Setting Sons
Setting Sons is the fourth studio album by the English rock band the Jam, released on 16 November 1979 by Polydor Records.[1] The record marked a commercial and artistic peak for the group, blending mod revival influences with punk energy and sophisticated songcraft, as frontman Paul Weller drew from personal observations of working-class life and social tensions in late-1970s Britain.[2] It debuted and peaked at number 4 on the UK Albums Chart, spending 19 weeks in the top rankings, and produced three singles—"When You're Young," "The Eton Rifles," and "Smithers-Jones"—with "The Eton Rifles" achieving the band's first top-10 hit at number 3.[3] Critically, the album has endured as a cornerstone of the Jam's discography, praised for its urgent performances, thematic depth on themes like generational conflict and economic stagnation, and Weller's incisive lyrics, though some reviewers noted minor production inconsistencies compared to later works.[4]
Background and Recording
Conceptual Origins
Paul Weller, the primary songwriter for The Jam, initially envisioned Setting Sons as a concept album centered on the lives of three boyhood friends who diverge in adulthood, ultimately finding themselves on opposing sides of a hypothetical British civil war before reuniting as changed individuals.[5][6] This narrative drew from the intensifying social fractures of 1970s Britain, including economic stagnation marked by high inflation and the 1978–1979 Winter of Discontent strikes, alongside the escalating violence of The Troubles in Northern Ireland, which fueled fears of broader domestic conflict through IRA bombings on the mainland.[7][2] Weller, aged 21 at the time, aimed to explore how such divisions could pit former comrades against one another, reflecting a prescient anxiety about generational and ideological rifts in a nation grappling with class antagonisms and political polarization.[5] The concept built upon the working-class youth narratives of The Jam's prior album, All Mod Cons (1978), which delved into personal disillusionment and mod subculture struggles, but shifted toward a more expansive examination of societal breakdown and the erosion of shared bonds under pressure.[6] Weller sought to assign each friend a distinct ideological path—left, right, or neutral—mirroring potential real-world schisms, with tracks like the eventual "Little Boy Soldiers" retaining echoes of this anti-war motif through its multi-part structure critiquing conscription and militarism.[6][8] However, the strict concept was abandoned before full realization, as Weller lacked sufficient interconnected songs by the onset of recording, compounded by the rigid November 16, 1979, release deadline imposed by Polydor Records.[6] In a later reflection, Weller admitted running out of ideas and questioning the idea's fit for the band, describing it as a "half-baked concept" that he ultimately deemed unsuitable.[9] This pivot preserved thematic undercurrents of division and urgency but allowed for a more flexible collection, prioritizing immediate creative output over narrative rigidity.[5]Studio Production Process
The recording sessions for Setting Sons took place primarily at Townhouse Studio One in London, utilizing a 72-input Helios console, Studer 24-track tape machine, and Eastlake monitoring system.[10] These sessions spanned from 15 August to 10 October 1979, under the production of Vic Coppersmith-Heaven, who engineered alongside Alan Douglas.[11][10] The approach centered on capturing initial live band performances, often requiring multiple takes to achieve the desired intensity, followed by targeted overdubs for bass, vocals, and guitars to build layered textures.[10] Multi-tracking on the 24-track format enabled harmonized guitar elements and fuller arrangements, facilitating a shift toward a wider, more polished sound with live-room ambiance, distinct from the rawer punk aesthetics of prior albums like In the City.[10] Innovative techniques included positioning corrugated iron behind amplifiers to enhance guitar tone, miked with AKG D12 and Neumann U67 microphones.[10] Tight deadlines imposed by a 16 November release date and subsequent tour commitments resulted in exhausted personnel and expedited mixing, where 24-track tapes were synced with preliminary two-track mixes for editing over single days.[10] Initial mixes faced rejection for excessive adjustments, underscoring producer and band emphasis on capturing urgent, hard-hitting performances over refined polish in arrangements led by Paul Weller.[10]Internal Band Dynamics
