POLL: How do you rate Paul McCartney's "Run Devil Run" album?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by mrjinks, Jan 30, 2015.

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  1. mrjinks

    mrjinks Optimistically Challenged Thread Starter

    Location:
    Boise, ID.
    Album poll #19 (of 25), and this kills off another decade of Paul music (the 90s), leaving two each from the 70s, 80s and 00s left to go...

    The ground rules: this poll, like the others, is designed for people familiar with the album in question and with at least some familiarity with some of his other post-Beatle catalog (for comparison purposes). If the poll doesn't interest you, please kindly move on to a thread that does. I intentionally don't name "comparison albums" on the best-to-worst scale, as some may think a particular album of his is awesome, while others may have a completely different take on the same album. Just consider how YOU would rate it in comparison with his other post-Beatles work.

    If you've missed a previous poll, feel free to vote below. Here's a recap of how the others have rated so far:
    The "New" poll. 379 votes, with an average rating of 3.65 (edging slightly towards "solid effort").
    The "Back To The Egg" poll. 308 votes, with an identical (!) average rating of 3.66.
    The "Wild Life" poll. 375 votes, with an average rating of 2.89 (just below "not bad").
    The "Driving Rain" poll. 294 votes, with an average rating of 2.78.
    The "Flowers in the Dirt" poll. 323 votes, with an average rating of 3.72.
    The "Flaming Pie" poll. 336 votes, with a very favorable average rating of 4.12.
    The "McCartney II" poll. 268 votes, with an average ratingof 3.12.
    The "Red Rose Speedway" poll. 299 votes, with an average rating of 3.34.
    The "Memory Almost Full" poll. 222 votes, with an average rating of 3.36.
    The "Pipes of Peace" poll. 229 votes, with the lowest average rating to date of 2.47.
    The "Band on the Run" poll. 403 votes, with the highest average rating of 4.63 (!!).
    The "Give My Regards to Broad Street" poll. 215 votes, with an average rating of 2.55.
    The "McCartney" poll. 326 votes, with an average rating of 4.00.
    The "At The Speed Of Sound" poll. 329 votes, with an average rating of 3.14.
    The "CHOBA B CCCP" poll. 166 votes, with an average rating of 2.99.
    The "London Town" poll. 204 votes, with an average rating of 3.24.
    The "Kisses on the Bottom" poll. 189 votes, with an average rating of 2.52.
    The "Off The Ground" poll. 215 votes, with an average rating of 2.93.

    NOTE: Unlike most of his official discography, this is the last poll on one of his albums to not feature (almost) all original new material, but I feel it's worth rating with the same scale as the other albums and hope you'll agree. The other two albums with oldies/standards had this issue, as did the Broad Street soundtrack. I will not do polls on all the lesser, experimental/fringe/classical albums, just those that could reasonably be considered part of his regular post-1970 STUDIO output.

    Thanks to all those who continue to take place in the voting!

    For those who question/dislike the poll choices, I take full blame. My fullest attempt to explain the "logic" behind the rating options is explained here.
     
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  2. jgkojak

    jgkojak Mull of Kansas

    Location:
    Lawrence, KS
    I can't give it the highest rating because its almost all covers, but it is not only essential, but also contains some really nice performances.

    Also of note - two of the three new songs are fantastic - Run Devil Run is Macca's best pure rocker since at least No Values 15 years before.

    What It Is is a genuinely fine pop song, would have fit in to Wild Life or RRS nicely and been a highlight.
     
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  3. jgkojak

    jgkojak Mull of Kansas

    Location:
    Lawrence, KS
    Essential cuts: Blue Jean Bop, All Shook Up, No Other Baby, Lonesome Town, Run Devil Run, What It Is, Shake a Hand, Party
     
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  4. goodboyfred

    goodboyfred Forum Resident

    Solid good old fashion rock n roll. Nothing pretensions, just the way they used to make them. A plus also having David Gilmour letting his hair down too.
     
  5. supermolland

    supermolland Senior Member

    Location:
    boston
    Absolutely love this album. Great selection of tunes by a fantastic group of players.
     
    Last edited: Jan 30, 2015
  6. Monosterio

    Monosterio Forum Resident

    Location:
    South Florida
    Second option for me.
     
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  7. seed_drill

    seed_drill Senior Member

    Location:
    Tryon, NC, USA
    My choice would be a real pain in the butt to listen to.

    (I only have the boxed 45 set).
     
  8. mrjinks

    mrjinks Optimistically Challenged Thread Starter

    Location:
    Boise, ID.
    A very cool set! For those who haven't seen it before:
    [​IMG]
     
    gramfan, supermd, moople72 and 5 others like this.
  9. Chris from Chicago

    Chris from Chicago Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes

    I'm a big fan of this one. It connected with me on first listen. And I think this came along at precisely the right time for him. Paul's voice and band rock. And this album ends on a real high note. I play this one often. And I play this one loudly.

    It blows the Russian album away.
     
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  10. theMess

    theMess Forum Resident

    Location:
    Kent, UK
    I have to go with the second option, meaning that I think that it is a great album, but not quite in the top bracket.

    Paul assembled a fabulous band for this album, and it shows; the instrumentation is brilliant and suits the material very well. I am a fan of Choba B CCCP, but think that RDR is even better, it is both more rocking and more well played. Out of his cover albums, it is my favourite, even though I enjoy the others as well.

