The Gift (The Jam album)

Music and lyrics

The album moved away from the simple three-chord music of In the City and This Is the Modern World, and the more melodic All Mod Cons, Setting Sons and Sound Affects, to demonstrate Weller's love of northern soul. Funk bass lines and wah-wah guitar effects were often used throughout the album, along with jazz influences such as brass sections and saxophone solos (most notably on the track "Precious") and "Trans-Global Express" which was based on the Northern Soul funk hit "So Is The Sun" by World Column, lifting the chorus and rhythm line in their entirety from that song. Only two songs on the album exceed three and a half minutes.

The biggest hit of the album was "Town Called Malice". The song's title riffs on the novel "A Town Like Alice" whilst its lyrics lament disappearing aspects of stereotypical working class life in Margaret Thatcher's Britain. The message is not altogether negative though and the song stands as a potent rallying call to roll with the changes. One of the quintessential "state of the nation" songs in the band's catalogue it is still frequently performed by Weller in concert as a rousing finale to the set. "Just Who Is the 5 O'Clock Hero?", which was released as a 7" vinyl single in the Netherlands only, represents the efforts put in by 9-to-5 working men and women of Britain, who keep society running (and as such, are unsung heroes). Unlike the earlier song "Mr. Clean" from All Mod Cons, Weller does not mock the character, but rather praises him/her. However, the character from "Mr. Clean" represents a completely different strata of society, the executive/upper management types who would typically hound and otherwise make the character from "Just Who Is The 5 O'Clock Hero?"'s life difficult.

Weller's experimentation of several different musical styles previously unexplored by The Jam on this album led to increasing disagreement with the other band members, Bruce Foxton and Rick Buckler, who were disillusioned with the move away from a traditional pub rock or punk rock style. The band broke up after touring the album (even after its massive success, rising to No. 1 on the British charts) on the 'Trans-Global Express Tour'.

Cover art

The original release of the album was on 12" vinyl, and initial copies came with a paper bag stating "The Jam... A Gift". These copies are increasingly difficult to find, especially in good condition. Other issues included the regular vinyl issue, the Japanese vinyl issue (with a bonus lyric book), the CD issue, the re-mastered issue, and a recently issued Japanese version in a mini-LP style sleeve.

Track listing

All songs by Paul Weller except where otherwise noted:

1. "Happy Together" – 2:51
2. "Ghosts" – 2:11
3. "Precious" – 4:13
4. "Just Who Is the 5 O'Clock Hero?" – 2:15
5. "Trans-Global Express" – 3:59
6. "Running on the Spot" – 3:06
7. "Circus" (Bruce Foxton) – 2:11
8. "The Planner's Dream Goes Wrong" – 2:19
9. "Carnation" – 3:28
10. "Town Called Malice" – 2:55
11. "The Gift" – 3:08

2012 Deluxe Edition bonus tracks

Disc One additional tracks:

1. "Precious" (12") – 5:54
2. "The Great Depression" – 2:53
3. "The Bitterest Pill (I Ever Had to Swallow)" (12") – 3:33
4. "Pity Poor Alfie" / "Fever" – 4:40

Disc Two: (tracks 7–15 previously unreleased)

1. "Beat Surrender" – 3:27
2. "Shopping" – 3:21
3. "Move on Up" – 3:52
4. "Stoned Out of My Mind" – 3:15
5. "War" – 5:10
6. "Pity Poor Alfie" (swing version) – 4:11
7. "Skirt" (demo) – 2:45
8. "Ghosts" (instrumental demo) – 2:35
9. "Just Who is the 5 O'Clock Hero?" (demo) – 2:21
10. "The Planner's Dream Goes Wrong" (demo) – 2:18
11. "Carnation" (instrumental demo) – 1:33
12. "Alfie" (demo 2) – 2:38
13. "We've Only Started" (old version) – 2:35
14. "Shopping" (aka Paul's Demo) – 3:22
15. "Solid Bond in Your Heart" (demo) – 3:07

Personnel

with:

Chart performance

The Gift spent 25 weeks on the UK album charts, rising to No. 1. In the U.S., the album spent 16 weeks on the Billboard 200 album charts and reached its peak position of No. 82 in May 1982.