Cafe Bleu

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.

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.

3rd floor please- legit, I mean elevator music has a place but the vocals are cringey. Another I def dont need before I die. It was 2 stars until the rap…just please no.

Not even Tracey Thorn could save this. Such a huge step down from The Jam.

Dropping Bombs on the Whitehouse kinda rules but the rest ranges from mediocre to insultingly bad

Jazzy lounge act? What is this? The best part of getting this album was reading the bio in Spotify. Rovi's Stephen Thomas Erlewine is a hero. He referred to the bands musical pretentiousness twice, referred to the leads career trajectory as "from hero to has-been" and their "self-important and pompous music." What more do I need to say after that?

I love Paul Weller's solo work as well as all the Jam albums, but this is boring as fuck.

Seems like a band in search of their sound and, damn it, they can’t find it at all…

The majority of this is "jazz" for folks who don't like jazz-- milquetoast and bland. The blue-eyed soul is so derivative and try-hard it hurts. Both of the singles "My Ever Changing Mood" and "You're the Best Thing" were so forgettable I couldn't even remember their melodies when the next song started. Then the second side turns to rap. Big swing and a miss. "A Gospel" is so bad I couldn't finish it. On the bright side, this is followed by "Strength of Your Nature", which is better but just sounds like an impersonation of the Talking Heads on Stop Making Sense. Then we return to the forgettable easy listening, I never thought I'd appreciate the comfort so much. "Here's One That Got Away" is also irritating, feels like the worst aspects of Wham!, but at least the fiddle was a little memorable. The whole album felt like it went into one ear and out the other. It is perhaps overly ambitious. Which is a shame because this album list has previously introduced me to The Jam's All Mod Cons, which I really enjoyed. It sounds like Paul Weller formed this band to explore genres he liked-- maybe he should just stick to listening to them rather than performing them.

Oh no, no thank you. No no no.

"The Paris Match" and "My Ever Changing Moods" were really good tracks. The rest of the album was just a meandering mess. As much as I appreciated them going for variety of sounds and styles, there wasn't any point to it. No cohesion, no direction. Cafe Blow.

Wow, this is what Paul Weller decided to do after the jam? Not that I'm a jam fan really but what in the Phil Collins is this? I really can't get on board with that overproduced 80s pop sound with all the brass and the style council have it in spades. Does feel like they were trying to latch on to what was popular at the time. Can't see past a 1 here, very much not for me.

A mood board of an album - the mood is, "wind-up merchant". Naff, pretentious, and confusing. Mick's Blessings sounds very East-End. Chas and Dave lite.

"he shares my hatred of the rock myth and the rock culture": too bad, Paul, but now you just suck. The Jam were transcendent. This is as bad, if not worse, than Michael Jackson. No matter what you do, don't this ever again. 0 stars rounded up to 1 star.

Absolute trash

no likey, but ok as background noise

No me ha llamado demasiado.

What a ride. It has a little bit of nothing for no one. Bad 80s jazz? I think. Music from a bad 80s movie soundtrack. By that I mean the movie, soundtrack and music are all bad.

Ope

Dogshit

What absolute dribble. I cannot for the life of me imagine the type of person who would want to listen to this gobsite.

Odd to be on the list. Very generic and disjointed. 2.0

What the hell? I mean, I like The jam, I like quite a few solo albums of Paul Weller, but this? Half a side with lazy jazz that can easily be categorized as muzak which feels like cocktail lounge music rather than anything genuinely adventurous... I mean, I know better jazz records that should belong to this list, better pop albums too, not to mention the song "The Gospel" which is maybe the worst white-boy attempt to rap. Then comes an utterly crap attempt to make a funk song (Strength of Your Nature), just to be followed up by a horrible sugarcoated 80's love ballad (You're the Best Thing) that with it's right belongs to a "Now This Is What I Call Music" compilation. but certainly not on this list. Terrible. 1/1

I always thought I wouldn't like Paul Weller. Now I know for sure. File under: the who, Tom Petty and other uninteresting dudes.

If you like The Jam, and don’t like Jazz, you’re going to have a bad time.

Yawn. Who is this for?

Who?

Ça fait mal à écouter 😭😭😭 C'est le truc le plus cheesy ever. A Gospel est carrément dégueulasse.

Horse shit

I was going to be kind and give this a 2 but it's honestly so fucking shit I just can't.

I don't know what that was but I know I didn't really like it and I have no interest in listening to it again.

Feels like cheesy elevator music in a department store

no. I’m good. I’m sure Paul Weller and his associated acts have a lot of fans, but I’m not one of them.

