"[1] The album as a whole retained some of the funk influences displayed by The Style Council, particularly on "I Didn't Mean To Hurt You" and "Remember How We Started".

However, the explicit political leanings of The Style Council are abandoned, with the lyrical themes visited on the album being much more personal.

"[11] Steve Sutherland lambasted the album in Melody Maker, calling it "utterly bereft of virtue in the same way as a Paul McCartney record is" and suggesting that Weller's "muse is dead".

[7] Entertainment Weekly's Jim Farber favourably compared the record's sound to that of the Style Council, "only now with a high spark.

"[5] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic later wrote that Paul Weller "is sometimes overlooked, but it's one of his finest records, a smooth, soulful excursion pitched precisely between the sophisticated swing of the Style Council and the rustic rock of Wild Wood."