McCartney Album "NEW" (2013), part22

I just heard "Hell To Pay" for the first time, and it didn't grab me. Of course, this is not the first time a new Paul song did not appeal to me... I didn't think much of the song "New" at first, nor the NEW album... and I wound up loving both with repeated listens (except for "Appreciate" and "Road", which have not improved for me).

I'm not wild about the way Paul keeps saying "hell to pay", as if he's come up short for words. Yes, I'm sure there will be all sorts of past Macca examples of songs where Paul seemingly did the same thing and I liked it... but something here doesn't work for me.

 

Wow, I love Demon's Dance. Insanely catchy.

 

Just got the new "NEW" tonight from my local. Here are some photos for those curious about the set. The last photo lists some times for the extra video material so people can see what kind of time is dedicated to each segment. I'm going to listen to the two NEW songs first and then take a glance at the DVD and will report back.

 

More photos ...

 

Okay, I listened to the two new songs and glanced through the DVD.

The NEW songs:
I think "Hell to Play" is the stronger of the two. Nice hook, nice vocal. Very rocky and very good. Doesn't seem as strong to me as the main album but very good.

"Demons Dance" is to me like a cross between "Flaming Pie" and a speed up "English Tea". More humorous and lighthearted like "Flaming Pie". I like it but it's not quite as strong on first listen as "Struggle" which is still a favorite. Still a good track. Both worth having and make this edition a must.

Of the two I could see "Hell to Pay" on the album maybe but while good they don't seem to fit as well as the rest of the songs on the album.

The four live tracks were produced by Giles Martin and sound GREAT! "Save Us" comes across as much more aggressive than the album take. LOVE these live versions, they really shine.

The DVD:
The Something New documentary is fun. Looks the same as the Japanese deluxe minus the Japanese captions.

New interview is good, same as what's on You Tube.

The promo tour are short behind the scenes - most 1 to 2 minutes long, some 3 minutes - shot at each stop mentioned. Some were very interesting some were shots of the audience reaction but nice. Nothing that actually aired on the promo tours so a little disappointing but fun to watch.

The highlight of this disc are the videos which look great and the three making of videos which are about 8 minutes each. I really enjoyed those documentaries the most.

The DVD is nice but a tad of a letdown in that it would have been great to have a song or two from the actual shows from the promo tour but fun to watch. Essential depends on how much you like behind the scenes stuff which I do.

 

Okay, just played the NEW tracks a couple of more times. "Demons Dance" is really growing on me. Very much a twin to "Flaming Pie" in feel with a bit of "English Tea" thrown in. Both tracks are worth owning for sure - very strong!

 

I'll take On My Way to Work over pretty much anything on "McCartney" except Maybe I'm Amazed, Every Night and Junk.

 

One thing we can agree on is that the sequencing really gives each half its own sort of feel and sound. It becomes a matter of taste when you decide you which half you like better, of course. (and when I say "half", for me, what I mean to say is I prefer everything up to and through Hosanna, and after that I'm far less interested. )

 

Thanks for the report on the dvd - makes me sure that cancelling this today was the right decision for me, for now at least. I'd feared that the Promo Tour stuff would be pretty insubstantial, but had hoped for some full songs at least.

Glad to hear the rest sounds good, though! I'm sure I'll pick this set up eventually...

Edited to add: just found that the bonus cd is now on the (Australian) iTunes Store. So I guess I'll be able to get the new tracks after all!

 

I'm listening to the two ""New" tracks as I write this. I'll be contrary to most others, Struggle, Demon's Dance, and Hell To Pay all sound like very good bonus tracks but bonus tracks none the less.

I really like Demon's Dance by far the best...hmm maybe it would be good enough to be an album track? Fun bass line, very late sixties Paul. Hell To Pay is to me a step down from Demon, but still superior to Struggle. I have always liked Struggle, but it is the most b-side sounding of anything from the "New" sessions.

The "New" sessions impress me about the same as the "Chaos" sessions and that is saying a lot! Wish there was a Chaos Collection that featured all of the songs from those sessions!

 

New 2013
1. "Alligator" Mark Ronson 3:27
2. "On My Way to Work" Giles Martin 3:43
3. "Queenie Eye" Epworth 3:47
4. "New" Ronson 2:56
5. "Appreciate" Martin 4:28
6. "Everybody Out There" Martin 3:21
7. "Hosanna" Johns 3:29
8. "Struggle" Epworth
9. "Hell to Pay"

Newer 2014
1. "I Can Bet" Martin 3:21
2. "Early Days" Ethan Johns 4:07
3. "Demon's Dance"
4. "Turned Out" Johns, additional work by Martin 2:59
5. "Looking at Her" Martin 3:05
6. "Get Me Out of Here"
7. "Save Us" Paul Epworth
8. "Scared" Martin
9. "Road" Epworth

Yeah, that's about right!

