Jam clash: This is the Modern World vs The Gift

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I was stirred into action by Dr C’s spirited defence of the Modern World the other day and decided to pit it against the woking wonders’ final, and some would argue, underwhelming, album.

This is the Modern World > Just Who is the 5 O Clock Hero
The Combine + < Trans Global Express
Don’t Tell Them You’re Sane

[To even up the numbers, I’ve combined one of weller’s worst “news at 10, war in Rhodesia” – god that dates it – with a truly dreadful foxton effort. TGE is a horn driven mess with weller hectoring/lecturing inaudibly behind, but just about wins the day. ½ time score is 4-1 to the gift]

In the Street Today > Running on the Spot
London Girl > Circus
I Need You (for someone) >>> The Planners Dream Goes Wrong
Here Comes the Weekend The Gift

[much as I love TCM with its faux Motown bassline, it wasn’t their finest single; in my view the lovely tonight at noon is its equal. I do melt at that chord change near the end from F# to F#m. Final score 5 all.]

Looking from a skyscraper/standing on the post office tower
So I can see/All there is to see….

― Dr X O'Skeleton, Sunday, 5 February 2006 14:54 (twenty years ago)

sorry, it came out all mangled when I copied it in, here's the correct version

I was stirred into action by Dr C’s spirited defence of the Modern World the other day and decided to pit it against the woking wonders’ final, and some would argue, underwhelming, album.

This is the Modern World > Just Who is the 5 O Clock Hero
The Combine + < Trans Global Express
Don’t Tell Them You’re Sane

In the Street Today > Running on the Spot
London Girl > Circus
I Need You (for someone) >>> The Planners Dream Goes Wrong
Here Comes the Weekend The Gift

Looking from a skyscraper/standing on the post office tower
So I can see/All there is to see….

― Dr X O'Skeleton, Sunday, 5 February 2006 14:58 (twenty years ago)

aargh,still wrong, 3rd time lucky-

I was stirred into action by Dr C’s spirited defence of the Modern World the other day and decided to pit it against the woking wonders’ final, and some would argue, underwhelming, album.

This is the Modern World < Happy Together
London Traffic < Ghosts
Standards < Precious
Life from a Window > Just Who is the 5 O Clock Hero
The Combine + < Trans Global Express
Don’t Tell Them You’re Sane

In the Street Today > Running on the Spot
London Girl > Circus
I Need You (for someone) > The Planners Dream Goes Wrong
Here Comes the Weekend < Carnation
Tonight at Noon = Town Called Malice
In the Midnight Hour > The Gift

Looking from a skyscraper/standing on the post office tower
So I can see/All there is to see….

― dr xo'skeleton, Sunday, 5 February 2006 15:01 (twenty years ago)

the gift has town called malice and ghosts on it right? but it has that one song that may have inadvertently invented the stone roses. the one with the "funky" guitars. and ghosts on dig the new breed is better. so, this is the modern world.

― scott seward (scott seward), Sunday, 5 February 2006 15:14 (twenty years ago)

i'm afraid that town called malice may have inadvertently invented phil collins.

― scott seward (scott seward), Sunday, 5 February 2006 15:14 (twenty years ago)

Both albums are inconsistent with their fare share of low points, but I guess I prefer the highpoints of The Gift more. And so The Gift it is.

Where I would differ song for song:

Standards > Precious
One of my favorite's from This Is the Modern World (although the version on Dig the New Breed is even better) versus one of my least favorite Jam sons period. No contest.

Life from a Window < Just Who is the 5 O Clock Hero
This could go either way, I guess. But today, "Just Who is the 5 O Clock Hero?" takes it.

In the Street Today < Running on the Spot
"Running on the Spot" has seemed to me to be an overlooked song in their catalog. "In the Street Today," by contrast, is a stuttering tuneless mess. And the Townshend-isms are growing tiresome at this point.

Tonight at Noon < Town Called Malice
I'm having trouble remembering what "Tonight at Noon" sounds like. There must be a reason for that.

In the Midnight Hour = The Gift (Both are pretty crap IIRC.)

― D. Bachyrycz, Sunday, 5 February 2006 16:27 (twenty years ago)

Precious is some people's favourite Jam song, but that's usually people who don't like the Jam. Standards is a fans' favourite, but is really just CSE Rebellion over the Can't Explain riff. I'd still go for the pigbag bassline.
But you'll never convince me that the dreary 5 o clock hero is better than Life From a Window - one of my favourite Jam songs ever.
Overall, Modern World has a wonderful sound, the sound of a great band, whereas the Gift is buried under production. Townsend was an innovator: when he experimented you got I Can See for Miles and Won't Get Fooled Again. Weller is a conservative - when he copied townsend you got some great songs, but when he experimented you got trans global bollocks.
sorry I messed up the original posting. when i used multiple

― Dr X O'Skeleton, Monday, 6 February 2006 10:08 (twenty years ago)

The two worst Jam albums put up against each other? I guess "The Gift" wins this, if only for "Town Called Malice" alone.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Monday, 6 February 2006 10:18 (twenty years ago)

If you like "Trans Global Unity Express", check out "So is the sun" by The World Column, which shows that the Jam song was a complete NICK!

