Whereas several of the Jam's albums were clever plays on words, the Style Council's are more often than not just different in the US market, for some strange reason. My Ever Changing Moods is a great album. The title track and "Headstart for Happiness", "You're The Best Thing", bangers every one of them. I realize listening to these songs, however, that I liked Paul's old voice, and the way he chopped his words and bit down on his anger in the Jam. Dee C Lee is a great addition to the mix, and Ben Watt and Tracey Thorn from Everything But The Girl also show up on one track, "The Paris Match". The comparison I am tempted to make here is that Paul and Mick are trying at times to do a Simon and Garfunkel, and sometimes, they're just kind of trying. The video for "My Ever Changing Moods" tries very hard. It is bad.
I still find myself gravitating towards the singles I recognize, but the songs I really appreciate here are the slightly Satie-tinged jazz pieces like "The Whole Point of No Return", which as far as I can tell is a solo effort; and the odd politico-rap of "A Gospel", which made an indelible impression on me the first time I heard it. It's like the bastard child of Big Audio Dynamite and the Sugarhill Gang, and I'm still not sure what to make of it decades later. I guess that's my takeaway here... I may not be eating propaganda shit-spoon fed, whatever that means, but I'd probably rather just take the time to listen to Everything But The Girl or Big Audio Dynamite.
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