Cafe Bleu

Ok.

Sounds pure 80s music evolved and thisbdidnt stopd the test of time. Good album easy to losten like elevator background music.

This album is all over the place genre wise, and none of it worked for me. I wouldn't listen again, not even as a background listen. I just didn't find it musically or lyrically compelling. Like, the track A Gospel has such a cheesy vibe and delivery to go along with the message. The instrumentals were pleasant but not super memorable.

This is not the worst on this list but it's pretty lame and boring.

Interesting, not my thing

Another what the hell is this?? I kinda liked it. 2.5

🥱

This sounds like the soundtrack of a C movie from the eighties. I think the editors put this album on the wrong list. I should be on the “Don’t Listen To” list. It adds nothing but the commentary that you can make music that is entirely forgettable. Two stars because it wasn’t horrible, just pointless.

Weird shit

what the fuck is this

Cafe Bleu is all over the place, some nice but hardly original instrumentals, some average 80s crap, and then rap :D at least it's not Weller trying to rap, that would've been horrific, but it's a mess of an album that only gets a 2 because it's not outright awful, it just makes no sense as a piece of work.

Pretentious twaddle. Clear that he wanted to do something completely different to the Jam, but this is not a particularly interesting direction. It's taking a lot of other genres and badly bastardising them, the instrumentals work better than the rest but it's still not good. 2/5.

Trying to think why this would be included on the list and then you’re the best thing came on and I remembered Dimmery will chuck any old album on there if it has one popular song. This was such a smug choice. Pretentious generic instrumentals. This can’t be considered a good album by anyone

Oh, it's a super group of a member from The Jam and Dexy's Midnight Runners. I guess that makes some sense. I'm meh on Dexy's, and pretty cold on The Jam, and this doesn't move the needle much. It sounds like two talented dudes fucking around in the studio and trying different genres on for style. The hip-hop track is especially ill-advised. I never know why groups make one hip-hop track early on, and make it about how we need to come together, peace and love, rah rah shit. This record sounds like a homemade mixtape. Call it a 1.5. Favorite track: "Here's the One That Got Away"

Average

Not a bad jazz fusion album. Nothing special but far been the prior jazz entries. There are a couple of decent jams (Strength of Your Nature, Mick's Blessings) included but also a horrible spoken-word rap jazz rap track that cancels out any positive favor. My takeaway I guess is that Paul Weller is a name that I should have been familiar with since he has shown up on this list previously. I'm not going to delve into his other work but I guess I can sound sophisticated by dropping his name into a music conversation moving forward. 2.01 stars

Meh

Was going to give it three stars but the rapping sucked so hard it gets two stars.

Paul Weller was day 2 of this odyssey. I thought this would be good. Disappointing.

Álbuns instrumentais são legais, mas nunca chamam minha atenção.

Definitely eclectic but I couldn’t quite find anything I really liked

Nope.

Weird album. The track A Gospel is a strange turn of events, committing to the rare combination of jazz and rap. It's very ahead-of-the-curve for its release year, 1984. I kind of like it, though I could probably only take it in moderation. Strength Of Your Nature continues this odd "modernisation"-esque trend. I have no idea what to think of most of the latter half of this album. You're The Best Thing and My Ever Changing Moods, the two biggest tracks and my favourites on the album, are the only two standouts. 2/5 Key tracks: You're The Best Thing, My Ever Changing Moods

This started strong and got odd. When You're the Best Thing came on I realized why it got on the list. I wish this had picked a direction and went for it.

I was like "Oh okay not what I expected, mediocre jazz." Then *record scratch* rap like Barney Rubble in a fruity pebbles comercial. Then it kind of bounced back, a bit more listenable. Left me a little confused. There were some good bits in there tho.

Didn’t really get it

Catchy and jazzy. A few songs very likeable. A few not so great. Truly a hodge podge of an album with different tempos and vocal styles. This one is kind of an odd bird.

The purpose of a style council should be to choose a style. In that, The Style Council has failed its assignment. “Cafe Bleu” is the result of not being able to pick a style. It’s all over the place. And while a few bits are decent, the lack of cohesion and jarring shifts made me want to adjourn the meeting.

Wikipedia says The Style Council is "Sophisti-Pop". They got the pop part right, but not as in popular. Rather, they seem to make an album out of whatever pops into their heads! Some of this is really quite pleasant but the back half of this album is schizophrenic and off it's meds.

Not a favourite of mine

Its alright. It just doesn't offer anything special among the many many more sophisti-pop works that do just about everything else better.

Some good moments some absolute dross

The definition of random shit mix. Like it’s genuinely the most random assortment of music I’ve ever heard on an album. It was ok but could not get into it at all lmao

En ollut henkisesti valmistautunut kierrepallo-räppibiisiin levyn keskivaiheilla.

Soul, jazz, and rap - doesn't portend a good listen. If you like these genres, it's good work - listenable, even for me, but quite unexciting.

2 stars

Absolute bullshit from Weller here. Who the fuck did he think he was. Jesus

It started out pretty interesting with an instrumental followed by smooth tracks with vocals, but then it turned out to be little too mixed up with a random rap song. It just didn‘t fit in imo.

This is the kind of music you hear at the dentist. You find yourself wondering, “was this music made just for the dentist?” Boring

I was not prepared for the rapping.

Thought I was going to enjoy this a lot more than I did from the first couple of tracks. Enjoyed the jazzy instrumental tracks. Did not enjoy the cheesy, generic 80s tracks.

A bit all over, sometimes strong boyband vibes

Fairly easy but unremarkable listen. 'You're the best thing' saves this album.

