Wake Up The Nation

Paul Weller | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 1, 2010)
• Original Release Date: 2010
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Yep Roc Records
• ASIN: B00377E4SW
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #108,866 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Moonshine

2. Wake Up the Nation

3. No Tears to Cry

4. Fast Car/ Slow Traffic

5. Andromeda

6. In Amsterdam

7. She Speaks

8. Find the Torch, Burn the Plans

9. Aim High

10. Trees

11. Grasp & Still Connect

12. Whatever Next

13. 7&3 is the Strikers Name

14. Up the Dosage

15. Pieces of a Dream

16. Two Fat Ladies

Editorial Reviews

After an unparalleled career, characterized by constant musical experimentation, we should be used to Paul Weller's relentless desire to chop and change his sound. But after the triumphant, Brit Award-bagging success of 22 Dreams (his third solo number one in the UK), his new album Wake Up the Nation sees one of rock's most iconic songwriters expand and evolve once more. A departure stylistically from the more pastoral sounds of his last album, Wake Up is lean, mean and as uncompromisingly focused as its maker. It also brings Paul Weller full circle: twenty-eight years on from The Jam's split, two tracks feature the former bassist Bruce Foxton. The album also sees contributions from My Bloody Valentine guitar alchemist Kevin Shields, ELO's Bev Bevan and legendary session drummer Clem Cattini.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Waking up the world!, April 20, 2010

By 

Nse Ette (Lagos, Nigeria) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Wake Up the Nation (Audio CD)

Ever since Paul Weller rediscovered his creative mojo on 2008's "22 Dreams", he's been firing from all cylinders. Hooking up, for the first time in 28 years with Bruce Foxton from The Jam on bass, this is just as creative and eclectic as its predecessor though briefer at 16 tracks.

With an average song length of 3 minutes, the album flies past in little or no time, opening with the bombast of "Moonshine" (with a nice piano riff and atonal guitar breaks), and the chugging "Wake up the nation" both vintage Weller Rockers. The majestic "No tears left to cry" is sixties Rock/Pop, while the gently galloping "She speaks" is filled with jangly and gritty guitars and reverb.

The psychedelic "Andromeda" is captivating with tender lyrics ("My mood gets lifted with the gravity's pull/Looks like I'm smiling but I'm dying too"), while "Whatever next" is a brief instrumental with chiming effects.

The falsetto-sung "Aim high" is groovy Motown-style Soul, while the absolutely brilliant "Trees" is a constantly morphing Blues/Jazz/Rock delight with haunting female harmonies, at just over 4 minutes, a 5 part mini Rock Opera (inspired, he says, by visiting his dad just before he died). "Grasp & still connect" is Blues with hyperactive percussion, "7 & 3 is the striker's name" is a woozy Rocker, while the lovely retro "Pieces of a dream" is filled with magical piano swirls.

Most of the lyrics were apparently made up spontaneously in the studio, resulting in a free form, relaxed delivery. At almost 52, the Modfather confirms he's in the midst of a seriously impressive creative rebirth. Highly recommended!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 'Twasn't Love On First Listen, November 7, 2011

By 

Kurt Harding "bon vivant" (Boerne TX) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Wake Up The Nation (Audio CD)

You have to give Paul Weller credit, he plays what he wants to play, critics and fans be damned. We should all be grateful that he doesn't feed us warmed-over musical pap left over from his last burst of musical energy but always seems to come up with something new and challenging. On Wake Up the Nation, it is no different. Experimental is the word. He really comes out swinging and charges hard and fast, punching out sixteen songs in just under three-quarters of an hour.
Though it reminds me in the way it flows of Elvis Costello's great Imperial Bedroom and Spike albums, it sure wasn't love at first listen. As a matter of fact I didn't like it at all the first time I heard it. But this is Paul Weller, and I knew I'd eventually come around and so I have. And though this doesn't reach the glory of what I consider to be his best solo effort, As Is Now, it is a fine album nevertheless.
Here's what I like best: The title cut; No Tears to Cry; the driving Find the Torch, Burn the Plans; Aim High, a song unmistakeably Weller; the rocking Grasp and Still Connect; and the raucous Two Fat Ladies.
Paul Weller is one of the most talented musicians and songwriters on the scene today and along with the aforementioned Costello, should certainly be considered in the first rank of those who came from punk. He reinvents himself continually and it takes an adventurous listener to stay with him through thick and thin. But those who do will be aurally rewarded.
Wake Up the Nation is housed in a standard jewel box and is accompanied by an attractive booklet containing album info, lyrics, a few pictures, and a little commentary. If you are a true Weller fan, give this one a chance even if you are turned off at first as some have been. It's bound to grow on you and you will be glad you stayed with it.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars All over the map, but if you like musical travelling...., February 15, 2011

By 

Carl Simmons (Loveland, CO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wake Up The Nation (Audio CD)

One thing I can say is that Paul gets an A for ambition here - the 16 songs, clocking in at barely 40 minutes, are stylistically all over the map here. Whether that makes it a tour de force or a bloody mess -- that's for you to decide.

What's jumping out at me the most, naturally, are the more Jam-like (especially their Sound Affects/ripping-off-Revolver period) songs, especially the highlight for me so far in the quasi-psychedelic "Find the Torch/Burn the Plans," its melodic counterpart and more Carnaby Street-feeling closer "Two Fat Ladies," the title song which features our old neo-Mod buddy intoning "We're gonna wake up the nation / Don't be no drag," and "Fast Car/Slow Traffic" which probably could've qualified for (the now almost 35-year-old) In the City, for crying out loud.

On the more psyched-up side'd be "Andromeda," "She Speaks," and the almost Stranglers-like "7 & 3 Is the Striker's Name" ("my wings are clipped / but I still might fly away" - nice). Soul Paul is still more than present here too, in the rollicking opener "Moonshine," "No Tears to Cry," and "Aim High" (including a sampling from the old Blood Sweat & Tears song "Spinning Wheel.") The instrumental "In Amsterdam" ventures back into Style-Council café music territory. And don't even ask me about "Trees," which changes genres five times in the same freaking song (and by small coincidence, at 4+ minutes is the only song that breaks 3:10 here).

Not a bad guest list here, by the way. In addition to finally having Bruce Foxton back in the fold, we also got Kevin Shields, Bev Bevan (!) and Clem Cattini (!!!).

Paul's voice has gotten a little more shrill and clipped over the years, but the urgency and restlessness that marks his best work clearly hasn't waned here. The quality of the songs themselves... well, again, still working on that...

And I gotta give props to Simon Dine's production. I keep thinking someone's over my shoulder, the music sounds so live here. I've read other people complaining about it, but I don't know what they're talking about. It forces you to listen. Which again is good, because there's a lot to process here. And I'm gonna keep on doing that.