Sound Affects

Product Information

Still beloved of original fans and new supporters through Paul Weller’s solo career – he still plays many of the Jam songs in his live sets today. If `The Gift' and `Setting Sons' are given the deluxe treatment, and remastered by the same engineer, I'll happily re-purchase those as well.

The 103 third parties who use cookies on this service do so for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalized ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products. Sound Affects is The Jam's fifth studio album and features the classic hit 'That's Entertainment' and the number one single 'Start! On Sound Affects’ opener, Pretty Green, Paul Weller barks about one use for his money in a teeth-gnashing staccato: "I’m gonna put it in the juke box". Weller's voice is in great form, but here the anguish and the anger sit closer together and in my humble opinion show a more mature and majestic depth to one of the great English bands of all time.The cover art is a pastiche of the artwork used on various Sound Effects records produced by the BBC during the 1970s. Set the House Ablaze is even better than that, a terrifying but terrific look at fascism on the rise in Europe at the dawn of the 80s. A little disappointing that no 3rd disc was included to really tempt the fans - this could either have been a live disc from the legendary Newcastle City Hall gig (28/10/10) or a DVD of the complete German Rockpalast TV broadcast (30/11/80) - on both occasions, the band were at their un-stoppable best. I've read stories of crackly, skipping, dust-ridden, fingerprint-ridden slabs of junk leaving this pressing plant.

Got this on vinyl as soon as I heard it was out in 1980, it reflects a more expansive and confident band, using horn section, backward tapes and heavy on the Rickenbacker approaches, that give the the whole set a swagger as it paces about the room with assured self belief a plenty. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice. Not only are all the dynamics fully retained in this wonderful new remaster, but there has been a careful amount of re-equalization to correct from the midrange-heavy remaster from 2000. Buckler's drumming suddenly has a ferocity that I never noticed before in a dozen previous versions of this record.It’s regarded by critics and fans (as well as Weller) as their most adventurous and experimental collection of material, drawing musical influences from the ‘post-punk’ groups of the late-70s - Wire, Gang Of Four and Joy Division as well as neo-psychedelic touches from The Beatles and The Zombies etc. There are plenty of wonderfully catchy hooks and great songs that made me think The Jam's overblown and overrated reputation may not be entirely exaggerated.

Between tracks, the vinyl is dead-quiet, this amplifier is at 7 and this record is begging for more power.

Reading texts on Paul Weller afterwards have made it even easier to grasp the meaning of these lyrics.