Customer Reviews

Gift

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It's hard for me to give any Jam album less than five stars...they are, after all, one of my favorite bands. Paul Weller, before forming the Style Council and eventually going on to a solo career, was the singer/songwriter/guitarist for this influential mod/punk trio that was enormously successful in their native England but never really hit it off in the States. As their albums progressed, Weller began moving the band further away from straight punk and into more R&B-flavored territory. Here are the ultimate fruits of that transformation.

Along with the influence of Motown ("Town Called Malice"), this album also includes tasteful nods to disco ("Precious"), along with a more mod/punk call to their ealier days ("Just Who Is the Five O'Clock Hero"), an interesting instrumental track ("Circus)" and catchy numbers like "Happy Together" and "Ghosts." Further evidence of experimentation is evident on the dancey "Trans-Global Express" and the use of steel drums on "Planner's Dream Gone Wrong."

Unfortunately, Weller disbanded the group soon afterwards, but in a way it's a good thing -- quitting at their peak was the classiest thing these guys could have done.

Highly, highly recommended.

I'll plump for 'Sound Affects' as the Jam's best album, but although 'The Gift' is a flawed work there is an emotional intensity about many of the tracks that appeals. Particularly the first three - 'Happy Together' (which, with the constant 'Fa-fa-fa' backing vocals on several songs seems to be an oblique nod to US sixties band The Turtles) is sardonic; while 'Ghosts' and 'Precious ' have some of Weller's best ever lyrics. 'Running on the Spot' and 'Carnation' are in a similar vein - intense and emotional. And, likewise, one is highly personal, the other seems to reflect Weller's social concerns. At the time the album was released I could never get past the fact that 'A Town Called Malice' sounds rather too like the Supremes' 'Can't Hurry Love'. It's grown on me a bit now, but still.....Elsewhere 'Just Who is the Five O'Clock Hero' and 'Planners Dream Went Wrong' sound like a Ken Loach or Mike Leigh movie set to music. The former is a great track, the latter just, well, goes wrong...The remaining tracks don't really work, for this reviewer anyway. But the explosive intensity of the remainder are enough to warrant four stars. And I always take my hat off to an artist who is not satisfied with repeating a previously successful formula, but who pushes the creative envelope and tries new things. For that, (rare in rock music in the early 1980s, seemingly non-existent now ) the occasional miss is forgivable.

Paul Weller is ready for a big musical change.While on
"The Gift" Weller and The Jam deliver some typically catchy,
sponanious Brit pop like "Happy Together","Ghosts" and "Running
On the Spot",much of this album seriously attempts to blend in
heavy funk,jazz,Carribean and even African styled music into
The Jam's framework.This approch doesn't always succeed entirely
but on numbers like the Sly Ston-ish "Trans-Global Express",the
bombastic afro-funk of "Precious" and the classic,almost ready
-made Motown beat of the classic "Town Called Malice".While
the Jam effectively pull off the diverse songwritng assignments
and add in punchy horn charts,it's clear Weller was proven right-
the guitar-based Jam simply wern't the band to make this kind
of music consistantly and while they're all fantastic musicians
in their own right,Weller was wise to try something new next time
around with a new band to work with.But that doesn't take anything away from this fun,bouncy album!

The Jam's final album does not contain a big swansong (that was left to final single "Beat Surrender"), but marks a real change of course for a songwriter (Weller) who was now looking towards new styles of music. As an album, I feel "The Gift" is very uneven. The first part is superb, with fantastic opening song "Happy Together" underpinned by a jolting bassline from Bruce Foxton. Add to that the low key Ghosts, and my personal favourite, "Just Who is the 5 o'clock Hero?", with it's late 60's British pop sound, vaguely psychedelic keyboards and familiar "life's a struggle" lyrical theme. This really is a fantastic song, despite it (and the rest of the album) being quite derivative. The middle part of the album sags badly, and Foxton's instrumental "Circus" is only slightly likeable. However, the closing tracks "Carnation", "The Gift" and Number 1 hit "A Town Called Malice" ensure that the album ends on a strong note. Whilst "The Gift" is not as good as the three albums that came before, it is a lasting reminder of a great band.

And so begins the inevitable decline.

'The Gift' is in no way a bad album, but compared to some of its rich and colourful ancestors, it was becoming clear Weller was in need of a fresh challenge.

To his credit he broke The Jam just in time. While they were on top. It was the right thing to do - just as going on a horrific farewell tour was the wrong thing. Ill-advised and slowly but steadily becoming wretched, Weller slipped away with the drawn out horror of 5 nights at the Hammersmith Odeon plaguing the dreamy nights of loyal Jam fans, and a bombing combination of dodgy politics, the appalling Style Council and even dodgier solo career - where he started playing Jam songs again - confirming how uninspired and desperate it'd all become.

