The Jam - Greatest Hits (1991)

The Jam was never very big here in the US, but their mix of punk/new wave/mod revival music with touches of '60s soul hit big in their native UK. To me, early songs by The Jam sound like The Clash with better bass lines, provided by Bruce Foxton. I much prefer their later work which was more soul music than punk. Paul Weller wrote, sang, and played lead guitar on most of these tracks. He's the real deal. Because of his music and influence, he is often referred to as "The Modfather." Since the songs here are in chronological order, so you can really hear his evolution as a songwriter. He would go on to have modest success with The Style Council and as a solo artist. The Jam had an obvious influence on many bands, including Oasis, Blur, and, more recently, Arctic Monkeys.

Tracks:

Title	Year	UK
In The City	1977	40
All Around The World	1977	13
The Modern World	1977	36
News Of The World	1978	27
David Watts	1978	25
Down In The Tube Station At Midnight	1978	15
Strange Town	1979	15
When You're Young	1979	17
The Eton Rifles	1979	3
Going Underground	1980	1
Start!	1980	1
That's Entertainment	1981	21
Funeral Pyre	1981	4
Absolute Beginners	1981	4
Town Called Malice	1982	1
Precious	1982	1
Just Who Is The 5 O'Clock Hero	1982	8
The Bitterest Pill	1982	2
Beat Surrender	1982	1

19 tracks, spanning the years 1977-1982. They're all enjoyable, but start to blur together after a while. Favorite songs are Going Underground, Absolute Beginners, Town Called Malice and Beat Surrender. I wish they would have included Little Boy Soldiers from 1979's album Setting Sons because that's a personal favorite from the group.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: Back when they were recording, I thought this band was too noisy. Let's be honest, in 1977, I was listening to disco. I didn't really start to enjoy The Jam until the mid-'90s. In high school, however, I had a Jam pinback I would wear on my letter jacket because I thought the band name was cool even if I didn't listen to much of their music. It was part of my "I like hipper music than you" facade that I cultivated in the early '80s.