Reviews (page 2 of 8)
This washed over me, and was rather forgettable. It wasn’t unpleasant, though, and for that reason I’m putting it right in the middle with a 3.
Wasn’t prepared for the amount of jazz. They even seemed to have messed up these versions of the singles
3 out of 5. As opposed to most albums I thought it got better towards the end after the rapping.
Not as bad as I expected. More jazzy than new wave. Could do without his shitty rap. Leave that to those who can actually do it lol. While I want to give this a 3, the vocals took away more from the music than it did balancing it, or making it better. 2.25 / 5
I like The Jam. I don't particularly like this. I get that Weller wanted to break away and do something different, but this sounds like a competent forgery of jazz, not someone with something to actually say with jazz. It is music like this that lead me to say "I don't like jazz" for so many years. Just vapid sounds to eat brunch to.
Gonna be honest: didn't need to hear this before I died.
It's fine.
Paul Weller is a very serious man. Adam Buxton tells the story of interviewing him on the radio one time and making the joke “Ah Weller, Weller, Weller, ooh - tell me more” which was received in stony silence. His previous band, the Jam, was laser focused on making sharp political points through a mix of mod and punk, without any of the joy or spontaneity of either of those genres. With the Style Council he made an abrupt change into a mix of easy listening jazz, soul and hip-hop, seemingly aimed at the after dinner yuppie CD crowd. As a general rule if you have to state that you are cool or stylish, you are probably not, and councils are more generally associated with bin collections and the like, but we’ll let that go. It’s pleasant enough listening, with jazzy instrumentals and songs that sneak in some of his previous left wing politics hoping that the yuppies won’t listen too closely. There’s a guest appearance from Tracy Thorn of Everything but the Girl which is probably the high point of the album, but then a couple of tracks later we come to A Gospel which has some bizarrely out of place rapping and drum machine beats, thankfully not performed by Mr Weller. The overall effect is something of a curate’s egg and probably not something I’d go back to.
2.5 - liked the smoother instrumental tracks but then it took a strange turn in the second half
It's got piano ballads, jazzy instrumentals, a hip hop song, and whatever the hell Strength of Your Nature is. It also has a song that feels like it's about to break into Too Many Cooks. Truly just some guy who finally got to do what he wanted and made this weird 80s monstrosity. I thought it was mostly enjoyable.
snappy, stimulating, very fun. flipflops between like, undefined paris café pop and a campy old school rap break. it feels like there's some dna from the electrofunk bullshit of the modern day that i already listen to. there's some vague and unknowable wow factor it's missing; it's rough because one of my favorite parts was the variety but some stylistic consistency might be what it would benefit from the most. i think like half of it is musical perfection, the other half is weird and i don't know what it's doing there but i did love my time with it. favorite song is Here's One That Got Away or Council Meetin'. strong 4
Rating: 4/10 A very mixed bag of quality that I overall didn't really enjoy. Definitely veers into the kind of 80's music that isn't my thing and maybe hasn't aged very well. A collection of jazzy pop numbers that starts off decently, the first half is definitely stronger and has my favorite song, The Paris Match, which features an entirely different woman's vocals. But the second half is a total mess with some real stinkers, especially as it dives right in two of the worst tracks, A Gospel and Strength of Your Nature. What honestly is going on in A Gospel, and why. I can totally forget this album ever existed
A nice mix of sound/influences on this album (though I could have done without the rap track). It's a very 80's album, but I did enjoy my time with it. Nice voice and relaxing instrumentals.
Styles are still fresh and so cool
Mid 80s. Very jazzy. Pop with soul flavours.
I thought I'd like this a lot more.
Half the album was really solid, the other half ok. 3 stars
mmmmh – good i suppose
The jazz tracks are great. The other ones are bizarre.
This jazz was alright by me.
I have no idea what I just listened to. Saved the first track to my upbeat instrumental playlist and would have appreciated more like that. That's not what I got.
This is not what I was expecting, but in a good way. The music is good, the lyrics are a little heavy handed. I like the whole Sinatra vibe this gives off, but this listens more as 50s cover band than 80s retro 50s. I like the songs with lyrics less than the instrumentals. Dropping Bombs On The Whitehouse....why can't British bands protest their own government instead of always having to take shots at America? Dropping Bombs on Buckingham Palace doesn't work for them? And a rap song...this album is strange. Again with the complaints about the US. Strength Of Your Nature devolves into straight 80s pop nonsense. I'm not sure if I like it more or less than the British guy rapping about how much of a sham American democracy is.
Some tracks were good but many jazzy fillers. 5/10
I hated this. I don’t like horns and pop music. I just don’t get the point of all this.
Well crafted garbage. Vapid Britpop. Empty calories. Soulless attempted blue eyed soul/jazz. Need I go on? At least The Jam aspired to SOMETHING.
Some good moments and some 80s moments
Don’t remember much of the album already. But I save the 1 stars for the especially bad albums now.
Bleu cheese
If they picked a lane in any of the genres presented; they’d be one of the greats. Oh well.
Great combo of coffee house jazz and 80s pop. Theres something for everyone. Want piano instrumentals? They’ve got it. Wanna dance in a club? Sure you can. Like random rapping. ..uh you do you, I guess. Honestly each song was perfect. Couldn’t ask for more.
There’s some nice technical playing here—skilled without ever feeling overstated. Smooth. Emotive, at times. Unfortunately, it’s also lathered in an ’80s sheen. Kinda cringe. Kinda goofy.
If that album from The Jam is something of a mixed bag, then this is a trip to Goodwill: treasures among trash (when you’re lucky). We get it, Paul, you’re talented…now can you make a whole album that’s good? But hey, you can’t say it isn’t fun! This meetin’ won me over by the end.
This is essentially tasteful (for the 80s) jazz. Nice enough I guess but not exciting.
There's plenty of songs here that could fit in well in a playlist, but I don't know what mood I'd have to be in to want to listen to this back to back, even excluding the rap song. I guess my issue is I have heard some of these songs in playlists before and I never bothered to learn the name of the band despite that.
Not sure what to make of this. Smooth syrupy pop plus piano-vocal jazz fusion. Fades intk the background. Not recommended
3.5/5
You know, some of the instrumental tracks were really rather good. I'm afraid I lost interest later on though, always such a curse!
⭐⭐⭐ Ny bekantskap för mig och inget som jag hade förväntat mig från Paul Weller. Här blandar man soul, jazz, funk och hip hop. Det är ganska bra, bättre än vad jag hade förväntat mig, bortsett från Hip hop delen. Skulle kunna lyssna på det igen men bristen på riktigt starka spår gör nog att det här albumet nog kommer försvinna i mängden, så det blir en 3a. Bäst är Mick's blessings, Me ship come in!, The Paris match, My ever changing moods, Dropping bombs on the Whitehouse, You're the best thing
Only ever heard the "Best of" compilation and apart from a handful of songs, I've never been a fan so wasn't expecting much from this. It's actually worse than I was expecting. Sounds like a pitch for the soundtrack to Moonlighting which was rejected as it's so bad. Even the album version of a song I actually like (My Ever Changing Moods) is terrible.
