Sound Affects

Influences

Musical influences noted include post-punk groups such as Wire, Gang of Four, and Joy Division and, particularly evident in Rick Buckler's drumming, Michael Jackson's Off the Wall album. Frontman Paul Weller said at the time that he considered the album a cross between Off the Wall and Revolver. In BBC Radio 6 Music's documentary The Jam: Made in Britain, Weller cited it as his favourite Jam album.

Singles

The album features the group's second UK number one single, "Start!", built around an almost exact copy of the bassline and a homage to the guitar solo from the Beatles' "Taxman", the lead cut on Revolver. Polydor pushed for "Pretty Green" to be the first single released, but Weller insisted on "Start!". This involved consulting a few of the band's friends as to what they thought the best release would be. Weller had Polydor A&R man Dennis Munday ask a small peer group of his friends who had been present throughout the recording sessions at the Town House and prior demo recordings at Polydor studios. Given the choice, they chose "Start!" as the best single release and the decision was made to release it. The decision was vindicated when "Start!" topped the British singles charts in its third week after entering at number 3. "Pretty Green" includes a funk bassline and rhythm with melodic guitar breaks and psychedelic sound effects. "That's Entertainment" is an acoustic ballad. "Boy About Town" and "Dream Time" include horns.

Reception

In 2006, Q magazine placed the album at No. 15 in its list of "40 Best Albums of the '80s".

NME ranked the album No. 487 on their list of 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

Chart performance

Sound Affects spent 19 weeks on the UK album charts, rising to No. 2 in late 1980. In the U.S., the album spent 11 weeks on the Billboard 200 album charts and reached its peak position of No. 72 in February 1981.

The 2010 rerelease also charted in the UK, reaching No. 63 in November of that year.

Track listing

1. "Pretty Green" – 2:37
2. "Monday" – 3:02
3. "But I'm Different Now" – 1:52
4. "Set the House Ablaze" – 5:03
5. "Start!" – 2:33
6. "That's Entertainment" – 3:38

7. "Dream Time" – 3:54
8. "Man in the Corner Shop" – 3:12
9. "Music for the Last Couple" (Rick Buckler, Bruce Foxton, Paul Weller) – 3:45
10. "Boy About Town" – 2:00
11. "Scrape Away" – 3:59

2010 2 CD Deluxe Edition

Sound Affects was re-issued on 8 November 2010 as a 2 CD Deluxe Edition to celebrate its 30th Anniversary.

All songs by Paul Weller except where stated

1. "Start!" (Single version) – The Jam, Vic Coppersmith-Heaven
2. "Liza Radley" – The Jam, Vic Coppersmith-Heaven
3. "The Dreams of Children" – The Jam, Vic Coppersmith-Heaven
4. "That's Entertainment" (alternate) – Peter Wilson, The Jam, Rick Buckler, Bruce Foxton, Paul Weller
5. "Pretty Green" (demo) – The Jam ♠
6. "Pop Art Poem" – Peter Wilson, The Jam
7. "Rain" (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) (demo) – Peter Wilson, The Jam, Rick Buckler, Bruce Foxton, Paul Weller
8. "Boy About Town" (demo) – The Jam ♠
9. "Dream Time" (demo) – Rick Buckler, Bruce Foxton, Paul Weller, The Jam, Vic Coppersmith-Heaven
10. "Dead End Street" (Ray Davies) (demo) – Peter Wilson, The Jam, Rick Buckler, Bruce Foxton, Paul Weller
11. "But I'm Different Now" (demo) – Peter Wilson, The Jam
12. "Scrapeaway" (instrumental) – The Jam ♠
13. "Start!" (demo) – The Jam
14. "Liza Radley" (demo) – Peter Wilson, The Jam
15. "And Your Bird Can Sing" (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) (demo) - Peter Wilson, The Jam
16. "Monday" (alternate) – The Jam ♠
17. "Get Yourself Together" (Ronnie Lane, Steve Marriott) (demo) – Peter Wilson, The Jam
18. "Set The House Ablaze" (alternate 'dub' ending) – The Jam ♠
19. "Boy About Town" (alternate) – Peter Wilson, The Jam, Vic Coppersmith-Heaven
20. "No One in the World" (demo) – Peter Wilson, The Jam
21. "Instrumental" (demo) – The Jam ♠
22. "Waterloo Sunset" (Ray Davies) (demo) – The Jam ♠

Note ♠ – Tracks previously unreleased

Personnel