mail: daniel_fjall@hotmail.com
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mccartney ram wild life band on the run venus and mars tug of war flowers in the dirt off the ground paul is live flaming pie run devil run driving rain back in the world chaos and creation in the back yard concert review - stockholm 2003/05/04
McCartney Paul McCartney booked several studios around London under different names and recorded this album during the turbulence of the Beatles-breakup. Paul had always been known to be the one that wanted perfect productions and after all, he was the man behind Sgt. Pepper and the Abbey Road-medley, so it was quite a surprise when he released this. He plays all instruments himself and the result is a rough, home-made sounding collection of songs. Not that it should put you off, because there are still good songs to be found. The beautiful ballads "Junk" and "Every Night", for instance. The "Why Don’t We Do It In The Road"-sequal "That Would Be Something" and "Teddy Boy" are other stand-outs. The real winner here is "Maybe I’m Amazed". A great love song with a lot of soul feeling to it. Which means one of Macca’s best vocal performances ever, good guitars and a heavenly organ that comes in towards the end. A far cry from "Michelle", indeed. It may take a while for it to sink in, but remember that McCartney always was a master of melody and hooks and there is plenty of both to be found here.
Ram Ok, second time around Paul put a band together. The album is far more produced than it’s proceedor, but still has a home cooked, Sunday afternoon feeling to it. Paul is having a lot of fun and delivers not only great melody hooks, but also lyrically. Personal favorites here are the leightweight, acoustic, country based "Heart of The Country", the wonderful vocal harmonies of "Dear Boy" that reminds of Simon & Garfunkel’s version of the old folk song "Scarborough Fair", and the unquestionable optimisim in The "Back Seat of My Car". The coda is something special. The choir repeats the line “We believe that we can’t be wrong” over and over, then there’s a short break and Paul screams “Yeah, we believe that we can’t be wrong” just with the same energy as he used in "Hey Jude" three years earlier. It’s stunning and a worthy album closer. Also worth mentioning is that this album pissed Lennon off so much that he ended up writing the not-so-friendly "How Do You Sleep?". Still, a great album from one of the greats.
Wild Life This is the first Wings album. Unfortunately there’s not much here to be happy about. It’s not bad or anything, but there is nothing that will catch your attention. With a few exceptions. "Dear Friend" for instance. A piano based song that was written by Paul as an attempt to make peace with John after their latest fight in the public eye. It doesn’t go anywhere, really, but it sounds different to everything else on here with it’s minor chords and a quite memorable melody. The cd-version has some bonus tracks tucked in at the end, and they are not any worse than the other material. Actually, some of them are better. Paul’s first openly political song, "Give Ireland Back To Irish" is a good sing-along number and got banned by the BBC (Paul had another song banned around this time as well, the single "Hi Hi Hi"). Another highlight is the gentle "Mama’s Little Girl" that is based on fine vocals and nice acoustic guitar playing. This album is for completists only, and hardcore fans will probably only enjoy the bonus tracks, if anything at all.
Band On The Run Everybody knows this as Paul’s finest album, and it probably would have been if he hadn’t released Ram three years earlier. Anyway, everybody knows the title track and probably the following song, "Jet", as well. The other songs may not be as direct and single friendly, but a solid album this is indeed. Paul wanted to record the album in Africa, but the band didn’t. He was left with Denny Laine and his wife, Linda, as the only musicians. This means that Paul is back playing most of the instruments again. Drums, bass, guitar, keyboards, flute.. You name it! The album is silly, catchy, philosophical and thoughtful at the same time. A good pop-album.
Venus And Mars I know I’ve been mentioning Paul’s talent to write a good melody, but this time around it’s really true. The melodies are beautiful, catchy and always surrounded by the right musical arrangements. The title track is a slow ballad about some guy sitting and waiting for the show to begin, and suddenly the show do begin when "Venus And Mars" slowly leads into "Rock Show" without a break. A good rocker with a lot of changes in mood to keep you interested the whole way through. "Letting Go" must have one of the best intros Paul ever came up with. The way each instrument comes in one after one builds up a good moody song. "Medicine Jar" was written by guitarist McCulloch, and it holds it’s ground just fine. The single of the album was "Listen To What The Man Said". A leightweight number of the kind that puts people off. Still it’s catchy, got a steady rhythm and once again the melody is really good. A guilty pleasure of mine. Oh, "Love In Song" might just be one of the best ballads Paul ever wrote. And it’s not a tear jerker at all. Love his vocals on that one. Especially when he sings the line “Happiness in the homeland”. Magnificent.