Cafe bleurgh more like
More like Café Bleurgh, am I right? I was moderately enjoying some jazz-café style tracks, and then I'm assaulted by an unexpected and unwanted honky rap with A Gospel. Yuck. Then the whole album changes, every track is a different genre, but none of them are particularly good or even well done, like a takeaway shop that does pizza, kebabs, fried chicken and burgers, and you know that none of them are going to be any good at all.
A whole lot of flavors in this one. Some of them were good.
This is horrible. It’s like being in a hotel bar for after work drinks at a job you hate, and there’s some wannabe noodling away in the corner as you choke down your warm, watery pint of Carling. Absolute shite. And I haven’t even mentioned the rapping. Jesus christ.
Very pleasant, would listen again
Truly hated this
a bit schizophrenic
What a strange album.
+1 for the opening track MICK’S BLESSINGS. Become a fan of Paul Weller’s projects.
Albums kinda all over the place but not bad per se
More brit alt - blah blah blah
Idk it was ok. Was intrigued by the Paris cafe vibe bc we were there earlier this week but idk I just don’t care about this deep British lore
There was a lot going on here and I enjoyed a good amount of it. It does feel like a bit of a tour around the genre neighborhood which is kind of lazy to do for an album but I like the instrumental tracks well enough.
This was really odd. I thought the playing was good, especially the pianos, but the singing was really dated and that awful rap track was, well, awful. I’m not sure what this album wanted to be but it was very 80s. I’m not sure if I disliked it or if I just thought it was dumb. I don’t know. What a strange thing while sounding fairly ordinary.
At times this is kind of good--they even have some soul. At other times it's just goofy. At best, they sound like of like a predecessor of someone like Khruangbin. Not terrible, but also not great and often sounds outdated. 2/5
6/10 maybe higher
An interesting album that took some unexpected twists and turns. It's very different to Weller's other works, and I can respect the change in direction. A few very enjoyable tracks in here. Favourites: Me Ship Came In! Strength Of Your Nature Here's One That Got Away
#422/1001. I think I vacuely knew the name, but couldn't name one song. Intersting album with a very different a and b sides. Super hard to pinpoint the year (at least in the a-side), which many times is a good thing at least for an 80's album. Added one or two tracks to my so not 80s playlist. But rest is easily forgotten after just one listen.
Well that was all over the place. And so '80s. So, so '80s. I guess the best track was Strength of Your Nature.
Hard album to rate. Started out so good, but even if the point is to have a lot of genres and mixing them, it gets too unfocused and scattershot. Didn't need the rap song and the more techno themed stuff. At least not so much of it. Generally speaking, the A-side is great. The B-side not so much. Paul Weller is a good guitarist, though.
Actually a very cool album, lots of variety and unique styles. Don't know why the other reviews hate on it so much but I thought it was pretty interesting. Certainly there are some weird ones especially the rap song but I've definitely heard much worse on this list
Listens: 3 Standout Tracks: The Whole Point of No Return, A Gospel This is a sufficiently weird album. It has multiple styles and genres bound up in a mostly tight 44 minutes: acoustic songs, jazzy songs, a hip-hop/rap track. There's some tracks you could dance to. The whole affair is pretty pleasant. It's easy listening. I am not sure I like enough of the album to give it a 4, but its definitely a 3.5...... Eh, what the hell, why not. I like it more than I don't. 4
Loved the smooth-jazz first half of this but then out of nowhere... horrible, white-guy rapping! WTF? It kind of lost me after that. 3 stars for the first half. 1 star for the second. 2 stars, then, I guess?
I like how eclectic this is ! Truly something for everyone which naturally means some of it won’t be for you most likely - still, I mostly enjoyed it.
I can’t quite put a finger on why, but I couldn’t wait for this album to end. I found nothing in here I enjoyed, and I have absolutely no desire to ever listen to any of the songs on this album ever again. 1/5.
What the hell just happened? This was an interesting but uninspired instrumental album. Then we had relatively mid vocals. Okay. And then the rap happened. Early '80's white-boy rap. So weird that I can't hate it.
Paul Weller, what the hell were you doing? If this stuck to one theme and one style, it might be incredible; in fact, when it stays in R&B territory, it's almost like post-punk Squeeze, just enough of an edge to cut through the normal sound. And then Paul Weller starts rapping and it all just goes off the rails. The Jam had probably run their course but this - this wasn't a leap forward...
Given the nature of the project- 1001 albums YOU MUST HEAR BEFORE YOUR VERY DEMISE, I was certain I would not be using the "1" rating at all. After all, what kind of psycho would use that little time we have forcing us to hear shitty albums...well, I guess whatever Brit obsessed writer of the book that inspired this website. Hope to God this is the worst album I hear from here.
Strange album that jumped styles a lot
had absolutely 0 expectations going and safe to say I was very pleasantly surprised. So baller to break up one of the worlds biggest bands because you want to get funky and bluesy and show some more soul. All power to them I love this. Wont revisit every song but enjoyed listening today. 7.4/10 Favourite tracks: - Dropping Bombs on the Whitehouse - You’re the Best Thing - Here’s One that Got Away - Blue Cafe
A very jazzy side one, which I wasn't expecting when I found out Paul Weller was a part of The Style Council. A change in tone on 'A Gospel' which is more hip-hop and not altogether bad. Then it went a bit more 80s conventional and I just can't see myself going back to this
Started off well enough, and the album remained interesting. Too bad it was interesting crap
Listen to this and you’ll have the Headstart for Happiness.
Tää oli aika valjua soulpoppia. Ei ollut mun mieleen.
Meh…
The rap attempt sound straight up from disney channel, "Strength of your nature" is an even worse song Besides that it has some good songs but isnt too memorable in my opinion, not in my style.
This was kinda all over the place but I still enjoyed it
Mejor disco hasta ahora
shades of the beautiful south, shades of jazz, has a song later covered (sort of) by robert wyatt of all people. merits a 4 on the strength of how interesting all this is alone
This album was pretty ok.going into it I expect 80s British electronica and it isn’t that at all. Just a bunch of different genres mashed together but it works.
This is #day700 of my #1001albumsyoumusthearbeforeyoudie challenge, and… as it happens with this challenge, I'd never heard of either the band or the record. I found it quite pleasurable, probably because of the time of day I got to hear it. Late evening. But also because of its nature. Jazzy, artsy, ocassionally quiet-stormy, if you will... A very cool side of '80s experimental pop I'm after. A song featuring Tracey Thorn on vocals was a lovely surprise. I'm not always a fan of Paul Weller's vocals (I did rate The Jam's record a 4 back in the day, though). For this one, I was going to go with a strong 3, but those instrumental jazz tracks... I just can't resist them. This is a 4 out of 5. Looking forward to #day701.
I liked the instrumentals. Groovy coolie jazzy funkie. The singing parts not so much. Downhill pretty fast in the second half. I think Raymond is in the room. 2.8
Why does everything Paul Weller does sound so forced? It's like he was asked to make an album that adds all awful musical elements of the 80s together, if this was the case he nailed it.
Not unpleasant but just so not memorable to me. Nothing stood out at all.