Klassisk eksempel på et britisk band som nok ikke havde behøvet at være i den her bog. Det var sgu kedeligt. Vildt nok at vi har haft to Paul Weller albums men ikke noget The Jam endnu.

Paul Weller… what the fuck? This is a mess. The first half is jazzy slow rock sophistipop garbage. The second half starts off with two hip-hip songs with some truly terrible 80’s production and then becomes funk/soul?

All over the place stylistically. A few of the songs were fun, but there was some abysmal muzak sprinkled in alongside wannabe rap. No idea why this is on the list.

I’ll give these guys credit. They aren’t just terrible jazz musicians. They are also terrible rappers. This is amongst the worst albums I’ve encountered on this list and that’s saying something, as I’m like 950 albums in. I will never listen to this band again and might take proactive measures to ensure that I am never in a position to encounter the slightest risk of encountering this band again.

Shite

Attempt to do every style of music, none of them competently.

Meh, I don't even know what to write, bleh cafe.

I like the Jam. I like Paul Weller’s solo stuff. This was nearly unlistenable.

#483. This was some mediocre jazzy nonsense that I was fully ready to give two stars, but then he started rapping. 1/5: no thanks, buckaroo

Booooooooriiiiiiing adult contemporary jazz. Sorry Paul Weller

Paul Weller was 25 when he started The Style Council... and frankly, he was old enough to know better.

The 80s were a hell of a time. This fails on almost every level - it either needs to be pulled back or aim higher. As it result it’s a middling sounding hodgepodge of jazz/rap/dance/easy listening.

1. blezzingz - 1 2. return - 1.5 3. zhip - 0 4. cafe - 1.5 5. pariz - 1.5 6. moodz - 1 7. bombz - 1 8. gozpel - 0 9. nature - 0 10. thing - 1 11. auuay - 0 12. happinezz - 1 13. meeting - 1

Naff.

Pop com alguma tentativa de parecer cool sem ser pretensioso. Só não conseguiu.

Shit

The Paris Match My Ever Changing Moods You're the Best Thing

Pretty bad, very forgettable. My new policy means I'm not listening to the end. Life's too short.

Music they play when you’re on hold on the phone, but not as catchy.

Forgettable

At first it was cheesy, then it was boring, but I think most offensively it was obviously made purely to jump upon the success of black artists' musical stylings and genres. This may seem like a brash accusation, but if we can critique Jamiroquai for his Stevie Wonder "impressions" then it seems ignorant to turn a blind eye here. At first you just get stocky sounding Olive Garden jazz that is generic, but the B-side opens with perhaps the most "we can make money off this "rap" thing" song I've ever heard, trying its best to copy the flow and delivery of the best of the disco-rap acts of the early 80s, obviously in the best way a couple European white guys can, and it doesn't stop there, with various (terrible) takes on genres and influences the pair just quite frankly has no business attempting, not only because they really shouldn't, but also because they cannot. It sounds awful, going past cheesy into the realm of disturbing quickly, and even if songs after that and Strength of Your Nature do try to gather their composure, the damage has already been dealt, and it's impossible to not see every song as disingenuous and only in it for some sort of financial gain or at the very least brownie points for trying something so different to their prior work. Songs tend to start with good hooks, but get old quick, and in that time I'm left waiting for the song to end, only thinking of the middle of the album offense that is hard to ever forget, and frankly has soured my little views on Paul Weller to an extreme degree. This is, frankly, not good, and should be forgotten into a bygone era, for everyone's sake.

Shockingly enjoyable opening and closing instrumental tracks. Unfortunately every song with vocals was very bad. Seems like you need to hear this album in order to remember why people rag on music from the 80s. I guess that is a useful exercise, because the disrespect for 80s music has always baffled me since the music that endured from that decade is some of the best. This stuff is some of the worst.

This album is really incoherent as a whole, it skips back and forth between instrumental jazz and cheesy soft rock (and then goes even more bonkers). There's a decent song in there somewhere but what a mess. I expected a lot more from "Dropping Bombs on the White House" and what in the love of god was happening on "A Gospel," was that a Paul Weller rap? I can't go over a 1.45 here.

What is this? Why is this? Weller trying out every genre from bad lounge to jazz to actually rapping? It's mediocre at best...like he read music for idiots and followed the formulas. Am I missing something here? I did like the last track "Council Meetin" for the beat but I think he even copied that from "Were an American Band?" Even the band name is lame and trying to sound too cool. This is an album Patrick Bateman would eagerly explain every nuance to each song before burying an axe in your skull (thankfully). Still better than Beyonce. Drop mic...I'm out...1.45.

Well that was unexpected. Five or songs of slightly dull tinkly piano jazz and then he whips out the drum machine and launches into a criminally embarrassing white boy rap. Why did no one stop him. Paul, think of the children! Sadly it was pretty much downhill from there.

