The Cost of Loving

The Cost of Loving

UK cover
Studio album by The Style Council
Released 7 February 1987
Recorded May, August and October 1986
Studio Solid Bond Studios
Genre Soul[1]
Length 42:12
Label Polydor
Producer Paul Weller
The Style Council chronology
Home and Abroad
(1986)		 The Cost of Loving
(1987)		 Confessions of a Pop Group
(1988)
Alternative cover
US cover
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]

The Cost of Loving is the third studio album by English group The Style Council. It was originally released in February 1987.[2] The album was recorded over a period of three months in 1986, at Solid Bond Studios (owned by their lead vocalist, Paul Weller). The album is generally regarded as the culmination of the smoother, more adult-oriented sound of the band's later work. The album peaked at number 2 in the UK charts, and achieved gold status from the BPI. It featured the singles "It Didn't Matter" and "Waiting", which had corresponding music videos. "It Didn't Matter" reached the top 10 in the UK charts, however "Waiting" failed to make the top 40, which was a first for any Style Council single.

On release, The Cost of Loving received mixed reviews from music journalists. Today, the album is generally seen as a turning point in the band's career, leading to the sounds later explored on Confessions of a Pop Group and Modernism: A New Decade, whilst also signalling the start of the band's declining commercial and critical success. The band themselves have been quite vocal in being less satisfied with the album.

Production and recording

This album saw the group concentrating on the R&B styles that had been growing in America during the eighties. Its urban contemporary feel was a jolt to listeners who had grown accustomed to the continental mix of soul music, jazz, and European folk styles that the band had displayed on their previous two albums. United States label Geffen Records heard the tracks and promptly dropped The Style Council from their roster. Socially conscious soul music pioneer Curtis Mayfield was asked to mix some of the material on the album, which displays hints of being influenced by house music and the Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis sound. Tracks from the album were included in a 37-minute film, Jerusalem, about the band.

Cover art

The initial British pressings of the album were conceived and issued as two 12" EPs in a gatefold sleeve (designed by Simon Halfon with ideas from Paul Weller). Polygram records would eventually issue the album Stateside without its much-maligned International Orange jacket design. When asked by Uncut magazine whether the album cover was intended as "a citric version of The Beatles' White Album?", Weller replied that "the only thing" he "can say in its defence is that it's in some book as one of the top 100 album sleeves."[3]

Critical reception

In a retrospective review for AllMusic, critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave the album two out of five stars and wrote that "Filled with bland, professional soul-pop, few of the songs have memorable melodies and the band tends to meander through the slick arrangements." also noting that "Weller's lyrics were self-important and under-developed, with only the hit single "It Didn't Matter" making a lasting impression among the undistinguished songs that comprised the majority of the album."[4]

In 1991, the NME included the album in a list of fourteen albums that "should've been an EP".[5]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Paul Weller, except where noted. 

Side one
No. TitleWriter(s) Length
1. "It Didn't Matter"  
 5:44
2. "Right to Go"  
 5:10
Side two
No. Title Length
3. "Heavens Above"   6:10
4. "Fairy Tales"   4:08
Side three
No. TitleWriter(s) Length
5. "Angel"  
 4:31
6. "Walking the Night"    4:30
Side four
No. Title Length
7. "Waiting"   4:26
8. "The Cost of Loving"   4:19
9. "A Woman's Song"   3:02
Total length:
 42:12

Personnel

The Style Council
Guest musicians
Session musicians
Production team

Charts

Peak positions

Original release
Chart Peak
Position
Dutch Albums Chart[6] 23
German Albums Chart[7] 45
NZ Albums Chart[8] 6
Swedish Albums Chart[9] 46
UK Albums Chart[10] 2
US Billboard Chart[11] 122

Certification

Region Certification Sales/shipments
United Kingdom (BPI)[12] Gold 100,000

^shipments figures based on certification alone

See also

References

Citations
  1. 1 2 Allmusic review
  2. ↑ NME (London, England: IPC Media): 3. 10 March 1984. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. ↑ http://www.wellerworld.co.uk/Uncut.html
  4. ↑ Allmusic review
  5. ↑ NME November 1991 issue.
  6. ↑ "NL Charts > Alexander O'Neal". MegaCharts. Retrieved 2012-05-26.
  7. ↑ "Musicload Album Charts". Musicload.de. Retrieved 26 September 2010.
  8. ↑ "Discografie The Style Council". DutchCharts.nl. Retrieved 2011-12-03.
  9. ↑ "SWE Charts > Alexander O'Neal". Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 2012-05-26.
  10. ↑ "Chart Stats - The Style Council". theofficialcharts.com. Retrieved 2011-12-03.
  11. ↑ "Chart Stats - The Style Council". allmusic.com. Retrieved 2011-12-03.
  12. ↑ "British album certifications – The Style Council – The Cost of Loving". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 8 June 2015. Enter The Cost of Loving in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Gold in the field By Award. Click Search

External links

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