5/10
No fav song
Mick's blessings - 3 The whole point of no return - 2 Me ship came in! - 2 Blue cafe - 3 The paris match - 3 My ever changing moods - 2 Dropping bombs on the whitehouse - 3 A gospel - 2 Strength of your nature - 2 You're the best thing - 2 Here's one that got away - 3 Headstart for happiness - 2 Council meeting - 2
Mick’s Blessing - 2.5/5 The Whole Point Of No Return - 2/5 Me Ship Came In! - 2/5 Blue Cafe - 3/5 The Paris Match - 2/5 My Ever Changing Moods - 1.5/5 Dropping Bombs On The Whitehouse - 2/5 A Gospel - 1.5/5 Strength Of Your Nature - 1/5 You’re The Best Thing - 2/5 Here’s One That Got Away - 2/5 Headstart For Happiness - 2/5 Council Meetin’ - 1/5
So what started ok takes a turn at the rap track "A Gospel". What the hell was that?! I checked for any drug induced excuses but he didn't touch them in the 80s. He soberly decided this. Outside of that blunder this album is all over the place stylistically and not in a good way. Struggling to see what he was trying to achieve. Some decent tracks here but too many bad tracks to make up for the good. 2/5.
Previously unknown. Sort of all over the place.
On the one hand, jazzy piano with some blues sprinkled in is nice. But on the other hand, putting this on when a friend is around sounds kind of cringe and like a tap dance performance is about to break out.
"Cafe Bleu" features pop jazz of its kind that does not require being a jazz geek to enjoy, as well as a few other styles; there is even a track with rapping ("The Gospel"). It has both melancholic and distinctively positive feel tracks. Most of the record is a real treat that is entertaining and surprisingly diverse. As an album, it makes it a nice release to explore, and also worth relistening. Taking this panorama into consideration and having enjoyed all the beats, jazzy melodies, and immersive emotional experiences Cafe Bleu has to offer, I conclude that this is a fine record, with "Blue Cafe" being its arguably most beautiful part.
Jazzy
I used to listen to Style Council a lot in my 18th. I had mod friends. This was the soundtrack through Northern Italy with Roberto. We also visited Paul Weller backstage after a show in Mannheim he was very approachable. He had DJs in the foyer playing Northern Soul and hung out with the fans after soundcheck and after the show. Having said all of that I don’t think this album stands the test of times. Some of it sounds pretentious and derivative. Some tracks sound like easy listening Muzak. However the modfathers brilliance shines through on tracks like “You’re the best thing”, “My ever changing moods” and “The Paris Match” with the amazing Tracy Thorn….
i think people are hating a tad too much but it's still kind of mid, the instrumental pieces are nice
Cool jazz is not what I expected next from The Jam’s Paul Weller. Liked it much more than I expected but unlikely to return to it.
Pretentious
different. all over. genre bending.
I had never knowingly listened to The Style Council before - though I realise I know 'Shout to the Top' - and I would happily have lived my entire life without listening to this album. Yikes.
This is just okay
Nice surprise!
Good instrumentals! 3.5/5
I love The Jam but this is a bit up and down. Also have to deduct a full point for the rap song.
What an array. I enjoyed the first two tracks, but it fell off.
wrong style council album for the list
Couple decent songs but a bit all over the place
Whatever genre we call this I don't care for it and don't want to listen to any more albums from it. It's just 80's cheese in all the worst ways. The Wikipedia article for the album refers to it as "sophisti-pop" which sounds just about pretentious enough to represent this album. Truly disliked every song on the album. Now, with that said, I'd listen to this album again over listening to some of the other albums I gave a 1 like "Next" by The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, "Heaux Tales" by Jazmine Sullivan, or "En-Tact" by the Shamen but that's only because I couldn't give those albums a 0.
This is a messy album. You’ve got to admire Weller’s gumption for moving completely away from what made him famous but the results are spotty, and it hasn’t aged well. There are some good points - You’re the Best Thing That Ever Happened is lovely, and Here’s The One That Got Away is a pleasing discovery - but they’re too few and unfortunately hidden towards the end, when the damage has already been done
A bit hit and miss but there are still some great smooth tracks on this and Weller magic.
Music for waiting for your dentist.
Note, per wikipedia there's 13 songs on the original album, no way in hell I'm listening to some special edition 3.5 hour slop show of deep cuts. Overall seems like music for a basic 80's bitch
Weller after the jam, soul jazz and rap My ever changing moods The best thing
The instrumentals were good but the style changed a bit wildly at times.
A little bit of everything for everyone
It sounded like bad cruise ship music until he started randomly rapping. Absolute shit.
Meh not my cup of tea but not terrible
Never fell into the Paul Weller camp....although i do like some Style Council stuff. This i do not like.
I loved The Jam. I badly wanted to love The Style Council too. But although they did have some good songs somehow they were just too…mannered and stiff for me.
All over the place, from jazzy to brit pop/ rock to hip hop. I enjoyed not knowing exactly what was coming next and found a lot of the musical compositions to be fun if not the most interesting. I wish there were more genre flipping albums in general.
Weird how the first half is so much different than the second. It’s all over the place! Apparently it was a way for Paul to branch out from Jam, so I guess it makes sense, but not cohesive at all.
The thing that makes this album more than a stylish left turn is that the style is not ornamental. The clothes, cafés, jazz chords, soul references and imagined France are not a costume. They are the visible surface of a much deeper proposal: that life might be made larger by curiosity, culture, politics, love and refusing to accept the supplied version of adulthood. Its great trick is integration. On paper it should be a mess: soul, hard bop, hip-hop, chanson, political writing, love songs, instrumentals, café fantasy and Booker T. grooves all pushed into the same room. But the room holds. That is the achievement. The album feels like a deliberately constructed civic space, not a pile of enthusiasms. The opening matters enormously. It does not begin by reassuring anyone that the old certainties remain available. It begins by changing the organisational chart. The keyboard player is not decoration. He is musical authority. The instrumentals are not breathers between “proper” songs. They are statements of method: listen, respond, leave space, let the ensemble speak. The politics of the record are in the arrangements as much as the lyrics. And those politics are much harder-edged than the album’s reputation suggests. This is not cappuccino socialism as lifestyle accessory. It is a record that takes seriously the possibility that society is arranged wrongly and that merely complaining about it is not enough. It attacks inherited privilege, moral censorship, small-minded conformity, media confusion and passivity. Some of it is clunky. Some of it is earnest. But the earnestness is part of the charge. It is not pretending to care. It cares. What feels startling now is how dangerous some of that seriousness would sound in the present climate. The rhetoric sits far closer to today’s controversy zone than the “nice suits and espresso” caricature allows. The album belongs to a Britain where a pop record could assume politics, jazz, newspapers, socialism, love and cultural self-invention all belonged in the same conversation. The past really is another country. The imagined France is important, but it is not really France. Not literally. It is a composite city: Parisian architecture, village cafés, Riviera light, American music, British politics and the idea that time spent thinking is not wasted time. The café is not a prop. It is a machine for developing ideas. Sit down, read, argue, follow the thought through, do not flinch from the conclusion. But the record would be much smaller if it stopped there. Its real destination is not theory. It is people. That is why the great love songs matter so much. After the politics and the world-building, the album arrives at gratitude, recognition and confidence. The most moving moment is not a manifesto. It is the realisation that the richest things in life may be the ones already present, if only you have the wit to notice them before you lose them. That is not sentimentality. It is wisdom, and it is why the record can still catch the throat. The final instrumental completes the argument beautifully. After all the speeches, the chairman stops talking and becomes a rhythm guitarist. The band settles into a warm soul groove, halfway to Booker T., and the album ends not with victory but with fellowship. No final lecture. No grand resolution. Just musicians playing together. The council adjourns. The ideas remain.
