Our Favourite Shop [Import, Original recording remastered]

Style Council | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 21, 2000)
• Original Release Date: 1985
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import, Original recording remastered
• Label: Polygram UK
• ASIN: B00004WKFR
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #63,918 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Homebreakers

2. All Gone Away

3. Come to Milton Keynes

4. Internationalists

5. A Stone's Throw Away

6. The Stand up Comic's Instructions

7. Boy Who Cried Wolf

8. A Man of Great Promise

9. Down in the Seine

10. The Lodgers (Or She Was Only a Shopkeeper's Daughter)

11. Luck

12. With Everything to Lose

13. Our Favourite Shop

14. Walls Come Tumbling Down!

15. Shout to the Top! [USA Remix]

Editorial Reviews

Digitally remastered reissue of 1985 album featuring Paul Weller. 15 tracks including 'Walls Come Tumbling Down', 'Cometo Milton Keynes' and 'Boy Who Cried Wolf'. When first released in the States this album was known as 'Internationalists'. 2000 release.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Group/Era of Diversity Gone By, October 21, 2003

By 

Armando M. Mesa (Chandler, AZ) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Our Favourite Shop (Audio CD)

There is nothing out there in the music scene today like the Style Council; a pop group that can show it's musical diversity with different styles...and do it flawlessly, seamlessly, and with a lot of class, soul and conviction. There may be one or two that may come close but no cigar !

While the existence of the group is now just a faint distant memory from the 80's their music is timeless and lives on. The 80's;time when you really had to search for genuine artists such as the Style Council amidst the decadent heavy laden synthesized New Wave sounds and Top 40 pop-garbage filler !

The Style Council combined R&B, funk, bit of Motown, soul, hip hop, jazz, a sort of 60's retro bossa nova, some Latin grooves,...the list goes on and on ! If you like the soul sophistication, jazzy, sometimes Latin-tinged sound of Sade or Matt Bianco (another multi-faceted European pop-jazz group), then this is worth to add on to your collection.

For anyone who also remembers nothing but decadent, big hair, and tiresome synthesized music from the 80's, listen to the Style Council and they will just blow your mind and make you rethink about some of the artists from that decade...

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a near perfect blend of pop and politics, February 21, 2001

By 

DPK (United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Our Favourite Shop (Audio CD)

Originally released in the U.S. under the title "Internationalists," this album stands up as Paul Weller's best work following the demise of the Jam. Unlike many politically minded musicians, Weller understands that to get the point across, people must want to listen. To reach beyond the converted, he clothed his message in engaging melodies and ear catching arrangements. The result is some of the best political songs of the past two decades.

Weller took a lot of heat for trading the Jam's sound and fury for the more graceful arrangments of the Style Council, but appreciating the former (and this reviewer does) by no means excludes one from enjoying the latter. Furthermore, it's hard to believe that anyone who listens closely to songs like "The Lodgers" and "A Stone's Throw Away", could believe that Weller had compromised his convictions.

Naming the best songs on the album is a difficult choice because of the high level of song-writing and performance across the album. That said, the final two songs, "Shout to the Top" and "Walls Come Tumbling Down" provide a very powerful end to this album. These driving, rousing songs demonstrate Weller's belief that the problems around us can be solved as long as individuals take action. That both songs are instantly catchy is a wonderful added bonus from an artist who has given pop music fans some great gifts.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Council Are In Style!, August 1, 2003

By 

Andre' S Grindle "Funk Meister" (Bangor,ME.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Our Favourite Shop (Audio CD)

Oh so many styles,so many songs.Over 15 track Paul Weller
gives 1985's "Our Favorite Shop" a classic production and an excellent bit of song craft.On "Homebreakers",A Man Of Great Promise","Luck","Come To Milton Keynes" and the organ-led
"Walls Come Tumbling Down" the Style Council fasion instantly
classic,catchy modern pop/soul in their most distinctive style.
But wait-there's more,as always!Modern R&B and funk is also present in the upbeat,Philly-styled "Shout To The Top",the
contemporary synth funk of "The Lodgers" and the classic smooth
soul of "Boy Who Cried Wolf",which woulda' made a fantastic
second American single.!?And again Weller makes room for a few
diverse moments such as the scathing rap of "A Stand Up Comic's
Instructions",the hard-rocking "Internationists" and the breezy
lounge music of the tital instrumental,plus some equally eclectic
moments sprinkled in between.The Style Council's high water mark
and a great first point of referance!