 

I somehow agree - the bonus-tracks are very good as such. After repeated listening I also find Demon dance the best of the two new ones. Mainly because it have one of those effortless melodies that seems to come so easy for Paul. Struggle I always found a pretty great experiment. But I wouldn t switch any of these three songs from the ones on the proper album were the sequencing and mixture of songs are brilliant.
Alltogether Paul must have been on a creative roll during the New sessions .
I actually can t say which albums I like the best Chaos or New. Both these albums are stunning and well-crafted albums that imo holds up well with anything in Maccas catalogue. Memory is a good album for sure-but more patchy and fragmented than the two others.
If Macca decides to make another album I wouldn t mind a scaled down acoustic album with songs in the Early days mode . But I guess time will tell

 

Paul's voice sounds really good on both these tracks! Wonder when they were recorded during the sessions?

 

Maybe this?

New 2013
1. "Alligator" Mark Ronson 3:27
2. "On My Way to Work" Giles Martin 3:43
3. "Queenie Eye" Epworth 3:47
4. "New" Ronson 2:56
5. "Appreciate" Martin 4:28
6. "Everybody Out There" Martin 3:21
7. "Hosanna" Johns 3:29
8. "Hell to Pay"
9. "Struggle" Epworth
Hidden Track - "Cut Me Some Slack"

Newer 2014
1. "I Can Bet" Martin 3:21
2. "Early Days" Ethan Johns 4:07
3. "Demon's Dance"
4. "Turned Out" Johns, additional work by Martin 2:59
5. "Looking at Her" Martin 3:05
6. "Get Me Out of Here"
7. "Save Us" Paul Epworth
8. "Scared" Martin
9. "Road" Epworth
Hidden Track - "Hope For The Future"

 

He probably recorded them in Brazil. Paul is treated like a god there, and maybe he believes it when he is there.

Arnie

 

Hey, Ray. I'll post "Penina" again if you don't watch your step. I know that's like "kryptonite" to you.

Arnie

 

Isn t he a god?
I think he became a god when he released Mary had a little lamb. Oddities like Yesterday and Eleanor Rigby only made him a semi -god
And when he released We all stand together he became a frog-god
Not to mention he is a koala-Bear-god
Of course also a gnu-god

 

But in Brazil, they are now treating Paul like God (the big one with the uppercase letter).

Arnie

 

Ok
And as I mentioned a frog-god, a koala-Bear god and a Gnu-god
Coming soon- God

 

Well, I made playlist of these and they worked surprisingly fantastic, but I've changed around a couple of tracks on each album so it's a little smoother now. Changes are in bold type.

New 2013
1. "Alligator" Mark Ronson 3:27
2. "On My Way to Work" Giles Martin 3:43
3. "Queenie Eye" Epworth 3:47
4. "New" Ronson 2:56
5. "Appreciate" Martin 4:28
6. "Everybody Out There" Martin 3:21
7. "Struggle" Epworth
8. "Hell to Pay"
9. "Hosanna" Johns 3:29
Hidden Track - "Cut Me Some Slack"

Newer 2014
1. "I Can Bet" Martin 3:21
2. "Early Days" Ethan Johns 4:07
3. "Demon's Dance"
4. "Turned Out" Johns, additional work by Martin 2:59
5. "Looking at Her" Martin 3:05
6. "Save Us" Paul Epworth
7. "Get Me Out of Here"
8. "Scared" Martin
9. "Road" Epworth
Hidden Track - "Hope For The Future"

 

I hope the 2 bonus tracks (Hell To Pay and Demons Dance) are available separately in the USA too. That would be ideal for people like me who don't need the whole set and just want the bonus studio tracks.

Arnie

 

Paul's "New White album"

Side One
1. "Alligator" Mark Ronson 3:27
2. "On My Way to Work" Giles Martin 3:43
3. "Queenie Eye" Epworth 3:47
4. "New" Ronson 2:56
5."Hell to Pay"

Side Two
6. "Appreciate" Martin 4:28"
7. "Struggle" Epworth
8. " Everybody Out There" Martin 3:21
9. "Hosanna" Johns 3:29
10."Cut Me Some Slack"

Side Three
1. "I Can Bet" Martin 3:21
2. "Early Days" Ethan Johns 4:07
3. "Demon's Dance"
4. "Looking at Her" Martin 3:05
5. "Turned Out" Johns, additional work by Martin 2:59

Side Four
6. "Road" Epworth
7. "Scared" Martin
8. "Save Us" Paul Epworth
9. "Hope For The Future"
10."Get Me Out of Here"

Fantasy Paul McCartney Interview "You know, some folks have started calling it "The 'New' White Album," but that is way too pretentious don't you think?" Paul then winks at the interviewer, and repeats the same line in the next 40 interviews that he has about the album.

 

This is great, exactly the sort of thing that I meant. I am going to have to make a playlist of this. Cut Me Some Slack and Hope both suit the diversity of the album, and would be good additions IMO.

I think that Paul would have received a lot of praise if he had released this; it would have been an incredibly strong and diverse double album for a man of any age, let alone a man in his 70's.

 

Yes, but my earlier comp flows better as a one or two playlist listening experience. This one is designed to be played as 4 separate listening experiences or playlists for the album sides. At least pause and take a breath between each of the four sides. I've changed up the order quite a bit to provide for this type of listening experience especially side four. I just edited it and moved Hell To Pay to close out Side One. I've tried to make the beginning and ending of all four sides have the most unique and powerful tracks, imho. I like how the double album now closes with "Get Me Out Of Here" echoes of the White Album closing out with "Good Night."