The Style Council - Shout To The Top (Polydor)

The self-conscious searching for a sound that used to characterise the Style Council, has all but disappeared. "Shout To The Top" has Mick Talbot trading piano riffs with an orchestral backing that forms the song instead of just decorating it. And Paul Weller sounds comfortable copying no vocal style but his own. I think they just earned themselves a new fan. How does 'Cupofteano Kid' sound: (Dreadful – Ed.). (Martin Townsend, No 1, September 29, 1984)

Once more Mr Weller plunders the past to give us yet another passable imitation of those baggy-trousered soul stompers of yore. Personally, I've never been able to understand why he spends so much time and energy attempting to emulate something that's already been done - and far better - before. Must be all that capuccino. (Vici MacDonald, Smash Hits, September 27, 1984)

Playing spot-the-influence one more time - adaptations of the hard-hitting chords from "Backstabbers" and "War", a glance back to "My Ever Changing Moods", and still it sounds the freshest pop record of the week. (Paul Sexton, Record Mirror, September 29, 1984)