Our Favourite Shop,
the Style Council's second proper album, was still quite eclectic, but it didn't seem as schizophrenically diverse as
Cafe Bleu.
Paul Weller had been able to incorporate his soul and jazz experiments into his songwriting, writing the fine "Walls Come Tumbling Down," "Come to Milton Keynes," "Boy Who Cried Wolf," and "Down in the Seine," which were some of his best songs for
the Style Council. The occasional misguided experiment remained -- the stiff funk of "The Internationalists" and the self-righteous "The Stand Up Comic's Instructions" were particularly embarrassing -- but the record was more cohesive and stronger than the debut. In America, the album was released without "Our Favourite Shop" and retitled Internationalists. [The 2006 Polydor edition greatly expands the original track listing by including a 21-track bonus CD.] ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine