Customer Reviews

Jam Collection

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

. . . you should pick this up. There is no overlap, and it restores all of the deleted tracks that were on the original LP version of Snap! In short, this disc and Snap! form the ideal two-disc "best of" set that The Jam deserve.

If you're new to the Jam, get the Greatet Hits - and then get this. It's a compilation, but less of the singles than of the best album tracks. And although one can always quibble about this or that song being included or omitted, the compilers here do a pretty good job. Some of the band's best work is here: the amazingly mature 'Thick as Thieves', the regretful 'Ghosts', the aching 'Mondays'... songwriter Paul Weller was barely out of his teens when he wrote these. The Jam have a similar problem to one of their influences, the Kinks. Both bands produced some of the best songs of the rock era, but neither of them could come up with an album that is top notch the whole way through (athough for the Jam 'Sound Affects' comes close). Short of getting that work, (for newcomers to the band, make it purchase no. 3), get this. It's the best of Brit-pop before it became Brit-pop.

I first bought this about 5 years ago, and will admit I only liked the stuff before the "Sound Affects" era, i.e. the first half of the compilation. I was more a fan of the "classic" Jam sound, but have recently become familiar with their later work, so that now I reckon that this compilation is, in places, remarkably good. This collection of non-single album tracks and assorted B-sides gives a perfect accompaniment to any greatest hits compilation. Even at a hefty 25 tracks, it is a testament to this band's quality that I still would liked to have seen some other tracks to have been included. To summarise, watch out for the uptempo style of tracks like "To be Someone", "In the Crowd", and "Private Hell", and the edgier, more challenging styles of "Monday" and "Tales from the Riverbank". Also watch out for Paul Weller's lyrical and observational gift. I highly recommend this to anyone who has a greatest hits type compilation and wants to find out more about the musical depth of The Jam.

I agree completely with the reviewer who states that this + "The Compact Snap" encapsulate the band's legacy well. This CD is chock-full of great underheard rock music by a gifted bunch of lads.

I just wrote a review for Greatest Hits, and mentioned the Collection. This assortment definitely highlights the powerful dynamics of the band, and the well-honed songwriting at work. All of my friends who loathe the Jam only loathe the "In the City" incarnation. I feel that this collection shows more the breadth of The Jam, and their ability to ROCK, and communicate at the same time.(My question: Why didn't they just include the three live tracks from the Live SNAP! ep released with the early releases of SNAP! ? I SO want to hear what "The Great Depression" sounded like live!)

Having been a huge fan of British punk/new wave from the 70s-80s, for some reason I put off getting into the Jam (too busy with my Joy Division, XTC, English Beat, Clash, Echo, Smiths, etc., etc.); so what a great boon when my sister gave me a copy of this CD. (I already knew the song "Beat Surrender," and "Little Boy Soldiers" from a great compilation called "Life in the European Theater," but that was mostly it until recently.)
I don't always like music which showcases a strong British accent (Oasis and Blur don't do it for me); but here it's cool because Paul Weller's got a fine, deeper, tougher voice (not an Oasis-y whine).
This CD is soooo great, highly-highly-highly recommended; I'm afraid to get other CDs of theirs because it'll be hard to live up to this one. No but I will get more.

From the very late late 70s to the early 80s, this was an incredibly prolific band. Sometimes I think "superstardom" eluded them because their songs (all right, Paul Weller's) were so well-written and maybe a just little too fluid for the hardcore punk scene and too hard for the 'new wave' scene. Maybe Weller's writing reaches in too deep for some. Maybe their music was consistently too good. Maybe they broke up too quickly. I don't know. I liked them then and my appreciation has only grown.

This particular album takes a lot of cuts that were more album 'gems' as opposed to singles. Every time I listen to it, I find myself playing it all the way the through and sometimes twice.

The Jam's music is classified by many as somewhere on the line between punk and so-called 'new wave', though closer to punk than The Police. They 'rock' and they make you think.

I still sometimes really 'feast on their music'.

It's simple: The Jam are one of the most important bands of all time, 'nuff said. Get everything you can by this band.

In some punk catalogue there were a couple of patches and buttons... i think they sound cool... i actually got to this site by looking at a band called the kinks. i like a song they have on the local oldies station.... it is a christmas song that says something like "give all the toys... to the little rich boys"... i dunno. im glad i listened to the jam. they are/were (whatever) cool. ok and you should listen to the ramones, too... they are rad