Great Rock Albums of 1982: The Jam- The Gift

Now onto The Jam's 1982 album "The Gift." If I had been listening to The Jam back in the day and heard this album when it came out after listening to their previous albums, I would have immediately accused them of selling out. "The Gift" marks a departure from the hard, aggressive punk sound that they had been known for. I mean the opener for instance, "Happy Together" sounds more like a happy top 40 song then a traditional Jam punk anthem. However, the song does break with the precedent set by the other albums I have covered for 1982 and is not the hit single. Surprisingly enough, the big single from the album and probably their most successful song, "A Town Called Malice" is probably the closest song to The Jam of old on the entire album and probably why it's a good song. At least they tried to keep to their traditional roots somewhat. The rest of the album, although not bad lacks that kick I liked about their previous albums. Paul Weller was trying to stretch out a little and you got to respect that but for me, it just doesn't excite me the way the earlier Jam material did.

Track Listing:

1. Happy Together

2. Ghosts

3. Precious

4. Just Who is the Five O'Clock Hero

5. Trans Global Express

6. Running on the Spot

7. Circus

8. The Planner's Dream Goes Wrong

9. Carnation

10. A Town Called Malice

11. The Gift

[caption id="attachment_1421" align="aligncenter" width="224"] The Jam[/caption]

Paul Weller- guitar, lead vocals

Bruce Foxton- bass, backing vocals

Rick Buckler- drums

While "The Gift" would go to number one, it would also lead to the break up of the band. Bruce Foxton and Rick Buckler wanted to stick to the more punk sound while Weller wanted to branch out more. It appears that this disagreement might have shone through on the album because while it goes to new places, it does so without the angry conviction that had gotten The Jam to where they were in the first place.

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Great Rock Albums of 1980: The Jam- Sound Affects

The Jam were another British band that were big in their own country but hardly heard of in the USA. At least I didn't hear of them until the mid 80s and that was when Paul Weller was making it solo and The Jam were referred to in retrospect to him. Worse still, I didn't listen to them until much later and if you read my post on their 1979 album "Setting Sons," you will know the history behind it. I still like to once again thank my ex-wife for introducing them to me.

In the late 70s, they had that angry British punk sound that typified the era and the country back then. In 1980, the punk scene in the UK was beginning to die out and make a new beginning on the West Coast of the USA. I think that is reflected in this album. There is that very notable sound that The Jam possessed back then, only with "Sound Affects," the ferocity began to slow down a bit. The only song, I would call angry is "Set the House Ablaze" and that happens to be my favourite song on the album, but I won't deride the others either. "Man In the Corner Shop" is a good one as well as "Monday." The others are also reminiscent of The Jam with that short, sharp rock sound that took them to the top. But instead of going at 200 miles an hour, it goes about 150 and there is nothing wrong with that.

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. Dream Time

8. Man In the Corner Shop

9. Music For the Last Couple

10. Boy About Town

11. Scrape Away

The Jam

Paul Weller- guitar, vocals

Bruce Foxton- bass, backing vocals

Rick Buckler- drums, percussion

Punk may have been in reference to a famous Jam song going underground in 1980, but it didn't stop one of the big names of British Punk from putting out a cool album. It might not have been as fast or as angry, but it doesn't stop it from being good.

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Great Rock Albums of 1979: The Jam- Setting Sons

I have to thank my ex-wife for this one because she is responsible for getting me into The Jam. I had heard of them in the past but never got around listening to them. Then one day we were at a car boot sale, which I guess is like a swap meet for my American readers, when we were going through a load of records that one seller had on display. We came across The Jam's Greatest Hits album and she practically did cartwheels. We bought it straight away and I think it only cost us 10 pence (roughly 15 cents). I have to say, when we got home and listened to this album, I have to say I was converted. To me, they were straight ahead no nonsense rock, often called punk, but I'm not so quick to do labels. I know that I liked the hard aggressive sound that they made.

The other interesting note, that is if you are interested, is that if you were to make a Venn Diagram of my ex-wife's and my musical tastes, it would overlap with such bands as Heart, Alice Cooper and Marillion and a few others. Although she did really like my Kenny Wayne Sheppard album. From that common ground, our musical tastes go in different directions. She was more into New Romantic 80's stuff where I went more for the harder stuff. Anyway, enough of that.

The great thing about The Jam's "Setting Sons" album is that it continues with that same powerful rock that attracted me to them in the first place. Songs like "Thick as Thieves," "Private Hell" and "Smithers-Jones" all give that great aaargh feeling which typifies their sound back then. It also helps that this album contains the hit "The Eton Rifles," which I confess is my all time favourite song by The Jam.

Track Listing:

1. Girls on the Phone

2. Tick as Thieves

3. Private Hell

4. Little Boy Soldiers

5. Wasteland

6. Burning Sky

7. Smithers- Jones

8. Saturday's Kids

9. The Eton Rifles

10. Heatwave

The Jam

Paul Weller- guitar, lead vocals

Bruce Foxton- bass, backing vocals

Rick Buckler- drums, percussion

So full marks to my ex-wife for introducing me to The Jam. "Setting Sons" is a classic Jam album in which every song has that power for which they were known for. It shows that hard and to the point is sometimes the best way.

Next post: Aerosmith- Night in the Rights

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