Well, the musician deaths start to pile up again. Roberta Flack is gone, but so is Rick Buckler, drummer of the inimitable Jam. So I planned on posting something different, but as usual when the grim reaper reaps, plans change. I don't have anything specific for Flack, but I probably at some point would have posted All Mod Cons anyway because it's such a great rock'n'roll album. Some might prefer In The City for its pure Who-esque attack, and there might even be some who prefer Setting Sons' sophistication (no one in their right mind has Sound Affects as their favorite). But for me, The Jam's masterpiece is All Mod Cons, a building block of every respectable rock'n'roll record collection.
All Mod Cons clearly shows the influence of Ray Davies and the Kinks on Paul Weller's story songs about "David Watts" or "Billy Hunt". The latter's frantic rhythm, the delicate balladry of "English Rose", the snarling, punk-ish "(Didn't We Have) A Nice Time" - this album is classic after classsic after classic. Not a minute wasted, not a bad song on the album - what more can you ask for?
So, without much ado, maximum rock'n'roll from PaulWeller and the gang...
