A Parting Gift: The Jam at Wembley

During this week in 1982 the Jam played were playing a five night stand at the Wembley Arena. Paul Weller had announced the band's breakup - at their commercial peak - just over a month earlier. Within a week of the fifth show, they played their farewell gig.

The show, from the second night's show, was released with five other shows in the Fire and Skill boxed set.

It's a retrospective set, with something from each stage of the band's career, although they seem to have skipped the Modern World lp.

I still prefer their first live album, Dig the New Breed, issued the day before their last gig. It is culled from several shows from 1977 to spring of 1982. It wasn't well received at the time, but I don't understand why. It bests the Wembley show with each track that the two releases share. The sound quality is great, the energy is high.

Maybe it could be faulted for missing some tunes, but I wouldn't know how to make room.

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