Paul Weller
Heliocentric (Island 542 394)

After a brief time away from us through the late '90s, Paul Weller re-emerged in 2000 with Heliocentric, and from the opening notes of "He's The Keeper," you can tell that he certainly means business. It's another groove-driven PW tune with some '60s influences on its sleeves, but incredibly powerful and pretty modern sounding, actually. A great tune to come back with. Paul returns to his piano for "Frightened," which is a good Album Track. Drifting over to the acoustic guitar, "Sweet Pea, My Sweet Pea" is a pop jangle fest that careens into "A Whale's Tale," (actually track #4, out of sequence with the numeric track listing). (I hate that … spend the extra 30 seconds in quality control, guys!!!)

All numerological goonery aside, "A Whale's Tale" is a very melodic romp, peppered with some quality Steve White drum fills. The next song, which I'm assuming actually is "Back In The Fire," isn't as good as what precedes it, but isn't as bad as what follows. There's not a whole lot of tone color going on through the middle of Heliocentric.

"Dust and Rocks" is unfortunately as vacant as the landscape described in its title. It is, I have confirmed, a song, but that's about all it is. Interestingly, Weller next dips into the instrument archive and digs up one of his old Jam axes to power us into the dark and majestic "There's No Drinking After You're Dead," a throwback to early Weller that is paced and colored with the artist's current state of mind. Very nice. "With Time and Temperance" is the next song, and like "Dust and Rocks," it's just a song, that's about it. I mean, you forget how it goes shortly after you walk away from your CD player.

At this slightly dull point, Britpop super-drummer Steve White steps to the front of "Pick Up Sticks," which has an excellent melody and some superbly propulsive percussion. White's clever work, unique sound and notable tact make him, in many ways, the gifted antithesis of that Neal guy from Rush (ok, now I'm just fishing for flame email). Steve White knows WHEN to play big, and has often stolen the show out from under Weller throughout their tenure together (including Style Council).

Finally, like a car with a flat, Heliocentric limps to the side of the road with "Love-Less", which perhaps should have been called "Life-Less." I can see why this CD hasn't been released in the US yet. It doesn't seem that Weller is as prolific as he used to be, and now hangs on the perimeter of mediocrity to deliver a few occasional power punches. His top-notch backing band and flair for bringing some new context to the old sounds set him apart, but his recent efforts really seem incapable of sustaining themselves for 45-60 minutes anymore.

Heliocentric might be an ok album for some artists, but it's a lukewarm Weller album. It's better than Heavy Soul, but it still shows Weller needing to redevelop his consistency. This might be the juncture in his career to seek out a different producer, as the Lynch/Weller team has easily worn out its welcome. It's time to check into either someone hip like John Leckie or Nigel Goodrich, or hell, someone un-hip like Hugh Padgham or Steve Lillywhite, or even the enigmatic Brian Eno to get something rolling here, as Brendan Lynch appears to be just kissing Paul's ass these days.

Loud Bassoon rating scale

Review by Casey Blick