Wild Wood by Paul Weller

Wild Wood, Paul Weller's second solo album, came out on Go! Discs in September 1993, and it's the record where the Modfather quit looking over his shoulder. Weller produced it himself at The Manor Studio, and the result is earthy, unhurried rock that swaps the sleek sophistication of the Style Council years for dust on the boots and wood smoke in the air.

The title track is the heart of it, a pastoral, rambling thing that sounds like a man taking the long way home to clear his head, while "Sunflower" kicks harder. The album threw off four UK hits in "Wild Wood", "Sunflower", "The Weaver" and "Hung Up", and climbed to number 2 on the UK Albums Chart. After the Jam's split and the Style Council's slow fade, this was a big step in Weller winning his audience back, with Stanley Road still to come.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.