If Paul Weller's goal was simply to make something that didn't sound like The Jam, mission accomplished. It's a little harder to pin down any secondary goal for this album. It's certainly eclectic, which I normally don't mind, but the styles feel fairly disjointed here. 'Cafe Beau' is firmly rooted in the Sophistipop style that had it's moment in the 80s. By that measure, it's probably the most impressive thing I've heard from that genre. It's ambitious and some of the instrumentals are pretty fun. But Sophistipop is just not for me. Then we get to the second half, which is full of 80s white guy rap. That's about as cringeworthy as you'd expect, though the music is actually a bit better than the first side. I can hardly call this the best of Paul Weller.

kind of a one hit wonder for me, my ever changing moods single version (not on this album) is good

This band and album is ridiculous. Very whimsical seemingly just for the sake of being whimsy. I feel it's inclusion on this list is completely unnecessary and unwarranted. I guess it's fine, but who cares?

This is perfectly inoffensive, I wasn’t sitting there like “OH GOD TURN IT OFF!” But the entire time I was just thinking yeah this is fine I guess. This sounds like music. But the albums from this list are from a book called “1001 albums to listen to before you die” or something, and I don’t know that I NEEDED to listen to this before I die. Idk maybe one day I’ll learn that I did. But I don’t think this music will impact me in any grander scale. It was fine. But fine is just fine.

café merde

Was surprised by how eclectic this was but not for me.

I guess it is alright? I didn't find it patriculary interesting but didn't find it bad.

This is a strange mixture of everything. I was positively surprised after the first half of the album, but when A Gospel hit, I was not impressed with that and the rest of the album - in general, the album is just too many genres to cope with at once.

This one and the other Style Council album which came out the following year, seem to suffer from similar issues. Absolutely no consistency with songs that don't feel convincing to me. A positive for the amount of ground covered, but very little lands in a solid way.

This is fine, I guess. 2.5 for effort? It’s ultimately nothing special/nothing hundreds of others haven’t done better

Inoffensive

…… eh…………. 💀😔

Not as awful as I expected

I spent most of the 90s playing guitar (badly) in a (borderline unlistenable) industrial band. 'Virtual' Mark Selway programmed the drum machines and generally made a helluva racket. He really dug noise; he introduced me to Merzbow and the Boredoms and Oran Ambarchi and Coil and a whole bunch of pretty out-there artists. When Mark passed away about a decade ago, I inherited his vinyl collection, which contained nearly the complete catalogue of the Style Council; albums, eps, singles, the lot. I was quite surprised. I had not picked him as a fan. I respected his taste, so I did attempt to listen to it. But I just can't. I just never liked Paul Weller. Don't like the Jam, don't like the Style Council, don't like his solo 'Modfather' work. Lots of people I respect really dig the Jam, and god knows I have tried many, many times over the past 40 years to understand it. But I just don't. As Stephen Erlewine wrote in Pitchfork of the Style Council: "Often, the band came across like they had raided their big brother’s closet, trying on suits that didn’t quite fit their frame. Their funk can be stiff, the jazz drifts toward cocktail hour, and they dive into dance without quite knowing whether they can pull off the new sounds." A really egregious example is 'A Gospel', which is the most ham-handed and laughable attempt at rap I have heard since Morris Minor and the Majors' 'Stutter Rap', which at least knew it was a joke. Maybe my problem is that I actually _like_ jazz and soul and r'n'b and funk, and this is just pastiche. It's an ersatz black music by white people for an undiscerning audience. I don't find this convincing or enjoyable. By the end of sitting through the whole album, I am grinding my teeth with frustration. It's not actually _bad_ or hateful, but why am I listening to this instead of a _good_ jazz or soul or r'n'b or funk or rap record? It's another example of the tendency of 1001 albums list to overlook black artists in favour of mainstream white artists peddling inferior copies geared towards mainstream (read: white) audiences. I eventually took Mark's Style Council collection to Scratches Records in Newtown on consignment. They all sold quickly and for pretty good money. I'm glad they have gone to homes that appreciate them, because I sure don't. 2 stars.

I didn't hate it, but I didn't like it either.

Mostly tepid middling music, I recognized a song I'd heard before but for a record that spans this many genres its surprisingly bland.

Red headphones on this one chief

Meh

Was ready to hate this, based on the 80s sophisti-pop genre tag. Front half, I actually didn't mind much. I wasn't really feeling it, but I didn't hate it. However, the back half is really bad, starting at The Gospel or whatever. So yeah, I was right, overall 1.5/5

I really like Paul Weller but I didn't like this. Not sure why but it didn't hit.

It started off well and I thought that I was going to be treated to some smooth jazz. Then some weird rap came in and it ended off a bit forgettable.

Not a Paul Weller era that I appreciated. Hated the attempt at rap. Some of the jazz influences too annoying. Strength of your nature was the only track I actually liked.

I always thought the name of this band was pretentious, but then again, I don't know that I ever actually listened to anything they did. The opening notes were encouraging, but this quickly delved into territory I found less than enticing. Something about their pop/jazz didn't sit with me. I don't find it pretentious, but it isn't a flavor that appealed to me. I think the compositions weren't grabbing me, and it was, for lack of a better descriptor, pretty bland. When "A Gospel" hit, it really dated this album and confirms how difficult it is to blend styles and come out with a winning combination. On the whole, I was mostly waiting for this to be over, which is certainly not what any artist is seeking to achieve.

