Paul Weller
Studio 150

(V2)

First Appeared in The Music Box, December 2004, Volume 11, #12

Written by John Metzger

Paul Weller is certainly no stranger to tackling music written by other artists. Throughout his career, whether with The Jam, Style Council, or on his own, he has interpreted songs by Curtis Mayfield, The Kinks, James Brown, and countless others, but Studio 150 is his first full-length outing devoted entirely to cover selections. While the collection is neither essential nor flawless, it is intriguing to listen to Weller as he takes songs that range from Allen Toussaint’s Hercules to Noel Gallagher’s One Way Road and from Nile Rodgers’ Thinking of You to Neil Young’s Birds and reconstructs them into a suite that not only fits his own stylistic approach, but also feels entirely cohesive. Throughout the set, his missteps — the merely minor alterations to Kris Kristofferson’s gentle folk tune Early Morning Rain; the gospel-bathed swirl of All Along the Watchtower; and the string-drenched smoothness of Wishing on a Star — are slight, and although they’re solidly performed and thoroughly enjoyable, they’re also minor curiosities. At his best, however — the furious, horn and flute colored, funk-fueled blast of The Bottle; the slinky R&B groove of Don’t Make Promises; the strangely compelling soul-soaked breeziness of Close to You; and the Traffic-tinged stateliness that graces his reworking of the traditional Scottish folk tune Black Is the Colour — Weller concocts some truly magnificent moments that frequently conjure images of the finest outings from Joe Cocker.

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Ratings

1 Star:   Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!

Copyright © 2004 The Music Box