During the production of Setting Sons in mid-1979, Paul Weller assumed primary responsibility for songwriting, composing all eleven tracks' music and lyrics while Bruce Foxton and Rick Buckler focused on refining arrangements through rehearsal and performance.[6] This approach built on Weller's established leadership since All Mod Cons (1978), where Foxton and Buckler had contributed fewer original compositions compared to the band's debut efforts.[12] Foxton provided bass lines and backing vocals, while Buckler delivered the album's propulsive drumming, but their input remained largely interpretive rather than compositional, reflecting Weller's vision-driven process of writing material daily and integrating it into band sessions.[6] The band's relentless schedule following All Mod Cons' success exacerbated underlying strains, with Weller later recalling an "incredible pressure" from releasing albums annually alongside up to 200 live performances per year, fostering a cycle of touring and recording that contributed to personal and creative fatigue.[13] This exhaustion permeated the album's recording at Wessex Sound Studios from May to July 1979, where the trio worked under tight deadlines amid post-tour recovery, influencing lyrical explorations of disillusionment without derailing completion. Buckler has described the era's collaborative rehearsals as key to the sound's energy, though Weller's forward momentum increasingly shaped direction.[14] While no ruptures occurred during production—unlike the 1982 dissolution driven by Weller's evolving interests—the dynamics hinted at future challenges, as Weller's singular creative control and dissatisfaction with repetitive structures foreshadowed his pursuit of broader stylistic experimentation beyond the trio format.[13] Foxton and Buckler supported the effort loyally, prioritizing execution over co-authorship, which sustained cohesion for Setting Sons but underscored Weller's outsized influence.[14]Musical Style and Themes
Song Structures and Instrumentation
The tracks on Setting Sons emphasize power chord riffs and relentless driving rhythms, merging punk's accelerated tempos with mod-inspired soul grooves for a taut, energetic sonic architecture.[2] In the opener "When You're Young," Bruce Foxton's bass delivers rapid, attacking lines that propel the song's fast-paced verse-chorus structure, underscoring the album's rhythmic propulsion.[15] Paul Weller's lead guitar, played on a Rickenbacker 330, incorporates harmonized layers and sharp chord stabs, evolving the band's sound toward greater complexity compared to earlier albums' minimalism.[16][10] This is exemplified in "The Eton Rifles," where dual-tracked Rickenbacker guitars create interlocking riffs over a marching rhythm, augmented by overdubs for depth.[10] Foxton's Rickenbacker bass similarly receives doubling and subsonic enhancements, locking tightly with the guitar to form the album's core power-trio drive.[10] Rick Buckler's drumming employs precise fills and multiple toms—often four or five in his kit—for dynamic builds, evoking 1960s influences like The Who's Keith Moon through controlled aggression rather than chaos.[16] Tracks like "Private Hell" introduce structural contrasts with a clean, fingerpicked guitar intro that builds to fuller electric band aggression, showcasing production layering via Vic Coppersmith-Heaven's oversight.[10] Overall, the album's arrangements favor concise verse-bridge-chorus forms with punk brevity, typically 2–4 minutes per song, prioritizing instrumental interplay over solos.[10]Lyrical Content and Social Commentary
The lyrics of Setting Sons provide a stark, empirically grounded depiction of 1970s British social tensions, emphasizing class divisions, the intrusive reach of state policies, and the dissolution of communal bonds among working-class youth without romanticizing hardship or absolving personal responsibility. Paul Weller, drawing from direct observations of economic malaise and political polarization in late-1970s Britain—including widespread strikes, inflation exceeding 24% in 1975, and youth unemployment rates approaching 20% by 1979—crafted verses that highlight causal links between governmental overreach and individual alienation, rejecting abstract ideologies in favor of observable realities like fractured loyalties and confrontational agency.[17][2] In "Little Boy Soldiers," Weller realistically conveys the human toll of conscription and militarism, portraying enlistment as a coercive trap where the state invokes patriotic duty—"Think of honour, Queen and country"—only to discard soldiers post-conflict, as evidenced by lines decrying the shift from youthful rebellion to battlefield expendability. This critique underscores the causal realism of state intervention exploiting working-class sons for geopolitical ends, anticipating conflicts like the 1982 Falklands War through a prescient anti-war lens focused on tangible costs—physical maiming, psychological scarring—rather than unqualified pacifism, with Weller's sarcasm exposing how governments "suddenly want to know you when they want you to fight."[18][19] "The Eton Rifles" dissects class antagonism through a merit-driven working-class prism, inspired by a 1978 clash in Slough where jobless demonstrators marching for employment rights were mocked by Eton College cadets, symbolizing entrenched elite detachment from proletarian struggles. Weller rejects victimhood by depicting protagonists as active agents—drinking, brawling, and retorting "what a laugh"—yet acknowledging structural imbalances where upper-class networks ("Eton Rifles") prevail, as in the ironic chorus "Hello, hooray, what a nice day for the Eton Rifles," which critiques unearned privilege without excusing working-class impulsivity or passivity.