When this album first popped up for my group, my initial reaction, like with a lot of albums from musicians and/or bands I don't recognize, was "Who the hell is this?" I mean, I hate to judge a book by its cover, but something about its cover just seemed... Off to me. Like this would be another random forgettable whatever where I hafta wonder why it's even on this list. Imagine my surprise, then, when after I listen to the album a friend in the group tells me that this group has **Peter Wellers**. The guy from The Jam! and whose solo album WILD WOOD I'd previously rated highly! That guy! I wish his presence did more for me than shift my question to "**What** the hell is this?", but still! Y'know, it actually took me a moment to figure out what a specific problem I had with this album was, and I think it's this: The Jam album I listened to back when, SOUND AFFECTS, is Mod revival and power pop, and it's very good at that. WILD WOODS is very much a 70's singer-songwriter dealie in the 90's, and it's very good at that. CAFÉ BLEU is called a sophisti-pop album, but it jumps all over the damn place, and it doesn't do anything it tries well. Aside from the album's opener, most of the album is just "bleh" dives into various styles. It's very lounge-y, and not even the fun, swinging kind of lounge. And when it's not just "whatever," it's "A Gospel", and the last thing I needed to hear on this album was any attempts at rapping. It's the most memorable thing here, and for all the wrong reasons. So that's a miss in my book, Wellers. I liked WILD WOODS, and my group hasn't gotten SOUND AFFECTS but I know I'm gonna rate it highly, and I know two-out-of-three ain't bad, but... Gawd, why the hell is this here?

Listened to it for the second time and still don’t really like it. But I enjoyed some songs more.

Of you like jazz…

Two absolute belters in "You're the best thing" and "My ever-changing moods", but I'm really not sure what the rest of the album was trying to be. More meh, than heh.

The best thing on this album is 'Youre the best thing'.

The Style Council should have spent more time in their committee meetings because it's apparent that they couldn't decide on what style of music to stick with, they were all over the place. We were friends for the first half of the album but after the second half I removed them from my Christmas card list.

kahvila sininen...sinikahvi...saludo... hyvää taustamusiikkia, pianotoimintaa kun ei laulua. valitettavasti pakko se suu käydä sen verran usein että mahdotonta nauttia...myös kutsulaulajat vaikka parempia niin mielummin olisin ilman. unohdettava albumi a.a SAMITÄ =!=!? MITÄ?? MISSÄ OEN?=?? en muista mitään... HÄÄH?? MITÄ TAPAHTUI!!! SELITÄ NYT!!! rauhassa...ota rauhassa... okei... voitok selittää mitä tapahtui... en voi selittäää...miksi...vain yksi henkilö voi selittää tämän..kuka...mene syvään metsäikköön, sieltä löydät etsimäsi...ok... strength of your nature (least populated song)

not my thing, maybe today I'm not in the moodo for somethhing like this

I feel like this is jazzy bland of talking heads, tears for fears and weird new wave stuff. Not my favorite.

Mix of jazz, pop, etc... Not really my style

Even in a world where only 1001 albums ever got released, I'd be like: "Eh, I dunno about including this one on the list". What the hell is this.

2.5 I made it a full 50% through this album thinking it might be my first 5 on an album I wasn’t very familiar with before. And then we got to the rap track. What a travesty. It never really recovered after that. Plus, I’m all for eclectic but this was truly all over the place.

The jazzy pop songs in the first half of the album sound okay to me, but then the band take a complete left turn with some awful hiphop/funk in A Gospel and Strength of Your Nature. The rest of the songs don't offer much improvement; especially the vocal delivery is pretty dodgy at times.

Blind album and artist. The opening track was my favorite and nothing like the rest. Low score from me.

2.5/5. Pretty 80s, but it's not terrible. Certainly not something I would choose to listen to. But it was not painful.

Not really for me.

Don't know what to make of this. Some things I like. Some things are straight up garbage and there is absolutely no continuity

Cool little recognition of the chick from Everything But the Girl but that's about where the enjoyment ended

Massive self indulgent wank with 2 very good songs in it

Go back to singing about the tube network

Not my thing.

Andy's comparison to Joe Jackson is dead on. That's what I was wanting the whole time.

In today's entry for 'Bands that wouldn't be on it had they not had a reviewers darling in the band' featuring Paul Weller's The Style Council. Bonus entry cross-indexed to UK darlings that the author(s) of the list want to push into your ears because of their UK bias. 2/5.

2. Meh. Seems like elevator music. (Which I am fine with sometimes. Today was just not the day for this pablum)

This was one of the most disjointed albums I’ve ever listened to

Fine as background music, I guess. The Tracey Thorn feature is the highlight, canceled out by the absolute garbage of a rap song that comes later. Stick with The Jam.

Some decent songs, but usually too over the top in some way

Album varié musicalement mais aucunement dans mes intérêts.

Once they’d got over Madness being a bit shit, most of the cool kids in school decided that The Style Council were the best thing ever. I was never one of the cool kids. As a result this is my first listen to a full Style Council album. I wonder what the cool kids made of it? Probably confused the fuck out of them as it's all over the place stylistically. The early 80s were a bit bleak for just teenagers in small towns in the provinces with just Top of the Pops, Steve Wright and Smash Hits to inform them about the world. Hence The Style Council being cool. There are lots of lovely things on this record. Many of them are quite good, although the range of things makes it all a bit hit and miss and I get the feeling that because it can't settle down that you end up with second best of everything. Tracey Thorn's vocal, for example, is fine but it's not Norah Jones; the jazzy bits are perfectly OK but just fall a bit short perhaps; the rap bit... Well, the less said about that the better. Rap for provincial small town teenagers perhaps. I think the sheer range of this is just too much for me. I don't want it all to sound the same, but there's just too much here to make a great album.

All over the place... soft jazz, instrumental, rap, synth pop!

All over the place

What the heck was this? It might be the most random selection of genres and concepts I've heard on this so far. Can't say I liked any of it, but I guess I only hated a few tracks.

This was completely listenable, but not really impressive in any way. It was eclectic and unfocused as far as genre goes, not really conveying a clear mastery of any specific genres. Rather, it just sort of conveyed a message of an ability to vaguely and generically dabble in many genres, which may lend to its inability to leave an impression.

