Stanley Road (1995): His third official solo release and the culmination of his Traffic fixation, which worked better than I thought was possible. Totally experimental, it sounds like an Eno/Weller collaboration, and that’s no bad thing. Wake Up The Nation (2010): I know a lot of folks who didn’t like this one at all. It’s a happy-happy joy-joy type of album. Illumination (2002): Love this one, especially It’s Written In The Stars, Standing Out In The Universe, Call Me #5 and Leafy Mysteries. As you can tell it kind of sits smack dab in the middle for me, although it may grow in stature over time. 22 Dreams (2008): I didn’t really take a shine to this one when it came out. Blink and You’ll Miss It, Come On Let’s Go, the bouncy Here’s The Good News and the amazing From The Floorboards Up make this a very worthwhile addition. As Is Now (2005): Known as the one that came before 22 dreams, this one’s been lost in the shuffle, and it’s a really good album.
Heliocentric (2000): A little too ‘by-the-book” Weller here, but much better than Heavy Soul. The album focuses more on sound rather than songs and the record suffers for it. Heavy Soul (1997): Weller’s soul and R&B tendencies run wild. So here we go, Weller’s solo albums, ranked by moi. His new stuff is fantastic, and the thing that I like most about it is his willingness to experiment and take chances. You won’t always be blown away by it, but I’m sure you’ll find something to like in each one. If you’re a Weller fan you will be for life and you’ll snatch up virtually everything he puts out. Like so many other solo artists (Costello, Lowe, Jackson, Parker, Collins (Edwyn, not Phil), etc) he has a frustrating and challenging discography. Wild Wood broke him, Heavy Soul was his nadir and the recent trilogy of albums has catapulted him to heights he’s not seen since the Jam days. Starting at the top of the graph, moving downward in the middle and shooting back up again to the top. If one was to graph Wellers solo career it would resemble something like a reverse bell curve. I’m not crazy enough to attempt and rank Weller’s entire back catalog, including the Jam and Style Council.
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