The Vastly Underrated Solo Work of Paul McCartney

a passionate defence of Paul McCartney's 1970s solo debut "McCartney"



from my own blog obviously.

Aloha !

Jack, the album is shit, everyone knows this.

As for them being a good look into what this man does in the studio when he's just ****ing around it's a good document, but it should never have been put together as a full studio album. The same counts for McCartney II by the way, which was recorded while Wings was falling apart and he was in a similar situation as the one he was in shortly after The Beatles broke up.

Yes, some of his ideas worked, but most didn't. Yes, some melodies are great, but a good line or 2 doesn't save a song, The Lovely Linda being a good example for that. What's the point of putting something like that on an album while all he had to do was wait for a few months and create something out of it. Man We Was Lonely, Junk, That Would Be Something, Maybe I'm Amazed and Every Night are good/great songs, but that's 5 out of 13. As for the rest; they're standing in the shadow of the b-sides Oasis released later in their career.

What McCartney showed was that without a man on his side who was able to tell him when something is shit, he lacked direction. Especially after Wings he didn't take no for an answer and pretty much thought he knew what was best. It gave us rehashes of Beatles songs though, of which George Harrison said "He really ran out of good songs of his own".

His career only revived when Elvis Costello got involved in 1988 which was a good 10 years later after the last great Wings album, and My Brave Face, written with Costello) became his first real hit in years. Yet a few good songs didn't make a great album, and it really took him about 20 years to come up with something as a good as Band On The Run, something that could stand the test of time; Flaming Pie. That album was inspired by the limitless hours of listening to old Beatles material, and found him fresh and inspired as an artist, re-inventing himself by not trying to be the most popular act in the world, but just by creating simple songs with great melodies.

So yes, some of these melodies on McCartney might be catchy, but that's all there really is to McCartney. A few good songs and some nice melodies here and there. Apart from that it's just a document that shows how broken up McCartney really was after The Beatles falling apart.

Salaam Aleikum,
Sebastiaan

Perhaps nice to know as sidenote:
The name for that album also has its origins from the beatles-era where John Lennon always gave weird answers to the question how they came up with the band's name. One of the stories Lennon once told was that an alien in a flaming pie came from the sky and told them to call the band The Beatles.
Flaming Pie is indeed a very good album and my story above adds to the one my brother wrote about paul being inspired by the beatles.

On-topic: I dont know those McCartney albums and that might already mean they aint worth getting because otherwise I probably would have known them already. Based on how you 2 respond on the re-release I dont miss out on anything fancy

I salute you,
TS

The pissabout feel is why I like it. It's not exactly a major artistic statement (RAM MOTHERFUCKER) but all the songs I mentioned and probably ones I didn't too (what's the one at the beginning of the album with some mega-catchy acoustic riff that he just couldn't be arsed writing any lyrics to?) are some good stuff. Admittedly it works better judged as one of his Fireman, classical, nonsense bullshit vanity projects than as a full blown chart-rapin' studio album. I like McCartney II too! TEMPORARY SECRETARY!!!

Flaming Pie yeah that's a good 'un too.

"For a while we could sit, smoke a pipe
and discuss all the vast intricacies of life"

that's my shit right there! Paul actually writing good songs! Ringo on drums! George Martin on a nostalgia trip and Jeff Lynne living out his sickest Beatles fantasies! Steve Miller on gui....wait fuck Steve Miller.

In short, Paul McCartney is the man and we should all model ourselves on him. Hell, I for one am recording an instrumental version of my second album and releasing it under a stupid name, marrying a woman with one leg and getting deported from Japan RIGHT THIS MINUTE! What a hero of a man.

(unless we're talking the 80s when he sucked dong)

also can a mod rename this thread to something about Paul McCartney?

For me, it has three cracking McCartney songs on ... Junk, Every Night and Maybe I'm Amazed, all of which I think are fantastic. The rest I'd rather live without!

Great thread! Shame everyone in it is wrong except for me.

I listened to McCartney II last night. Waterfalls! Temporary Secretary! Coming Up! Check My Machine! YEAH! GREAT ALBUM. Great synthy bullshit, as ever some bangin' choons too. Even the bad songs are terrible in a funny and entertaining way.

Wild Life is good too if you wanna hear a load of people who are really really really really really stoned just jamming some random-ass poppy ideas under the pretense that they're a good ol' proper rock band rather than a global superstar and some lesser talents. Did I mention they're super stoned? It's the most mindlessly repetitive shit ever.

Obviously I also like the albums of this guy that are actually considered to be good.

wow threads about other music die quickly on here. it's not like it was about a super-indie artist or anything.

Must say I've never understood what's so great about him solo. I liked the Wings stuff but his solo stuff just don't do anything for me other than maybe fall asleep...zzz

I still honestly believe Band On The Run is one of the best records to come from any member of The Beatles, whether together or solo. Corking stuff.