Back in 2003 or 2004, I got hooked on Collectors Choice Music, an online music store that sells re-issues from almost every era and genre of music. They pull some really obscure stuff out that is impossible to find on CD, and in perfect digital quality. This is where I found the CD releases of The Vapors, Peter Schilling, and The Jam. They released the first two Jam albums on one CD as a twofer set. I knew who The Jam was, but I had previously lumped them all into the punk music of that era, and I felt that if you had heard one, you had heard them all. Boy, was I wrong.
Of course, I found the albums to be awesome, and all of the songs were perfect little pophook ditties. After that, I had to build my Jam collection.
This is their last album, and it's one of my favorites. They were still punk, but there were strong Post Punk overtones, and Weller's R&B interests were starting to peek out in brief instances. The b-sides, demos and alternate versions were all great, too. A wonderful group, I think they got overshadowed by the Clash. I think they are definitely better than the Clash, but that's simply my opinion. Your thoughts?