The Gift was The Jam's final studio album, in which Weller strove to bring as close to perfection as was humanly possible. Plenty of its songs number among The Jam's best. It is also a fascinating glimpse of its time: of musical currents that were swirling around London and beyond. The Gift's energy was not just focused on the state of society: it had a lot to say about where music was going, what had happened to the righteous fires lit by punk, and how to remain relevant and vital when music was taking some very wrong turns indeed.
The challenge it answered was simple enough: if blaring guitars and rock poses had run out of road, what could embody the kind of passion that The Jam were all about? The answer lay in the soul music that had bled into their collective identity from the start, and a push to make it less of an influence, than a key part of who they were. Surprisingly this was the band's only No. 1 album in the UK and marked the departure from the classic Jam sound to a more soul-influenced style, ushering in Weller's ideas for the Style Council.
The Gift includes the classic UK No. 1 single "Town Called Malice" plus other highlights "Running On The Spot" and "Carnation." Looking back, some of The Jam's associates have speculated about what lay behind Weller's frantic drive to put everything he could into The Gift: increasingly of the belief that the group should break-up, Weller was simply trying ensure that their last album should be their best.
Side A
1. Happy Together
2. Ghosts
3. Precious
4. Just Who Is The 5 O'clock Hero
5. Trans-Global Express
Side B
6. Running On The Spot
7. Circus
8. Planner's Dream Goes Wrong
9. Carnation
10. Town Called Malice
11. Gift