Couldn’t get into it

not feeling it

There’s a good bit of almost everything on this album: chamber pop, soul, hard bop, a rather uninspired rap, and what can only be described as “80s montage music.” With one major exception (Dropping Bombs on the Whitehouse), it’s a bland, self-serious album. You get the impression that these guys would rather be gazing wistfully out of rain soaked coffeehouse windows in Soho.

1.5 - What the hell did I even listen to? The first part is about what I expected: cafe music, fittingly. And the last few songs sounded similar to Dexy's, which makes some sense. But, uh, what's with the hip hop part? Why??? I don't know, a lot of this album just didn't feel like there was any genuine emotion behind it. It was pretty sterile and it was not a very cohesive album. What an odd album.

Paul Weller's jazz days, and we don't talk about Paul Weller's jazz days... We ESPECIALLY don't talk about Paul Weller's rap days.

I’ve tried many times over to like the Style Council but it always sounds off to me. Don’t get me wrong I love the Jam and Paul Weller in general but this band sounds naff

Paul Weller what are you doing? -3 for "A Gospel" it's like a anti-drug rap song form the 80's just horrible. Strength of Your Nature is not much better. The jazz soul stuff songs are about the best but even they suffer from sounding... well soul less.

Jazz New Wave hybrid? This was not my thing, but i didn't turn it off.

You know it's not going to be great when, after a few songs, I start thinking that the ones without lyrics are much better than the ones with lyrics. And what the hell was that "A Gospel" That said, it wasn't so annoying I wanted to turn it off. But it's not good.

Much too stylish for me. Meh

one or two tracks were pleasant, but overall messy

People have a real hate for this record. I don’t think it was bad but it definitely wasn’t great. Not cohesive in the slightest and didn’t really convince me to listen to it at any point. Musically sound and clever at moments.

Impressive they can cross so many genres, but this is so dated.

My oh my. We've only had Sound Affects from The Jam before this came up. It'll be a crime if this makes the list and the other two albums from The Jam's golden trio, All Mod Cons and Setting Sons, doesn't make the list. As someone who was a massive Jam fan the Style Council were always underwhelming - I can remember hearing Into Tomorrow (his first solo single) and going 'finally' - like instead of a difficult second album he went for a difficult second musical career. Funk, soul, jazz, mod all jostle uncomfortably on a confused record that goes off in a million directions without sounding convinced by any. In a non-instrumentals album you're allowed one, any more (like here) ends up sounding like half-finished tracks. The next album, Our Favourite Shop, is generally seen as a stronger and more coherent work. Maybe that's on here too.

This is the most random collection of songs and styles I’ve ever heard with absolutely no rhyme or reason for there to be so.

Despite a couple of good tracks (released as singles), much of this album is a disappointing melange of cliches and music-hall derivatives. Stick to Weller's later albums, or seek out a greatest hits album.

This is an album for a café. It has some faux-jazz sounds that no-one cares about and some weird pop tunes that don't matter neither lyrically nor musically. The highlights are mainly the songs that feature lyrics in a wider span than repeating the chorus 25x times or just boring-ahh rap from the early 80s made by a white man which in return makes it such a cringe listen. The album can be described as a punk guy trying to do "experimental" music that takes inspiration from jazz, soul and hip-hop, all in not a good way. Highlights for me aren't many as the highs aren't that high but the first half isn't a terrible listen. On the other hand the second half sucks especially "A Gospel" wich has to be one of the worst songs I have ever heard. Rating: I am feeling a strong 4 to a light 5

I knew the band name, but never experienced their music. Very much different than I expected. It's ok, but not my favourite style.

Not great.

upbeat and eclectic. hard to nail down a genre with this one. certainly not the worst album on this challenge, but i can’t see myself listening to it again.

I don’t dislike this, just not sure why it’s here. It was……….an album, I guess. Just an album.

Listened to at home in mn

Early proto-Europop that is probably best left where it was.

Not what I expected at all. Quite serene, but even while smoothly gliding through snowy landscapes on a high speed train... Ultimately a bit boring.

First half was ok, then it kinda took a turn that I did not like. Not really my style to begin though. Will I listen to again: 0%

u snooze u looze

quite forgettable and why is he rapping?? 2/5

bit rand0m

Tres fade 5/10

This IS music I assure you, just not very enjoyable music

Just ain’t my style. Didn’t care for it at all

Dammit

Wow, that was all over the place and potentially one of the least cohesive albums I’ve come across. With that said, it’s not terrible but I think trying to be too much at the same time and I’m not convinced that it worked.

Competent snooze-fest. Not my thing.

I don't know what I expected but it wasn't this weird, easy-listening, elevator album. It was on track to get a middling 3-star review until we got to "A Gospel" and musical crimes were committed. Instant deduction. What were you guys thinking? Gross.

No jaa ei tämä paljon tunteita herättänyt 2/5

Taitavaa musisointia, mutta jotenkin häiritsevällä tavalla levällään koko levy. Ois ollut kiva kuulla enemmän The Paris Matchin tyylisiä biisejä. 2,5/5.

Levyn alun jazz-pianot oli ihan hauskoja mut toi räppi ei kyllä oo kauheen nätisti vanhentunut. Muutenkaan ei kokonaisuutena kovin vakuuttava. 2/5

Instrumentals are good

Not bad but not really my jam

Pretty jazzy but bounces back and forth to 80s Brit pop

Listened Before? N It was okay. I was surprised that it seemed to be mostly piano based. I don't feel like it really sticks out. Added to Library? N Songs added to playlist: The Paris Match

Alex, I'll take cheesy 80s albums for $800. Answer: "Thank you for holding...your call is important to us..." "Attention K-Mart Shoppers" "This rap is horrendous." "Cheesy 80s production." "Now for more smooth hits on CD101.9" What is "thoughts that shouldn't go together on a single album?" Right you are! (Tracks I thought were ok - My Ever Changing Mood, Dropping Bombs on the Whitehouse, Here's One That Got Away)

Played this for my grandpa and he fell asleep. Go to Starbucks if you want to hear more exciting smooth jazz.

