For two albums, the Jam made leader Paul Weller's obsession with Pete Townshend and the early Who stand up as an acceptable substitute for personal vision. With All Mod Cons, Weller makes his move. The trouble is he can't decide between branching out into Ray Davies and the Kinks' bogus nostalgia for things never known or becoming an illiterate version of Bryan Ferry. The result is a record that's nearly catastrophic, weak at the surface and almost rotten underneath. (p. 74)

[Weller has] gone in for some of the most pretentious writing I've heard on a rock & roll record in years. "English Rose" is a half-witted schoolboy's rewrite of Sir Walter Scott, while "Fly" has all the disenchantment and none of the erudition of Bryan Ferry.

Paul Weller is at his best when he's indulging in fantasies. "Mr. Clean" is the Kinks' "A Well Respected Man" turned mad-dog vicious...