    Paul was in absolutely fine vocal form, and he also managed to relay a huge amount of emotion into the songs. You can tell that it was something that he was doing for Linda and that he loved the songs that he was covering due to the passion in the performances.

    I think that all of his original songs were very strong, and all would have been highlights on a regular solo album. I wish that he had re-recorded Get Out Of My Way in the same way that he recorded the songs on RDR. I really wish that he would include at least or two of the original songs in his live set-lists, especially the title song, which is one of his best solo genre exercises IMO.

    Amongst my favourite performances on the album are Lonesome Town, which is a very beautiful tribute to Linda with one of his greatest solo vocals, the rip-roaring and powerful Shake A Hand, which sees his best hard rock vocal since Oh! Darling, and his great version of Honey Hush.

    Overall, this is a very solid album from start to finish, and I always have to listen to it the whole way through. I wish that Paul had done more with the band that he had assembled for this album; who knows how much better Driving Rain would have been had he kept the musicians from this album.
     
  11. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    "A pretty solid effort - worth recommending"

    Very good album - much better than "Choba"!
     
  12. seed_drill

    seed_drill Senior Member

    Location:
    Tryon, NC, USA
    I was actually thinking the same thing, but my desire to humblebrag about my 45s box set overrode my desire to contribute anything meaningful to the conversation.
     
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  13. walrus

    walrus Staring into nothing

    Location:
    Nashville
    I love it. It's not "essential" due to its nature, but it's one of his more enjoyable post-70's efforts. Wish there was a nice LP version, the mastering is terrible, but I enjoy it anyway. Would love to hear a nice LP mastering one day.
     
  14. seed_drill

    seed_drill Senior Member

    Location:
    Tryon, NC, USA
    One of these days I may needle drop my set. I'm still not happy with the capture's I'm getting with my Edirol FA-66, and need to work that out before I go through the effort.
     
  15. Bemagnus

    Bemagnus Music is fun

    Great album with a brilliant band and some fantasic singing from Paul.No other baby is one his best ever imo.'Lonesome Town also is a true gem
    Apart from that the originals work very well. I am particaly fond Iv the title- track
     
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  16. Folknik

    Folknik Forum Resident

    One of the best back to rock'n'roll roots albums in my collection. There is real raw energy here and David Gilmour, after playing that slow "comfortably numb" groove for so long with Pink Floyd, finally shows that he can rock out!
     
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  17. major_works

    major_works This is my Custom Title

    Location:
    Ramsey, NJ, USA
    I voted "solid effort." I remember being kind of shocked by it in a way. I didn't think Paul had it in him to rock out like that anymore. Coming as it did in the wake of Linda's passing, it seemed very cathartic, like he just had to scream and rock out hard to get over his loss somehow.

    I return to it often, more often than a lot of his other albums. Great band, too. I remember that the liner notes say it was done very quickly and it shows in that it has a very immediate, almost live feel. Good stuff.
     
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  18. efraley

    efraley Forum Resident

    Location:
    Richmond Va USA
    +1 on solid effort I love the zydeco tinged Brown Eyed Handsome Man.
     
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  19. Captain Groovy

    Captain Groovy Senior Member

    Location:
    Freedonia, USA
    I like Run Devil Run a lot, but for pure pleasure, The Russian Album is awesome.

    I know its not as highly regarded, but I love the sound, production, the attitude - and I've been addicted to that rearrangement of "Don't Get Around Much Anymore". David Gilmour on guitar... just great.

    I play it a lot more often than Run Devil Run though the album is very solid. I guess it's like how I play Venus and Mars about a million times more often than Band on the Run which is "perfect", while V&M is not (technically).

    Same with the Beach Boys - Pet Sounds is a perfect album, but I listen to almost every other post 1964 album much, much more often.

    I loved the Russian Album when I first got it, and still love it today. Run Devil Run doesn't get too many spins, but "Brown-Eyed Handsome Man" is a really good cover.

    Jeff
     
  20. walrus

    walrus Staring into nothing

    Location:
    Nashville
    That's a cool collectors thing, but the odds of me playing 7 45's in a row is almost nil. I don't know how long they'll do the Archive series for, but I imagine someone will reissue Macca's '93-'05 albums on vinyl at some point, there's too much money for them not to.
     
  21. kennyluc1

    kennyluc1 Frank Sinatra collector

    Great Album
    For me, I prefer to hear Paul doing covers/oldies like this.
    I play this more than any other Solo Paul.
     
  22. The Panda

    The Panda Forum Mutant

    Location:
    Marple, PA, USA
    The last Paul album I bought--love it, even the originals. I got someone to rip the vinyl for me and I may sell the cd now.
    Try Not to Cry kills me, especially when you think what he was going through at the time.
     
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  23. mrjinks

    mrjinks Optimistically Challenged Thread Starter

    Location:
    Boise, ID.
    Giving this a bump for those that might have missed it. The vote totals are nowhere near those for the other albums...
     
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  24. mrjinks

    mrjinks Optimistically Challenged Thread Starter

    Location:
    Boise, ID.
    One last bump, and then I'll be convinced folks are more intrigued by "Four Five Seconds".

    Poll #20 will be coming in the next couple days - all-original albums from here on out!
     
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  25. moople72

    moople72 Forum Resident

    Location:
    KC
    A tour de force.
    Honey Hush rivals any of his previous rockin' performances---including those with his old band.
    The three originals blend right in.
    Cavern-esque......Kaiserkeller-esque
    The Russian Album is a bit bland by comparison.
     
    Last edited: Feb 12, 2015
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