Paul Weller Album: "As It Now" Release Date: 10 October 2005 Label: V2 / Yep Rock Records Rev Value: [8.0/10] Genre: Rock Styles: Pop/Rock, British Trad Rock, Adult Alternative Pop/ Rock, Singer/ Songwriter BUY IT

TRACKLIST

1 Blink and You'll Miss It (3:23)
2 Paper Smile (3:05)
3 Come On/Let's Go (3:16)
4 Here's the Good News (2:57)
5 Start of Forever (4:55)
6 Pan (2:26)
7 All on a Misty Morning (4:30)
8 From the Floor Boards Up (2:27)
9 I Wanna Make It Alright (3:38)
10 Savages (2:58)
11 Fly Little Bird (3:44)
12 Roll Along Summer (3:39)
13 Bring Back the Funk, Pts. 1 & 2 (7:15)
14 Pebble and the Boy

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review by:Uncut
reviewer: GAVIN MARTIN
Album Value: (4/5)

Paul Weller's status as the most resilient survivor from Britpunk's class of ‘76 was challenged by his last album of original songs, 2002's inaptly named Illumination. One corking broadside ("A Bullet For Everyone") excepted, Illumination’s lacklustre performances and half-formed songs suggested fatigue, an artistic rut in his Dadrock furrow.

Whether Weller's fire had really gone out or he'd merely succumbed to midlife doldrums, a refresher was urgently required. Last year’s covers album, Studio 150, was no world-beater, but the break from routine evidently yielded dividends. As Is Now is the result: a work of rejuvenating power, on which Weller and his long-serving band attain a new sense of purpose and focus. Sharper songwriting is key. Trailed by two lean and seething singles, "From The Floorboards Up" and "Come On/Let's Go", As Is Now has much to live up to. And though the double whammy of those singles is the album's highpoint, their clarity and directness are also its hallmark. (...)

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review by:NME
reviewer:Paul McNamee
Album Value: (7/10)

The Modfather returns to show the kids a thing or two

Every couple of years, Paul Weller looks like he's finished. 'Studio 150', last year's covers farrago, was more miss than hit and was loved only by the Modfather's fierce devotees.

But every time he looks like he's about to fall off the edge, he returns with a record that reminds you why he is much more than just a well-dressed man with great hair.

'As Is Now' is Weller plugged in again. He's heard the sound of The Libs and Epworth's stable, realised they are all in his thrall, and kicked back to show the.(...)

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review by: Artist Direct
reviewer: Stephe Thomas
Album Value: (4/5)

If 2002's Illumination was a warm, laid-back record, Paul Weller's 2005 sequel, As Is Now -- a likeable but unremarkable covers album, Studio 150, appeared in the interim -- is its flip side, a lean, hard-hitting soulful rock & roll album. Not that Weller is returning to the sound of the Jam: he's still with the same band that he's been with since Wild Wood, anchored by drummer Steve White and featuring Ocean Colour Scene members guitarist Steve Cradock and bassist Damon Minghella, and he's working the same musical territory, grounded in Traffic, Humble Pie, '60s soul, and guitar pop. There may be absolutely no surprises here -- even the change of pace "The Start of Forever" is reminiscent of many of his gentler folky tunes, echoing Illumination's mellow vibe -- but for as familiar as As Is Now is, it never sounds lazy; it's a tighter, better record than most of his late-'90s albums. The closest antecedent to As Is Now in Weller's solo catalog is Heavy Soul..(...)

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review by: MusicOHM
reviewer: John Murphy
Album Value: (-/-)

When Paul Weller released what's generally thought to be his best album, Wild Wood, there was a track there called Has My Fire Really Gone Out?. Intended as a riposte to his critics who had long written him off as an irrelevancy, it was the highlight of a blistering return to form that saw Weller once again widely respected.

Now, over a decade after Wild Wood, Weller finds himself again the subject of carping from snide critics. Although albums such as Heavy Soul had their moments, there was something that suggested Weller was coasting somewhat. Last year's covers album, Studio 150, was a well-meaning experiment that fell flat on its face and people began to wonder whether Weller's fire really has gone out for good this time.

So As Is Now sees the man back with a point to prove - and long term fans of Weller will know this is when he's at his best. It's an album that sees him refocused, reinvigorated and projecting a real sense of purpose.

As Is Now sees Weller revisiting various points of his varied career and updating them. So there's the brittle guitar pop of Come On/Let's Go which recalls The Jam, the pastoral, laid back vibe of Wild Wood in All On A Misty Morning and even the ghost of the Style Council is resurrected in Bring Back The Funk. (...)

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review by: FasterAndLouder
reviewer: Paul Busch
Album Value: (-/-)

From the beginning you are listening to classic rock and roll, recorded by the formidable Paul Weller. This release, if you want the rating up front, is a must have and will definitley be in the Top 20 of releases for 2005. You want to fly, fly, like the little bird Paul sings about later in the disc. This is an album, recorded as an album should be. No massive over produced tracks here. Simply this is an album. An album!!! No filler, no tracks tossed on to make this a longer release. It flows like a river with some of the smoothest playing you’ve heard this year.

The songs, all written by Weller, show a maturity and depth that makes you think you may have heard these tunes before, but you haven’t. He has blended so many sounds from throughout his career and made almost a masterpiece. There are moments, for instance, in Roll Along Summer, that just transcend time and space. You feel yourself being taken into the studio, or the lounge room, or the back corridors of the songwriters mind.

The tracks laid down by the four main players on the record are so good you could probably just listen to them without any further additions. But add some George Martin-ish productions touches and some strings, on the ballad The Pebble and the Boy and you find yourself immersed in soul. And let’s not forget the fabulous use of horns here and there! (...)

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review by: Entertainment.ie
reviewer: Lydia (SugarBuzz Correspondent South Wales, UK)
Album Value: (3/4)

Back in the mid-90s, the pastoral Wild Wood was the album that rescued Paul Weller's floundering solo career. In an attempt to recapture those past glories, it seems that the Modfather has gone back to nature again. As Is Now finds him in an unusually mellow mood, ruminating on the joys of country life and even paying a solemn tribute to the god of Pan. The prevailingly folky mood is varied by some dreamy jazz and the odd piece of taut guitar-rock, just to remind you that he hasn't forgotten his roots. If you think Weller has become a boring old fart in recent years, then this won't change your opinion. But those with an open mind will find much to enjoy in these warm, gentle vignettes, and will feel glad that the once angry young man has found at least a measure of contentedness.

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