This album sounds like it's been featured in an advertisement for bread or something. On further listening, that's unfair and but completely true. There's some interesting stuff in here, but most of the music feels bland and poppy to be.
Boring lounge music, something you would listen in a random supermarket or mall that is not so popular.
This album goes in all sorts of directions, and I love that! 😁 Three stars…
not bad
yeah nothing special
Kind of a mixed bag of goodies, from late night jazz and blue eyed soul to hiphop. To me these early Style Council albums are the best thing Paul Weller has done.
I’m not sure have I heard this before or does this sound familiar due to all relatives of this album. Nothing bad on this album, flows nicely, style is mostly there but still Cafe Bleu sounds slightly soulless. Despite of this I might listen this again
#412 / 1089 Heard before? ❌ Revisit? ❌ Familiar names behind this group, combining soul and jazz to it's pop music. I'd never heard the term sophisti-pop before, but I see why it was coined. It all smells a bit pretentious to me, but maybe that's just their ambition to make top quality pop music. Who knows, I don't care enough to dive deeper. The old school hiphop bits are very awkward, I don't enjoy the folkey parts either as they sound so much like Dexy's Midnight Runners that it's borderline copycat. I don't hate it, but at times it does get a bit of a chore to listen to. See-sawing between 2 and 3/5
I enjoyed this - time has been kinder to this phase of Paul Weller's career than I was when he broke up The Jam and started The Style Council. My Ever Changing Moods and You're the Best Thing, especially, are timeless. That rap though - not good...
curioso
It was okay, I didn't hate it, but honestly I barely even remember it and I listened a day ago.
The Style Council was the collective noun for Len Houmous’ 6 wives during the 80s 2.8 6/13 My Ever Changing Moods
Never before have I experienced such whiplash between the first two songs on an album. They've kept going back and forth for the first four tracks, will the rest of the album continue the same way? No! Instead, for the fifth track, they brought in someone who can actually sing! Exciting. A corny rap? I didn't expect that, this album keeps suprising! Yeah cohesion is overrated anyway. A good album is just mashing any random songs together, right? So in conclusion: this album tries to do a lot of different things, to the point where it's annoying to listen to, and does none of them well.
pretty much completely charmed (if very much not in love with) this deadly serious, very silly record. it is very tempting to see lots of it as a piss-take, but i don't know, the political nature of the record is very earnest and it feels like it approaches jazz, funk, and hip-hop from a place of real reverence. the songs in these genres aren't always great, but they're interesting and honest, and they surround My Ever Changing Moods, a simple, shining pillar of wonderful songwriting. don't love it, happy i've heard it, happy it exists
I read the artist and title and thought nothing of note. Then I saw the release date of 1984 and thought, why don’t I remember this? I was 14 years old and couldn’t get enough rock and pop music (and even country). So what happened here? Oh yeah, the Style Council never were that big in the US. Listening to it now, I guess it didn’t have the sound for US mainstream radio and MTV (although I think I probably saw a video or two of theirs). It may have been too jazzy, or it lacked the glittery synth pop sound that permeated American music of that era. I like what I’m hearing, yet it’s not immediately obvious why it’s on this list. It wouldn’t be out of place at the junior prom, but beyond that, I fail to see the importance of the record compared to the 1088 other records on the list. Oh, A Gospel is an absolute travesty. Early hip hop? NO.. The track lost the album an entire star. 2 stars
Cafe Bleugh
It was pretty but nothing really grabbed on. I listened while I water flowers and did some light yard work and it was nice to have in the background but if I never experienced this I would have been fine. My favorite songs were the One Who Got Away and Headstart for Happiness and those almost felt like a totally different band/album. So it was kind of strange
Knowing the author is such an Elvis Costello fan, I'm not surprised this is on the list, because this felt generic in a Costello kind of way. They're dabbling in some different styles of music, which is interesting and makes you wonder what's coming next. But I found myself not really caring that much about what was coming next because the songs were generally underwhelming. The music is pleasant enough, and nothing was offensive or hard to listen to. But overall, it felt a little lifeless despite the upbeat vibes.
This ain't it Paul, sorry dude.
The Jam were the most popular band in the UK when they split up. Everyone was keen to know what Paul Weller was going to do next. And he came up with... this 🤮 The clues had been there on the final Jam album, but this was still a massive letdown. Piss poor jazz and Weller rapping on this crock-of-shite album. Paul loved his retro fashion, tried to make The Style Council a "lifestyle brand". But if this had been my lifestyle, I would have curled up in a ball of embarrassment and never left the house. The two big hit singles are reasonably catchy, but that's not enough. Just cringeworthy.
I remember when Paul Weller disbanded The Jam to do something different, but I never appreciated just how different Style Council actually was having never bought or even listened to anything other than their singles. So I give kudos for such a massive departure. This album is a jazz-pop cocktail, miles away from the snarling Jam. Paris Match is a drag, Strength Of Your Nature is just bad, the rest is passable. Never particularly being a fan of Paul Weller, The Jam or Style Council, this album is hit and miss for me.
🎧Style Boyz
More interesting than reviews indicate
What was that? Piano jazz for 7 tracks and then the world's worst rap song for track 8. Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse jazz flute makes an appearance on the last song. I just can't with this.
A mixture of jazz and new wave sounds really cool on paper but this was such a snoozefest. The instrumentation and vocals were extremely bland. No dynamic variation, no pace changing. Flat throughout
Excellent.
Eh
Some of the vocal performances aren't my favorites, but instrumentally this absolutely slaps.
80er für mich
rap, jazz, and some sort of indie thing going on is actually really fun, solid album to me
This was just weird, like a personality disorder.
I rather enjoyed this album. Style-wise, it has a lot going on.
Unknown band. Good smooth light music. Good album.
Mick’s blessings-nice intro song,8/10 The whole point of no return-allright song,8.5/10 Me ship came in- nice song,nice horns,8.5/10 Blue Cafe- nice somg,maybe a bit better,8.7/10 The Paris Match- nice mellow song,8.7/10 My Ever Changing Moods- such nice piano,amazing lyrics,9/10,* Dropping bombs on the whitehouse- nice piano drums,hirns and the walking bass,8.8/10 A Gospel-what a intro,nice lyrics,8.5/10,* Strength of Your Nature,nice vocals,guitar,bass,8.5/10 You’re the best thing- nice sing,8.5/10 Here’s the one that got away-nice song,8.5/10 Headstart dor happines-nice song,8.5/10 Council Meetin-8/10 Album Rating: 8.5/10
Jazzy, poppy, fun, and diverse. Such a wide breadth of styles for a pop album that makes for an incredibly rewarding listen. Great use of song placement as well, the instrumentals help break up the album and keep everything fresh and engaging. All around great listen. Top tracks: The Whole Point of No Return, A Gospel, You're the Best Thing
Was a nice and chill album, nothing really spiked my interest on it though
I was about to give this album a 1, but the simple cheeriness of "Council Meetin'" stopped me in my tracks. The instrumental reminded me of another song, but I don't know its name (like a MGMT song or some 2010s summer indie pop).* Council Meetin' melted my Grinch heart, but not enough to warrant an album relisten. I liked individual tracks ('The Paris Match', 'My Ever Changing Moods'), but the whole album felt disjointed- it sounded more like a rough playlist instead of an album to me. Like that one dork who reviewed the Black Keys 'Brothers', goodbye forever The Style Council. * I found it. It reminded me of Peter Bjorn And John - Young Folks (never knew the name of that song until now).
i spent my whole drive thinking about what to say for this one. i guess it's cool that they really tried to do it all here? shame none of it really worked out. some cool riffs i guess. the only two songs i skipped were "you're the best thing," which i learned was one of the more popular songs, and "a gospel." not sure why either of those are enjoyed by anyone. i did, however, like "here's one that got away" well enough
As much as I don’t want to be associated with anything called sophisti-pop, I did enjoy this. Mostly a 3, but a strong ending to the album bumps this up to a borderline 4.
