to mind when pop's great shape-shifters are listed. But his journey from seminal mod-punk band the Jam to the jazz/R&B-lite Style Council and then to prickly singer-songwriter surely qualifies him as a man who takes his makeovers very seriously. (The Style Council even made a foray into house music in 1989 on a never-released album that has attained cult status.) As he settles into a role as elder statesman, he shows no sign of making categorization any easier...
- latimesblogs.latimes.com
2012-04-12
★★★★★
Sound: Paul Weller, The Modfather. After leading The Jam in the late 70's/early 80's, Weller went on to form The Style Council, a somewhat underrated band who produced some fantastic blues/jazz albums. Post-Style Council, Weller fell out of the limelight into obscurity, having nothing to inspire him. In this period, Weller re-visited his home-town of Woking, Surrey, to gather ideas. Suddenly, in 1992, Weller burst right back into the spotlight with his eponymous album, full of cracking tunes...
- www.ultimate-guitar.com
2012-04-12
★★★★★
Throughout his 35-year career--one that includes The Jam, The Style Council, and his ongoing solo output--Paul Weller has gone back and forth between two basic types of albums: sweeping conceptual grab-bags and sharp, solid snapshots. 2010's Wake Up The Nation served up an excellent mix of both approaches. But the balance between eclecticism and focus isn't as graceful on the new Sonik Kicks, despite the fact that Weller is still riding his current wave of inspiration and adrenaline...
- www.avclub.com
2012-04-05
★★★★★
Yep Roc Former Jam singer Paul Weller takes a creative leftturn on his adventurous eleventh solo outing. Enlisting the help of such prolific pals as ex-Oasis axe Noel Gallagher, Blur guitarist Graham Coxon and Sean O'Hagan of The High Llamas, Sonik Kicks is a 14-track jaunt through the more experimental ends of his record collection. "Kling I Klang" is Krautrock rewired for German beer garden sing-alongs...
- www.relix.com
2012-04-02