Search - Paul Weller :: 22 Dreams-Deluxe

Somehow singing "I had 21 Dreams last night" doesn't have th

Susan Petrone | Cleveland | 12/05/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Okay, so there are 21 songs, not the expected 22. Don't let it bother you. This is the first disc in a long time that feels like a fully realized album to me. It isn't a concept album--I don't find any common thematic thread musically or lyrically, yet somehow each song rolls perfectly into the next. In particular, the flow from the title track to All I Wanna Do (Is Be with You), to Have You Made up Your Mind? to Empty Ring to Invisible to Song for Alice feels like one unbroken continuum, despite their varied musical styles. Yes, there are a couple of tracks that might have been better left off the disc (for instance God or 111), but somehow they don't bother me as they would on another artist's record. Perhaps it's because I feel like Weller really believes in those tracks. In another musician's hands, they would strike me as pretentious. On 22 Dreams, they just feel like a couple of good ideas that didn't work out. As a long-time Paul Weller fan, I've long since given up on hoping for a return to The Jam's sound. You hear it here and there, but what is great about Weller is that he continues to move forward as a musician long after many other guys would be living off the royalties from their greatest hits boxed sets."

Weller's Gamble Pays Off

Kurt Harding | Boerne TX | 10/15/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"While I don't agree with the industry reviewer's assertion that Paul Weller's solo career has not matched the creative heights of his years with The Jam and The Style Council, I do agree that his solo work tended to remain within his stylistic comfort zone. But here on 22 Dreams, Weller proves that he is not afraid to blend genres.

There is so much to like here and such a diversity of styles, its hard to know where to start showering it with praise, so I will begin with the very first song which assures the listener that this will be no ordinary Paul Weller album. My favorites are Light Nights, with its fine guitar work; the rocking Have You Made Up Your Mind; the soulful Empty Ring; a fine instrumental with Song For Alice; another excellent rocker on Cold Moments; the driving Push It Along, the rocking Echoes Round The Sun; the Latin-tinged One Bright Star; Lullaby Fuer Kinder, an instrumental evocative of Boz Scaggs; the religious introspection of God which really makes one think; and yet another fine rocker with Sea Spray.

That I have chosen so many highlights doesn't mean I don't like the rest. There is something to like about every song!

It is clear that with 22 Dreams Paul Weller's gamble has paid off. He says that this is the kind of record he's always wanted to make and I for one am glad he did. 22 Dreams comes with a mini-booklet containing pictures, album info, and a poetic short story called The Missing Dream AKA Dream #22 by some chap named Simon Armitage. If you are a Weller fan, don't skip this opportunity to hear him play the kind of music he's always wanted to play!"