The first track, "Mick's Blessings," is a short one at 1:15, but I enjoyed it and I was optimistic about the album. Sadly, it's my favorite 1:15; the rest didn't do much for me.

Get it? They're being arty!

An absurdly pretentious load of nonsense. Two really good songs but even one of those was ruined by the acoustic arrangement. I can't quite believe he did this.

Holy shit, this has got the Men Behaving Badly theme tune on it! I'm not sure it's actually it but it basically is. Hmm. I've only heard Our Favourite Shop before, with bangers such as Walls Come Tumbling Down and Shout to the Top, and being generally really good, it was kind of difficult to understand why the music press in the 90s had such a hard on for treating the Style Council as one big joke. Now I basically do, if this patchy album of dinner party jazz was the debut. I probably preferred the many instrumentals because I dislike the smooth style in which Weller sings on every song here. Well not every song. A Gospel. Bring back the smooth, Paul, you're crazy! Oof, strength of nature is really bad too, aged like milk, this is in danger of getting one star. Might just scrape a 2 for being such a mad listen.

Meh

Complete and utter rubbish. Just a self regarding, self pleasing cacophony, finished in such a smug style (LOL) - there are thousands of artists making this kind of music doing so with heart and soul and flair which these jokers just tried to ape. I couldn't wait for it to be over. Painful. Extra star because of Tracey Thorn's vocals on The Paris Match.

Weird but ok (starts with blues goes to... rap?)

I’d never heard of The Style Council, but sappy eighties pop is about what I expected from the album cover. I don’t hate sappy, but they could’ve done it better. Songs like “The Whole Point Of No Return” and “My Ever Changing Moods” reveal that the Style Council is really just a diet Elvis Costello (as a side note, “Everyday I Write The Book” was the first song to appear on shuffle once the album finished). The early hip-hop-inspired “A Gospel” is a welcome stylistic choice, and is probably my favorite song on the record. Across the other tracks the voice seems just a bit off-key, which can sometimes add to the music (think Mick Jagger, Kurt Cobain, or frankly, Elvis Costello). In the case of the Style Council, it detracts. I’m not a fan of the vocals, but I can jam to the purely instrumental tracks, especially the rhythmic piano of “Mick’s Blessings,” the Austin Powers intro credits feel of “Me Ship Came In,” and the anti-Reagan rhetoric of “Dropping Bombs On The Whitehouse.” Strip the vocals out of this album and it may just be a three.

Prefer Mr. Weller to be punky rather than jazzy!

This was interesting and engaging until the second half. It went from jazz and lounge to very odd hip hop.

Wow...this album took a sharp left turn in the middle! It was like two different albums shoved together

Right off the start I kinda dug the piano and thought this will be a fun album. Didn't take very long to realize I was wrong. I did like some of the music parts early, but something happened halfway through the album. I believe I heard some rap in there? I don't know and don't really care at this point. I'll give a 2 for the simple fact I stated I liked some of the music. 2

In theory, this should be totally in my wheelhouse. Paul Weller and R&B? I regret to say it doesn't work. Sometimes it starts going in a good direction and then takes a turn for the worse. Few things in music history are as ill-advised as Weller rapping. Stick to The Jam and leave the Soul and R&B (and for god's sake, hip hop) to the professionals.

Jack of all genres master of none.

...and now where are my Jam records? Ah! Just at hand.

My high expectations were not met. Sounded very dated, which is never a good thing for music.

A bit all over the place.

Las canciones más o menos bien pero los instrumentales me sobran. El rap de "A gospel" ha envejecido muy mal. No sé, me siento mal dándole un 2 pero es que no creo que sea mucho más.

Who elected this so-called "Style Council"? I sure didn't get a ballot. I would have voted for people that knew that doing something good is better than doing a lot of things at the same time poorly.

I listened to this and almost immediately forgot it, which is indicative of its attempt at a lot of diversity with no cohesion in my opinion.

'A band imitating other bands' makes this is one of the most eclectic albums I know. It meanders through styles like jazz, funk, hiphop, new wave and pop but the whole album, even though of high quality, lacks a kind of soul, lacks some tension to keep it interesting. What turns me off this album is that every song is being done better by other artists instead of this replicated version. I don't think I'll ever listen to this album again and won't miss it.

Heeeeel rustige muziek. Beetje blues-achtig soms. Niet zo mijn ding, al klinkt het verder prima.

Jazz Club....nice Ultimate wankery

p523. 1984. 2 stars. Self indulgent mismatch of styles and ideas - faux jazz, angry 80s Brit pop, and the abomination of failed white rap that is The Gospel. Don't get me wrong, there are a couple of Weller classics, but there are is far too much fat to repay repeated listens.

Yeesh more instruments and less singing. Was amateurish at best jazz/pop? Was just all over the place. 4/10

uemm

Bit too smooth, and a bit too jazzy for my tastes. Didn’t mind the more Go-Go inspired A Gospel, but it all sounded very much of its time. I also prefer the voices other than Weller’s here. I kind of get what they were trying to do but wasn’t grabbed by it all.

Groovy, but not a particularly fun listen for me.

Interesting but not my bag

The instrumentals were ok. Then he started rapping? Singing? I dont even know. Track 9 was just plain awful. Stick to instrumentals. 2.5 at best.