Weller and desperate in the same sentence - just doesn't sound right does it?

'The Gift' has good stuff on it; 'Ghosts' is fine, Weller was obviously listening to Ian Hunter's 'Letter to Britannia From the Union Jack' while he was writing it and 'Carnation' pulls the right strings but it all sounds a bit strained. Sort of a collision of the last 4 year's styles and influences, bundled together in a sack and bunged half-formed at the expectant listener. There's no way Weller would have let 'the Gift' happen two years before - but like a dying man giving all his possessions away, he knew the end was fast coming.

As the dissolute pop-chart mongrels asked more and more of Weller and co, the hungry and fastidious Jam legions began to look elsewhere.

This is the best Jam album ever. It shows the progression of Paul Weller's style from this group to The Style Council who along will D.C. Lee,Mick,and Steve became possibly my favorite group! This album is a classic,a must have!

The Jam's last studio album evidenced the decline that would fully manifest itself in the mediocrity that was the Style Council. The two best songs here, "Town Called Malice" and "Precious" were the A and B side of the US single, and those were the only two songs from this set to be included on "Snap!", the two album, 29 song overview of their six albums. If you've already got "Snap!" and you're particularly enamored of "Precious", this album version is a minute longer than the edited single version that appears elsewhere. There's also a six minute extended 12" version on the box set which contains virtually everything the Jam did but for a few album versions of their singles.

I had "The Gift" back in the vinyl days and once I got "Snap!" I tossed this one to the used bins. In this era of mp3s where we can cherry pick just the songs we want, I've added back into my collection "Ghosts", the instrumental "Circus", and the album version of "Precious". The other seven songs are standard to sub-par Jam. The opener, "Happy Together", could pretty much be used as a template for the Jam sound. Not as compelling as their better work but hardcore fans would undoubtedly revel in it. For those looking to dig deeper "Five O'Clock Hero" might fit the bill.

The Jam is known for drawing on the Who and the Kinks as their inspiration, but all the "bop-ba-ba-ba's" on this album start to become an annoying reminder of The Association. Perhaps they have an unreleased cover of "Windy", "Cherish", or even the Cuff Links' "Tracy" still crouching in the vaults.

While there are a few good and powerful songs on this cd, such as the Motown influenced A Town Called Malice or the rocking Carnation, most of this set is a pretty forgettable pastiche of ersatz funk and horn driven white boy soul. The Gift is the album where main man Paul Weller really begins to embrace his fascination with American soul music, culminating in the breakup of the Jam and the creation of the horrid Style Council. The problem with Weller is that he's just not a natural at it and though his attempt at soul may be laudable, its not that listenable. Adding irrelevant horn overdubs such as the jamming section of Precious don't improve the tracks, rather they serve to point out, in sharp relief, the weakness of underlying material. Sorry Paul you are not funky, neither are your band mates. In fact there's precious little here on The Gift that sounds like The Jam. Compared to the previous brilliant album Sound Effects, its a much weaker effort musically and lyrically. Few of the songs play to the Jam's strengths and even fewer stick in my head. The Gift is neither great rock, nor is it great soul. Most importantly its not great Jam music.

The Jam were an ambitious group, and had tired of the retro-mod sound that made them famous (in Britain). By this point, their last LP, you can hear that Weller really wants to be writing blue-eyed soul material, and that the material is not a natural fit with the group's level of energy and aggression. So we get a taught, tightly played collection of soulful performances here. It's a decent ambitious effort but I can't say that it works especially well in very many places.

My only disappointment with this album minus a track or two is that it is only just over a half hour in length. i was hoping for the numerous remixes(precious 12 inch remix is great but hard to find) and bonus tracks ala Beat Surrender and Stoned out of my mind from the final ep they released along with this final album. Make no mistake this contains some of the jams best tunes-town called malice- carnation-ghosts-running on the spot- happy together. The production sounds hot and has no hints of being an early eighties album unlike say u2. Fantastic energy and cutting lyrics- weller also sounds great vocally- he really became a "gifted" singer on this one. Tied with Sound Affects as my personal favorite this still gets steady play after 15 years of owning it. The remaster sounds great but still polydor skimped on potential bonus material so one star deducted for record company oversight. Weller made the right choice to disband as foxton and Buckler would have not fit in the style councils direction. The soul and disco elements of precious and other songs are carried by Weller and hint at his future plans. The jams legacy is untarnished- perhaps more than any other band in uk history.