Paul Weller – 'Studio 150' Released 13/09/04

Luscious and lavish, Studio 150 sees Mr. Weller pulling out all the stops on the Hammond Organ and wheeling in a full on orchestra to cover a surprising selection of songs.

I mean, 'All along the Watchtower' is hardly the most original tune to spin your own take on (though his version hardly falls flat), but surely there was no need for him to cover Hercules to make up for it? That’s right. Hercules. From the film. But actually, saying that, it’s really quite good. Weller turns it into a dark Shaft-esque anthem full of hopping pianos, snappy refrains and rising brass parts that push it along, all of which combine to make it fair old piece of funk rock.

This is pretty much the story of the album’s bulk; most tracks end up jazzed up with funk urgency and rock energy no matter what they were originally. This formula works equally for the summer release of Gil Scott Heron’s 'The Bottle' and one of the highlights, his take on Oasis’ 'One Way Road'. Somebody should really tell him that Oasis are frightfully uncool these days. Still it doesn’t matter, as he does it very well.

Just in case we thought Paul was auditioning for a part in The Commitments 2, he goes a bit folk midway through with 'Black is the Colour' and 'Early Morning Rain'. He even got Eliza Carthy to play violin; Christ, he must be serious! In between it’s back to business with a disco-ed up and incredibly smooth bite of Bacharach’s 'Close to You'.

It’s a good album. Weller’s selections wont be familiar to many people; it may open some doors. But…well… it’s a covers album. It’s Jools Holland or Tom Jones without the celebrity guests (and possibly a little better for it). Sure he is doing something new with the tunes and, for the most part, he does succeed in reinventing them. I’m just not convinced it’s a record anyone needs to own.