Customer Reviews

Setting Sons

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

 

 

DO NOT BUY THIS VERSION of SETTING SONS! One star for this CD version. Five stars for the music.

There is another version of Setting Sons on Amazon for $4 more(it was $6, but the price has dropped), but you get the bands best single (Strange Town) which was not released on the vinyl LP, PLUS the bands other single only release between All Mod Cons and Setting Sons (When You're Young), PLUS several other B-sides and single only versions of other songs. If you are trying to aquire all the Jam LPs on CD, you will miss those songs unless you own them on a compilation compact disc. Don't make the mistake I did. Good luck and happy listening.

Having discovered the Jam in 1981, sadly right before Weller disbanded the group. I saw them on MTV no less! with their video of 'Town Called Malice' and that was all I needed, I always loved the Clash, Kinks and 60's Who, but Weller & Co. had the right mix of punk, pop, smarts and musicianship to meld into arguably the greatest rock band, ever in five short years they produced six LP's three EPs and countless singles. All top notch quality, no throwaways, even their 'Rarities' CD is a gret listen. Anyway, getting back to Setting Sons, released in 1979, after the much ballyhooed classic 'All Mod Cons' and before their most successful "Sound Affects". This one, Weller penned as a comprehensive loosely based story told about three friends losing their way (who cares anyway, the songs are dynamic) this LP I believe contains their strongest material ever and holds up well even today, Side 2 (vinyl of course) reads like a masterpiece - Girl on the Phone, Strangetown, Thick as Theives, Private Hell, Little Boy Soldiers & Wasteland, throw in three classics from side one, Burning Sky, Saturdays Kids & the glorious rousing Eton Rifles and you have simply the best recording ever made, nothing beats it, maybe some come close, but if a power-pop/post-punk is your deal this is it.
Perfect.

The jam are one of the most intelligent bands of all time, behind only the Kinks in the insightfullness and forcefullness of thier lyrics. Like the Kink's "Arthur" album the Jam's Setting Sons is a combination of amazing lyrics and hot rock and roll. The Eton Rifles is probably the most frightening song ever,and Wasteland is probably one of the saddest.

Paul Weller and the Jam really scored with this small album that was a follow up to "All Mods Con", thier cross over album to Pop. Here, Weller embrasses his pop sense more with unforgetable songs like "Eton Rifles" and "Thick As Theives", a song that could be one of his best ever written. "Setting Sons" is a must have for any Jam fan or even sombody who's looking for a great Power Pop or 60's Revival album.

Setting Sons has always been a favorite of mine. What a great band the Jam were....and what a shame that they really didn't make it here. Highly recommended for those who loved the British late 70's early 80's power pop! SL

Following sure-fire classic hit albums is never easy but with 'Setting Sons', Weller's irate follow-up to 'All Mod Cons', the now supremely confident, can-do-no-wrong Jam, had a damn good go.

Although 'SS' is strong in it's own right - 'AMC' it isn't. It's got its quota of excellent Jam numbers; 'Little Boy Soldiers', 'Private Hell', 'Thick as Thieves' and the hauntingly pretty and nostalgic 'Wasteland' but it doesn't quite hold together like it's predecessor.

The speedy songs are probably guilty; 'Burning Sky', 'Girl on the Phone', 'Eton Rifles' are not bad songs by any means, and as isolated Jam bursts they're quite effective, but every-one and his dog wanted them NOT to be as tasty as their counterparts on 'AMC', and they obligingly, stubbornly weren't.

Weller was in an impossible position, that he wriggled his way to this much powerful absolution is testament to his talent and vision.
'SS' is not as seamless as 'AMC' - not as warm - but the cold wind chilling it's polemic was stark precursor to the next instalment in the Jam story - subsequently their finest hour - 'Sound Affects'.

I picked this album up when it was released over 20 years ago. It blew me away then and it's impact has not diminished over time. While I expect great musicianship and hooks from the Jam, it is still, and will always be about the songs. Little Boy Soldiers, Staurday's Kids, Eton Rifles, Wasteland and Smithers Jones are gems.

One of the Jam's inspiration's, The Who, put together their best album, Who's Next, from a failed concept work. This is also a failed concept work, but although it has some masterful songs, it falls well short of the effort by Townshend et al.

The good stuff is great - `Thick as Thieves', a paean to how friends grow apart as they grow up and older, is marvellous: tight energetic playing and lyrics which take the metaphor of the title and extend it to the song's end. It is also a remarkably mature and perceptive piece of work for a songwriter who was only just out of his teens when he wrote it.

`Private Hell' - `Eton Rifles' and `Saturday's Kids' are almost as good. But the rest doesn't quite come off. `Girl on the Phone' is a weak throwaway - while the band might have been waxing historical here, and nodding to their other 1960s inspiration, the Kinks, who opened their 1966 album with a similar song called `Party Line', this song should have been left on a B side somewhere. The `Little Boy Soldiers' suite shows what happens when quasi-adolescent rock stars overdraw on their intellectual bank balance - musical standards go out the window as pretension meets the callowness of youth. The track has some good bits, but is basically a not particularly profound burst of sloganeering.

`Wasteland' contains the beginnings of a great song, but it needs more work, and the heavy handed drumming on such a beautiful melody is a travesty. It's not that I don't like it - I do - but there is the germ of something much better here. And that can be said for the whole album. I'd like to give it three and a half, but half marks are out, so I'm giving it four - `Thick as Thieves' warrants the extra half star alone.