The album was co-produced by Brendan Lynch, who had also worked on Weller's previous two solo albums, Paul Weller and Wild Wood. Anyway, I'll try to obliterate such pompous nonsense from my judgement and instead concentrate on the music which really is very good indeed. The album ends on a high with "Wings of Speed" a beautiful song accompanied by piano almost like Songbird by the Mac. Mohammad Habib (2nd from right) says this discovery is the latest piece of the puzzle of the amazing history of the Shah Jahan Mosque (Image: Shah Jahan Mosque)

The title song is a much poppier tune and lifts the mood a notch, again a very nice guitar bit in there. Broken Stones is another highlight about facing reality and lifting yourself up. So I actually messaged Paul on his social media two years ago, saying we're doing an archiving project, we've realised that your mum was a caretaker here, so it would be nice to chat to yourself and your mum. The influences of Woking never left Weller or the band’s music however with perhaps their best-known song, A Town Called Malice, inspired by his early life in the town. Weller’s 1995 album had this influence front and centre as well as it was named after the street he grew up on, Stanley Road.

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. Selected items are only available for delivery via the Royal Mail 48® service and other items are available for delivery using this service for a charge. So why is 'Stanley Road' the best solo album? Well firstly it has a fair few absolute classic cuts including; 'Broken Stones', 'Time Passes...', 'You Do Something To Me' and the album in general flows really well. It's well recorded, and seems to come direct from the heart of the great man. A little bland and middle of the road in places, but all in all a very cool collection of thoughtful music.

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.Accomplished... I am sure 'Stanley Road' will remain as Paul Weller's most accomplished solo album. I do not claim to have heard all of his solo albums but I did buy the first five albums (and ditched albums 4 and 5 because they held no merit in my opinion). Enough was enough! *** Born in Woking on May 25 1958, Weller started his education at Maybury County First School while growing up with the music of bands such as The Beatles. By the time he was 11 he moved to Sheerwater County Secondary school, now known as Bishop David Brown School following a merger in the 1980s.

Paul was pointing out places in the mosque that he remembered. He was quite young when he was there, but the fondest memory was when he fell into one of the ponds at the mosque!" it’s complicated! I have now collected all of Paul’s solo albums and listened to them all at least ten times each. And they are all worthy of my best attention. Lesson learned! The combination of his own sardonic, churning "Porcelain God" and a heavied-up cover of Dr John's "I Walk On Gilded Splinters" works very well in tandem, while "You Do Something To Me" which was a hit UK single makes for a fine change of pace, a stately, jazz-influenced piano-ballad with its counter-weight being the spare, churchy, piano-based "Wings of Speed" which closes the album. Larkin, Colin (2011). "Weller, Paul". The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th conciseed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-85712-595-8. The Victorian terraced street of his youth is now part of Woking’s dizzying one-way system, the terraces have been replaced by flats and offices. In the Woking of his youth he played football on the road and he played his first gig at the Walton Road Working Men’s Club — now the Liberal Club.Stanley Road is the third solo album by Paul Weller, released by Go! Discs in 1995. In 1998 Q magazine readers voted it the 46th greatest album of all time. The album took its name from the street in Woking where Weller grew up. [1] 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. Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDFed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p.298. 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. The 49-year-old Modfather said: “Affluence and financial struggle were both very apparent although any problems my familiy had I never noticed. There was always food on the table. We always had clean clothes.”