The Gift - Dark Publications

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Similar Items:

•	Sound Affects
•	In the City
•	This Is the Modern World
•	Setting Sons
•	All Mod Cons

Editorial Reviews:

Album Description
Remastered reissue of the mod icon's ambitious sixth album.11 tracks including the hit single, 'Town Called Malice', 'Precious' and 'Ghost'. 1997 release. Standard jewel case.

Customer Reviews: Read 4 more reviews...

4 out of 5 stars

A band that refused to run on the spot.... June 28, 2000
6 out of 6 found this review helpful

I'll plump for 'Sound Affects' as the Jam's best album, but although 'The Gift' is a flawed work there is an emotional intensity about many of the tracks that appeals. Particularly the first three - 'Happy Together' (which, with the constant 'Fa-fa-fa' backing vocals on several songs seems to be an oblique nod to US sixties band The Turtles) is sardonic; while 'Ghosts' and 'Precious ' have some of Weller's best ever lyrics. 'Running on the Spot' and 'Carnation' are in a similar vein - intense and emotional. And, likewise, one is highly personal, the other seems to reflect Weller's social concerns. At the time the album was released I could never get past the fact that 'A Town Called Malice' sounds rather too like the Supremes' 'Can't Hurry Love'. It's grown on me a bit now, but still.....Elsewhere 'Just Who is the Five O'Clock Hero' and 'Planners Dream Went Wrong' sound like a Ken Loach or Mike Leigh movie set to music. The former is a great track, the latter just, well, goes wrong...The remaining tracks don't really work, for this reviewer anyway. But the explosive intensity of the remainder are enough to warrant four stars. And I always take my hat off to an artist who is not satisfied with repeating a previously successful formula, but who pushes the creative envelope and tries new things. For that, (rare in rock music in the early 1980s, seemingly non-existent now ) the occasional miss is forgivable.

5 out of 5 stars

A great band's potential fully realized October 1, 2001
5 out of 6 found this review helpful

It's hard for me to give any Jam album less than five stars...they are, after all, one of my favorite bands. Paul Weller, before forming the Style Council and eventually going on to a solo career, was the singer/songwriter/guitarist for this influential mod/punk trio that was enormously successful in their native England but never really hit it off in the States. As their albums progressed, Weller began moving the band further away from straight punk and into more R&B-flavored territory. Here are the ultimate fruits of that transformation.

Along with the influence of Motown ("Town Called Malice"), this album also includes tasteful nods to disco ("Precious"), along with a more mod/punk call to their ealier days ("Just Who Is the Five O'Clock Hero"), an interesting instrumental track ("Circus)" and catchy numbers like "Happy Together" and "Ghosts." Further evidence of experimentation is evident on the dancey "Trans-Global Express" and the use of steel drums on "Planner's Dream Gone Wrong."

Unfortunately, Weller disbanded the group soon afterwards, but in a way it's a good thing -- quitting at their peak was the classiest thing these guys could have done.

Highly, highly recommended.

5 out of 5 stars Goobye Jam,Hello....Style Council?   August 4, 2003
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

Paul Weller is ready for a big musical change.While on
"The Gift" Weller and The Jam deliver some typically catchy,
sponanious Brit pop like "Happy Together","Ghosts" and "Running
On the Spot",much of this album seriously attempts to blend in
heavy funk,jazz,Carribean and even African styled music into
The Jam's framework.This approch doesn't always succeed entirely
but on numbers like the Sly Ston-ish "Trans-Global Express",the
bombastic afro-funk of "Precious" and the classic,almost ready
-made Motown beat of the classic "Town Called Malice".While
the Jam effectively pull off the diverse songwritng assignments
and add in punchy horn charts,it's clear Weller was proven right-
the guitar-based Jam simply wern't the band to make this kind
of music consistantly and while they're all fantastic musicians
in their own right,Weller was wise to try something new next time
around with a new band to work with.But that doesn't take anything away from this fun,bouncy album!

5 out of 5 stars Their Best   May 29, 1999
1 out of 2 found this review helpful

This is the best Jam album ever. It shows the progression of Paul Weller's style from this group to The Style Council who along will D.C. Lee,Mick,and Steve became possibly my favorite group! This album is a classic,a must have!

4 out of 5 stars A genre exercise, but still good   April 15, 1999
1 out of 2 found this review helpful

I realize that this is goig to upset many Jam fan, but I find THE GIFT to be a better recording than SOUND AFFECTS, its predeceesor. "Ghosts", Happy Together", "Precious", and "Town Called Malice" are all classics. There are some weaker songs on the album, but even the instrumentals, though filler-like, are interesting. It is maybe a soul exercise for Paul Weller, but the album still is pretty fun.

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