I like Paul Weller but I had some mixed feelings about this one. I might have to relisten to really decide but here’s my placeholder vote. It’s a high 2.
Going out on a limb and saying I think more about Paul Weller than most people you know. He's a pretty interesting fella in that he went from the leader of the least interesting first wave punk band to leading this "sophisti-pop" post-new wave thing and then kinda being the spiritual father of one branch of Britpop. So, I definitely respect him and his influence since he’s part of every single musical movement I like. But I've just never really... cared? There's definitely some great songs by The Jam that we will get to at some point but i see them as such also-rans that I just can't be bothered to get really into them. I knew Style Council existed but have never checked them out. I will say this album is a step in the right direction for me as far as digging Weller's stuff. I actually really like the vibe of most of the vocal songs and the instrumentals are, at the very least, fine. A 3 that I’m willing to revisit. Looking forward to hearing some more. ^ IS WHAT I HAD WRITTEN BEFORE HE STARTED RAPPING
I know the band name only, and I know they never had a real hit in the States. We are still deep in the UK rabbit hole of obscure albums and bands that never made a dent in the US or beyond. Impressive listener counts for an album that's 50 yrs old and that I've never heard of. 5.5M people listened to "The Whole Point Of No Return", 21M listened to "My Ever Changing Moods", 38M million played "You're The Best Thing". Impressive on any one album, and yet I don't recognize a single song by title or from the radio, movies or tv -- and I was neck deep into pop/new wave bands in 1984. They were obviously artists, the music was important to them, I can tell. "Mick's Blessing", "Blue Cafe", "Me Ship Came In", "Dropping Bombs..." & "Council Meetin'" don't even have vocals. Hearing what sounds like an early Brit Rap track in "A Gospel" was a real surprise (I hear Whodini influence). Only song I'd give kudos to was "You're The Best Thing", not bad but not great either. Too jazzy and shoegazer for me in 1984, or now. Paul Weller's voice sure improved over time, it's pretty bland on this album. 2.5-3 stars, if you didn't grow up on it or dig it when you were young it's just very average.
Yeah, I’m just going to go ahead and be unreasonable with my ratings again. This record has two of my favorites: My Ever Changing Moods and You’re the Best Thing. This is getting a straight 5, no matter what.
3/5 Would listen to some of these songs on my own time but wouldn't come back to listen to the album in full. Loved some of the lyrical songs but I don't really listen to this genre of music. Favorite Song: Here's One That Got Away
This one was all over the place. Multiple genres without a thread. My Ever Changing Moods was the only song that was halfway decent, and I could go along with the TV theme song sounds from the first part of the album, but the silly attempt at rapping in A Gospel was really unforgivable. Headstart for Happiness was just annoying. Still, this is not among the worst I've heard on this list.
I thought I understood the vibe of this album, then they started rapping the whitest rap and I was completely lost. I guess that it’s really ambitious and it does have a couple good songs, but I’ve seen this type of album done better and without giving me whiplash
Certainly a bit different for 1984. Interesting all the same. High 2s
Nice variety of chill and upbeat catchy songs. Very 80s but I enjoyed it the whole way through. So far 4/5 stars
There's a few songs on here which are fun enough, which is why I'm not giving Cafe Bleu 1. Because, my God, some parts are jaw clenchingly cringey.
Is it jazz? Yes it is. Is it *good* jazz? Who can tell! It’s fine, I guess, as background music in JC Penny’s, or in a fancy elevator. Is it better that any other jazz record that’s ever been released? I have no idea, because it sounds identical to every other jazz album this project has made me listen to.
Enjoyable listen but kind of all over the place, felt experimental and unpolished
Wasn’t expecting jazz. Not really my jazz though
Paul Weller founded The Jam when he was 14, disbanded the band when he was 24 and released the first The Style Council album when he was about 26 years old. Cafe Bleu is something really different from the Jam: pop album with soul and jazz influences, some funk and even an awful rap song! I appreciate artists who follow their vision and are not afraid of change even though I don't love this album.
The first track was a high energy piano instrumental, and it made me interested in what came next. But almost none of the songs matched that energy. It mostly feels like a good album to put on when you’re relaxing in the tub with a glass of wine, assuming that’s something people do outside of movies/tv. Fine for what it is.
I wasn't familiar with The Style Council, but I'm quite taken with their album “Café Bleu”. The group experiments with various styles of jazzy pop, and for most of the songs, it works well. One exception is “A Gospel", in which Paul Weller tries his hand at rapping. It’s a cute idea, but a classically trained tenor voice always sounds soft unless it’s mastered modern techniques. In summary, “Café Bleu” is a varied and largely good easy-listening album. It’s a solid effort.
Idk I kind of liked it. It was smooth for the most part.
Pretty good. It's very musical, with lots going on. Lots of different instruments that all work well. Pretty upbeat and fun. Quite funky. Some bits are a bit mad and 80's, but I kind of dig that too. Maybe a little disjointed, and there's nothing massively memorable that will last in the memory.
Ñe
Otroligt blandar album, instrumentalt, bra låtar, dåliga låter. Helt klart variation. Det är överlag inte så bra av den anledningen. Men de bra låtarna ska premieras. Så medel.
Herregud vad spretigt. Gillar ändå första halvan hyfsat mycket. Sen kommer försöket till rap som är en kraschlandning av Guds nåde. Därefter är det mycket upp och ned och lite svårt att betygsätta, men på det hela tycker jag nog att det är mer som är bra än dåligt.
