McCartney Press to Play

Forget about sound quality for a minute... What is the general opinion of this record as a record?

Thoughts???

 

My opinion

I found it to be his worse album and I'm a Macca fan.

Sean

 

The album is nothing earth shattering, but I like a few songs from it.

Stranglehold
Only Love Remains
Press
Move Over Busker
Write Away

I can't shake the feeling that the time frame in which it was released has something to do with perceptions of this album. As far as i'm concerned, MACCA just didn't fit in too well with the mid-80s musical climate. He had produced the excellent "No More Lonely Nights" two years earlier, but by 1986, he was seen as some old aging 60s or 70s icon. "Spies Like Us" may have been a big hit, but I question the quality of it.

Except for a select few, 60s and 70s artists didn't fare too well in the 80s, unless they updated their sound, like Yes, Genesis, Michael Jackson, and even George Harrison. Bruce Springsteen already fit the 80s because his 1975 "Born To Run" album already sounded like it came out of the 80s.

All in all, IMO, "Press To Play" does not rank up there with his better efforts.

 

Worse than McCartney II?

 

The worst album by McCartney or by any other artists.

 

I put McCartney II up there in my top five Macca albums, along with Ram, Band on the Run, McCartney and Tug of War. I like it for all it's quirkiness. Press to Play and London Town are the only two I never took a liking to.

Sean

 

London Town suffered from bad sound, I think. Too bad, because I thought there was some great stuff there. But, the band did sound a little weary. I guess they had had enough!

 

Believe it or not, this was one of my first McCartney or Beatle purchases (I was 12 when it came out) and I liked it. Nowadays, I pop it in only once in a while and there's a lot of skipping around I do - but "Stranglehold" still rocks, and some of the later tracks sound pretty good on headphones (the weird th-th...th-th... switching channels on "Write Away" sounds cool...)

But there is a KICK-ASS alternate version of "Good Times Comin/Feel the Sun" floating around on a bootleg (forgot the name... it was from Australia) that is FANTASTIC - tune goes to different places, lyrically, too. Same album has an alternate of "Press," too.

But the official album has a great song, "Only Love Remains" which I love, and "Footprints" is sweet (if overproduced like the rest of the album).

Never liked the song, "Angry." It wasn't angry in the good-kind-of-angry-McCartney-way. Glad he moved on from Phil Collins' producer after this. Nice try, didn't work.

All in all, it works better in the '93 rerelease with "Spies Like Us" and "Once Upon a Long Ago" tacked on and I think it is a good album with some flaws. Probably lands somewhere midfield in the McCartney canon.

 

I wouldn't say it's his worst album. To me, it's about equal to Pipes of Peace and Flowers in the Dirt. All three contain some good songs and some songs that makes you cringe. There's some stuff I like (Good Times Coming/Feel the Sun, Move Over Busker, Angry, However Absurd) and some stuff that is embarassingly dated attempts to sound contemporary (Press, Pretty Little Head). Press is still the worst-ever McCartney single, I do have to say.

 

I always liked that album, although I concede that I'm in the minority.

 

• Believe it or not! As big of a Beatles Fan that I am. I still try not to judge their single efforts in anyway near as any Beatle material.
• For Solo work I think I'm best now at liking Paul's then John's then George's then Ringo's. I am most critical of John's work, as his LP's and singles first came out I thought they were the best and like most critic's I snubbed Paul's material. I have since changed my mind though and like most of Paul's material more than John's.
• George's stuff I sort of left on the back burner until now. As well as Ringo's.
• Isn't it strange how this happened to be. Then again, maybe not perhaps for others
• Anyway I liked the album as well as "Flowers In The Dirt" grew on me right away!

 

"Press" isn't the worst he's done. I think "Spies Like Us" is.

 

I have to confess that "Once Upon A Long Ago" was the only reason for me to buy this album. Anyway, it's not THAT bad, and the cover photo, taken with that antique camera, is no less than great!

 

I think what you're meaning is that "antique" photographer, the late great George Hurrell.

 

I don't remember Once Upon A Long Ago being on this CD, I will have to look again, as I haven't touched this one in ages. Never liked it from the git go, but still own it being the competist that I am,.....

 

It's only on the white McCartney Collection version. I like this album because I've always seen it as an experimental album for Paul. There are some neat versions of Pretty Little Head floating around out there and the single mix of Angry is quite different with added horns which I like better than the album mix. I personally feel that Pipes Of Peace is his worst effort to date. It's just left overs from Tug Of War which he originally wanted to be a double album. Luckily George Martin talked him out of it.

 

Underrated, and definitely not his worst. It has some good songs, at least as good if not better than, say, Driving Rain.

The British 45 version of "Pretty Little Head" is a lot better than the album version, by the way. Has a more conventional vocal, it's a shame it never came out as a bonus on the reissued CD.

 

Worse than McCartney II?I thought Mac 2 was pretty good actually,but Press to Play wasn't.The Stewart/McCartney songs were decent but there was something missing from that album.McCartney played it too safe on that album,Only Love Remains might be the silliest love song he has ever written!!Even the song that featured Pete Townshend on blistering lead guitar,"Angry", was formulaic and trite.Thumbs down to this one!!!

 

I think the liner notes make reference to George using a vintage camera.

Sean

 

Yes, but he also took the picture with an old "box camera he used in Hollywood in the thirties" (according to the liner notes).

 

I like this album, but admit it sounds like McCartney was trying too hard for a certain production sound that didn't work out. It's hard to describe, maybe a contemporary 80's sound that now sounds very dated. I do like many of the songs including Press (musically, not lyrically), Pretty Little Head, Stranglehold, Only Love Remains, Move Over Busker, Write Away. Did not care for Angry. Doesn't sound angry to me at all.
I haven't heard the single version for Pretty Little Head. I'll have to seek that one out.

I'm glad the cover photo was brought up. I always thought it was a beautiful cover.

 

this is the worst mccartney album ever AND I AM A HUGE FAN!

 

My sentiments exactly, unfortunately. "Press" is also his worst single ever. A bad period for Macca.

Evan

 

I'm shocked that nobody has mentioned the album 'Off the Ground'--an album so bad it makes 'Press To Play' sound like 'Band On The Run.' McCartney reached a low level of pretentiousness with this album. 'Hope of Deliverance' sounds better now than it did then, but the rest of the album sounds like he's scraping the bottom of the barrel from the 'Flowers In the Dirt' Jam sessions. 'C'mon People' gets my vote for one of the top 5 worst Macca songs ever.

 

"Press to Play" is half a good album. I really like Stranglehold, Only Love Remains, Footprints, Pretty Little Head, plus the 12" version of Angry. I think Stranglehold and Footprints are very strong and I'd like to see him do those live. It was also the very first CD I ever bought before I even had a player. Had to have those 3 extra songs even if I couldn't listen to them yet!