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 enlarge | Artist: Paul Weller
Label: Universal / Island
Category: Music
List Price: £8.99
Buy Used: £1.50
You Save: £7.49 (83%)
New (46) Used (38) Collectible (3) from £1.50
Rating:  14 reviews
Sales Rank: 667
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Running Time: 52 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 4.7 x 0.4
UPC: 042282861924
EAN: 0042282861924
ASIN: B000001FIJ
Release Date: March 29, 1999
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 14
 Bland, dreary and you've probably heard it all before August 28, 2008
broken (UK)
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
I simply cannot understand the plaudits dished out to this elevator music reincarnation of late '60's white soul boy funk.
Ever heard of Traffic? The Faces? Oh, there are countless bands from the period, and most of which Weller was very keen to dismiss as "hippy" back in the days of The Jam.
Something has definitely happened to Weller. He's got older and matured well, but that's half the problem. This music is suitable for playing whilst you're busy hanging wall-paper or decorating your youngest's playroom. It is so bland, both musically and lyrically, that I have difficulty believing that this album WAS actually written by the same man who wrote Start, Going Underground, That's Entertainment, to name a few.
Lyrically it is very banal too. I could argue that Weller's vocals have improved since the early days but whilst he is arguably a better singer today (technically)than during the days of The Jam, his range appears to be very limited and he relies far too much on his attempts at Otis Redding style "soulful barks" to propel his songs along which can be very wearing over the course of 2 or 3 similar numbers.
Nowhere on this album does anyone sound as though they have any life in them or passion or excitement. Was this meant to sound depressing, I wonder?
The Style Council made some great sounding and FUN records but Weller has never really reached the peaks he achieved during The Jam in my opinion. Maybe he should just quit? He certainly doesn't do it for the money!
 Perfect - and he knows it! June 3, 2008
ModdyBoy67 (UK)
Weller fans will love this, but then again, so will almost everyone!
I'm quite hard to please, but I have to say that in a career spanning over 30 years, there's been very little of Weller's work that I've disliked. Admittedly, as a 15 year-old lad, I was sad when The Jam dissolved, but later in life I realised the importance of that move. Likewise, I lost the plot a bit when TSC became completely obsessed with themselves, but apart from that, there have been very few "speed wobbles".
So for me, the stand-out tracks are "broken stones", "thechangingman" and "time passes"....but what an awesome album! Choose your own favourites. Who remembers when he did "The White Room" with Noel Gallagher?
Hands up who wants to be Paolo Hewitt?.....that's a "no" then?...
Weller's creative peak May 30, 2007
Magic Rat (uk)
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
Although Paul Weller has produced some fine albums since "Stanley Road", this was the one where it all really came together and he was truly launched back into the mainstream, to become the darling of the festival generation, having been the "spokesman" for the previous one.
This is an upbeat album, loosely held together by influences of Weller's upbringing in Woking, Surrey in the late 60s/early 70s, which was far more rural than one might imagine. He speaks of his family's road, "Stanley Road" going on and on (in fact it is not that long at all) and thus reflects our habit of seeing things from childhood as being far bigger in size than they actually were. The driving piano of this track wonderfully captures this feel in music, as in deed, it meanders and rolls on and on. There is a follow on fropm "Wild Wood's" bucolic flavour with cuts like "Woodcutter's Son", "Whirlpool's End" and "Broken Stones", where once again the influence of late 60s Traffic is clear.
"Changing Man" is a great, barnstorming opener and the verve and punch is continued through "Walk On Gilded Splinters" with its slow powerful groove and "Porcelain Gods" wit its cynical lyric. "You Do Something To Me" soon became the favourite of loved-up couples at gigs (witness the Hyde Park concert DVD) and "Out Of The Sinking" another solid piece of 90s rock. Drums, searing choppy guitar, keyboards and piano are to the fore on this almost perfectly blended album. The voice is at its peak and the lyrics are both poetic at times and hard-hitting. "Stanley Road" is as close to a perfect album as you will get. However, its very perfection renders it somewhat less interesting and worthy of exploration than his other albums, if that makes sense. Like "Ziggy Stardust", "Born To Run" and "Graceland" it suffers from the "I'm too familiar with it" syndrome and thus, I often find myself listening to "Heliocentric" or "Illumination" these days, despite the fact that they are inferior albums (comparatively). Does that make sense ? I Hope so.
Awesome!!! March 16, 2007
Mr. R. Clarke (Liverpool, Merseyside, UK)
This Album is Brillant From Start to Finish. You Do Something To Me Is 1 Of The Greatest Songs Ever Written. Wings Of Speed Is In My Top 5 All Time Greatest Songs. Stanley Road Should Be In Everyones Cd Collection And In Every List Done By Music Magazines Of The Top 100 Albums You Must Own, Stanley Road Should Be In The Top 5.
Just Buy It, It's A Masterpiece, Weller Is A LEGEND.
 Weller's 90s statement August 25, 2006
Merry Terry
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Sold like hot cakes and contained a handful of classics and a wider batch of good tunes.
It's opening salvo of "Changingman" and "Porcelain Gods" certainly suggested a man at the peak of his powers.
The blue-eyed soul classic of "Broken Stones" remains this albums high-point. The classic mod bluster and shine of "Out Of The Sinking" comes in second place.
Other high-point is the beautiful and sadly often over-looked "Time Passes...".
But overall a very, very good album.
Only down-side is "You Do Something To Me". Made for brit-flicks starring Martine McCutcheon and Ray Winstone.
Other than that, an album worthy of respect and affection. Brilliant sleeve as well...
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