Ok, ik weet niet zo goed wat ik had verwacht, maar Mick's blessing als opener? Dat niet in elk geval. Dat is gewoon een soort jazz plaatje! En dat hoor je, ik krijg heel erg bossa nova vibes van dit album, helemaal bij The Paris Match, of misschien niet bossa nova maar zo'n doorrookt whisky cafe. Echt een heerlijk nummer! My Ever Changing moods is dan best wel een styleswitch met veel meer een soort new wave post punk achtige stijl, om daarna weer vol de jazz in te duiken met Dropping Bombs on the Whitehouse. Maar daarna... Oef, daarna... A Gospel, een hiphop nummer(?) Wat? Waarom? Waar is mn jazz/bossanova? Zelfs met de postpunk was ik best wel down. Maar dit? Oef, dit is niet best... Ja de eerste helft was oprecht heel nice. En toen dacht ik zelfs even "misschien worden dit wel 5 sterren", maar de 2e helft? Die haalt dit toch een partij omlaag. Rap eren kan heel goed zonder het zelf te doen. Ook de ballad You're the best thing, geen fan. Absoluut niet het beste ding dat mij was overkomen die dag. Een fantastische eerst helft en een hele slechte tweede helft. Dan komen we ergens in het midden uit he denk ik? Gelukkig hebben we The Paris Match nog, pracht nummer. FAVO: Mick's Blessing, Me ship came in, The paris Match, Strength of your nature
Paul Weller gets bored being one of the most feted songwriters England has produced by ditching The Jam and forming... this weird attempt of bad Sade, bad Wham ballads, bad whitest of the white rap, bad gay disco, bad coffee shop jazz, just bad everything. This album has no idea what it wants to be and leaves me wondering what the fuck was Weller doing? No point in its being on this list. Best Tracks: Mick's Blessing; My Ever Changing Moods; Headstart For Happiness
Very solid and very British album. I like the variety of genre and energy. Blue Cafe and Headstart For Happiness were my favorites in particular. 7.0/10
I don't like cafes but I'll make an exception. 4/5
it was ok but some of you are harsh. like it has it flaws but also some ok moments
They really threw everything but the kitchen sink at this one - jazz, rap, ballads, and I suspect someone had been listening to Dexy's Midnight Runners too. I can see why it must have wrong-footed Jam fans at the time, but I'm realising that I like Paul Weller in (most) of his ever-changing moods.
a rare case where the instrumentals are miles better than the songs with lyrics. if they'd have just had instrumentals throughout the song I'd probably give this a 4, maybe even a 5, but Weller's vocals are horrendous. also what the fuck was the rap song about hahahaha
More like style wankers.
Sophisticated pop with loungey and jazzy overtones. With the exception of an awkward rap-like song, the album has great elaborate songs that contrast beautifully with the angry political lyrics.
Shame on me, I don't think I've ever listened to a whole style council album. Younger me wasn't very impressed... felt like a big step down from the epic Jam singles. But apart from the embarrassing Gospel, this was a brilliant listen. Bold instrumentals, very British jazz, northern soul and the fantastic you're the best thing. Feels like a really brave album with cool songs and amazing musicianship.
On the phone to get my Internet fixed: 5/5 Any other time: 2/5
Ok, this is a bit more laid back than I was expecting. I actually really like it. Nice background music for chilling with a cup of hot chocolate and a bikkie.
Anybody who is still willingly listening to this in the good lord’s year of 2026 should be lobotomized
63/100. A jazzy pop record that is easy to enjoy. The Style Council lean into a smooth and stylish sound. There is a clear appreciation for jazz influences here, and those moments tend to be the most enjoyable.
This was pretty interesting. Hard to say what genre this was, mix of different types.
More that sophisti-opo, I would describe this album as half jazz and that genre, and I'll add that the first half is way better than the other. Really liked the jazz side of this album. From "Mick's Blessings" to "Dropping Bombs on the Whitehouse", the songs are a combination of very smooth and soothing with some more upbeat and fun jazz. It may not be the best jazz of the world, but I think the material worked really great. However, with the second half I don't have that many positive thoughts. It starts with "A Gospel" a very dated sounding hip hop, it is followed by the kind of synth funk and tediously repetitive track "Strength with Your Nature", the slow, long and kind of corny "You're the Best Thing", the more cheerful but forgettable couple "Here's One that Got Away" and "Headstart for Happiness" and ends with the nice and short ending "Council Meetin' ". Although I think this side is way weaker than the previous one, I didn't really mind it. So overall, I think the project is just decent. I would really liked way more if they only focused in the jazz side, but unfortunately, is not the case.
Brits can't pull off blue-eyed soul, which doesn't mean there aren't soulful acts in British music history, but that when it comes to an intentional brand of white-boy soul, how about we stick to America, deal? Worse, these cats think they're a jazz act as well, something in the vein of Eddie Harris & Les McCann, Cannonball Adderley, or Lou Donaldson, but they're just the cafe w/o the substance. 'The gift you gave is desire / The match that started my fire.' This is worse than pretentious, tho there's certainly a patina of a too-cool here, & it's worse than sincere, tho the lyrics are saccharine & boring. Primarily, it's empty & it's drool. Like, if I ever met Weller, Talbot, or White, I would be more confounded than annoyed: so cheesy/corny it's confusing.
I had never heard of The Style Council before today, so I really didn't know what to expect from this album, but I was really blown away from the very start of the first track all the way to the end. The array of sounds on this album is pretty amazing: from up-tempo jazz (really expertly played, btw) to a rap song (which was pretty impressing for a couple of white boys in 1984), from stripped-down "one vocal and a piano" tracks to huge-sounding sweeping duet ballads, there really was a staggering variety here. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this album and listened to it twice. Five stars.
Not a fan of this at all :(
I couldn't quite figure out what this album was trying to do with the instrumentals, smooth R&B voice, rapping??, etc. It kept you on your toes, but don't think I'd ever revisit. You're the Best Thing stood out. 2.5/5.
They really just needed to pick a lane. None of this was terrible, but it was all over the place with the styles. I didn't know what I was listening to.
Admittedly I was listening to this during work as background music, but the only moments that stood out to me were not because they were enjoyable.
Started out kind of promising, but it went downhill so fast. Cheese 80s jazz. The rap tune is truly horrific.
That was cute. I liked the sort of jazzy start and even though it ended more rock/popy, it was fun.
I really enjoyed this, but it was so confusing?!
This is a fun and interesting album. The jazzy vibe pulls you in right away, then it wanders into a mix of different sounds and experiments. Even the hip-hop track lands better than expected, and there’s a lot to appreciate in how varied it is. That said, as a full album it can feel a bit scattered,more like a collection of ideas than a cohesive album.
nice, mellow music. good stuff
I've never particularly liked Paul Weller and I have no real reasoning for that, just a gut feeling, although I'll admit that The Jam had a handful of good tunes. I've heard You're the Best Thing previously but had no idea it was Weller and to be honest, this wasn't really what I was expecting and seemed a bit of a mish-mash, all over the place stylistically, unsure of what it wants to be. I won't be returning
Chill
🫤
That opening track really got my hopes up, then subsequent songs i actively thought were a joke (jurys still out) but i did appreciate the variability and the instrumental songs were all v enjoyable. Evens out to a solid ok, feels like a real 2.5 but alas.
I literally fell asleep while listening to this (is that my fault or the album’s fault: unclear).
Profoundly disappointing (especially the first half) and even moreso when I found out it was Paul Weller behind it. Way too cocktail lounge-y for my liking. Brief uptick some of the songs towards the end but not enough. My dad said there were some great (better) additional songs on the 3 hour version of the album and that’s probably true but am I allowed to listen to them?
Horrendous shite. Paul Weller you were so good in the Jam. What happened?
lindas vibes
I really expected New Wave from the title and year. I had to keep checking that I had the same album playing because of the genre changes. This was fun to listen to
Boring and completely goofy at the same time, well done!
If one were to search for a prime example of sophist-pop, this would be it. Overambitious? Surely. Eclectic? Absolutely. But that's what this style of music is about, as I see it. I kind of like that music, not regularly, but sometimes it fits the mood. +1 for Tracey Thorns of EBTG.
