Do you feel Mccartney "lost it" after Speed of Sound?

I never been able to enjoy a complete Mccartney LP after "Speed of Sound".

I mean, he had quite a streak from "Ram" through SOS. But, then, what happened? A good couple of songs here and there but nothing ever had that magic again.

Anyone else feel this way?

 

I think "Tug Of War" was(and is) a McCartney gem. Some of it dated a bit,but I still feel it's a solid listen.

 

I felt that McCartney dipped a bit in the mid-80s, but came back creatively in '89 with Flowers In The Dirt. Since then, his work has been pretty good - not quite up to the level of Band On The Run, but still good.

 

Oh, that magic feeling where did it go?

 

I know it's the album everyone seems to love to hate, but I really liked McCartney II. Wings Over America has always been one of my fave live albums (for the music, certainly not the sonics) and it came out after Speed of Sound... other than those two, it starts to get difficult to find a McCartney LP I like all the way through after Speed of Sound...

 

I almost agree. I didn't much care for London Town, but I just have a soft spot for Back To The Egg. After that it's all hit and miss (with more misses than I care to hear).

 

Someone needs to lock the thread starter in a room with a copy of "Flaming Pie" on repeat for at least three days.

 

I always liked Back to the Egg, McCartney II and Tug of War. He "lost it" in the 80's, but I think he got back on track with Flowers in the Dirt. The only post Flowers album I can't stand is Driving Rain. Yuck!

Sean

 

You pretty much said everything I was thinking. Some stuff like Off The Ground and Flaming Pie would have been better if they knocked a few crappy songs off each one

 

Flaming Pie is stellar I think. A great comeback album even though it didn't fly off the shelves.

 

"Take It Away" on Pipes Of Peace was great. So was "Getting Closer" on Egg. He didn't completely 'pass out' artistically. He did come up with clever things, but by then he jumped the shark miles ago.

 

Some of his later "B" sides and cuts from 12" and CD singles was better than what ended up on some of his post Speed Of Sound albums.

 

Am I the only one that feels that Speed Of Sound was only half a McCartney album?

-BZync

 

No, I agree. The album went around the room. Even Linda got in with "Cook Of The House".

 

The last Mac album I bought was "London Town" (love that song) so yes I agree, Mac did slip after that early great run up to "Wings Over America".

 

Cook of the House is basically mono, except for something frying in the skillet at the very end.

Joe English got his one and only vocal on Must Do Somthing About It.

 

"Take It Away" was actually on Tug of War, which remains my favorite of all McCartney LPs. The only one that I feel might be as good is Band on the Run. IMO, of course.

And I agree, that's a fab song.

I too liked (most of) Flaming Pie. And, although I didn't think much of it at first, Driving Rain has grown on me too.

 

Not me. For one, I think "Speed of Sound" is a relatively mediocre album - a few pretty good tracks, a bunch of blah ones. In fact, if I had to pick McCartney albums since "SOS" that I think are WORSE, I'd only list "Pipes of Peace" and "McCartney II", and all three of those are around the same level. (I leave out "Broad Street" since it included so little new material.) Even the much-maligned "Off the Ground" seems superior to "Speed of Sound" - it's just not much of an album in my book...

 

Right on the money! Tug of War was a great album. The duets with Carl Perkins and Stevie Wonder-"Here Today"-probably his most heartfelt solo song since "Maybe I'm Amazed"-produced by George Martin-Ringo on drums-the ahead of its time digital mix-"The Pound is Sinking" is another Beatle bitch about money song (ala Taxman)-the majestic title track-the bouncy-nostalgic "Ballroom Dancing".
I think it is his strongest album. Band on the Run-come on-there are some pretty spotty moments there. "Bluebird" makes "Ebony and Ivory" sound like gangster rap. "Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five" is not great either. "Mamunia" is one of those cloying Wings songs that there are too many of.
Oh yeah, Back to the Egg is pretty good and Driving Rain is good overall-semigreat in places. He was trying to stretch on DR and that is good-since he really has nothing to prove and will never ever top himself.

 

I'm rather fond of London Town and Back to the Egg, and Flaming Pie is a recent (pleasurable) discovery for me, but otherwise I think he lost it (at least as an album artist) after Venus and Mars. I can barely listen to Speed of Sound. I hate to say it, but if I took all the McCartney songs that I really like from the last 25 years... I could probably come up with one pretty good CD comp.

 

Re: Re: Do you feel Mccartney "lost it" after Speed of Sound?

Yep, he lost it ('it' being Lennon, the Beatles, George Martin, the 60s, a sense of self-discipline and editing, his drive for perfection...) after Abbey Road. I don't think Speed of Sound is a particular benchmark. He made some great stuff and some fluff before SOS and after SOS. If he ever gets around to an anthology package he should title it "Pendulum" because it will swing between the ridiculous and the sublime.

Still love him though and buy each album for those 1 or 2 gems.

 

In a word, no. And I say that primarily because I think all of his albums from the beginning of his solo career have been a mixed bag. I can't think of a single album of his that I feel is "all killer, no filler", as they say. You always have to take the good with the not so good on a Macca album.

 

Another vote for FLOWERS IN THE DIRT. I really enjoy that album.