Paul Weller - Wake Up The Nation
June 1st, 2010
Yep Roc Records
Score: 8.3

As a solo artist, former Jam and Style Council singer Paul Weller has enjoyed immense commercial success in the UK but has had a more inconsistent reception from music critics. In the mid-90s during the Britpop boom, he became the elder statesman of UK rock music, nicknamed The Modfather, and played guitar on Oasis’ ‘Champagne Supernova’ from one of the most iconic British rock albums ever (What’s The Story) Morning Glory? Following all of this, there was a bit of a backlash against Weller and his music which began receiving the rather unkind label of dad-rock or pub-rock. The post-rock movement and approach of a new millennium led to people searching for something more than traditional rock ‘n’ roll with technology and space seemingly the preferred destination for musical acclaim and progression.

The tide has turned somewhat in recent times with Weller once again coming into favour with the critics due in large part to a startling creative re-emergence that led to the wonderful As Is Now in 2005 and the experimental and epic 22 Dreams most recently. Wake Up The Nation, Weller’s 10th solo album, sees him reaching new heights and paving a legacy as one of the finest musicians the British Isles have ever produced. So while we get a good dosage of mod-ish rock music , Paul Weller also brings in a lot of soul, punk, psychedelia, jazz, and even some Superfly-style funk.

Obviously, he has made a lot of friends in the music world over the years and guests on this record include Kevin Shields (My Bloody Valentine), former Jam bandmate Bruce Foxton, and loyal collaborator over the years Steve Craddock from Ocean Colour Scene. This is one of the most intimate and raw releases of Weller’s career and certainly rivals Wild Wood, Stanley Road and 22 Dreams as the finest work of his solo career.

In stark contrast to 22 Dreams, an album that stretched to well over an hour in length, Wake Up The Nation is a far more concise and focused affair that plays at breathtaking pace. A reaction against the tuned out nation hypnotized by mobile technology, Simon Cowell, and celebrity “reality” shows, Weller makes a plea for his listeners to “get ya face off the Facebook and turn off your phone” on the title track. But this is not just an album of social commentary. Though Weller is a master at this subject, he also sings of frustrations, love, and the wider meaning of life. There are few artists over 50 making such relevant noises as what are found here.

There is a similar spirit to the second half of Abbey Road flowing through this entire album. Most songs are around two minutes in length and segue into each other effortlessly. The 16 songs breeze by leaving you eager for more and likely to just push play again and go back to the start. ‘No Tears Left To Cry’ is a stunning piece of 60s orchestral soul-pop that is followed by the sub-,2-minute stomp of ‘Fast Car/Slow Traffic’. Even this song has some playful piano twinkling, brass, and plenty of other ideas that defy its brevity. Frustrations of the 100-mph way of modern life are touched on with Weller singing “getting out of the jungle/it’s been a long day/and my head’s all gone/I’m trying to make the bridge/before the sun goes down”. Kevin Shields contributes on the moody ‘She Speaks’ and unsettling ’7 & 3 Is The Striker’s Name’ with his juggernaut guitar work giving a wonderful sense of paranoia to the number. This is one of the most politically themed songs here with a rather direct anti-war/government message in the lyrics: “Curse my master and his slave/And his soldiers too/Curse those fuckers in the castle/They’re all bastards too.” This song’s darkness is quickly met with the bouncing adventure of ‘Up The Dosage’.

The sequencing of the tracks is so well thought out that there is never a stagnant moment or lull in mood. Darker moments are always brought towards the light with brighter tunes and happy times are quickly brought down to earth with some grittier stuff. ‘In Amsterdam’ plays like a waltzing carousel ride creating imagery of childhood innocence while one of the biggest pop choruses can be found on ‘Find The Torch, Burn The Plans’, a great anthemic tune that is half Oasis, half late-60s Rolling Stones. It’s part of a tremendous middle to the album that also features perhaps Wake Up The Nation‘s best moment ‘Aim High’. This is a song that is full of Curtis Mayfield soul/funk influences. Silky guitars, trumpets, strings, and a rarely heard falsetto from Weller make for a massive song. It’s not very often that a Paul Weller composition could be described as being sexy, but this one is. ‘Trees’ is another epic tune that, at four minutes, is the longest on the album but with its changing pace from Anthony-Newley-ian theatrical pop, to ‘Changingman’-like rock and a gospel finale, it’s really many songs within one. But really, every song here is a treat.

At this stage in his career, Paul Weller could easily just go through the motions and take his past work to the bank on tours playing his classic tunes from The Jam and early solo albums. His music has been an influence on the last couple of generations of British bands with The Enemy now getting close to the top of the charts by basically writing Jam knockoffs. But Weller is not content to play that role. Wake Up The Nation is an album that will wake up a whole lot of people to the man’s talent. Old fans will rejoice but this is an album that anyone can appreciate. You don’t have to know the backstory or have followed Weller’s career to get into this. Good music is good music and is easily translated.

Now into his 50s, Paul Weller is still showing a lot of younger musicians how it should be done and shows little sign that his sense of creativity is coming to a close. In 1998, he released a best-of album called Modern Classics and that is a great way to describe this whole record. Wake Up The Nation is a fantastic album, a true modern classic from one of British rock’s greats.

Matthew James

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