Dreadful. Is that a word the cool kids still use, 'dreadful?' This is obviously a British album because it sounds like a white karaoke version of pretty much any legit soul album we have here in the states. I'm pretty sure this was an strong influence for all of Color Me Badd's work.

The Jam are a highly respected band, oozing street cred. Paul Weller should be embarrassed. This album is an abomination - smooth jazz and bad rapping. Style Council was a serious wrong turn in his career.

Just boring and soft. Not a top 1001 contender not 10001

Meh

This album didn’t stand out in any way one star

Barf.

patrick bateman-ass band. there’s just a lot of effete jazzy instrumentation and sometimes they forget about writing any decent hooks. a gospel having white boy rapping almost sent me into total despair. at its worst makes steely dan look like gg allin. there’s a couple good songs and it picks up a bit towards the end but this was a real like-hate album for me.

Well, there have to be some albums I hate and this is one of them. I think this is my first one star album. Who thought it would be fun to have an album with lounge music mixed with Ska music mixed with jazz and then throw in a song with a fiddle reminiscent of country music and oh wait you aren't confused enough? Here's an awful rap! It's a mess. It's a bloody mess. Some of the jazz is... OK. I especially liked the title of Dropping Bombs on the Whitehouse, but the jazz in that does not match that title very well. All I can say is it's a mess and I didn't like it.

cool clothes on cover wack ass music within

Just because The British make Stilton and Pork Pie, doesnt mean their cuisine is any good. Likewise this Album. its so... Imperial Leather. Which brings me to Pause momentary and lament the land of The English - as much a mindset as a destination - that land of soap lovers, awkwardness and longing for a lost (breif) greatness, coloured by misery, clouds, a fragmented rail network, failed privatisations, the Glasgow Effect, of flouncy PMs and now the Economic Self Harm of Brexit. As if the food and accents werent enough. They have to be drunk to eat it, it seem, based on how they hit the pubs before going home for supper. Maybe they vote drunk too? Oh yes, the album. So at some point they made some pleasing sounds, and feeling rather good about that, they posed (non ironically it seems) for the cover art, or a hair salon poster, wearing black skivvies and (lead singer) a gold chain, like a Hard Man with a High Voice. But they then needed to go back and fill an album. And they made filler, in the good old English tradition of Stuffing. Which of course you're not meant to eat (the DiMaggio family recipe is an exception, but dont get me talking about Marilyn Munroe and turkey basting, I'm writing here!). The album is dry a turgid and too bready and milky for me. It reminds me of "bread sauce" in that it only brings to mind what is missing. Could it be that in deed there is a thang called Manisfest Destiny, and that it is the English will incessantly make jokes about the French, only to mask their own envy embarassment as being so very English and forever unstylish. Meanwhile to their political future - what will they think of next as their ignorant, pallid version of Populism drives the bus of British history even further off course, insisting "we're not lost, no need to ask for directions!" I do like a few songs but this album annoyed me. So I say "NON alors!"

This album was interesting up until the song A Gospel. That song and everything after was awful. Won’t ever listen to this one again.

Aside from the first track, there's no reason this album should be on this list.

Definitely was not expecting what I would be listening, like everybody said, the sudden rap really throws you out. Not really familiar with the people involved in this album, but it's not something that I would like to listen again.

Live fast, have a mid-life identity crisis young. A rocker's experiment with smooth jazz ballads, this is a genre crossing set of songs that sets a mellow mood with careful production and rich instrumentation. His voice isn't built for crooning, and feels like a sodden blanket drapped over the delicate music. Sometimes you can be so open-minded that your brain falls out, A Gospel is the sound of that happening. It kicks up a notch in the final stretch with a more high energy synth pop sound. Hard to imagine who in mid 80s Britain was the audience for this, but speaks to an interesting eclecticism (or lack of direction) in popular music burning out after half a decade of post-punk and new wave.

Not very interesting.

i wasn't expecting to dislike this as much as i did. it's such a disjointed listen. also, it's like musical tourism or something. dabbling in several genres, none of which quite worked—especially that rap tune, but also the jazz didn't swing. and the songwriting didn't work for me. i'm going with a 1 because i didn't like it and I'm also dinging it for being included on this list. it's not Style Council's fault, of course, but there are so many more deserving albums.

What a waste of time

Gepflegte Langeweile.

Utter shite. Actually got on my tits.

It's quite impressive that they've somehow managed to produce quite shit songs for this wide a range of different genres

BOOOOOORING. Didn't like

sucked

I get why people would be into this, but it's not for me

I feel like I was in coffee shop open mic hell