Review:
“All Mod Cons is a 1978 album by the British punk rock/mod revival band The Jam, their third full-length LP. The title, a British idiom one might find in housing advertisements, is short for ‘all modern conveniences’ and is a pun on the band’s association with the mod revival.” WK “British Invasion pop influences run through the album, most obviously in the cover of The Kinks’ David Watts.” WK
The album “marked a great leap in songwriting maturity and sense of purpose. For the first time, Paul Weller built, rather than fell back, upon his influences, carving a distinct voice all his own; he employed a story-style narrative with invented characters and vivid British imagery à la Ray Davies to make incisive social commentary – all in a musically irresistible package.” CW
“The album was more commercially successful than The Jam’s previous album, This Is the Modern World. The single Down in the Tube Station at Midnight was one of the band’s most successful chart hits up to that point, peaking at #15 on the UK charts.” WK It “is a first-person narrative of a young man who walks into a tube station on the way home to his wife, and is beaten by far right thugs.” WK
“The lyrics of the song All Mod Cons criticise fickle people who attach themselves to people who enjoy success and leave them once that is over. Neither the title nor lyrics of the song English Rose were printed on the original vinyl release of All Mod Cons due to Weller's feeling that the song's lyrics were too personal.” WK. The song…later inspired the name of The Stone Roses.” WK
“The youthful perspective and impassioned delivery on All Mod Cons first earned Weller the ‘voice of a generation’ tag, and it certainly captures a moment in time, but really, the feelings and sentiments expressed on the album just as easily speak to any future generation of young people. Terms like ‘classic’ are often bandied about, but in the case of All Mod Cons, it is certainly deserved.” CW
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