Wild Wood

Nothing prepared fans for quite such a return to form from Paul Weller. The mood was autobiographical, most notably on "Has My Fire Really Gone Out" and on the title track--both of which dealt with the writer's block that plagued Weller after the Style Council. And yet Wild Wood is anything but morose. Flutes and sun-dazed guitars create pastoral moods. "Shadow of the Sun" takes stock of youthful idealism and finds wisdom of years, and "Sunflower" is a superlative burst of psychedelic power pop. But it's the instrumental passages and interconnecting refrains that truly reveal their author's attention to detail and give Wild Wood an edge over the rest of his solo material. --Peter Paphides