And yet, none of those albums are necessarily seen as absolute classics like 'London Calling.' The three which are closest are the punning middle trilogy, 'All Mod Cons', 'Setting Sons' and 'Sound Affects' (see what he's done there?) which are all very good albums.
'Sound Affects' is probably the best of them, and it's from 1980, which is one of the Jam's best years, so why is it not a classic? Why are The Jam seen primarily as a singles band?
I've asked myself that question before without totally grasping that the answer is completely straightforward. Of their 18 singles, only half were on albums. Simple as that. Their albums didn't necessarily contain the best songs. They gave the fans value for money. Fancy that.
Why did it take me so long to grasp that? Well, because I've never owned a Jam studio album, despite the fact that they're one of my favourite bands in the whole world and as I've said several boring times, seminal to my musical taste.
Because first I bought The Jam's 'Greatest Hits', which I listened to almost every day for two years, then I bought a really good compilation called 'The Jam Collection' which basically contained all the great songs they'd done which weren't singles, and it is fairly extensive, and then I bought 'Direction Reaction Creation' which is their complete works (albums, singles, b-sides, live tracks) mashed together on 5 CDs. So forgive me if I was occasionally a little confused about what went where.
I'm not sure I'd fully grasped that The Jam album from 1980, the year they released what I humbly submit as one of the greatest songs of all time - 'Going Underground', does not contain 'Going Underground' or its double-a side 'Dreams of Children'. The American version does, but they never broke America anyway.
It does contain 'Start!', their other Number 1 from 1980, which has frankly never been my favourite Jam hit, but listening it in the context of the album, it really works.
This is the album where The Jam really begin to get a bit funky. Apparently the influences were post-punk bands like Gang of Four and Wire and also Michael Jackson's 'Off the Wall', and you can certainly hear the former, and even the latter a little.
Besides 'Start!' it contains 'Pretty Green', which was meant to be the first single, 'Monday' which is a nice sweet song, 'Boy About Town' which is a rumbunctious little number, and a few fairly brave numbers like 'Set the House Ablaze' and 'Dream Time'. But the stand out tracks are two veritable Weller classics, 'Man in the Cornershop' (my favourite Jam non-single) and 'That's Entertainment' (which, famously, made the UK charts purely as an import single).
I still find the maturity of these songs startling. I started listening to the Jam when I was 15 so I could look up to Weller of 1980 as an adult. But he was 21/22 at the time, which is just a kid, and the thing is, he's not necessarily ever sounded so poised and mature since.
'That's Entertainment' is so good I forget how good it is. Listening to it now, it's not as simple as I remember. There are nice little psychedelic swirls, it's not just man with guitar. It might actually be The Jam's most famous song, actually.
'Man in the Cornershop' is much more of personal favourite of mine. You can probably hear Weller striving for big ideas more on this, it's not quite as natural, but I like that. What made the Jam so great, and what he slightly lost through the rest of his career, was the ability to hold on to original "social themes" lyrical theme while making a smooth transition to different musical styles.
There are so many great Jam songs, and not that many of them are contained within this particular album, whereas lots of other "great" British bands seemed much more to put all their eggs in one basket.
I do wonder how the Jam would be perceived and remembered if Weller had held on to that name throughout the 80s and even beyond (notwithstanding any personnel changes). There's not that much difference between late Jam and early Style Council. I wonder if, under that classic "brand", a lot more Style Council songs would have been way more successful and be more acclaimed. I'm not saying the Style Council didn't get a bit ropey, but there's some really good stuff in there.
Anyway, I've already done a Paul Weller in his entirety compilation so let's keep it to The Jam and let's keep it, like their career and most of their songs, brief and faultless
In the City
Going Underground
Down in the Tube Station at Midnight
Man in the Cornershop
That's Entertainment
Tales from the Riverbank
English Rose
Carnation
When You're Young
Eton Rifles
A Town Called Malice
Beat Surrender
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