Heliocentric is the fifth solo studio album from Paul Weller, his first since 1998's double platinum selling 'Modern Classices'. Which means that somebody out there is buying him despite constant slagging in the music press.. To consider Weller a faded, jilted, country-dwelling version of his former self is surely to miss the point. Weller has not harked back to his Jam or Style Council days (especially thankfully not the latter) in any of his recent recordings, and so to judge him against his former sound is grossly unfair. Heliocentric is a progression from Wild Wood and Heavy Soul, not from Going Underground or Eton Rifles. Hating Weller's sound in 2000, because it is so different to his sound in 1980 is fair enough. But Heliocentric is by no means desperately worse, though perhaps not as compelling as Heavy Soul, and as such, is unlikely to make many new fans, nor lose old ones.