It’s not bad, it’s actually quite enjoyable I thought. My biggest issue is the consistency because it can’t seem to pick a lane when it comes to genres and it comes off as whiplash. Likes: The Whole Point of No Return; Me Ship Came In; My Ever Changing Moods; You’re The Best Thing
Какая же балдежная кайфуля, уффф. Такая расслабляющая, лаунжевая, джазовая работа с приятным вокалом и такой воздушной непринужденной атмосферой. Представляю одновременно и прохладный летний вечер, так и яркий сонный полдень, когда лежишь на траве а она чуть мокрая от утренней росы. Под эту музыку приятно как и работать так и отдыхать. Замечательно.
A pretty fun jazzy album that was more vaired in sound than I was expecting. Some of the instrumental tracks really reminded me of the Cowboy Bebop soundtrack which I loved. The more laid back tracks were the best ones here even though there was less than I was expecting. The female vocals that popped up every now and then were a nice treat, and there weren't any outright terrible moments besides the "A Gospel" track where he decided to rap in an awful way for some reason. Still a good time though, 3/5
Man... that was rough. I need some bleach for my ears. This is just awful. I'm pretty open to new music, but I cannot fathom how this album got on the list.
aaaaaaa
I kind of dig how stupid this album is. Like why is there so much jazz and piano? Why is it a cacophony of disparate genres, nothing coherent. No theme really. You go from a jazz instrumental about blowing up the White House to one of the worst hip hop songs, I guess, about critiquing religion. But the message kinda gets lost when the music is ass. So bad it’s funny. Good lord.
for fucks sake Weller, what happened?
Enjoyed this. Not what I expected at all, but a very pleasant listen.
I love a ton of mid-80s music and have heard a few different bands on this countdown that I have never listened to from that era that I ended up enjoying. This proved to be no different. Skipping the intro song, which was a bit of a throw away for me, the album got off to a strong start with The Whole Point of No Return, which had some cool muted guitar work on it. Me Ship Came In was a fun instrumental that many would praise if it were sitting on a jazz album. Feels a bit out of place here, but I still enjoyed it. Wouldn't come back to it though. Similar story for Blue Cafe. The Paris Match was solid. Tracey Thorn's voice sounded good on this. My Ever Changing Moods was a cool song, though there was something about the signing on this which seemed a bit over the top to me. It didn't stand in the way of me enjoying it though. The next few songs, I thought, were reasonably forgettable. Then came You're The Best Thing, which was one of the best songs on the album. The chorus wasn't quite as good as the rest of the track, which reminded me of something you might hear from a George Michael type of artist. The next two tracks I found pretty similar to each other. Quality songs, nothing amazing, but well beyond just filler. Almost like big band songs without the over-the-top brass. Frankly, a bit different from the sound of the time. Council Meetin' wasn't a great closer for me. Just kind of there. All in all, a solid album. Some really good tracks, others that were misses. 3 stars.
2 hits and a lot of Jazzy stuff
Brought by memories
Jazzy, feel-good and a little mellow this was a delight to listen and vibe to. 8/10, Favorite Song: Dropping Bombs on the WhiteHouse
From the get go I had some bosses with this, as I'm not a Paul Weller fan. A couple of songs here I knew, and we're ok. Very eclectic, but didn't really know where it wanted to go or what it wanted to be. Just typical Weller Wankery tbh
Wow, not what I expected from a Paul Weller album. Never heard of this, just didn't make any impression in the U.S. And it's a really crazy mix of genres. The soul and jazz stuff definitely works. But the rap songs sound very dated. A Gospel is just so bad.
2:5
Saved? ✅ Would listen again? ✅ Would recommend to anyone? ✅ Would buy on Vinyl? ✅
This is quite the ride. There are times where it has a very jazz, almost lounge style of sound, then there are times of funk influences, dance, R&B, and even some kind of corny pop elements. It's very varied, but not in a bad way. It's just a little all over the place, but none of it is bad. I just don't feel like any of it is executed well enough to make me come back to it.
***An ok, easy listening album
Emmm oki guess, mid
Palatable jazz for those who don't understand jazz. Inoffensive rap for those who are scared of rap. Hookless pop built for those who prefer soft rock radio. An entire album by musicians who know how to build songs but aren't good at writing them.
Amazing. Never heard them before but they sound fantastic
++: Mick's Blessings, Blue Café, The Paris Match, Dropping Bombs on the Whitehouse, Here's One That Got Away +: Me Ship Came In!, My Ever Changing Moods, You're the Best Thing, Council Meetin' +-: The Whole Point of No Return, A Gospel, Strength of Your Nature, Headstart for Happiness 5,2/10
featuring hits such as "dropping bombs on the Whitehouse". also, it is very much music I could listen to in a cafe or on the move.
Smooth Jazz with some old style rap? Definitely enjoyed the smooth jazz ensemble along with the key players throughout the album.
pretentious twatery
Was alright. Don't really know who the audience is meant to be though.
Woke lib nonsense
Mick's Blessings 3.3 The Whole Point of No Return 3.4 Me Ship Came In! 3.5 Blue Café 3.6 The Paris Match 3.6 My Ever Changing Moods 3.4 Dropping Bombs on the Whitehouse 3.4 A Gospel 2.7 Strengh of Your Nature 3 You're the Best Thing 3.3 Here's One That Got Away 3.4 Headstart for Happiness 3.2 Council Meetin' 3.3 Score: 3.315384615
I didn't dig every track on this album, but I did dig enough to say I dig this album. A little eclectic, but the jazz sets were stellar.
WOOF. I am far from an authority on distinguishing good jazz from bad, but this did not strike me as good jazz. Then "A Gospel" shows up out of nowhere and makes me want to chuck the speaker out the window. Again: WOOF. An album combining jazz and 80's pop never stood a chance with me, but even so this was rough. I had enough willpower to let the first half play even though it wasn't for me, but could not get through the back half of the album. This one gets a big ol' NOPE from me.
I enjoyed this - a mix of genres but always grounded in Weller's signature style. 3 - deserves to be on this list
not bad honestly.
This was better than I thought it would be given the ratings. I liked the jazzy bits best. I added “You’re the Best Thing” to my Generator playlist.
65
Eh no thanks
★★★½
Rather blown away by the sheer variety of the tracks on Cafe Bleu. Can't make heads or tails of what kind of group The Style Council, but it's pretty cool. It was an entertaining listen, that's for sure. Far from some of the lesser albums we've heard thus far.
I thought I was really going to enjoy this album just based off of the first several tracks but it definitely loses it's momentum in the second half, though I think it does recover some of it. They really just threw everything against the wall and turns out, some things stuck pretty well. Some other stuff, not so much.
Lots of variety, interesting album but sort of a jack of all trades, master of none thing going on for me. The hip-hop track was an insane pivot, lots of respect for that. Favorite Tracks: The Paris Match, My Ever Changing Minds, A Gospel, You're The Best Thing
Some things land ok, others not so much have to at least admire the attempt to do something really different form the jam 3*
I enjoyed this. The songs are fun, the instrumentals are cool. Idk if it’s better than The Jam or needed to be on this list, but it’s a pretty light, listenable album.
5 sterne
Nice easy listening album.
