The Style Council - Greatest Hits (2000)

Greatest Hits indeed. It cannot be argued that Paul Weller and Mick Talbot of the Style Council were not capable of creating irresistible hit singles. All of those are collected here in the course of 18 cuts. That said, there are plenty more songs here that hardly qualify as "greatest hits," and are more like filler. The killer early cuts are all stacked up: "Speak Like a Child," "Money Go Round, Pts. 1-2," the short version of "Long Hot Summer" (the band's true peak and a genuine classic), "Walls Come Tumbling Down!," "Shout to the Top!," and "My Ever Changing Moods." But "Promised Land"? "Life at a Top Peoples Health Farm"? C'mon. These last two feel like padding, as do nearly a handful of others -- "The Big Boss Groove" included. This would have made a great 12-song comp -- unbeatable -- but it feels watered down by excess.