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4.0 out of 5 stars
Dreaming in excess still a wonder!, June 18, 2008
This review is from: 22 Dreams (Spkg) (Audio CD)
First this review is for the regular import cd- not the deluxe 2 cd version.
Paul Weller has really suprised me here with a very diverse experimental album that falls just short of utter classic. Ironically theres alittle too much here- and with some track editing and deletion this easily becomes his best since Wild Wood if not equal. 22 dreams contains 21 songs though a few are just short instrumentals between songs. At the top of his form on songs like "Have you made up your mind" and "Empty ring" which recall Wellers love of mayfield and marvin gaye and strumming though some folky english pyschedelia- he really hits the mark. "Cold moments" recalls vintage style council songs like whole point of no return and "light nights" is a firsttime stab at Irish souding folk that works easily. This time around Weller has female vocals backing a number of the slower numbers and it is a welcome change. Paul recently dropped half his band including longtime drummer Steve White but the new members add a freshness missing though i think Steve White is truly one of the best drummers in the world. That aside- 22 dreams also has very experimental numbers like the spoken word "God' with an acoustic backing with simple multilayered hand percussion and "Song for Alice" that rumbles along in cod acid jazz style- both are great in my opinion. "Night Lights" is almost middle eastern soundscaping and "lullaby for kinder" is pure classical piano that recalls the confession era of the style council- once again for the better. Oasis members appear on "echoes round the sun" a great burst of James Bondish psyche rock that gives the album a kick in the pants.
Where the album suffers is the 4 or 5 unneccessary songs like the stale piano ballad "invisible"- the traditional rock pop of "push it along" and "all i wanna do" and the title track is another cut that should have been left for a bside. Lyrically these songs are also subpar and this is where Weller has become a little lazy despite branching out musically for the better. Reduced to a long playing 15 or 16 track single album this would have been almost "uncritisizable". Still for a 50 year old traditionalist this shows a sense of grasping for improvement and Weller has easily matched his best work. The album topped the uk charts in early june- amazing feat for a longtime artist.
Theres a few other great songs i didnt mention but you can find out for yourself- i ordered the import because i didnt want to wait until the end of july for the us release.
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