Wake Up the Nation

Wake Up the Nation
Studio album by Paul Weller
Released 19 April 2010
Recorded 2009
Genre Rock, Indie rock
Label Island (UK, EU)
Yep Roc (USA)
Paul Weller chronology

Paul Weller - Deluxe Edition
(2009)
Wake Up the Nation
(2010)
Sonik Kicks
(2012)

Wake Up the Nation is the tenth studio album from Paul Weller and was released on 19 April 2010. It was nominated for the 2010 Mercury Music Prize.

It is the first of Weller's albums since 1982 to feature contributions from Bruce Foxton, formerly of The Jam. Weller told Mojo magazine: "We'd both lost loved ones and without getting too spiritual that was the spur of it. I spoke to him this time last year when his wife Pat was ill and that broke the ice, then I invited him down to Black Barn (studio). There was no big plan, it was easy, a laugh, and nice to see him and work together again. We just slipped back into it." [1]

Tracklist

Deluxe Edition CD 1/Standard Edition

All songs written by Paul Weller and Simon Dine.

  1. "Moonshine" - 2:09
  2. "Wake Up the Nation" - 2:19
  3. "No Tears to Cry" - 2:25
  4. "Fast Car / Slow Traffic" - 1:58
  5. "Andromeda" - 1:53
  6. "In Amsterdam" - 2:18
  7. "She Speaks" - 2:15
  8. "Find the Torch, Burn the Plans" - 3:09
  9. "Aim High" - 3:08
  10. "Trees" - 4:19
  11. "Grasp & Still Connect" - 2:16
  12. "Whatever Next" - 1:38
  13. "7&3 Is the Strikers Name" - 3:24
  14. "Up the Dosage" - 2:40
  15. "Pieces of Dream" [sic] - 2:26
  16. "Two Fat Ladies" - 2:39

Deluxe Edition CD 2

1. "Wake Up the Nation (Zinc's Crack House Remix)" - 5:10
2. "Fast Car / Slow Traffic (Erland & Carnival Carnivalization)" - 2:50
3. "Grasp & Still Connect (The Bees Version)" - 2:47
4. "She Speaks (Tunng Remix)" - 3:57
5. "Andromeda (Richard Hawley Remix)" - 3:51
6. "In Amsterdam (Noonday Underground Remix)" - 2:00
7. "No Tears to Cry (Leo Zero Remix)" 8:03
8. "Find the Torch, Burn the Plans (Nick Zinner from the Yeah Yeah Yeah's Remix)" - 5:18

Aim High / Pieces of a Dream – The Amorphous Androgynous Remix

9. "Part 1: Aim High (Aim Higher)" - 5:57
10. "Part 2: Pieces of a Dream (A Dream in Pieces)" - 5:27
11. "Part 3: Aim High (The Higher Aim)" - 4:57
12. "Part 4: Aim High (Like Water Needs a Flower)" - 5:05

Bonus Tracks

13. "Pieces of a Dream - Original Version" - 2:56
14. "Grasp & Still Connect - Original Version" - 2:22

Additional Musicians

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [2]
BBC (very positive)[3]
Slant Magazine [4]
Q Magazine
The Guardian
Pitchfork Media (7.7/10)[5]
PopMatters (9/10) link
The Independent [6]
NME (8/10) link

Wake Up the Nation received great acclaim from most music critics. In Metro, John Lewis awarded the album 4 stars out of 5 and commented: "Since turning 50 two years ago, the Modfather seems to be making the most adventurous music of his career, astounding even the most Weller-phobic critics ... Most of the 16 tracks are short, sharp, clever and often wonderfully odd: check out bonkers music hall epic Trees, jazz waltz In Amsterdam or militaristic sound collage 7&3 Is The Strikers Name (an unlikely collaboration with My Bloody Valentine’s Kevin Shields). Weller loyalists will be reassured by the copper-bottomed dad-rock staples, while Style Council fans will love Aim High, his finest blue-eyed soul ballad in ages."[7]

References

  1. "She Speaks". Songfacts.com. Retrieved 2010-04-12.
  2. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Review: Wake up the Nation". Allmusic. Retrieved 9 May 2010.
  3. "BBC review".
  4. "Slant Magazine review".
  5. Klein, Joshua (10 May 2010). "Paul Weller: Wake Up The Nation". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 20 July 2010.
  6. Gill, Andy (16 April 2010). "The Independent Review". London.
  7. John Lewis Metro, 19 April 2010.