They´ve always settled for working within their own limits. There´s no sense of ambition, no feeling that they´ve got to conquer the world by next Tuesday, Wednesday if they have a half day off on Saturday.

So if The Clash are persistent under-achievers, The Jam are constant over-achievers ... If you reach for the universe you´ll almost certainly fall flat of your face now and again. If you set yourself modest targets you´ll always get them but won´t you get much further. Which is all by way of a perspective on this album. It´s all good but none of it is great ...

As with all The Jam´s best work, on first hearing it sounds perfect -- It´s only when you look close you see the holes ...

The real disappointment is that you feel that Weller doesn´t quite understand that to a perfect song, you´ve got to take a lot more into consideration. And, of course, it doesn´t help that he´s as unwitty in his songs as he is in interviews ...

You pump them out with your usual panache and style -- Guitars ringing around a drum sound so hard you could cut diamonds with it and that whining Surrey accent -- Half guttersnipe, half confused adolescent ...

I found myself thinking of Ray Davies. There´s the same wearing your suburban neurosis on your sleeve, the same lack of over-whelming confidence, the same disbelief that somebody is paying you to do this, and the same understanding that if you go so far, and no further, you´ll never go wrong ...

Long may Paul Weller have such modest aims.