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Product Description ------------------- The 1993 release of Wild Wood single handedly changed Weller's persona. No longer was he only 'Paul Weller of The Jam/Style Council', now he was the larger than life 'Modher,' the patriarch of Britpop, championed by groups like Oasis and all things hip. Led by a renewed creative spark and expanded influences including Nick Drake, Traffic and even Crosby, Stills & Nash, Weller produced, according to Q Magazine, a 'pastoral coming of age masterpiece.' Wild Wood single-handedly defined Weller as a solo artist while simultaneously wrenching British rock from the grips of techno in the UK and the imposing influence of grunge from the west. This Deluxe Edition reissue includes a 32-page booklet with extensive new liner notes by Lois Wilson, including brand new interviews with Weller and others. Musically, there is an expanse of bonus material including b sides, demos, BBC session versions and unreleased tracks reinforcing the fact that Wild Wood, as Uncut Magazine put it, '...made the Modher, and changed British rock.' Review ------ Paul Weller deservedly regained his status as the Modher with his second solo album, Wild Wood. Actually, the album is only tangentially related to mod, since Weller picks up on the classicism of his debut, adding heavy elements of pastoral British folk and Traffic-styled trippiness. Add to that a yearning introspection and a clean production that nevertheless feels a little rustic, even homemade, and the result is his first true masterwork since ending the Jam. The great irony of the record is that many of the songs -- 'Has My Fire Really Gone Out?,' 'Can You Heal Us (Holy Man)' -- question his motivation and, as is apparent in his spirited performances, he reawakened his music by writing these searching songs. Though this isn't as adventurous as the Style Council, it succeeds on its own terms, and winds up being a great testament from an artist entering middle age. And, it helped kick off the trad rock that dominated British music during the '90s. --All Music Guide