The Style Council - Wanted (Polydor)

Old floppy fringe is back! And he's obviously spent his time putting every other Style Council waxing into a giant computer, jumbled them all together, pressed the button and - voila! Out pops this carbon copy of their last x-million singles. There's a bit in the middle that could well be ancient soulsters The lsley Brothers and throughout it all Paul burbles on about how he only wants to be wanted. Well, here's my little bit of advice - if that's what you want then don't make any more snoozy records like this. And get your hair done, for goodness sake. (Lola Borg, Smash Hits, October 7, 1987)

The Style Council - Speak Like A Child (Polydor)

The world waits with bated breath. The pubs are emptied and the streets are deserted as people scurry home to see if Paul Weller's quarter of a million deal with Polydor has paid off. And yes, the voice of a nation is set to cut it again. What I like is the fact that the bitterness has gone - there was nothing worse than Weller launching his tirades against art and society. Weller relaxes and coughs up a rich little number with his big toe in the past and his eye well and truly on the future. Weller's new baby is bawling lustily. May it grow to be strong. (Robin Smith, Record Mirror, March 5, 1983)

Or "speak like a child", as Paul Weller's curious vocal dialect has it. His first post-Jam effort makes a refreshing change from the choppiness of songs like "Town Called Malice", coasting along on the back of Mick Talbot's soul organ and sounding like the work of a man getting back to his own element. (David Hepworth, Smash Hits, March 17, 1983)

The Style Council - Shout To The Top (Polydor)

The self-conscious searching for a sound that used to characterise the Style Council, has all but disappeared. "Shout To The Top" has Mick Talbot trading piano riffs with an orchestral backing that forms the song instead of just decorating it. And Paul Weller sounds comfortable copying no vocal style but his own. I think they just earned themselves a new fan. How does 'Cupofteano Kid' sound: (Dreadful – Ed.). (Martin Townsend, No 1, September 29, 1984)

Once more Mr Weller plunders the past to give us yet another passable imitation of those baggy-trousered soul stompers of yore. Personally, I've never been able to understand why he spends so much time and energy attempting to emulate something that's already been done - and far better - before. Must be all that capuccino. (Vici MacDonald, Smash Hits, September 27, 1984)

Playing spot-the-influence one more time - adaptations of the hard-hitting chords from "Backstabbers" and "War", a glance back to "My Ever Changing Moods", and still it sounds the freshest pop record of the week. (Paul Sexton, Record Mirror, September 29, 1984)

The Style Council - Come To Milton Keynes (Polydor)

An offbeat and disappointing effort from Mick'n' Paul, a reliable pair whose singles have consistently satisfied even if their albums haven't. With tongues firmly in cheeks they tell the tale of a couple 'moving to a new town' in search of work but finding a situation equally as desperate as before. 'I may slash my wrists tonight,' sings Weller in the middle. I'll join you if I have to listen to this rubbish again. (Dave Ling, No 1, June 29, 1985)

Waft along with Mick and Paul as they cycle off into those beautiful sunsets that exist only in some advertising executive's mind. Drink in that light, happy beat, that sweet irony on the Weller breath, that sharp, strong production. One of the most immediately accessible tracks on the Our Favourite Shop LP and another top 10 hit for the Councillors. (Eleanor Levy, Record Mirror, July 29, 1985)

The Style Council - Walls Come Tumbling Down (Polydor)

Paul Weller is nothing but consistent. With "Walls Come Tumbling Down" he's thought long and hard over the political content of the lyric and come up with a classic opening line. . . 'You don't have to take this crap'. The tune is catchy 60s power pop, lots of organ, lots of brass and a pounding beat that'll see the single speeding up the charts. But when you have songwriters of Billy Bragg's eloquence, the message Weller puts across - though extremely worthy - seems crude and bludgeoning. Style Council is not an apt name. (Frank Hopkinson, No 1, April 27, 1985)

"Walls come tumbling down"? Sounds like a line from a Tears For Fears song! I like it. The effect on his voice makes him sound like John Lennon. I think Paul's a nice lad, but maybe he should smile a bit more often. Good refrain though, and the girl's vocals are excellent - the juxtaposition between his and her vocals make the record. Generally I like them as a band but there's always been something missing in their records. Objectivity, I think. The fuel's definitely there but it doesn't feel like there's anybody stoking the fire. (Roland Orzabal [Tears For Fears], Smash Hits, April 24, 1985)

The Style Council - Waiting (Polydor)

If this type of woozy, late-night soul ballad is basically about making lurve, then this is positively SAFE SEX. Safe, (which is fine) as in very sensitive, very produced, very doleful ... but MUSHY. It drifts away in a cloud of gentle, dreamy bleu-urgh which at less than Gauloise length is all over a bit quickly. The presence on the B-side of Paul mooning over a string quartet ("Francoise") adds to the LP's impression that as a POP group, the Smooch Council have (for the moment) come and gone. (Roger Morton, Record Mirror, March 7, 1987)

One of the better tracks from the feeble Cost Of Loving LP, "Waiting" shows Paul Weller to be a lot happier at singing romantic ballads than grunting his way through all that uptempo "soul" stuff he's become so fond of in recent years. The back sleeve contains yet more ramblings from "The Cappucino Kid", this time a Sherlock Holmes-style short story about "the case of the twitching farmer". Weller is cast as Holmes with Mick "Morten" Talbot taking the role of the bumbling Dr Watson. How apt. (Barry McIlheney, Smash Hits, March 11, 1987)