Tug of War Christ’s! It’s Wild Life all over again! This album has nothing appealing to it. Two songs, that’s it. The sad tribute song to Lennon, "Here Today", and maybe the duet with Stevie Wonder at the end. Other than that, nothing. No edge, safe production (thanks mr Martin, by the way), no emotion. Well... There are people out there who thinks this is a winner. It’s not as bad as Press To Play, but come on! It ain’t no tuchdown either!
Flowers In The Dirt This is more like it! Yes, the production still isn’t any way near to the one in the 70’s and the album really isn’t that different to Pipes of Peace or Tug of War. The biggest change is in the most important section of any album. Not in the vocal delivery, not in the band or the producer’s chair, but in the songs. The quality of the songs is so much higher here and Flowers In The Dirt is probably the best album from Paul since, well, Venus And Mars. He did some changes of course. Foremost, he stopped working with mr no-tallent Eric Stewart (10cc) and rang up good ol’ Elvis Costello instead. The songs they wrote together are easily the best here, with some competition from "Put It There". The joy, the inspiration and the self-confidence is back and Paul’s on a roll again.
Off The Ground Paul shows that the last album wasn’t just all luck. Still got his magic touch. The title track is just wonderful, yes the chorus might be just a bit too much, but none the less, a great song it is. It seems like his collaboration with Costello was really fruitful, some more songs from those sessions ends up here. Also, after John died Paul put out some political and ideoligical songs in a way he hadn’t done before. Here it’s evident in songs such as "C’mon People" and "Looking For Changes". We also get one of his patented storytelling songs (think "Eleanor Rigby", "Rocky Racoon" etc), "Biker Like An Icon". You can tell that this album is from the 90’s, but sounds nowhere as dated as Tug of War or Pipes of Peace. Still going strong!
Paul Is Live What is most striking about this live album is the cover. It’s a parody on the Beatles’ own Abbey Road cover that eventually led to rumors about Paul being dead. In 1969 Paul crossed the very same street, but without his shoes which apparently is a sign for death according to some extreme religious movement and the car in the background had a plate saying ’28 IF’, meaning that Paul would have been 28 years old if he’d still been alive. That Paul actually was 27 at the time didn’t seem to matter. In the 90’s Paul wisely put his shoes on and the registration number on the car says ’51 IS’. The title also suggest that he is still alive. Not so sure about the dog on the cover, though. Anyway, it is good that the cover tells us he is very much alive, because the music sure isn’t. It sounds good and is well played, but there is not too much energy put into the performances. If you ever been to a McCartney live show, you know that is not the case. He usually have a great time, the songs rocks and the ballads are beautiful. The audience is amazing and enjoys every second of the concert and it makes you feel good. These are things hard to transfer through your cd-player, though, making it easy questioning why the man even bothers going on tour (Wings Over America being one major exception). Yet, Paul’s voice is in fairly good shape and the songwriting is of course among the very best around. “Let Me Roll It” is probably the only number managing to sound better than the original studio recordings. Still, being treated with some odd songs like “Magical Mystery Tour” and “Kansas City” is pleasant surprises and at towards the end of the album we are even giving some new songs performed at the soundchecks before the shows. “A Fine Day” probably is the best of them and a rearranged version of “I Wanna Be Your Man” is good fun. If you already own all Beatle-albums and Off The Ground there’s really no reason to buy Paul Is Live. Unless you’re a freak, like me, that needs to hear everything the man puts out.
Flaming Pie This album was for some reason hailed as the great comeback album. Nothing could be more wrong. Not that I don’t like this album, I do, but the truth is that Paul released good albums during the past 10 years. Sure not very consistant stream of releases, but still good albums. No stinker for miles. Back to the pie. Again, Paul handles most of the instruments, even though he gets some help from ELO-dictator Jeff Lynne whom he’d been working with on the Beatles Anthology-project. The result is good, actually. Lotsa acoustic guitars, lotsa playing with words and George Martin helps out on a few tracks. Steve Miller is guesting with his lead guitar on a couple of songs. Paul also wrote a song with Ringo for the very first time. Probably Paul was jamming in the studio and Ringo happened to sit behind those drums and got some credit. I dunno. Filler it is. The gorgeous "Beautiful Night" is also worth mentioning. Produced by George Martin it stands as one of McCartney’s finest ballads (and that is saying a lot!) and could have been a perfect album closer. Now they sneaked in "Great Day" at the end. An acoustic ditty that recalls the McCartney-album released back in 1970 and "Her Majesty" on the Abbey Road. Overall a good album and few artists of Macca’s generation was this consistent at this time in their careers.
