Genre Rock Paul Weller (1992) Wild Wood (1993) | Length 53:36 (UK) | |
Released 29 April 1992 (Japan)
1 September 1992 (UK) Label Freedom High Records/Canyon International/Pony Canyon Inc. PCCY-00337 (Japan)
Go! Discs Records 828343 (UK) Producer Paul Weller, Brendan Lynch | ||
Paul Weller is Paul Weller's first solo album, released in 1992.
Contents
After disbanding The Style Council and leaving label Polydor in 1989, Weller formed The Paul Weller Movement in 1990, releasing a single, "Into Tomorrow", on his own Freedom High record label, in October 1991. Its success - reaching #36 in the UK chart - led to Weller being offered a new record deal with Go! Discs, and the resulting album was released on 1 September 1992, reaching #8 on the UK album chart.
Before the UK-edition of the album, it had already been released in Japan on 29 April 1992. The track listing differs from subsequent releases, and the running order is altered. The track "New Thing" (a different recording of "Here's a New Thing" from the "Into Tomorrow" single) was replaced by "The Strange Museum" on all other versions. Until 2009, "New Thing" was unique to this release.
In addition to "Into Tomorrow", included on the album, two further singles were released from the album - "Uh Huh Oh Yeh", on 15 August 1992, reaching #18, and "Above The Clouds" on 10 October 1992, reaching #47.
The album represents something of a return to Weller's 'roots', with "Into Tomorrow" and "Uh Huh Oh Yeh", in particular being heavily influenced by 60s R&B. "'Uh Huh Oh Yeh' – and, after it, the Stanley Road album – was me revisiting my roots," he said. "I hadn't been down to Woking in a long time. That was the first time, in the early '90s, when I was finding my feet again." The album as a whole retained some of the funk influences displayed by The Style Council, particularly on I Didn't Mean To Hurt You and Remember How We Started. Tellingly, however, the political leanings of The Style Council are - explicitly at least - abandoned; the lyrical themes visited on the album being much more personal.
A Deluxe Edition of the album was released on 26 October 2009 and reached #88 in the UK Album Chart.
Track listing
All songs written by Paul Weller
Personnel
Trivia
'Uh Huh Oh Yeh' contains a sample from Hot Rod Poppa by Marsha Hunt.
On the original Japanese edition track 6, 'Round and Round' finishes at 4:27 and is followed by a recording of a record player needle lifting from a vinyl disc, the disc being flipped over and needle put back down. On the following UK edition, as well as the 2009 deluxe edition, this has been added to 'Above the Clouds'.
On the original editions track 12, 'Kosmos' finishes at 5:48. What follows is the sound of the needle going round on the inside groove of the record until 11:21 when the needle jumps back and plays an approximate 30 seconds reprise of the track which fades out (at 8.27 a muffled Weller saying "bring back vinyl" can be heard). On the 2009 deluxe edition the track finishes at 5:48 as well, but the reprise already kicks back in at 5:57, making the track 5:22 shorter.