Extras

Pity the oft-neglected B-side. Often just a throwaway trackdesigned to back up but not supersede a band's 'official' new release, by the time the single is filed away alphabetically, it's usually forgotten by even the most zealous collector. Unless of course the B-side is by seminal English mod revivalists The Jam, in which case a closer listen is not onlywarranted, but required. For The Jam packed their B-side songs with more fire and brimstone than most bands did the A-sides. Unfortunately the vinyl days of yore are but a memory. Fortunately, EXTRAS collects most of the Jam's odds and sods on disc for fans young and old. A bonus is Paul Weller's always-eclectic taste in covers, which runs from the Who ("So Sad About Us") to the Beatles ("And Your Bird Can Sing")to the godfather of soul himself , Mr. James Brown ("I Got You [I Feel Good]"). EXTRAS is valuable not only as a chronology of the gems that Weller was tossing off in his spare time, but as a look at how truly eclectic the Jam were as a band. Universal.