Run Devil Run This is Paul going back to his roots and playing some of his favourite rock songs from his teenage-years. Hey! Wait a minute, you say? And ask if Paul didn’t already released an album with old time rock covers? Sure did! But the albums aren’t that similar. First of all, Run Devil Run rocks harder, has more obscure stuff and actually one or two McCartney-penned songs. As I said previously, this is Paul revisiting his roots. And the reason for doing so is probably because of the death of his wife. This is no different than Clapton going back to his roots on MTV Unplugged and From The Cradle. The music is probably the only thing that helps them through the grief. Both of them have been doing drugs through the years, but as far as I know they’re sobre now. So, when not turning to drugs to ease their pain they turn to the music, which I guess is almost as good. So here we have Sir Paul singing the songs he loved as a kid, just to bring back some joy to his life and you know what? I think it worked! Run Devil Run isn’t only a tool for Paul to get over his pain. It’s also a very pleasant listen. McCartney approaches the songs in the right way. Hard, dirty and loud.
Driving Rain The first real album from Paul after Linda passed away. In the meantime he had found a new woman which seems to do him good. Still, the void after his wife is all over this record. But I don’t mind. It’s a good record. Really is. There are quite a few fillers, though. For some reason this new cd-format has changed peoples attitude against the albums. It’s seems like the quality no longer is that important, what’s important is that you use every second possible. If Driving Rain had been released in the vinyl days, it could have been Paul’s best album since... Since Ram, probably. As it is now... Well... The good songs makes up for the bad so I can easily give it an 8 without feeling strange about it. And the bad songs aren’t really bad, just annonymous. Be sure to check out the lenghty "Rinse The Raindrops" which almost sounds more like King Crimson rather than Paul McCartney! I adore it. Good vocals, as well as on "Lonely Road", "From A Lover To A Friend" and "About You". Paul’s new lady friend, Heather is honored with a few songs that are forgettable. Yet another good release from Paul. Wonder what happens next?
Back In The World Most people puts down Paul solo work and particularly his live albums. I’m fine with his live albums. I think of them as giving me the chance to see what I missed or possible didn’t have to experience. Sure, we all know that Paul’s a crowd pleasing bastard, but it’s impossible to fail with these songs, right? Sure, you can always have wished he’d played other stuff (“Junior’s Farm”, for instance!), but nothing to really complain about. This release feels like a money-making project. There is a European-version (this one) and an American-version. There is very little difference between them. Recorded during the same tour, but two or three songs are replaced by others (“C’Moon and “Freedom on the US release is replaced by “Calico Skies” and “She’s Leaving Home” on the European cd which also has “Michelle” on it. Got it?). If you look past this problem, we face really just one: Paul’s voice. It sounds great, and I mean great, in some places and in other’s not so great. It’s not what it used to be and it’s painfully obvious in “The Fool On The Hill”, “Here There And Everywhere” and “Blackbird”. On other songs such as “Jet”, Back In The USSR” and “Let Me Roll It” he sounds amazingly fresh. I mean, have you ever tried to sing along to “Let Me Roll It”? It’s a hard song to do, and Paul still manage to do it. I even prefer this version to the original on Band On The Run. It sounds thicker and bit harder than that one. A cool little tribute to George also. “Something” performed solo by Macca on George’s favorite instrument, ukelele. It’s nice, but not spectacular. Actually Paul performs a number of songs on his own here. “We Can Work It Out”, “Mother Nature’s Son”, “Every Night”, “Here Today” and “Blackbird” are all performed alone with acoustic guitar. People often complain about Paul doing note-by-note performances, “You Never Give Me Your Money” is linked with “Carry That Weight” and is done by McCartney solo on an electric piano. Sounds nothing like the studio version, which actually is a bit disappointing. There are a few surprises in the set list too. I never expected him to do “Let ‘Em In”, a Wings-classic, in 2003. The opener “Hello Goodbye” from Magical Mystery Tour and the twoSgt Pepper-numbers “She’s Leaving Home” and “Getting Better” surely were songs I never thought he would do live. “Calico Skies” from Flaming Pie!? Great band, even better songs and a relaxed McCartney at ease can’t be anything but good. I still think that Wings Over America should be your number one choice of McCartney-live albums, though. Tripping The Live Fantastic also parks ahead of this one. Most thanks to better vocals and the selections from the promoted album during that tour (Flowers In The Dirt) were more satisfying than here. If you want a document or a souvenir from McCartney’s US-tour I advice you to pick up the live DVD instead which has better performances plus funny and interesting bonus material.
