The Jam super deluxe box set of The Gift coming out November 19th

Music News | Oct 3rd, 2012

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We all wished the original lineup of the Jam would reunite, just like the Smiths, but that’s not gonna happen anytime soon. So to celebrate the 30th anniversary of The Jam’s final studio album and to mark the 30th anniversary of the bands’ startling split, Universal will release a super-deluxe box set of THE GIFT on November 19, 2012.

“I was very proud of it – I thought it was another advance on what we’d done before.” Paul Weller – 2012

Surprisingly this was the band’s only No. 1 album in the UK and marked the departure from the classic Jam sound to a more soul-influenced style, ushering in Weller’s ideas for the Style Council. THE GIFT includes the classic UK No. 1 single “Town Called Malice” plus other highlights “Running On The Spot” and “Carnation.”

THE GIFT, released in March 1982 was The Jam’s final studio album, in which Weller strove to bring as close to perfection as was humanly possible. Plenty of its songs number among The Jam’s best. It is also a fascinating glimpse of its time: of musical currents that were swirling around London and beyond. THE GIFT’s energy was not just focused on the state of society: it had a lot to say about where music was going, what had happened to the righteous fires lit by punk, and how to remain relevant and vital when music was taking some very wrong turns indeed. The challenge it answered was simple enough: if blaring guitars and rock poses had run out of road, what could embody the kind of passion that The Jam were all about? The answer lay in the soul music that had bled into their collective identity from the start, and a push to make it less of an influence, than a key part of who they were.

Looking back, some of The Jam’s associates have speculated about what lay behind Weller’s frantic drive to put everything he could into THE GIFT: increasingly of the belief that the group should break-up, Weller was simply trying ensure that their last album should be their best.

Since the breakup of The Jam, Paul Weller’s career has thrived and evolved. From his days fronting The Style Council to this year’s critically acclaimed new solo album SONIK KICKS, the reissue of THE GIFT can almost be viewed as the jumping off point for Weller’s long and illustrious career.

Full details of the track listing, artwork, added extras and bonuses of the 4-disc box set listed below which includes a “Live At Wembley 1982” CD and a compilation DVD of videos, Top Of The Pop appearances and other Jam nuggets.

The Jam – The Gift: 30th Anniversary (‘The Gift and beyond…’)

A ‘Super-Deluxe’ box set edition of The Gift album + last few singles (Great Depression, The Bitterest Pill, Beat Surrender)

‘Gift-box’ ‘super-deluxe’ edition contents:

Four discs, in individual wallets

1. Disc 1 – original album re-mastered
+ 10 singles/b-sides from the period, up to the split.

2. Disc 2 – bonus tracks
15 demos & alternate tracks, 13 previously unreleased, re-mastered

3. Disc 3 – Live at Wembley December 1982
23 tracks, complete concert from the last ever Jam tour (previously unreleased), re-mastered

4. Disc 4 – DVD compilation
Promo clips (Town Called Malice / Precious / The Bitterest Pill)
Trans-Global Unity Express tour – live tracks from Birmingham show:
1. Town Called Malice
2. Carnation
3. Precious
4. Ghosts
5. Move On Up
6. Private Hell
7. Pretty Green
8. “Trans-Global Express”
9. The Gift
Danish TV special (DR) The band play the Gift album live in small studio with audience (previously unseen officially)
Top Of The Pops – 1982 – Town Called Malice / Precious

Super-deluxe box tracklisting:

Disc One – Original album / Singles & B-Sides
1. Happy Together
2. Ghosts
3. Precious
4. Just Who Is The 5 O’clock Hero
5. “Trans-Global Express”
6. Running On The Spot
7. Circus
8. The Planner’s Dream Goes Wrong
9. Carnation
10. Town Called Malice
11. The Gift

12. Precious (12”)
13. The Great Depression
14. The Bitterest Pill (I Ever Had To Swallow)
15. Pity Poor Alfie / Fever
16. Pity Poor Alfie (swing version)
17. Beat Surrender
18. Shopping
19. Move On Up
20. Stoned Out Of My Mind
21. War

Disc Two – Demos & alternate tracks
Skirt (demo) #
Get Yourself Together (demo) Originally released on ‘Extras’
Ghosts (instrumental demo) #
Just Who Is The 5 O’clock Hero (demo) #
Running On The Spot (demo) #
The Planner’s Dream Goes Wrong (demo) #
Carnation (instrumental demo) #
Precious (demo) Originally released on ‘Direction, Reaction, Creation’
The Bitterest Pill (demo) #
Alfie (demo ‘2’) #
We’ve Only Started (‘old version’) #
Only Started (instrumental demo) #
Shopping (AKA ‘Paul’s demo’) #
Beat Surrender (demo) #
Solid Bond In Your Heart (demo) #

# Previously unreleased

Disc Three – Live at Wembley (Dec. 3rd 1982)
1. Start!
2. It’s Too Bad
3. Beat Surrender
4. Away From The Numbers
5. Ghosts
6. In The Crowd
7. Boy About Town
8. So Sad About Us
9. All Mod Cons
10. To Be Someone
11. Smithers-Jones
12. That’s Entertainment
13. The Great Depression
14. Precious
15. Move On Up
16. Circus
17. Down In The Tube Station At Midnight
18. David Watts
19. Mr Clean
20. Town Called Malice
21. But I’m Different Now
22. “Trans-Global Express”
23. In The City

Disc 4 – DVD

Part 1 – Trans-Global Unity Express
Live video from Birmingham March 1982

Part 2 – The promo videos
1. Town Called Malice
2. Precious
3. The Bitterest Pill

Part 3 – Danish TV special
The Jam play songs from the Gift album. Recorded live in Studio 3,
TV-Byen, Copenhagen April 19 1982, broadcast April 23 1982.
Running On The Spot
Circus
Happy Together
Ghosts
In The Crowd
Town Called Malice
Pity Poor Alfie / Fever
Precious
Just Who Is The 5 O’clock Hero
The Gift
Move On Up
Trans-Global Express

Part 4 – Top Of The Pops
Recorded February 18 1982
1. Precious
2. Town Called Malice

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