Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrateded.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p.153. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.

Side one ends with “That’s Entertainment,” a song Paul Weller wrote in ten minutes after getting pissed at a pub, pissed off by the damp on the walls of his flat and disgusted at the squalor of working-class neighborhoods in London: Bubbling Under the Top LPs". Billboard. Vol.91, no.19. 12 May 1979. p.27 . Retrieved 25 March 2021. Another terrific review of another terrific Jam album. Sound Affects has always been my favorite because of its musical and lyrical consistency (with one glaring exception, which you note and dismiss as appropriate) and the brighter production is a good choice for an album referencing Revolver — which is my favorite album by anyone ever. The denser production of Setting Sons wouldn’t have worked as well here. I would give a bit more credit to Set the House Ablaze, probably the most propulsively angry anti-fascism song ever recorded, but you are right that Weller’s vocals do get a bit buried in the mayhem. He is much easier to understand in the equally fiery live version on Dig the New Breed.Paul Weller was barely 22 when he started recording Sound Affects, his fifth album in just over 3 years. He was reading histories of Camelot alongside the romanticism of Percy Bysshe Shelley and William Blake, obsessing over The Beatles’ Revolver, and delving further into his disillusionment with the political and social climate that had prevailed in England at the end of the 1970s. During the same time, Weller apparently had a ‘thing’ for electricity pylons. British album certifications – The Jam – Sound Affects". British Phonographic Industry . Retrieved 14 November 2020. Select albums in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Type Sound Affects in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter. Okay, a Jam album seemingly cut to my exact measurements. A group who always wore their influences like they were medals, Sound Affects has the Jam asking to be rewarded for quoting Gang of Four and and Wire. And I'm perfectly happy to give them such a nod, considering that this is rather fabbo. King, Ian (7 August 2015). "The Jam: About the Young Idea: The Very Best of the Jam". PopMatters . Retrieved 25 March 2021. Do you know where I learned that moths have the best hearing of any animal on the planet? Snapple bottle caps. I wonder what title they give to the person who comes up with those essential bits of knowledge. Man, I would love that job.

Sinclair, Paul (27 July 2017). "The Jam / 1977 five-disc box set". Super Deluxe Edition . Retrieved 25 March 2021. In 2006, Q placed Sound Affects at number 15 on its list of the "40 Best Albums of the '80s". [21] In 2013, NME ranked Sound Affects at number 487 on its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. [22] In 2020, Rolling Stone included Sound Affects in their "80 Greatest albums of 1980" list, praising the band for crafting their "finest album", while encapsulating "the classic English songcraft of the Kinks and the Small Faces, singing about working-class anger". [23] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. [24] Sheffield, Rob (1995). "Jam". In Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig (eds.). Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. pp.195–96. ISBN 0-679-75574-8. There cannot be much more said about the album’s masterful centerpiece 'That’s Entertainment' that hasn’t been already. It’s a piece of urban art in league with Banksy – about finding beauty in the little noticed and sometimes maligned details of the grey mood and mundane routines of city life. The unsubtle words are accompanied by simple acoustic instrumentation, all appropriately stripped down for a tune that needs no bells and whistles. However, even this monster tune is not without influences worn brazenly. The lyrics take inspiration from a poem by the young poet Paul Drew called 'Entertainment' and Weller favourites The Small Faces’ 'Itchycoo Park' lends the spinal chords to the intro. Selected items are only available for delivery via the Royal Mail 48® service and other items are available for delivery using this service for a charge.

Release

The fade features the voice of one Laurent Locher, bass player of Les Lords, a band of punks-turned-mods from Caen who drew a bit of attention during their brief existence but never really caught fire in La Belle France (or anywhere else, for that matter). Weller brought Locher into the fold to translate the last two lines quoted above into French: “ La puissance c’est tout, c’est la puissance dont tu as besoin.”Though it sounds like something Louis XIV could have come up with, I could find no evidence to connect the quote to anyone other than Paul Weller. While some may consider “Scrape Away” kind of a downer ending, I think calling bullshit on cynicism is a beautiful thing indeed. Besides these firm 60s roots, Sound Affects stands up superbly over many of its now-dated contemporaries. In fact, the opening stabs of guitar in 'Music For The Last Couple' (the only song here credited to all band members) is just waiting to be snapped up by one of these post-post-punk, new-new-wave groups like Chapel Club and the melody of Weller’s ode to human nature 'Man In The Corner Shop' was even used by The Strokes in 'You Only Live Once'. Bubbling Under the Top LPs". Billboard. Vol.90, no.5. 4 February 1978. p.30 . Retrieved 25 March 2021.