Weller is virtually alone in this wonderful world of pop in conspicuously giving a damn. The effort nearly cripples him at times too, but when it works it's blinding. "A Town Called Malice" [from "The Gift"] for example, once over that razorslash rhythm guitar and the restlessly pumping bass and drums, Weller suddenly unleashes lines like "It's enough to make you stop believing when tears come fast and furious / In a town called Malice".

It's when he backs off and lets the details fill themselves in that Weller's writing really cuts to the bone. When he tries for living-room drama, it's a bit like looking at a badly-lit TV studio on video tape….

There's a strong streak of the romantic in Paul Weller. It inevitably tends to colour his perceptions, and make his vision of class struggle and the indignity of labour seem over-simplified and at times almost...