Cool instrumentals. The songs with lyrics made me think of neutered Oingo Boingo.
Какая то абстрактно арт поп хуета , мне в целом было забавно ))
This sounds like something out of time for 1984. I did enjoy listening to it.
Não entendi o conceito. Cada música parecia de um artista/gênero diferente
Nah
All over the place...
New to me. Enjoyed as background music, especially the variety. Would not have guessed this was an album and not sure why it is. Also not sure why it is in the top 1000. 0 songs added to playlist.
This is all over the place, and I can't really latch onto any of it.
While it has a few moments of achievement, this is mostly jazzy in ALL THE WRONG WAYS! Post-Jam Weller just KEEPS disappointing me. This is mostly over-produced adult contemporary schlock. Some very '80s sounding pop-funk that really falls flat on here too. The inclusion of a token "rap" track is a wild choice. Unfortunately pretty common in this era of music.
A weird hodgepodge of songs that seemed to have little connection to one another
Good vibe to listen to
Wasn’t expecting the jazzy, neo-soul elements. At its best when it’s not trying to be conventional 80s new wave pop.
Impressively annoying across multiple styles.
the rap parts were so shitty…. but otherwise it’s fine
The first half was relatively harmless but then wow, look out, because the back half was terrible. I don't really know who Paul Weller is and at this point I'm afraid to ask.
I like the first part of the album. It goes downhill later. I'd give it a 4 if not for a few truly awful songs.
The version on Amazon music is a live concert. The audience talk and interaction with Paul Weller was interesting, the band was quality but the sound wasn't great. I don't know why there wasn't a studio version as that would have sounded better. I think that many of their songs have aged poorly, due to the pointed politics that is so closely being critical of Margaret Thatcher. Looking at their catalogue I think I could make a great album of songs with a mix of singles and album cuts. I don't know why Luck is not on any of their compilations. It's a vibrant pop love song.
The Good: We get to enjoy a beer! The Bad: Cafe Blue does not serve alcohol… The Ugly: Finding out that the Style Council is but a nom de plume… just like Bleu really isn’t… Though I am more of a fan of their next album, which isn’t on this list, I found this one to be… well… stylish in it's ‘80s sounds! I have to say that I do miss that jazz-influenced sound that permeated music in the mid ‘80s. Beats that shit people listen to now-a-days with the regeaton, or whatever it is called. Still, would I add this album to a list of things that one must listen to before one dies? I am not certain… as mentioned before, I prefer the album that came after, with that great hit “walls came tumbling down” Maybe I am going to have to buy the 1001 book, so I can read the reasoning behind the inclusion of certain albums to this list? For now, shooting it down the middle… though the rapping almost made it drop another *
Started off decent and got progressively worse. I liked the jazzy instrumental songs, but most of the songs with singing were not good. Especially when there was rapping, that was hard to listen to.
It was a bit all over the place. Nothing really to my taste.
This was rather fun to listen to. I’d probably listen to it again. 4/5
Terrible music to accompany a gym session. I do not recommend that at all. Smoking a cigarette in a bar on the Seine? Probably the correct environment. Standout tracks for me were The Paris Match, My Ever Changing Moods and You're The Best Thing. Definitely a 4 when in the right place.
Soft white bread. Maybe there were some socially conscious lyrics in there, but couldn’t hold my attention long enough to parse much of the message. Was that an attempt at rapping on “A Gospel”. Cringe. Listening to this was a chore.
Didn't know what to expect going in, assume it wouldn't be my jam but by the end I was vibing. Headstart for Happiness is superb.
I don't think this one is for me. 2 stars.
This got up for me on the second listen. There are some terribly cringe tracks on this record, I mean, the rapping anyone? Total left turn for something that has mostly modern lounge jazz on it. But I do approve of a number of other songs that were worth the second go-around. Everything But The Girl makes a guest appearance that has Tracey Thorn complete in the spotlight, beautiful work from her. You're The Best Thing and Here's One That Got Away are well-done pop songs and I like how joyful Headstart For Happiness is. Those last 3 make for a great homestretch on this record. This isn't something I would find myself coming back to, but through coming back, I've learned to accept the quirks and styles this project offers. It's also through further consideration, better than the New Order and Solomon Burke I've heard this week. I don't even like the whole record, but it still gets one single thumb from me. Sophisti-pop: for when you want to be hip and fancy all at once. (6/10, 3/5 on this scale)
Never got into the Style Council back in the day. Was still mad at Paul Weller for splitting the Jam! Listening now, I know the singles, but the album is a first listen….its way better than I expected to be fair. Very cool jazzy vibe. Piano led songs aren’t what you associate PW with, which I guess was the point. Tracey Thorn on anything is an instant win also! Overall I’m impressed…will revisit. 3
17/03/2026 Surprising as I'd never heard of this band before and I was pleasantly surprised. Spotify listeners: 575.3k
I liked it when they didn't sing
What the heck
Odd, esoteric, jazzy stuff. It’s ok but mostly background music. Top tracks: “Strength of Your Nature,” “Mick’s Blessings”
--Mick's Blessings...a fun pianee ditty --The Whole Point of No Return...smooth. pleasant --Me Ship Came In!...cheesy but it's my flavor. Ocean's 11 vibes --Blue Café...yeesh, this is not my flavor of cheese. like one of Steely Dan's lesser tracks --The Paris Match...very nice production but it's way too "mid-tier hotel bar", in my opinion --My Ever Changing Moods...melodrama --Dropping Bombs on the [REDACTED]...spicy title. pretty straight forward but fun jazz --A Gospel...dafuq is this? I appreciate the swing but it misses. the bass sounds like "Freaks Come Out at Night" --Strength of Your Nature...this rips. Paul Weller digging back into his the Jam persona --You're the Best Thing...basically Jon Secada song --Here's One That Got Away...jangly pop. it's fun --Headstart for Happiness...Chicago the band vibe here --Council Meetin'...a fun outro
Album #1,075 Half smooth jazzy piano music and half pop. One song stood out on each side -- The Paris Match and Headstart for Happiness. Actually, that god-awful rap song, A Gospel also stood out and immediately dated this album. Lyrics sounded like they were probably political in nature, something I could not care less about when I'm trying to enjoy music.
I actually liked this album. It’s unique but not for everyone.
Es wirkt wie solide Hintergrundmusik mit Stil‑Council‑Signatur: geschmeidig, leicht jazzig, angenehm unaufdringlich. Die Produktion hat etwas von einer gut gelaunten Bontempi‑Orgel, die sich durch die Arrangements schlängelt, und immer wieder blitzt eine Spandau‑Ballet‑artige Eleganz auf – weich, poliert, ein bisschen zu glatt. Als Album funktioniert es mehr als Atmosphäre denn als zwingendes Statement. Einige Stücke glänzen, andere plätschern höflich vorbei. Insgesamt bleibt ein kompetent gemachtes, aber nicht durchgehend fesselndes Werk.
I think it is my fault. Half way through the seventh song I couldn't take the guys vocals anymore. So I grabbed this old monkey's paw I have in my desk and I asked it to give me respite from the singing. Then song eight came on.
Not my cup of tea
Love, love, this! Melodic, great lyrics, very nice album!
some songs were a miss for me but i loved the overall experimentation and sound of this album!! 3.5