Chaos And Creation In The Backyard Despite recording with a new producer and without his band, Chaos And Creation In The Backyard sounds quite similar to Driving Rain. Only difference is this time around the album feels more complete and floats along very nicely. There are no obvious missteps along the way. Also, the creativity is striking. Here, for the first time since... I really don’t know, McCartney writes songs that are built in sections, almost like a number of different songs rolled into one (think: “Band On The Run”, “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey” or “The Back Seat of My Car”). That said, the songs never sound like they are based on leftovers, randomly put together (as the magical second half of Abbey Road, for instance). On a first listen, you might be deceived to believe it is just a collection of direct and simple pop songs, but after a while the strange chords, the gorgeous arrangements and care put together into the songs becomes obvious. A song like the first single, “Fine Line”, may at first appear as “Lady Madonna” rewritten by Jeff Lynne, but give it time and you’ll find something new to enjoy with each listen. The wonderful falsetto, the harmonies, the flutes, the chewing strings, the way the songs changes between stomping piano rock to thoughtful minor chords. Whilst not all songs are downright fantastic, they keep something that makes them well worth returning to, largely tanks to the already mentioned “sections”-formula. There is always something, lurking somewhere in the songs that will make me realize that this man was a member of the fucking Beatles. Thinking about it, the Beatle-melodies never once left during his career, but having worked with so many people over the years, the feeling of that band somehow got lost. This time around, though having a Beatle playing all (well, almost all) the instruments himself, the feeling somewhat returns. It sounds authentic again and The White Album doesn’t seem so far away anymore. Chaos And Creation In The Backyard also founds McCartney further exploring the path he took with Driving Rain. That album’s darker songs like “Lonely Road” and “She Given Up Talking” are here given a whole batch of colleagues. “At The Mercy” and “Riding To Vanity Fair” especially, follow up the darker atmosphere and adds a new dimension to the McCartney catalogue. There have been gloomy songs previously in Paul’s career, but most of the time the lyrics have been sung from a third person’s point of view. Here it is Paul and no one else who is the sad, bitter one. A welcome move, although it sometimes comes across a little bit stiff. It’s minor complaints, though, considering the excellence that shines in the music. The “Blackbird”/”Mother Nature’s Son”/”Golden Earth Girl”-hybrid titled “Jenny Wren” is the highlight here. In fact, it would be a highlight on any, yes any, album released with the Beatles name on it.
Concert Review - Stockholm 2003/05/04 Paul McCartney did his first concert in Sweden in ten years the night I went to see him. I had my expectations set high, maybe unrealistically high. Most of it was full filled, though. The show was incredibly professional and tight, but still there were times for unrehearsed jokes, laughs and musical mistakes. The band rocked when appropriate and was gentle when needed. The only disappointing thing about the show was that it wasn’t very different from the CD. Paul told the audience the same jokes, slightly modified and introduced the songs with nearly the exact same words as from the US tour. At least he didn’t wave the American-flag. However, some songs had been changed and was indeed surprising. I never expected him to do the overlooked "Two of Us" from the underrated Beatles-album Let It Be (if there ever was such a thing). Too bad the performance wasn’t all that exciting, but hearing that personal favorite of mine was still very satisfying. "I’ve Just Seen A Face" was also a new addition that I didn’t see coming. Not that I mind, though. Most of the songs sounded refreshing and even improved on stage compared to the studio versions. "Jet", "Band On The Run" and "Birthday" (it was some crew members birthday, guess he just had to do it) and especially "Let Me Roll It" (ended with the intro of Jimi Hendrixs "Purple Haze"!). More shocking was how "Live And Let Die" sounded quite thin. I always expected that one to be a show stopper, but now found itself being overshadowed by simple songs such as "I Saw Her Standing There" and the acoustic ballad "Every Night". Paul had an acoustic-set in the show. All the acoustic songs was done well, but a bit overlong. I’d rather have him cut off some of those songs and do a few more rockers. Highlights of the acoustic set was "We Can Work It Out" and "Eleanor Rigby". Halfway through the latter McCartney stopped the band because he couldn’t remember the lyrics. Quickly hummed it to himself and then said: “OK, from ‘father McKenzie’”. When the band had finished the song (which sounded much better live on stage than the previously released live-versions) Paul told the audience that it was the first time ever he got that one wrong and made the audience feel special to have witnessed that extraordinary event. Finally the electric instruments are back and Macca and the band takes it up one notch. Almost each and every song from "Band On The Run" to "The End" reach new hights and most of the songs rocked uncompromised. It took a while for the audience to get warmed up, but when "Back In The U.S.S.R." started it was useless trying to resist. Rock and roll heaven came down that night and Paul surely made up for not only the acoustic set, but also for lost time during the last ten years. Sometimes the show was bit too crowd pleasing, too cute and predictable. Of course, even more often Paul and the band was cooking, the sound wasn’t too bad and the audience got what it wanted. Why complain? I still wished he’d done "Junior’s Farm", "Hi Hi Hi" and maybe "Helen Wheels". Paul took pride of his past, and why not? It’s his past he (and everybody)will forever be remembered for.
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