ALL MOD CONS (REMASTERED)

More interested in social commentary than political confrontation, the Jam breathed some sophistication into the British punk movement. The young Paul Weller mixed punk anger with 1960s mod guitar flash, a combination that set the Jam apart from their contemporaries. Cynical but never abrasive, the songs on All Mod Cons are short and pointed. Weller displays an increasingly assured touch on wistful ballads and, by reaching into the soul copybook to embellish "Down in the Tube Station at Midnight," gives a hint of the direction the Jam would take on subsequent albums. (Ben Clancy)