Stanley Road (original) (raw)

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1995 studio album by Paul Weller

Stanley Road
Studio album by Paul Weller
Released	15 May 1995
Studio	The Manor Studios (Oxfordshire)
Length	52:10
Label	Go! Discs
Producer	Paul WellerBrendan Lynch
Paul Weller chronology
Live Wood(1994) Stanley Road(1995) Heavy Soul(1997)
Paul Weller chronology
Studio 150(2004) Stanley Road (10th Anniversary Edition)(2005) As Is Now(2005)
Singles from Stanley Road
"Out of the Sinking"Released: 1994 "The Changingman"Released: April 1995 "You Do Something to Me"Released: July 1995 "Broken Stones"Released: September 1995
10th anniversary edition cover

Stanley Road is the third solo studio album by the English singer-songwriter and musician Paul Weller, released by Go! Discs in 1995. The album took its name from the street in Woking where Weller grew up.[1][2] Weller's cover version of the song "I Walk on Guilded Splinters" was featured in the series ending montage of _The Wire'_s fourth series end, "Final Grades".

On 30 May 2005, a three-disc 10th anniversary deluxe edition of the album was released by Island Records. The expanded edition included demos, live and BBC session recordings and a DVD documentary directed by Simon Halfon which featured interviews, behind-the-scenes footage and music videos.

The album's cover collage was created by the artist Peter Blake, co-designer of The Beatles' Sgt Pepper's album artwork (album package design for Weller was supervised by his long-term associate Simon Halfon).

The album features contributions from several notable collaborators, including Noel Gallagher (then of Oasis), who appears playing acoustic guitar on "I Walk on Gilded Splinters", and Steve Winwood (formerly of the Spencer Davis Group and Traffic), who performs on the songs "Woodcutter's Son" and "Pink on White Walls". Weller is also joined by long-time collaborators Steve Cradock (co-founder of Ocean Colour Scene) and Steve White (the Style Council).

The album was co-produced by Brendan Lynch, who had also worked on Weller's previous two solo albums, Paul Weller and Wild Wood.

Professional ratings

Initial reviews (in 1995)
Review scores
Source	Rating
Entertainment Weekly	A−[3]
The Guardian	[4]
NME	6/10[5]
Rolling Stone	[6]
Smash Hits	[7]
The Sydney Morning Herald	[8]

Professional ratings

Retrospective reviews (after 1995)
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[9]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[10]
Record Collector	[11]
Spin	[12]
Uncut	[13]

Ted Kessler, in his contemporary, May 1995 review for NME, felt that the album was "doggedly retro and straight ahead" – an "old fart rockin' blues record" in the style of Eric Clapton, though with "just enough edge to keep you tuned".[5]

Evelyn McDonnell, in a July 1995 review for Rolling Stone, noted the collaborations with musicians such as Steve Winwood and Noel Gallagher, commenting that "Weller's work supplies the connecting link between several generations of British rock and soul", and that Weller's session band were able to lay down "some admirably funky grooves". However, she felt that "Weller takes his musical bombast to Springsteenian levels at points. And his attempt to return to populist roots sinks well below Springsteenian levels of banality".[6]

In 1998 Q magazine readers voted it the 46th greatest album of all time.[_citation needed_] In a retrospective summary for Record Collector in 2008, John Reed commented that "Stanley Road remained the apex of Weller's career in terms of commercial success".[11]

All songs written by Paul Weller, except where noted.

10th anniversary edition (Disc 2: B-Sides and Demos)

10th anniversary edition (Disc 3: Broke 'n' Stoned – Stanley Road Revisited)

All songs written by Paul Weller, except where noted.

Side one

Side two

• Paul Weller – vocals (1–12), guitar (1–7, 9–11), piano (1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 11, 12), percussion (1, 3, 5), Hammond organ (3, 5, 8, 10), Novatron (4), Wurlitzer (8, 9)
• Dr. Robert – bass (1, 2, 6, 11), backing vocals (1, 2)
• Mark Nelson – bass (3, 5, 8, 10)
• Yolanda Charles – bass (4, 7, 9)
• Steve White – drums (1–11), percussion (3, 5)
• Steve Cradock – guitar (1, 2, 6), backing vocals (1, 11), acoustic and electric guitar (11)
• Brendan Lynch – Cyremin (1, 11), Mini-Moog (7), tambourine and accordion (8), finger cymbals (10)
• Carleen Anderson – backing vocals (1, 5, 8), vocals (9, 12)
• Noel Gallagher – acoustic guitar (3)
• Constantine Wier – voodoo vocal (3)
• Helen Turner – Hammond organ (4, 6, 9), Novatron strings (6, 7, 9, 11)
• Steve Winwood – piano (5, 10), Hammond organ and Wurlitzer (5)
• David Liddle – acoustic slide guitar (5)
• Mick Talbot – Fender Rhodes (8), Hammond organ and pipe organ (12)
• Joy Hawley – cello (12)

1. ^ "Paul Weller". Woking YMCA. Archived from the original on 27 August 2014. Retrieved 8 April 2024.
2. ^ Wilson, Lois (26 May 2005). "Paul Weller: How I became hip again". The Independent. Retrieved 8 April 2024.
3. ^ Mirkin, Steven (21 July 1995). "Stanley Road". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
4. ^ Sullivan, Caroline (19 May 1995). "Paul Weller: Stanley Road (Go! Discs)". The Guardian.
5. ^ a b Kessler, Ted (20 May 1995). "Paul Weller – Stanley Road". NME. p. 44. Archived from the original on 30 September 2000. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
6. ^ a b McDonnell, Evelyn (13 July 1995). "Paul Weller: Stanley Road". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 11 February 2007. Retrieved 15 August 2009.
7. ^ Whyte, Gill (24 May 1995). "Albums". Smash Hits. p. 59. Retrieved 13 February 2025.
8. ^ Danielson, Shane (10 July 1995). "Paul Weller: Stanley Road". The Sydney Morning Herald.
9. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Stanley Road – Paul Weller". AllMusic. Retrieved 15 August 2009.
10. ^ Larkin, Colin (2011). "Weller, Paul". The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-85712-595-8.
11. ^ a b Reed, John. "The way of Weller". Record Collector. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
12. ^ Duerden, Nick (July 2008). "Discography: Paul Weller". Spin. Vol. 24, no. 7. p. 88. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
13. ^ "Paul Weller: Stanley Road". Uncut. 2005. p. 120. [I]t's the warmth of Stanley Road itself which ultimately merits this lavish repackaging and ensures it a high-ranking place in the Weller canon.
14. ^ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 298.
15. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Paul Weller – Stanley Road" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
16. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Paul Weller – Stanley Road". Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
17. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
18. ^ "British album certifications – Paul Weller – Stanley Road". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 8 April 2024.