Customer Reviews

The Sound of the Jam

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It's a crime that the Jam are not as well known in the US as they are in the UK. Unlike many of their peers from the original punk explosion of 1977, the Jam expanded their sound with each release, becoming superstars in the UK along the way. Paul Weller, the trio's singer/songwriter, had a knack for mixing the personal and the political in songs that were simple in construct, yet catchy and powerful. With influences as diverse as 60's Motown (Check the bassline of "Town called Malice") and the Who, they cranked out one instant classic after another. This comp is a great start for neophytes, and will have you hunting down the rest of their amazing catalogue.

It's already been said a million times, but I guess it bears repeating: the Jam were a smart band with an edge who were idolized in their native Britain but almost completely ignored by American listeners. It's sad, but very true. (In the States, Jam leadman Paul Weller was most famous for being the only featured singer who nobody could recognize in that Band Aid video of "Feed the World (Do they know it's Christmastime?") "Oh look there's Bono, George Michael, Boy George, and Simon Le Bon. But who's that guy?")

Now with "The Sound of the Jam" one can get an idea of what American listeners missed out on the late 70's and early 80's. This is a complilation of some of the best songs from the Jam's six studio albums and greatest singles. The CD lists the tracks in chronological order from the raw punkish sound of the band's early days to the soulish/Motown derived sound of its later effots including their most famous song- "A Town Called Malice," which was featured prominently in the movie "Billy Elliot."

This is really a terrific compilation for anyone curious about this band. As mentioned above the Jam's sound evolved greatly over time and this album allows a listener to follow that progression without the expense of buying every studio album. However, this CD is a teaser because once you start listening to the Jam chances are you're going to want to hear more.

I was actually able to get my hands on the Jam's greatest hits collection Gold. It's a two-disc set with disc one being the UK version of Sound of the Jam. The only difference with the US and UK versions is that the UK has six more songs. So basically, I own Sound of the Jam, and it is hard to say I am not pleased with. It serves as perhaps the perfect start and introduction to this very under appreciated band. It's in a nice chronological order, so it's easy to see how far the band progressed in their short career. In America the Jam is a very underrated band and this CD shows how underrated they truly are.

Unlike most greatest hits compilations, this one is dominated by album cuts. This is both good and bad. The good is that songs that only big fans who own the albums hear, can now be heard by a wider audience. Great songs such as "Thick as Thieves "and" Ghosts, which are not usually put on other compilations, are now thrown with songs worth of their company. The bad part about the album track domination is that many great singles, some which helped define the band, are not present. "Strange Town" and "When You're Young" were some of the Jam's greatest singles and just flat out good songs, yet they are nowhere to be found. Neither is "Dreams of Children", which was the other half of their 1980 UK number 1 single. Even standout album tracks like `"A' Bomb on Wardour Street"', are not here.

While Sound of the Jam serves as probably the greatest introduction for this amazing band, there is a lot to be desired. Key tracks in the bands catalog are missing when they should definitely be on here. However, it is good and should be bought by anyone interested in the Jam, or late seventies-early eighties music for that matter. While not the biggest band in the US, they are of much historical importance in music of the last 30 years.

Standout tracks: In the City, Down in the Tube Station at Midnight, Eton Rifles, Thick as Thieves, Going Underground, Start, That's Entertainment, Town Called Malice.

Across their six albums, The Jam touched on virtually every style in existance, and this CD is a great chance to see that. Their roots were in the punk / new wave scene, but frontman Paul Weller also had a lvoe of soul, funk and jazz, as well as an itneresting socio-political approach that had a different kind of bile to the Sex Pistols - it was perhaps more positive and inspirational, even in their early days.

The selections are roughly 50/50 split between singles and album tracks, which means that a lot of singles are missing - although only the lush ballad The Bitterest Pill and the obscenely catchy When You're Young are really missed. Album tracks such as the poignant English Rose and the powerful Liza Radley are certainly among tehir finest tracks.