[20][21][22] Tracks like "Thick as Thieves" and "Burning Sky" extend this to interpersonal erosion, reflecting empirical patterns of youth disconnection amid 1970s economic stagnation, where inflation and job scarcity strained loyalties forged in adversity. "Thick as Thieves" laments the fracture of boyhood pacts—"We'd stick together for all time / And we meant it, but it turns out just for a while"—attributing divergence to divergent priorities rather than external forces alone, aligning with the album's abandoned concept of friends polarized by societal rifts. Similarly, "Burning Sky" evokes personal isolation under a metaphorical capitalist inferno, where individual pursuits amid resource exploitation leave one adrift, mirroring broader working-class atomization without sanitizing agency in succumbing to self-interest.[7][2][23]Departure from Prior Albums
Setting Sons represented a maturation in The Jam's sound, building on the refinement initiated with All Mod Cons (1978) while diverging from the raw, erratic punk of their debut In the City (1977). Early albums emphasized high-energy, singles-driven punk with covers and straightforward aggression, but Setting Sons integrated mod revival elements like melodic power pop and soulful undertones, evidenced by tracks such as "Thick as Thieves" featuring extended narrative structures over three minutes, contrasting shorter, punchier compositions on prior releases.[24][25] This shift reduced the adolescent angst of youth rebellion anthems, favoring introspective social realism amid Britain's late-1970s economic strife.[8] Thematically, the album deepened lyrical complexity beyond earlier works' focus on urban frustration, exploring class divisions and fractured friendships—concepts Paul Weller originally envisioned as a loose narrative of boyhood companions diverging in adulthood, though he later deemed the overarching idea "half-baked."[9] Songs like "The Eton Rifles" critiqued social inequality with pointed irony, signaling Weller's growth from personal vignettes in All Mod Cons to broader socio-political commentary, while retaining the band's signature urgency.[8] Production on Setting Sons polished the edges of The Jam's punk roots, with sophisticated arrangements balancing raw drive and commercial appeal as punk waned by 1979. Unlike the lo-fi immediacy of In the City, engineered with minimal overdubs, Setting Sons employed cleaner mixes and harmonic layers, reflecting the band's ambition to transcend genre constraints.[26] Critics noted this as an improvement, with the album's dramatic tension underscoring Weller's compositional evolution toward intricate, era-defining mod-punk fusion.[24]Artwork and Packaging
Cover Design Choices
The album sleeve for Setting Sons was designed by Bill Smith, Polydor's in-house art director who had previously collaborated with the band on earlier releases.[27] Smith's design incorporated an embossed finish on both the front and back covers, providing a tactile element uncommon in standard punk-era packaging.[1] This choice contributed to a premium feel, aligning with the album's polished production despite its raw thematic content. A key design decision was the exclusion of any photographs or illustrations of The Jam's members, shifting focus from the band's image to symbolic representation that underscored the record's exploration of social and generational divides.[18] The stark black-and-white presentation enhanced the austere, confrontational tone, evoking historical conflict without color's distraction. Track listings appeared directly on the back cover, maintaining simplicity and directness in layout. The inner sleeve featured printed lyrics, a standard practice for the era but executed here to highlight Paul Weller's pointed social commentary, enabling immediate access to the words amid the album's dense thematic layering.[28] This emphasis on textual content reinforced the design's prioritization of intellectual engagement over visual spectacle, consistent with the band's evolving artistic intent.Photographic Elements and Symbolism
The front cover features a photograph of the 1919 bronze sculpture The St John's Ambulance Bearers by Benjamin Clemens, depicting two ambulance bearers supporting a wounded soldier under an overcast sky. Photographed by Andrew Douglas, the image was left uncredited on the album sleeve but captures the sculpture's essence of collective endurance and sacrifice amid hardship.[29][30] This visual choice symbolizes the album's motifs of fraternal bonds tested by societal division, echoing Paul Weller's concerns over ideological conflicts fracturing working-class unity in late-1970s Britain. The huddled figures evoke World War I-era camaraderie and loss, paralleling lyrical explorations of friends "set against" one another without resorting to explicit iconography.[29][18] The rear cover presents a stark photograph taken on Brighton beach, credited to collaborator Andrew Douglas or Andy Rosen, portraying a desolate coastal scene that underscores themes of faded British vitality. Inner sleeves include lyric sheets accompanied by subdued images of youth and everyday environs, linking visually to depictions of malaise without overt political messaging.[31][32] Unlike contemporaneous punk releases laden with provocative symbols, Setting Sons employs restrained photography to ground its commentary in historical realism, prioritizing interpretive depth over agitprop. This approach aligns with the album's conceptual roots in George Orwell's Coming Up for Air, emphasizing causal tensions in generational and class dynamics.[29]Singles and Promotion
