McCartney Album "NEW" (2013), part21

I used to be s collector- had thousands of LP-s and 45-s. Sold all that round 1990 . Since then I only bought cd-s but no completism or systematically collectong. Exept-maybe I collect-to some-point boxed sets. Before I used to sell of stuff since I didn t want a mountain of cd-s. Nowadays one gets nothing fir used cd-s-unless it s collectors items. So I don t sell many cd-s but don twanna fill another room with. Albums
So - I defintively don t want to fill my storage space with endless copies of the same album,
Streaming and downloading must be the next step.
A NEW step

 

Hey Sean, still amazed at your deep insight and thoughtful commentary on these boards!

 

Yeah- and it sure takes balls to fully apreciate the wonderful musical intelligense of Struggle. A song most certanely not made to please the faint- hearted

 

Well no... it doesn't take balls, I feel entirely confident in saying this as I am both a fan of Struggle and entirely without balls. Honest

 

Thank you, yes. I knew we'd added a new line to our cosmic address recently but couldn't remember what it was and couldn't think how to go searching for it.

 

Ok Maybe one should take balls as a methaphor. Anyway Im happy you like Struggle

 

Five reasons to like Struggle
The song got one, great heavy groove
Paul McCartney voice has a Lennonesque bite that hardly been heard since Old Siam Sir
The blending if instruments,effective use of very few chords and great harmonyvocaks is-imo- musikval intelligense.
There is a great melody hidden within the layers of music
There are lot s of humour-ecspecially the spoken part

 

Five reason NOT to like “Struggle”:
1. Thin, affected falsetto vocal
2. Repetitive backing track that goes nowhere after 20 seconds
3. Awful poseur spoken word sections
4. Annoying “doorbell” like sound effect/instrument that won’t shut the hell up
5. Cluttered digital sounding production

 

Refreshing to see an opinion expressed with specific points to support it. A well-earned "like".

I've tried the album with and without "Struggle", I'd say it's better without. But as a "b-side"/"obscurity" it does have enough in it to make it interesting for me.

 

Or Lovely Rita

 

Love it!

 

Walmart is listing NEWest for $24.87...

 

I t s nice to see I wasn t the only one who likes Struggle.!For manu years I thought I was the only one who actually enjoyed Temporary Secretary. I was wrong with that . Great that some of us like Pauls more eccentric stuff,

 

I like Temporary Secretary too! I didn't at first but then it just sort of hit me and now I love it. Also a big fan of Secret Friend! I love some of Paul's offbeat stuff.

 

Secrer friend is another gem. McCartney 2 actually is one of my favourute Macca albums. But it took me more than 20 year to get the greatness of that album. Maccas more eccentrix sides can be extremet rewarding if one listen with open mind.! Check my Machine is another somewshat odd but very nice track

 

I like "Struggle" for it's goofiness. "For No One" it ain't, but that's why it didn't appear on the core album except in Japan.
It's a fun little repetitive groove thing with silly "pronouncements", melody and lyrics that were probably given five minutes thought, with odd sounds thrown in like backwards cymbals, etc..Paul in his non commercial ultra loose mode.

It's a trifle. A little sound piece. Nothing more, nothing less,but I like the sound of it.

But then, I'm the guy that likes "Meat Free Monday," the "Oobu Joobu" song, and can listen to the full 6 minutes or so of "Christmas Time Is Here Again" once in awhile. And. unlike "Hosanna", the lyrics will not inspire debate here.

 

Well said!

 

The song has really grown on me, after I initially dismissed it. Now that I have heard it so many times, I can recognise and enjoy the melody, and even the spoken word parts acts as bridges, so they also now make sense to me. I love the strange instrumentation and production choices, and I think that in many ways, the song would have gone nicely on Electric Arguments.

 

I fully agree with both of you; I love Secret Friend, Sruggle, Check My Machine and Temporary Secretary. I think that it is a shame that Paul did not write more songs like Secret Friend in the early 80's. I would love to hear a whole album like Secret Friend.

 

Yes, I love all the "Electric Arguments" things. It's one of my favorite albums Paul has done. I've mentioned it before , but I can draw a straight line from the ultra creative Paul McCartney of 66-68 to the Paul McCartney of "Electric Arguments". It sounds like the same guy.Drawing a straight line from ultra creative 66-68 Paul, to say... the Paul McCartney of "Pipes Of Peace"..not so much.

 

I discovered a new reason to "Appreciate" "New" yesterday when I grabbed "Memory Almost Full" on the way out the door, having not listened to it in a long time, and played it in the car during the course of the day. I realized how much stronger "New" is front start to finish than MAF and I even found myself skipping most tracks on it.

 

Okay, maybe not a straight line lol! Just think of "Pipes of Peace" as the place where "Honey Pie" and "Ob-La-Di- Ob-La-Da" went to grow old. "Pipes of Peace" is the pop/Disney side of Paul. Love that too but the more creative side is funner and more atmospheric.

 

Strangely, New has made me appreciate MAF more than I did beforehand.

I see New as a mixture of MAF, KOTB, Electric Arguments and Chaos, and it has made me enjoy those four releases all the more. In my opinion, New has the diverse and high quality songwriting of Chaos, the glossy sheen, ambition and catchiness of MAF, the considered and well worked out vocal phrasings and upper register singing of KOTB and the experimental and improvised feel of Electronic Arguments.

I now enjoy songs like the bonus track Why So Blue, Mr. Bellamy, You Tell Me and House Of Wax even more, because I can imagine them being on New, or at least pointing ahead to it. That Was Me sounds connected to On My Way To Work due to their shared autobiographical nature, and The End Of The End is like the opposite version of Early Days. Save Us has a similar attitude to Only Mama Knows and New is his catchiest 'could have been a hit' single since Ever Present Past.

 

Mr. Bellamy and Vintage Clothes remind me of Beatle Paul. Love MAF but I think New has the edge. MAF is a nice mixture of Beatle Paul and Wings and NEW is his whole career put in a blender and reconfigured into something ... "NEW"

 

Another great opportunity to exercise your constitutional right of freedom of choice. Me, I'm in for the "Newish" rerelease with the bonus goodies. Thanks Sir Paul," can I have another?"