Their artisitc progression is quite easy to chart from the tracks here. With a love of 60s pop, they somewhat tagged onto the punk vibe in tehir early days, before coming into real form with the amazing, edgy Down In the Tube Station At Midnight, which builds into a truly stunning climax as its sad tale reaches its conclusion.

The Eton Rifles then burst them into the UK Top 10, with it's hilarious lyrics on the class struggle - "all that rugby puts hairs on your chest, what chance have you got agaisnt a tie and a crest?" - before they increasingly took influences form black American music. Start! is especially inventive, and seems to be several songs in one. The acoustic social commentary of That's Entertainment is perhaps their greatest track - no wonder its one of the few that still features in Paul Weller's solo set.

Having been heard in the film Billy Elliott, and covered by Britpoppers Gene, A Town Called Malice is their best known / least unknown song. With a very Motowny baseline it's representative of their later material, and extremely hummable, while lyrically still down to earth and quite English.

The band were soon finsihed, as the artisitc differences become too much - bassist Bruce Foxton formed punk band Stiff Little Fingers, while Weller fronted the soulful, romantic Style Council (both great bands as well). Their legacy is impressive, and too easy to overlook.

Great CD, I'm not a fan, but I enjoyed it very much. It contains all the songs you need to listen from this british group and that definitely defines it as one of the best of their time

There are a number of compilations available - including boxed sets, nearly 20 - for The Jam and this 20-track edition is a nice overview on what was a brilliant recording career from 1977-1982.

Paul Weller, Bruce Foxton and Rick Buckler had 18 Top 40 singles in the UK and though lumped into the punk rock explosion, were much more from the R&B and beat sounds from the 1960s. Never presented well in the United States - an early tour found them in arenas, opening for Blue Oyster Cult - the band remains one of the most influential in rock-n-roll that still has an expanding fan base.

While the set does not deliver any surprise gems from the vault, it is a great way for new or casual fans to get a better understanding on what made The Jam the best group to emerge out of the punk rock era.

This Japanese-made anthology of The Jam originally compiled in 2002 has got 26 tracks on one disc which makes this good value on the face of it. However, the sound quality isn't the best and is a little muddy overall while one can't fault the track selections which fairly represent the best work this band has ever done. The first hits compilation of the Jam is an album called "Snap!" which has now been remastered by our friends from Japan and comes in 3 discs, 2 regular sized and 1 small size ep of live stuff and all in a mini-lp gatefold replica sleeve to boot. This version should be the one to get if you don't mind the price but if it's just a simple one-disc version that you are looking for and if you don't mind the sub-optimal sound quality than this lower-priced version is for you.

The Jam is great and this collection is very comprehensive, but the DVD is not Region 1, and will not play on most DVD players in the US. If your DVD player can support PAL format, you will be OK.

I originally purchased the US version of "Sound Of The Jam", but was a bit disappointed that a couple of songs were not included ("It's Too Bad" being one of them). Then I came across this import version, which includes six additional songs not on the US release (It's Too Bad", "Private Hell", "Smithers-Jones", "Saturdays Kids", "Boy About Town", and "Carnation") and I gave away the US version, and happily upgraded.
This cd is about as close to perfect as you're going to find in a single disc collection by The Jam. If you can't afford the 5-disc boxed collection "Direction Reaction Creation", this import is the one to get and serves as a fine initiation to one of the 10 greatest British rock bands in history (IMHO). Only the omission of the song "Strange Town" keeps this from receiving a 5-Star rating.
Also included on this import cd is the demo version of "That's Entertainment" in which the vocals are much clearer than the standard version. Listening to it makes me wonder how great it would have been for the Jam to have put together an "un-plugged" cd.

Great collection. Drink a couple of cups of really strong coffee and listen to "Thick as Thieves"; the rush is like surfing a 6' peak at H.B. on a 5-10 twin fin in June.