I can't define what this is. It has jazz, rap, and new wave. They can't decide what to be, it's not bad, just all over the place.

i did not like this

I know its not tge Jam, but happened man

cant imagine why this is one of the 1001 albums you have to hear before you die i dont like genrefluid albums and the good parts (jazz) were too inoffensive and safe

Really difficult to gage. Really good in some parts, kinda cringe in others. Didn’t enjoy the hip hop attempt. I think it’s gonna boil down to the fact there was one song I enjoyed enough to add to my playlist. 2 for the album. “Blue Cafe” is the song.

i do not care for this.

Mid

The Style Council... they are certainly all over the place stylistically. While there are a few ok songs on this album, I found it overall rather disappointing.

Pretty basic

It was fine, I only really liked one song (You’re The Best Thing)

"Café Bleu" is the debut album by English band The Style Council. The Style Council consisted of Paul Weller (vocals, guitar, bass), Mick Talbot (keyboards, piano, organs, synths) and Steve White (drummer). There was also a lot of extra musicians on the album including members of Everything But The Girl. The music is classified as pop, jazz, soul, new wave and sophisti-pop with one critic nailing describing it as soul-tinged pop songs and other songs being too eclectic and over ambitious. I'd say, Weller tries to travel the word on the first side alone. The album was renamed "My Ever Changing Moods" when released in the US for the single of the same name. The first side is more of the jazzy album side and opens with an instrumental "Mick's Blessing." A pretty bare-bones jazzy song with piano, tambourine, hand clapping and a bass. By the way, about half these songs on the album are instrumental. Tracy Thorn of Everything But The Girl does a nice vocal job on "The Paris Match." Also, jazzy again with the piano and guitar. Missing a loved one and former boyfriend. Weller's soulful voice takes over on thr first single "My Ever Changing Mood." Piano dominated. Intriguing lyrics and about the threat of nuclear war and a relationship, I think. Side One also has a bossa nova and a jazzy bebop song. Side Two continues elelectism with the funky "Strength of Your Nature." This is trying to sound like an 80's R&B pop song and comes across like a blend of Oingo Boingo and Janet Jackson. A catchy chorus though. "You're the Best Thing" highlights Weller's soulful vocals again. He's crooning. Great backing vocals. Jazzy with percussion. It's the one song I immediately think of when The Style Council is mentioned. An instrumental "Council Meetin'" ends the album with a dane-pop beat. This album had me confused. The soulful-pop singles are fine. And then we have bossa nova, piano bar jazz, bebop, rap and attempted funk. When put together, it didn't really connect for me. It sold well in the UK and the pop songs are highlights so if you're willing to filter through some of the misses, you might like this.

Good for some background noise but nothing to want to make me come back

Way prefer Weller in The Jam

This album I very special and magical - basically every song is in a different style or genre, from baroque pop, through hip hop, to post punk. Incredible versatility by The Style Council. All the tracks had another thing in common - I didn't like any of the songs. The album felt pretentious and forced, all form no content. It was a really hard time, trying to get through the record, but fortunately it's short, so I could save my mental health state in good condition.

Paul Weller makes a jazz / soul album with some interesting results. Lots of variety, the songs vary from overly nostalgic to the point of unintended parody to interesting interpretation of styles to, hey this is pretty cool. Wildly uneven but interesting for sure. Styles include; ragtime, lounge jazz, 60s bop, bossa nova, blue-eyed soul and even a bizarre rap experiment that should not have made the final cut. Ultimately too all-over-the-map to really grab hold. 2.5 stars

Soft jazzy music. Background dinner music.

Bijna geen album te noemen. Een hoop verschillende stijlen, maar wel allemaal wat matig en erg jaren '80.

Big fat meh. Go back to the Jam Paul

This was shaping up to be a decent album. I liked the smoother tracks and some of the jazz instrumentals. The rap song was completely unnecessary and derailed the whole album. This might’ve been a 3/5 without it but as an album on the whole it’s not as good because of it. Some songs I would listen to but not the whole thing. 5.2/10

1-2 moments of good music, and lots of meh

I’m not really sure why this is on the list. It’s not really a defining record in any sense.

This one should've been in the companion volume, "1001 Albums You Can Safely Skip Before You Die". Feels like a whole album of filler tracks, kinda. Not sure who the audience is supposed to be... It feels like it's doing a lot of different things and none of them particularly well, so most of the tracks just feel vaguely disappointing. The final track was pretty fun though.

Good jams n great vocals, a lot of the album started to sound the same as I went however. Got boring at points and too crazy at others, but OK project overall.

+Usually not a fan of instrumental songs but some of these were actually nice to listen to as background music, I like it that they're short so they don't get boring -I don't hate the album, but there's nothing special about it either, the second part of it is full of skips

This is some kind of new wave jazz. It has elements of easy listening which makes it sleepy. It's fine for what it is, but it's not what I want.

Mercilessly bright and upbeat. Not really for me but I didn't hate it!

I’m left a little confused by this album. Stylistically it’s all over… and many instrumental records that feel out of place. I’d say the rap… wasn’t bad?… but the songs played for me too close to their genre templates, and didn’t really surprise me. It’s eclectic, but throughout the album I was hoping for more cohesion, more of a reason why.

I don't understand this album. I had it on in the background and every time I paid attention it was a different style.

2 All over the place.

Some good moments; liked when it was jazzy; don’t expect to come back to it.

better than expected

You’re The Best Thing is a classic, but the rest was quite boring.

Weird vibes of funk-jazz-soul music? Just not for me

Sir, this is a Café Bleu. I mean seriously, wth are you doing?

Good musicians but I don’t like the music. Cheesy, jazzy, and just not my style. Plus they use synthesizer/organ a lot, or which I generally am really not a fan.

I'm not sure what this was, but it started great and went downhill fast.

