Illumination [Limited Edition w/ Bonus DVD]
While Paul Weller veered from the Mod-obsessed, early-Who-inspired successes of theJamto further explore the R&B; and Motown roots of those influences withStyle Council, his solo career has continued down that restless creative path with wildly disparate results. This 2002 collection strives to both showcase that diversity and further focus Weller's voice and songwriting sense to the spare, forceful vehicle that's brought him back to the top of the U.K. charts. There's an echo of the savory rootsiness ofRod Stewart's "Gasoline Alley" on tracks like "Going Places," the title track, and "Now the Night Is Here," but the album's back-to-the-future R&B; sense (exemplified by the single "It's Written in the Stars") is often a deceptive tease. Weller's guitar-driven conscience tears into "A Bullet for Everyone" and "Leafy Mysteries" with the abandon of old, and his muse leads him as far a field as the wordless, raga trance of "Spring" and the acoustic folk of "Bag Man." Throughout it all, Weller's pop instincts remain strong, if prickly, as the music-hall-inspired "Push Button" andMellencamp-esque "Talisman" (two of the album's three bonus U.K. B-sides) well attest.--Jerry McCulley