― mark grout (mark grout), Monday, 6 February 2006 10:34 (twenty years ago)

they nicked loads of stuff. Apart from the pigbag and taxman bass thefts, weller copied the gift's guitar solo note for note from the small faces' Don't Burst my Bubble!

mediocre artists borrow/great artists steal (TS Eliot)

― dr x o'skeleton, Monday, 6 February 2006 10:39 (twenty years ago)

This is the Modern World > Happy Together
London Traffic < Ghosts
Standards < Precious
Life from a Window > Just Who is the 5 O Clock Hero
The Combine > Trans Global Express
Don’t Tell Them You’re Sane

In the Street Today > Running on the Spot
London Girl > Circus
I Need You (for someone) > The Planners Dream Goes Wrong
Here Comes the Weekend < Carnation
Tonight at Noon > Town Called Malice
In the Midnight Hour > The Gift

8-3 to This Is The Modern World

― Dr.C (Dr.C), Monday, 6 February 2006 10:51 (twenty years ago)

(Well, at least The Gift >>>> Combat Rock)

― Dom iNut (donut), Monday, 6 February 2006 10:57 (twenty years ago)

also, "Town Called Malice" is one of the lesser songs on The Gift.. "Running On The Spot" and "Ghosts" are excellent.

(Then again, "Beat Surrender" is a better song than anything from The Gift.)

Scott, I ask you to explain how this album invented Phil Fucking Collins. ( ;-) disclaimer winkie )

― Dom iNut (donut), Monday, 6 February 2006 10:59 (twenty years ago)

I always wanted a RV show called "Industry Today", just so they could use that Jam song to introduce it.

― mark grout (mark grout), Monday, 6 February 2006 11:00 (twenty years ago)

weller's up for a brit gong so there's likely to be a lot of jam talk around over the next week. i may set up a thread for In the City vs Sound Affects.

― dr x o'skeleton, Monday, 6 February 2006 13:12 (twenty years ago)

"Scott, I ask you to explain how this album invented Phil Fucking Collins."

me being silly. when i think of fake motown in the 80's i think of a town called malice and phil's you can't hurry love. and colourbox. and kim wilde.

― scott seward (scott seward), Monday, 6 February 2006 14:00 (twenty years ago)

i always kinda hated the tinny sound of those horns on the latter-day jam stuff. so jarring. move on up is a good example. him and phil had that love in common. sadly, the last weller-related product i bought as a teen was the shout to the top single. i really wanted to like it, but, alas, those horns...the horn section on the live version of ghosts actually sounds kinda nice though.

― scott seward (scott seward), Monday, 6 February 2006 14:08 (twenty years ago)

walking on sunshine too

just don't play katrina and the waves to anyone from new orleans, ok?

― dr x o'skeleton, Monday, 6 February 2006 14:09 (twenty years ago)

shout to the top has no horns i think. strings, yes
interestingly, i played that track when my best mate was round the otehr day. we grew up on weller's stuff, but he winced and complained it was cheesy. it's one of my favourites

― dr x o'skeleton, Monday, 6 February 2006 14:13 (twenty years ago)

Jam on toast ?

Now THAT'S Tastebud Entertainment !

(Well, it's a start...)

― Logic101, Monday, 6 February 2006 21:57 (twenty years ago)

wait, no horns? i coulda sworn...oh well, it has been awhile. in any case, that was it for me. the cover of that 12-inch is permanently etched in my brain even though i haven't seen it for years.

― scott seward (scott seward), Monday, 6 February 2006 22:38 (twenty years ago)

seven years pass...

Me on The Gift; I used to love this record, not so sure about it now, and whether or not it's my fault: http://nobilliards.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/the-jam-gift.html

― Here he is with the classic "Poème Électronique." Good track (Marcello Carlin), Wednesday, 10 July 2013 19:05 (twelve years ago)

I still like a lot of tracks on The Gift; can't really fault an album that has 'Ghosts', 'Just Who Is The Five O'Clock Hero?', 'Running On The Spot', 'Carnation' and 'Town Called Malice' on it. I think the main problems with The Gift as a "whole thing" is bad song sequencing ('Precious' after 'Ghosts' just kills the momentum), and 'The Planners Dream Goes Wrong' is hardly what I'd call an album highlight (and is probably one of my least favourite songs of theirs overall). It would have been really interesting to see what the album would have been like if they hadn't issued those couple of singles in '81 (I couldn't see 'Funeral Pyre' going on there, but I sure as hell could imagine 'Absolute Beginners' and 'Tales From The Riverbank' making it) and waited until they at least had 'The Bitterest Pill' and 'Beat Surrender'. I think they could have easily made a stronger album with all of those songs!

― I wanna live like C'MOWN! people (Turrican), Thursday, 11 July 2013 00:23 (twelve years ago)

Weller's liner notes in Dig The New Breed said something like, "Tried to make the last album our best, settled for OK. Oh well!"

― Esperanto, why don't you come to your senses? (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Thursday, 11 July 2013 00:47 (twelve years ago)

When Paul Weller tries too hard, the results are often hard-baked

― Mark G, Thursday, 11 July 2013 20:52 (twelve years ago)

His mind has to be fully on the job, too, else one ends up with albums like The Cost Of Loving.

― I wanna live like C'MOWN! people (Turrican), Thursday, 11 July 2013 21:01 (twelve years ago)

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