Sunday, August 7, 2016

The Jam - The Gift - 1982

Back in 2003 or 2004, I got hooked on Collectors Choice Music, an online music store that sells re-issues from almost every era and genre of music.  They pull some really obscure stuff out that is impossible to find on CD, and in perfect digital quality.  This is where I found the CD releases of The Vapors, Peter Schilling, and The Jam.  They released the first two Jam albums on one CD as a twofer set.  I knew who The Jam was, but I had previously lumped them all into the punk music of that era, and I felt that if you had heard one, you had heard them all.  Boy, was I wrong.

Of course, I found the albums to be awesome, and all of the songs were perfect little pophook ditties.  After that, I had to build my Jam collection.

This is their last album, and it's one of my favorites.  They were still punk, but there were strong Post Punk overtones, and Weller's R&B interests were starting to peek out in brief instances.  The b-sides, demos and alternate versions were all great, too.  A wonderful group, I think they got overshadowed by the Clash.  I think they are definitely better than the Clash, but that's simply my opinion.  Your thoughts?


6 comments:

  1. Yes The Jam were better than The Clash, and I am a Clash fan, so I agree with you. I always thought All Mod Cons and Sound Affects were two of the best Jam albums. Just curious about something, I have talked to alot of people who love The Jam but never cared much for The Style Council, myself included, do you fall into this group of fans also. Cheers.

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  2. Always hated the Style Council. This was Weller's New Wave/R&B fusion, and I couldn't stand it. Can I join your club of "Never Style Council"?

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    1. Yes I have a lifetime membership available at no cost!

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  3. The greatest band in the world! (IMO) TSC were not a patch on The Jam (No-one was!!) But they did some good stuff. A Solid Bond (which was gonna be The Jam last ever track)My Ever Changing Moods, Speak Like A Child...But as Tears For Fears once said....Kick out The Style bring back The Jam!

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  4. good stuff here, love the gift and the bonus tracks a delight, TSC my opinion , their greatest hits say 20 tracks , play one skip 3 play another skip 3, some good tunes but also some poor songs I think he split the jam at right time but maybe come back 92, 2002 and 2012 with an album, Good blog ,good music

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