Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 41-45 of 48
 Curious tangents, rich in creativity - the best in over a decade June 4, 2008
A. Sweeney (London, England)
7 out of 10 found this review helpful
Although I have enjoyed most of Paul Weller's solo albums, even those less critically acclaimed, his return to Island Records, '22 Dreams', is a bold, inventive, colourful collection of largely uncommercial songs and, in my opinion, the best album he has released in over a decade. It is an album that has many surprises, curious tangents and leftfield ideas as well as both soul and beauty in abundance. It appears that Simon Dine's contributions have been pivotal to the sound of this album and he has evidently helped Paul realise the full spectrum of his creativity here. This may not be a 'Wild Wood' or 'Stanley Road', but on '22 Dreams' the man they call The Modfather is evidently interested in moving on and not re-treading older ground and, as a result, the album is a real treat.
'Light Nights' is a folk-influenced, gentle introduction to the album, featuring the complementary vocals of Hannah Andrews, violin, cello and some very nice intricate guitar work. The title track '22 Dreams' comes next and is an upbeat, full-on, soulful piece with touches of brass - a typical Weller stomper. 'All I Wanna Do (Is Be With You)', continues the momentum and quality of the album, being a very likable mid-tempo love song without moving into over-sentimentality, managing to be a foot-tapper whilst also connecting emotionally. So far, everything is very good.
'Have You Made Up Your Mind' starts with a simple, understated guitar line and pans out to be an enjoyable soulful, Style Council-esque groove with great backing vocals and instrumentation. Following that, 'Empty Ring' has a lush, dreamy, light-orchestral theme, reminding me of a couple of tracks from 'Illumination'. From a very intricately produced track, we then go to 'Invisible', a rather sad ballad featuring only Paul's vocals coupled with a piano backing. It is no exaggeration to say that this is an instant classic - in today's musical climate you could easily imagine someone like Amy Winehouse making this song a monster hit, but - as it is - it'll probably be passed over as a mere Weller album track.
'Song For Alice', featuring Robert Wyatt, starts off as a moody instrumental featuring piano flourishes over a catchy piano riff and then, courtesy of the "bridge" morphs into a disjointed smoky jazzy trumpet break before returning to the original dark theme. Good stuff and a fitting tribute to Alice Coltrane. 'Cold Moments' comes next and is a rather pleasant, breezy, toe-tapping soul song with nice vocals and a pleasing piano solo. A very short lyric-less interlude, 'The Dark Pages of September Lead To The New Leaves Of Spring' is nice enough but is almost a skit rather than a song. The next "proper" song, 'Black River', features Graham Coxon on Drums, but if you're expecting a heavy, catchy indie tune because of Graham's involvement then you're going to be sorely disappointed, because this is another light, piano-driven jaunt which, disappointingly, lacks direction a little.
The album presses on with 'Why Walk When You Can Run', at track 11 it is the album's "half way" point and is fantastic. It has a gentle verse, with vocals and acoustic guitar taking centre stage, but the folky chorus ("Run like the wind/run like the wind") is immediately catchy, used just enough to be effective without ever overstaying its welcome. A heavier, more upbeat sound returns with 'Push It Along' which would have comfortably fit in on 'As Is Now'. The faster tempo continues with the brassy, backward-effects laden 'A Dream Reprise' which then goes straight into the storming 'Echoes Around The Sun', an epic-sounding, beat-heavy track which was co-written with Noel Gallagher.
As a completely different change of pace, the classy Spanish/Latino-influenced 'One Bright Star', which sports mandolins, Spanish guitars and dramatic piano gives us one of the most interesting Weller compositions to date and certainly provides this album with yet another flavour. Following that, 'Lullaby Fur Kinder', a beautiful, romantic instrumental piece performed on piano & strings then becomes a fitting prelude for 'Where'er Ye Go', a gorgeous folk song for piano, vocals and violin. The next song, 'God', which features a spoken word soliloquy by Aziz Abraham doesn't, for me, work too well. I get the idea that it is perhaps performed under the premise of being rather profound piece, but, to be frank, it fails to be moving or thought-provoking in any way and does not really achieve anything. '111', also, is completely unnecessary and isn't anything other than uninteresting filler.
It is with gratitude, then, that the folky 'Sea Spray' makes its immediate mark with a ear-pleasing and instantly singable motif and then develops into a really good song, making the last couple of tracks (which seriously threatened to derail the enjoyment of this album) just fading memories. We then come to the album closer, 'Night Lights', a mystical-sounding soundscape which draws a gentle, albeit unconventional, conclusion to '22 Dreams', perhaps not Paul Weller's finest album, but certainly his most interesting, diverse and challenging. It has to be said that this is, largely, what has come to be referred to as a 'mature' album, one with rich textures and many influences and styles. I have a feeling that it may be a little too tame for fans of the ballsy, rockier, energetic Weller as there isn't a great deal here for an avid Jam fan to connect with. However, for those who have followed Weller throughout the years and appreciated his solo material to varying degrees, this is a very satisfying and - on the whole - excellent release.
A Masterpiece June 4, 2008
Christian Wingrove-Rogers (Germany)
5 out of 8 found this review helpful
Brilliant. Mr Weller has created a musical masterpiece with 22 Dreams. Using all of his musical knowledge and qualities he has taken a logical new direction with this album without leaving his style behind. Strong tracks such as Echoes...and the superb God, plus the title track, are among the best he has ever done. On the deluxe version there is a better version ( in my opinion) of 22 dreams and Rip the pages up for old style Paul Weller fans. After the mediocre Studio 150 thing and the not badness of As is Now 22 Dreams is a return to the full force of the Modfathers talents.
 Very disappointed June 4, 2008
Tricky Dicky (Perth, WA Australia)
3 out of 20 found this review helpful
This is awful. It's as far away as you can get from the Jam, Style Council and Stanley Road. The Brit Pop influence from Mr Gallagher and co is also sadly lacking. It is dull, flat and uninspiring. Save your cash and buy 'The World is Yours' by Ian Brown instead.
Fan-tas-tic June 3, 2008
Barst (UK)
1 out of 5 found this review helpful
Classic Weller, a must for all fans, this album shows he is back to his best
Dissappointed June 3, 2008
Broken Stone (Aberdeen)
6 out of 17 found this review helpful
Like most of you, have been a fan of Weller since the days of the Jam, but have constantly only liked about 60% of the stuff on every CD he's knocked out in the intervening years, but this one drops down to about 10%. Might grow on me after a few listens, but doubt it.
Still looking forward to seeing him in concert in November, but to me, he seems unsure in which direction to go with this offering.
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