Search - Paul Weller: As Is Now on DVD

A nice snapshot....

Jon E. Thornton | Los Angeles, CA. USA | 03/22/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A winning documentary with insightful interviews with Steve Craddock and Steve White. A must own for anyone who loves Paul."

Modfather Masterpiece

Kurt Harding | Boerne TX | 12/29/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Until three or four years ago, I'd never heard of Paul Weller. Then I read an interesting and laudatory review of one of his albums in a Forbes Magazine supplement of all places so I decided to check him out. I liked that so much I then started to keep up with his current recordings. I bought the As Is Now Special Edition CD when it was issued and enjoyed that. Then I read a thumbs-up review of the DVD in a later Forbes supplement and so here we are.

Many rock music fans lament the fact that there is so little good basic rock and roll on the market today. Perhaps they have overlooked Paul Weller. With the issue of As Is Now, Weller shows that he is at the top of today's rock heap and truly is deserving of the title Modfather.

This DVD is divided into three sections: The Documentary, the live gig from the 100 Club, and the extras of which the most important are the Paul Weller interview and five excellent studio recordings.

Though I enjoy the documentary which features some fine studio performances interspersed with chit-chat, my favorite section is the strong live set. Of the ten songs featured the best are the hard-rocking From the Floorboards Up, Paper Smile, Blink and You'll Miss It, Come On/Let's Go, and the mellower All On A Misty Morning. In the third section, I like the studio set which features three of the rockers from the live set, a jazzy Here's the Good News, and a mellow, romantic The Start of Forever. I didn't care for the interview itself as it seems to be cobbled together with excerpts from the commentary in the documentary. I find Weller's frequent and very casual tossing of the f-bomb during the interview to be distracting. His repeated use of such an overused word to express himself is about the only negative aspect of the DVD.

Its a pity that Paul Weller is not better known stateside. Nearly everyone to whom I introduce his music seems to enjoy it, so you'd almost have to blame his stateside obscurity on the tendency of the corporate behemoths that control what's played here to play to the lowest common denominator. Perhaps articles like those in Forbes and the issue of more fine work like this will serve to raise his profile.

Since being introduced to Paul Weller's music, I have traced his career backward and picked up some of his work with The Jam and The Style Council. While I enjoyed some of those, his work here is not only more refined, in my opinion it is just better. If you are new to Paul Weller, then the As Is Now DVD is a great introduction."