Paul Weller
More Wood (Pony Canyon 00509)

It's only reasonable to assume that after having sessions as productive as the ones that yielded Wild Wood, Paul Weller had some good tracks left on the, how you say, "cutting room floor." More Wood begins with "This Is No Time," which is probably the track here that most resembles the album that it almost qualified for. A good track, but somewhat similar to the others. It's best that it gets a place to stand out here, rather than be lost in the Wild Wood shuffle. "Fly on the Wall," (not an AC/DC cover, sorry to say) is another semi-peppy acoustic number that receives a passing grade on the outtake collection, where it may not have succeeded in the other context. To a real Weller fan "Another New Day" is neat, because it's the long-form version of some of the instrumental material that you only hear in snippets on Wild Wood and as such makes a nice complementary piece.

I was never that big of a fan of Joe Cocker's trip thru Dave Mason's "Feeling Alright," and it's good to hear Weller in true Rattle and Hum fashion "steal it back." Probably my favorite version of a slightly tired radio staple. R&B-flavored sessions sometimes generate some accidentally killer grooves, and "That Spiritual Feeling" is that, a bit repetitious, but mildly addictive. "The Loved" sends Paul back over to his acoustic guitar, and delivers another somewhat similar, but occasionally potent song, depending on the day and what you're wearing. "All Year Round" has a part reggae/part jazz feel that takes us down a street Sting visited on The Dream of the Blue Turtles. Friendly, and nice to visit … wouldn't want to live there of course. "Everything Has A Price To Pay" is another mellow journey, but, at this point, I'm kind of wearing out on the similar acoustic numbers.

"Ends of the Earth" takes the 70s James Taylor "Whenever I See Your Smiling Face" sound to a much classier 90s place, yet the song was probably omitted due to the refrain's occasional similarity to "The Weaver" from Wild Wood … even so, "Ends" is worthy of merit in its own right. I like the flute, and I usually hate flute parts. "Black Sheep Boy" sometimes nods to Paul McCartney's acoustic numbers, accompanied by a swirling pedal steel that sets it apart. The ghost of Steely Dan haunts "The Strange Museum," and the return of "Kosmos SXDUB 2000" puts me to sleep for good at the end…but these slight missteps necessarily destroy the overall product, especially given that this is an outtakes collection.

More Wood reminds us why bonus tracks and outtakes can be so intriguing – sometimes they hit, sometimes they miss, and more often than most it's pretty easy to understand why they were left off the album. There's plenty of interesting music here, just remember that More Wood is not a mediocre sequel, but rather a complementary companion to Wild Wood.

Loud Bassoon rating scale

Review by Casey Blick