Key Single Releases
The Jam released "Strange Town" on 17 March 1979 as a standalone single ahead of Setting Sons, serving as an early teaser that introduced sharper social observations aligned with the album's thematic buildup. Backed by "The Butterfly Collector", it peaked at No. 15 on the UK Singles Chart, spending 13 weeks in the top 100, and featured a promotional video directed by Steve Barron that highlighted the band's mod-inspired aesthetic through urban alienation visuals.[33] "The Eton Rifles", issued on 26 October 1979 simultaneously with the album's release, functioned as the lead single and captured class tensions through lyrics depicting confrontations between working-class youth and elite students, drawing from real events like the 1978 boat race clashes. With "See Me" as the B-side, it entered the UK Singles Chart at No. 29 before climbing to a peak of No. 3, marking The Jam's first top-five hit and exceeding initial commercial projections by sustaining strong sales amid punk's decline.[34][35][20] "When You're Young" followed on 17 August 1979, bridging the gap in the promotional timeline with its energetic portrayal of youthful disillusionment, paired with the B-side "Smithers-Jones" that critiqued suburban conformity and commuter drudgery. The single reached No. 17 on the UK Singles Chart, contributing to heightened anticipation for Setting Sons by extending the band's narrative of generational angst three months prior to the album's launch.[36][37]Marketing Strategies
Polydor Records launched Setting Sons on November 16, 1979, immediately tying it to an extensive nationwide UK tour beginning the following day and running through December 21, which served as the primary vehicle for promotion by allowing fans to experience the album's tracks in high-energy live settings.[38] This strategy leveraged The Jam's core mod-revival fanbase, known for its enthusiastic attendance at gigs, to generate organic buzz through performances that emphasized the album's blend of urgent rhythms and thematic depth, including previews of singles like "The Eton Rifles."[39] The tour encompassed dozens of dates across the UK, positioning live demonstrations as a direct counter to studio recordings and reinforcing the band's reputation for raw, communal energy.[40] In parallel, Polydor directed press efforts toward influential UK music weeklies, securing coverage in outlets like NME and Melody Maker that spotlighted Paul Weller's advancing songwriting prowess, portraying Setting Sons as a maturation from punk-era rawness to incisive social narratives delivered via sophisticated mod structures.[41] NME ranked the album fourth among 1979's top releases, crediting its lyrical acuity and musical polish as evidence of Weller's growth into a pointed cultural observer.[41] Such targeted narratives helped reframe The Jam's image amid the post-punk landscape, emphasizing conceptual ambition over mere aggression.[27] International promotion remained constrained, with Polydor allocating scant resources beyond basic distribution to prioritize saturating the UK market where The Jam held a fervent domestic base, amid logistical hurdles in overseas export and limited foreign radio play.[42] This inward focus aligned with the band's entrenched British appeal, forgoing aggressive pushes into markets like the US where prior tours had yielded modest traction.[42] Promotional materials, such as dedicated posters, were chiefly circulated within the UK to support local retail and media tie-ins.[43]Track Listings and Editions
Original UK Track List
The original UK edition of Setting Sons, released by Polydor on 16 November 1979, features nine tracks sequenced to alternate between aggressive, high-energy punk numbers and more introspective, mod-revival styled songs, creating a dynamic energy flow across its two sides.[1] The opener, "Girl on the Phone," establishes a personal, narrative-driven tone focused on interpersonal disconnection, while the closer, "The Eton Rifles," builds to an anthemic climax addressing class antagonism and social division.[1] All compositions are credited to Paul Weller except "Smithers-Jones," written by bassist Bruce Foxton.[1] The album's total runtime is 32:41.[44]| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Girl on the Phone" | Weller | 2:54 |
| 2 | "Thick as Thieves" | Weller | 3:39 |
| 3 | "Private Hell" | Weller | 3:50 |
| 4 | "Little Boy Soldiers" | Weller | 3:34 |
| 5 | "Wasteland" | Weller | 2:50 |
| 6 | "Burning Sky" | Weller | 3:32 |
| 7 | "Smithers-Jones" | Foxton | 2:59 |
| 8 | "Saturday's Kids" | Weller | 2:21 |
| 9 | "The Eton Rifles" | Weller | 4:09 |