The Cost Of Popularity

 

The Style Council - The Cost Of Loving [20MM 0557 JPN 1987 24-Bit FLAC]

With an everchanging mode, Paul Weller put highlights in his hair, dumped the raincoat in favour of an all white dresscode and tried to go eighties soul. This was possibly the album which turned me off the Bard Of Woking after seven years of teenage adoration. I thought now might be a good time for a re-appreciation.....

It Didn't Matter is a dour opener and a bad choice for a opening/launch single, then who is Weller trying to kid by collaborating with The Dynamic Three on the cliché ridden pop-rap Right To Go - the message is strong by the execution is weak. These two tracks ruin this album for me, thankfully there is better to come.

Heavens Above is classic Style Council and would have made a better pop single than the opening track - it charted in the US but was never released as a single in the UK. Fairy Tales follows in much the same vein, assisted by Curtis Mayfield it is one of the few tracks to feature the Talbot Hammond. 

I really do love Weller's cover of Anita Baker's Angel, possibly this is the track which encapsulates what he wanted to achieve with this record. Walking The Night proves Weller's genuine talent as a songwriter - even though it is pure light entertainment. Waiting is among his finest compositions and is easily the album's peak moment. Answers on a postcard please as to why Polydor did not release the track as the first single off the album. The title track was only a single in Japan and Woman's Song was a dedication for songstress D.C. Lee whom he married later that year.

I am glad I've given this record some turntable time, once you get over the dull opener and the weak track two, this album opens up to reveal many forgotten treasures.

A1 It Didn't Matter

A2 Right To Go

A3 Heavens Above

A4 Fairy Tales

B1 Angel

B2 Walking The Night

B3 Waiting

B4 The Cost Of Loving

B5 Woman's Song