Reviews Of
"The Jam´s commercial potential is enormous. Their music and image and even their infectious teen-orientated ´rebel´ lyrical pose are sufficiently attractive for them to popularise New Wave to the extent where it becomes meaningless ... Weller´s chording is inspired, he skitters in eraly Townshend feedback licks with ease, he layers his guitar in a way that should be an object lesson to Wilko Johnson -- he´s just amazing ... his songs capture that entire teen frustration vibe with the melodic grace and dynamic aplomb of early Kinks and Who ... Weller´s got a pretty good voice, a little like Cockney Arthur Lee ... the casual poetic edge works better than sloganeering ... The acceptable face of punk rock indeed. Face it."
"The Jam are more widely accessible than just about anybody sheltering under the New Wave umbrella ... and for boys who insist that nothing stronger than Vic goes up their noses, Messrs Paul Weller, Rick Buckler and Bruce Foxton certainly operate close to the speed of light ... yet this album creates grave misgivings ... it´s a fine album but despite the high energy, Weller´s raucous untreated voice, IN THE CITY shows The Jam at times so lose to the beat groups they´re apeing that they end up like Flamin´ Groovies ... Paul Weller´s songs are invariably built around great hooks but are too often padded out with pretty dubious non-melodies ... as it isThe Jam certainly have it in them to do great things but somebody´s trying to get too much out of it much too soon."
"The Jam bear no relation to the mass conception of punk ... part of today´s extensive musical reaction against the dinosaur bands who have dominated rock ... obvious that they have a great deal in common with The Who ... considerably more than copyists ... have produced tightly composed and performed songs ... the Weller composed songs are anything but an embarrassement, he has a deft touch that places his material on a much higher plateau ... aggressive choked off vocal and even a reference to James Brown which in itself underlines the commitment to the spirit of the early Sixties ... lay down your prejudices and give them a try -- they´re guaranteed not to disappoint."
"Armed and extremely dangerous The Jam stalk the decrepit grooves ... if you don´t like them, hard luck they´re gonna be around for a long time ... his sounds from the street do sound so sweet ... it´s been a long time since albums actually reflected pre-20 delusions and this one does."