Some of the instrumentals we're good, but the rap was cringe and the rest was kinda boring

nice try

Strange progression from jazzy piano blues to proto-hiphop about halfway through the album. Not sorry I listened but could take it or leave it

2.5

Wanted to like this one better but it randomly turned into some sugar hill gang type shit

They cranked up the genre variety at the cost of writing a few genres well. Overall the album is very mediocre, and almost soulless because of it. 2/5

A decent 3-star jazzish muzak album that completely abandons genre coherency at the midway point to tack on a mish-mash of 1 star bargain-bin demos it sounds like. Just utterly bizarre.

There are better Style Council records

Nieszczescia zdaja sie chodzic parami, przynajmniej tak jest w przypadku wyspiarskich pickow, bo kolejny krazek ktorego samemu raczej bym sobie nie odpalil, cafe bleu od the style council to jeden z tych albumow, ktory jest wszystkim i niczym, doslownie, bo takiego mieszanca gatunkowego dawno nie bylo, od instrumentalnego soulo jazzowania, ktorego brzmienie swietnie oddaje okreslenie muzyki lounge, czyli latwe sluchowisko, prawie jak windowe, ale z bardziej retro charakterem, przez sophisti-pop, ktory najlepiej wychodzi tej plycie na zdrowie, czego przykladem sa traki the whole point of no return czy my ever changing moods, kawalek ktory stal sie tytulem hamerykanskiego wydania tego albumu, czy nawet murzynskie rapsy, bo tak wlasnie brzmi gettowo brzmiacy utwor a gospel, a jakie to byly czasy, bo sama plyta wyszla w 84 i byla debiutanckim krazkiem zespolu, ktory tworzylo trio Paul Weller glownie gitara i bas oraz wokale i liryka, chociaz warto tez zwrocic uwage, ze plyta byla nagrywana w jego studio i mial swoj wklad w jej produkcje, Mick Talbot wszelakie klawisze, a musialo byc tutaj rowniez troche synthowego grania, bo wiadomo, ze nowa fala rowniez musiala zostac ujezdzona i Steve White na drumsach, ale zespol wspomaga sie licznym gronem muzykow sesyjnych, wiec niektore traki brzmia wrecz przesadnie orkiestrowo, ale na tych 44 minutach jest tak duzo, ze wylowic z tego cos wartego uwagi nie jest latwym zadaniem, o duzo za duzo dziwnych zenskich wokali o nie wiadomo czym, skakanie z gatunku na gatunek, jakby szukanie swojej wlasnej tozsamosci jako grupa, co daje efekt, ze naprawde dobrze slucha sie tych popowo brzmiacych utworow z akustykowymi instrumentalami, a orkiestrowo windowe granie staje sie filerowym zamulaniem, wiec ciesze sie, ze dalo sie cos wylowic z tego odsluchu, ale calosc jako album gra slabo przez brak jednego kierunku tworczego, zadnego konceptu czy planu nie potrafie sie doszukac na tej trakliscie, wiec na plejke leci jedynie the whole point of no return

I've never liked the Style Council; the beginning of Paul Weller's decline into "rock-dad" mode.

This was a confusing album. I didn't mind the first half, the ragtime instrumental opener, the jazzy lounge act songs that would be right at home in a Gotham City mob den. Then utter whiplash as they go into rap, followed by 80s cocaine keyboard dance music. First half was decent, but you lost me on the b side. Don't think it belongs on the list.

Jag är ledsen men detta var aptråkigt

Meh. Feel like I didn't *have* to hear this one before I die.

This is way smoother than I thought it would be, it looked like some weird electronic shit.

Hi- The Whole Point of No Return, Council Meetin' The first half of the album is sorta jazzy and funky, the second is early rap/funk. It's all very upbeat and contemporary for the time (1984!).

Never heard of this band. Saw the name and the year it was released (1984) and thought "here comes another new wave/early Britpop band..." but I was wrong and I'm thankful for that. Then I read about them, and it is Paul Weller's band - which explains the new wave naming conventions - but that he wanted to take a more soul-based approach. Interesting. All of that is good. But, this is not a record I would return to.

On dirait le portfolio d’une personne fraîchement diplômée en arrangements, soudainement désireuse de composer des chansons, soucieuse de montrer sa polyvalence. Manque d’originalité à part peut-être l’incursion dans la rap, idée plutôt nouvelle à l’époque.

Best Song: My Ever Changing Moods. Like a budget Billy Joel. Worst Song: A Gospel. Sounds like an alternate take on the Ghostbuster's theme. Overall: One of the least cohesive albums I've ever heard. None of the songs seemed to have even a passing similarity or relationship to one another. There were some alright (albeit overly 80s) takes here, but they're tough to appreciate while you're getting musical whiplash.

Innom mange sjangre. Improv jazz, Poirot-stil. Så show rock/storband Elvis Costello-typen. Gikk lei.

Ujevnt. Begynte bra og ble bare rart og masete. jeg digget Blue cafe og The Paris match. Mistenker dette var et slags konsept der de skulle prøve mye rart og mente det hadde kunstnerisk verdi. Resultatet er et godt eksempel på hvorfor uttrykket "skomaker bli ved din lest" eksisterer.

I dunno what I was supposed to be taking away from this. The literature on this one calls it “sophisti-pop” which I guess just means “80s jazz + they rap at some point”. For the range of stuff touched on, there’s nothing in here that I can’t find better-done elsewhere.

A little disappointing, not the fun, pop version of Ever changing moods. Very low key jazz first half with lots of instrumentals. Second half is much more upbeat, although the songs are more diverse. Please don't rap Paul!

A very bland album

Apparently I have no style

Boring.

First half of the album was ok - esp Mick's Blessings & The Paris Match. Did not care for the last half!

Too eclectic for me, and the rap kind of lost me. Still, "You're the Best Thing" is a great one. "Our Favorite Shop" is the 4-star one for me.

