Sounds Affects (1980)

Just learned of the passing of Charlie Watts. I never really listened to the Stones, but wow, what a great drummer. Miss You

Okay, I was completely wrong about "That's Entertainment". The lyrics definitely demonstrate what Paul Weller is capable, but the glue here is the bass, which sits so up front. In a way, this song reminds me of R.E.M.'s "What's The Frequency Kenneth?" - a guitar song with cool lyrics in which the bass carries a ton of emotional weight, and a possibly backwards solo at the end.

The guitar solo in "Start!" may just be the guitar solo from "Taxman", but it's still so good, and I love the way Weller clips his 't' in "What you give is what you GET". Also, "knowing that someone in this life loves with a passion called hate" is very dark, but what a great line. I have always thought that "Start!" starts with "It's not important for you to know my name, but I do know yours", and it's actually "nor I to know yours", so there's that.
This should probably be my favourite Jam album, but I still love Setting Sons so much. Probably my biggest takeaway here is that the elements that I respond to so strongly in "That's Entertainment" - slice of life, working class consciousness, irony without satire - were all present in Setting Sons and songs like "Eton Rifles" and "Smithers-Jones", and there is so much more here than just Paul Weller's songs. He may say he wrote "That's Entertainment"

Maybe he just wanted to wish Keith Moon, who would have been 75 yesterday, happy birthday.

on his way home from the pub, but without the bass track, it would not be the song that it is.

Around this same time, Paul Weller played the main guitar riff on Peter Gabriel's "And Through The Wire" (alternate version), another great song, with an incredible chunky riff. Paul doesn't have the same vocal range Peter does, but they both draw on a lower register that packs a solid punch.