Those already familiar with Mr. Weller�s creative output will know already that he steadily maintained the quality of his both album AND non-album tracks throughout the years very rarely resorting to a blatant filler, so it�s not surprising that these 39 little known gems only reaffirm Paul�s status of one of England�s finest performers.

Illumination b-sides are ignored, as well as Friday Street single � all contained live recordings of the album tracks, therefore were probably considered not interesting enough to be represented here. It is probably the only real let down of Fly On The Wall, though.

Among the original songs (which make the bulk of this release) the highlights include I Shall Be Released (really touching ballad about� e-e-eh� redemption), The Riverbank (this could easily have been а single instead of Brand New Start, from flipside of which this makes its way here � Weller at its most romantic best), Bang Bang (another soulful number, it uses the sentiment of �growing up�-sadness to the full extent without sidestepping into clich� for even one second), Everything Has A Price To Pay in its 1997 version, the really rather funky All Year Round, which strangely reminds of Sting (no, not voice-wise).

Remixes undoubtedly deserve a mention too, as every single one of them included here is brilliant in its own way. Portishead treatment of Wild Wood still sounds as emotionally unnerving as it did first time around in 1998. Kosmos and Science remixes by Lynch Mob � although less faithful to the their respected original melodies then remix of Wild Wood � are thrilling enough exercises in updating Weller�s songwriting with a good dosage of modern beats. Oh, and 8-track demo of Into Tomorrow (although not technically remix, of course) may easily give the original run for its money, full stop.

Which brings us to the instrumentals. Oh yes, boy, do Paul Weller love instrumentals � and it shows. Burying the idea of releasing the full-length LP of instrumentals, Fly On The Wall nonetheless delivers most of the joys that could have been experienced � fucked-up psychedelic work-out that is So You Want To Be A Dancer, its little brother with Indian echoes and frankly disturbing atmosphere Heliocentric, country-flavoured Eye Of The Storm, Always There To Fool You, which is essentially funked-up instrumental of Uh-Huh Oh-Yeh, and many more�

What about the weak points? Well, of course, there�s (first and foremost) Here�s A New Thing that sounds unlike anything from Weller solo-material being more reminiscent of his Style Council stuff. It is nothing more than a dancey track that hasn�t aged well (ok, to be perfectly honest, it sounds awfully dated), but its inclusion here perfectly serves the point of showcasing the places (and times, of course) Weller was coming from before the very beginning of his solo-career. A cover of Don�t Let Me Down, which was previously unreleased, sounds pretty ordinary, despite the fact that Paul does indeed try his hardest to breathe some life into it. But it�s the last thing on Fly On The Wall and might as well serve perfectly in the �get one�s breath finally after listening to 3 CDs one by one while the last song�s still playing� sort of sense. Inclusion of That Spiritual Feeling in its Sunflower single version (known as New Mix) would have been more welcome� But hey, all in all without these tracks Fly On The Wall would have sounded way too perfect and, just in case, you still know where your skip button is, right?

The greatest thing about this compilation is not even its overall quality (or quantity) of material, but the fact that it can be fully appreciated by both Weller competists and newcomers alike. And that perhaps makes it not only the ultimate flipsides compilation of 2003, but one of the greatest releases of this kind ever.

4.5/5