Imagino que es feia difícil en aquesta época seguir el camí de Paul Weller i els seus 'ever changing moods'. El seu primer disc postJam no pot estar més allunyat del que va fer amb la banda, amb temes instrumentals d'una gran influència jazzística, de vegades amb elements de big band. Curiosament, la primera part, molt més jazz, resulta més meritòria que la segona, més propera al pop, però sense cançons gaire memorables

As someone who likes Mr. Bungle and Zappa, it’s hard for me to say that this album is too varied for its own good. That said, jazz to rap to pop, no cohesion.

I mean, just settle for two or three genres or something.

What genre is this? Feel like there's a reason I have never heard of it

Couldn’t get into it. The songs seemed disjointed and not in a good way.

Ok

The beginning is pretty much what I would expect in a jazz bar in Grand Rapids at 7pm on a Friday. Then, starting with "A Gospel", it veers sharply into bad white 80s rap, followed by generic 80s synth pop, to 60s-esque horn music. This album is tonally all over the place, and none of it is great.

Some cool/interesting songs, but this is a bizarre collection of tracks to be on the same album

I remember some of these tracks from when they came out. I kind of liked a couple of them, and now listening to the whole album for the first time (and re-listening to the couple of songs I had heard before for the first time in a long, long time), I can very much appreciate the musicianship in them much better than I did back then. Much as I admire how expertly this music is written and played, on a personal level, it's not really my thing. It's odd to say that because I still love listening to The Jam, and I think Paul Weller is amazing.

Not totally sure why this album is considered essential, it somehow feels overstuffed with ideas, but those ideas aren't that memorable. Maybe when it was released it sent shockwaves through the [New Wave/Pop Jazz] scene, but for me it was neither an easy listening or a challenging listen. Fav Tracks: The Whole Point of No Return and The Paris Match. Rating 2/5

Man, that opener really made me feel like I was in store for something very different than I got: half a breezy, jazzy new wave album, then half a grab bag of different soul/pop experiments. I enjoyed the guest Tracey Thorn vocals, but felt like it was a little forgettable, overall. When it wasn't, it could be kind of cringe-inducing, like the pseudo hip hop of "A Gospel." I did NOT need to hear Paul Weller rapping today! Favourite track: "Here's One That Got Away"

Actually quite enjoyed decent chunks of this album, but I found it confusing, to many clashes on theme and style and no intention of revising

A total mish mash of styles in which nearly all of them miss the mark completely - it holds onto a two on the basis that it’s competently done

Some okay instrumentals, but the whole thing doesn't work for me. The vocals and guitar both sound strangely out of tune, and it makes the whole thing pretty hard to listen to

Kind of boring

Production: 8/20 Songwriting: 8/20 Innovation: 7/20 Bangers: 5/20 Emotional response: 9/20 =37 Up the Council gritter

Wat een saaiheid... niet vervelend, maar doet me helemaal niets.

Na het beluisteren van dit album ging ik er iets over lezen en kwam ik er achter dat dit de band was van Paul Weller. Dat had ik er echt niet uitgehaald. Wat een samenraapsel van nummers in allerlei stijlen. Maar veelal zoetsappige elevator-music. Ik kon er niet zoveel mee.

Zoetsappig!

This sounded pretty generic to me - basically elevator music

not my cup of whatever sugary drink this is

Lack of focus in genre and direction made it difficult to get through.

I guess 'eclectic' is the right word to describe this. Some of it I enjoyed but most of it not so much. A couple of the songs were super repetitive and annoying. 2 stars.

Alright

I liked parts of this album (the song with Tracy Thorn singing was great), but other parts not so much. Started much stronger than it finished. Feels like it's trying to be too many things - Paul Weller stepped out of his comfort zone in a few places on this record, and it shows. The rap and funk efforts in the mid-section of the album, in particular, are horrible clichés. In fact, the entire back end of the album sounds like a series of poorly executed parodies of a range of genres, but I get the impression they were supposed to be sincere... which makes it that much worse. I definitely won't be coming back to this one.

Not great

Kinda weird mix of stuff. Some nice and/or groovy parts, but mostly bad.

I'm not really sure why this album is on the list. It's jazz/easy listening that isn't particularly innovative or influential. Even the review in the book damns it with faint praise. It's not bad, I guess? Best track: You're The Best Thing

Ihan vekkulia paikoin ja välillä kivaa fiilistelyä. Tykkäsin, mutta en tiiä meneekö uudelleen kuunteluun.

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.

I hated this. I don’t like horns and pop music. I just don’t get the point of all this.

Bleu cheese

Not sure what to make of this. Smooth syrupy pop plus piano-vocal jazz fusion. Fades intk the background. Not recommended

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

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.

Truly hated this

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Music for waiting for your dentist.

It sounded like bad cruise ship music until he started randomly rapping. Absolute shit.

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.

Cafe Bleugh

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.

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.

Anybody who is still willingly listening to this in the good lord’s year of 2026 should be lobotomized

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.

Horrendous shite. Paul Weller you were so good in the Jam. What happened?

Boring and completely goofy at the same time, well done!

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.

pretentious twatery

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.

Nah

All over the 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.

Nice sound!!!

This didn't make sense as an album to me. Sometimes (poor) easy-listening jazz, sure interesting-ish instrumental and about turn to rap halfway through? High 1 low 2

Who is this for, and when??? When would you want a protest song, rap, dinner jazz, 80s easy listening album. I'd rather listen to any album that better explored one of the ideas.

This is bad. I'm 550 albums in and haven't heard Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Art Tatum, Oscar Peterson, Erroll Garner, Bill Evans, Red Garland, Horace Silver, Herbie Hancock (I could go on and on). So the suggestion that everyone should hear these amateurish performances of jazzish songs is hard to take. Even this version of Ever Changing World - the only song I hear worth listening to - lands flat when compared with the flared out single version. Oof.