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Contents

The album features fourteen original compositions (eight by Paul Weller, four co-written by Weller and Mick Talbot, and one co-written by Weller with Steve White), with one instrumental from Talbot, in its original British form.

Lyrical targets include racism, excessive consumerism, the effects of self-serving governments, the suicide of one of Weller's friends and what the band saw as an exasperating lack of opposition to the status quo. All of this pessimism is countered with an overarching sense of hope and delight that alternatives do actually exist—if only they can be seen. They also took a more overtly political approach than The Jam in their lyrics, with tracks such as "Walls Come Tumbling Down", "The Lodgers", and "Come to Milton Keynes" being deliberate attacks on 'middle England' and Thatcherite principles prevalent in the 1980s. "A Man of Great Promise" was Weller's eulogy to his school friend and early Jam member - Dave Waller - who had died from a heroin overdose in August 1982.

Release

The majority of the album's material was released (with different sequencing and packaged with an entirely different cover design) in the USA as Internationalists by Geffen Records (which has been a sister label to Polydor Records, the band's UK label, since 1998, under Universal Music Group).

Most countries (except for the original UK pressing) omitted the track "The Stand Up Comic's Instructions" as it was believed that its satire of racist attitudes would be misunderstood. The guest vocalist was the black British comedian, Lenny Henry imitating comedians such as Bernard Manning and Jim Davidson. It was included on the UK and CA pressing.

Critical reception

In his consumer guide for The Village Voice, Robert Christgau gave the album a B+ and commented that "One reason Paul Weller's rock and roll never convinced non-Brits was his reedy voice, which he has no trouble bending to the needs of the fussy phonographic cabaret he undertook so quixotically and affectedly after retiring the Jam." and also commented that "I'm sure the move has cost him [his] audience, but the new format suits the specifics of his socialism."

Retrospective review

Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic gave the album four and a half out of five stars and wrote that "the Style Council's second proper album, was still quite eclectic, but it didn't seem as schizophrenically diverse as Café Bleu." adding that "the record was more cohesive and stronger than the debut."

Track listing

All songs written by Paul Weller, except where noted.

1. "Homebreakers" (Mick Talbot, Paul Weller)
2. "All Gone Away"
3. "Come to Milton Keynes"
4. "Internationalists" (Talbot, Weller)
5. "A Stones Throw Away"
6. "The Stand Up Comic's Instructions" *
7. "Boy Who Cried Wolf"

8. "A Man of Great Promise"
9. "Down in the Seine"
10. "The Lodgers (or She Was Only a Shopkeeper's Daughter)" (Talbot, Weller)
11. "Luck" (Talbot, Weller)
12. "With Everything to Lose" (Steve White, Weller)
13. "Our Favourite Shop" (Talbot)
14. "Walls Come Tumbling Down!" (Weller)

Later CD issues included "Shout to the Top!" ("Vision Quest" Version) as a bonus track.

Personnel