Rolling Stone picks Paul McCartney's 40 Greatest Solo Songs

This cracks me up, both reading the ridiculous Rolling Stone list that only has a whopping 16 tracks included that I even like or consider worthy of top 40, and then reading most all the moaning of what was left out and I don't like the majority of those songs either! Clearly what I enjoy about McCartney isn't the generic singles, pop hits, and sappy love song choices that the majority seem to like most.

Big misses for me would include Girls' School, Souvenir, Oh Woman Oh Why, Spin It On, Alligator, Whole Life for a start.

 

No ... I love that song.
"So lay down your umbrellas
Strip off your plastic macs.
You've never felt the rain my friend,
Till you've felt it running down your back"

I've seen worse lists and can live with the top 20 but would add "Magic", "I Do" and "Great Day" to the top 40.

 

13 good songs in the list - actually, some of those I'd only consider semi-decent at best.
Paul doesn't have 40 songs in his solo career that are great IMO.
"The Beatle thing"...like what he's done since The Beatles can compare. Yeah, right...

 

Spin It On is an excellent track on an otherwise ordinary album.

Regarding the list - Maybe I'm Amazed predictably at number one. Very overrated IMO. Lyrics are okay but the melody is bland. Does nothing for me at all. The rest of the top five however are great. The beautiful & melancholy Junk is a much better song. Same with the Beatle-esque Uncle Albert and the generally underrated Another Day. All three well deserve to be top five.

 

I'm going to keep on sleeping in a big barn bed. Take that, Rolling Stone.

 

Before Pure McCartney came out I tried making my own 4cd compilation of his greatest solo songs and had difficulty narrowing it down to 100 songs. 25 per cd. Of course the deluxe edition came out with 67 tracks but had room for several more. IMO numbers 1 and 2 on my list are Uncle Albert and Dear Boy. Incredible songs. Can't believe Dear Boy isn't in there.

 

I like that "Flaming Pie" is there. "Off The Ground" should be there too.
"Angry" is terrible IMO-- a way better mindless rocker surprise would've been "Too You" off Back To The Egg (I do like Press To Play though)

 

BREAKING NEWS: Rolling Stone Makes a List

 

Thank you very much for your trouble.

Really not a bad list IMO. Nice to see almost the whole side A of Venus and Mars in there

While these lists are of course subjective (mine would have included Single Pigeon anf Café on the Left Bank), but I have to say I'm baffled by the absence of My Love: a fan favorite, a hit single, a concert staple, a carreer highlight, and arguably the best solo of any instrument on any Wings album.

 

Guaranteed way for the article to get a lot more publicity than it might otherwise... just leave out something that you'd absolutely expect to be there and let the fur fly.

I'm pretty sure that's the reason it's not there.

 

Guys...guys...you're both wrong. These are Paul's 40 best solo songs (in not quite a particular order):

1. No More Lonely Nights
2. Maybe I'm Amazed
3. Band on the Run
4. Say Say Say
5. Silly Love Songs
6. Jet
7. Take It Away
8. Another Day
9. With a Little Luck
10. My Love
11. Let Em In
12. 1985
13. Venus Mars/Rock Show
14. Listen to what Man Said
15. Some People Never Know
16. Arrow Through Me
17. Little Lamb Draonfly
18. Friends to Go
19. Summer Day Song
20. Mrs. Vandebilt
21. Love in Song
22. Golden Earth Girl
23. Beware My Love
24. Back Seat of Yon Car
25. Getting Closer
26. Waterfalls
27. Let Me Roll It
28. On My Way To Work
29. Long Haired Lady
30. Alligator
31. Vintage Clothes
32. Two Many People
33. Somedays
34. Temporary Secretary
35. I'm Carrying
36. Get on The Right Thing
37. Wanderlust
38. I Owe it All To You
39. The World Tonight
40. New

If I had my way I would lead the list off with all the tracks from "Rushes".

Glad I could help.

 

Fixed your first sentence.
Maybe I'm Amazed predictably at number one, because it's the best solo song he has ever done. "Very overrated IMO, Lyrics are okay but the melody is bland, Does nothing for me at all" is Band On The Run in a nutshell--what an utterly boring song for the last 3/4ths of it. Uncle Albert I'd have way down in the list. The other songs you mention I can agree with.

Not related to your comments, but one of the best things about the original list is not having the cloying My Love included. That track has been an automatic skip ever since the first week of release. The guitar solo is the only redeeming aspect of it. It's like nails on a chalkboard otherwise.

 

First stab at this has 63 songs on my list. So, need to figure out where to cut.

 

Start by cutting out the prime numbers...

 

Here RS goes again... the usual blunders.
I would agree with about 2/3 of this .. maybe.
... Incompetent, irrelevant, and immaterial.

 

A tad jaded, eh?

 

You agree with 2/3rds but determine it to be incompetent etc? What do you call a list you only half like?

 

Excellent!

 

More BS via RS.

 

Not really. Jaded would be coming to those opinions after hearing the songs hundreds of times ad nauseam, which I have too, and no longer liking them because of it. But, I held those same opinions of the songs right after they were released and was hearing them for the first times.
That's not jaded, it's discerning.

 

Where the hell is Beautfiul Night!? That'd be in the top 5, imo.

 

A slightly different version of this list appeared in a RS special on Paul a few years' back. The only differences I can see (without checking) are that they've added in Early Days and Four Five Seconds.

I don't dislike the latter as much as some, but it is risible to feature it in a list of his best work. The vast majority of it isn't even his.

 

For those curious, 29 of these 40 songs are on the 4 disc edition of Pure McCartney.

 

I would be okay with the list if they switched positions with Mull into #3 spot and Too Many People down