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Paul Weller - Hit Parade

Track listing:
  1. Town Called Malice - The Jam 2:54
  2. Going Underground - The Jam 2:55
  3. Shout To The Top! - The Style Council 4:14
  4. From The Floorboards Up 2:28
  5. Down In The Tube Station At Midnight - The Jam 4:03
  6. Peacock Suit 3:07
  7. The Changingman 3:32
  8. The Eton Rifles - The Jam 3:58
  9. Come On,let's Go 3:18
  10. Sunflower 4:10
  11. Beat Surrender - The Jam 3:24
  12. Walls Come Tumbling Down - The Style Council 3:25
  13. That's Entertainment - The Jam 3:18
  14. Broken Stones 3:22
  15. Out Of The Sinking 3:51
  16. Long Hot Summer - The Style Council 3:48
  17. You're The Best Thing - The Style Council 4:24
  18. Wild Wood 3:24
  19. You Do Something To Me 3:38
  20. Hung Up 2:41
  21. My Ever Changing Moods - The Style Council 4:02
  22. Speak Like A Child - The Style Council 3:14
  23. Start! - The Jam 2:32

Notes


If the single disc of Hit Parade doesn't have the depth of its accompanying box set -- at a quarter of the length, how could it? -- it nevertheless has the breadth, offering a sampler of Paul Weller's ever-changing moods, from the Jam to his solo career. And that word, "sampler," is key here: sure, this isn't a complete set of A-sides, the way the four-disc box is, but it's not even necessarily representative of his very biggest hits with the Jam, the Style Council or as a solo act. Rather, it's a cross-section, containing most, but not all, of his best-known songs: there's "Town Called Malice" and "Going Underground," but not "In the City" or "'A' Bomb in Wardour Street," for instance. Then, all these 22 songs are presented in seemingly random order, bouncing from decade to decade apparently at whim when straight chronological order would have provided more cohesion. That said, these are minor flaws, since Hit Parade is indeed a generous compilation and it contains the great majority of Weller's biggest and best songs, making it a good sampler of his work. It's ideal for listeners who have liked bits of all his phases, and a pretty serviceable introduction for neophytes. [This single-disc, condensed version of the box set contains 23 tracks.]