EVERY US/UK #1 album Discussion 1970-Present

Definitely!

 

I like Paul's voice, obviously love Art's voice, but think they are wonderful harmonising.

The "lost" album Hearts And Bones is very good, but think how brilliant it would have been as the Simon And Garfunkel reunion album.

 

CSNY - Deja Vu - Mostly great, the rest is good. Nothing awful here.

On the plus side:
There's a lot of variety going on here, and adding Young to CSN was a brilliant move.
The title track is one of Crosby's best tunes and his vocal performance on it is the highlight of the album for me.
Their arrangement of Woodstock takes the track to a totally different place and becomes an anthem for the times.
Helpless remains one of Young's best tracks ever.
4+20 presents Stills at his most intimate.
Almost Cut My Hair gives the record a giant kick in the butt in the middle of side 1 and is perfectly timed.
Album opener Carry On is a great Stills track which takes us through a bunch of changes that all work together perfectly.

However:
Our House has a nice melody and a lovely arrangement but the lyrics are not very good, making this track almost embarrassing.
Teach Your Children has a great message but ends up kind of limp.
The Country Girl medley is a bit unmemorable.
Everybody I Love You is a little weak, especially since most of what came before it being so brilliant.

Legend has it that there was little cooperation between CSN&Y during the sessions, that each member brought their contributions pretty much already worked out, and then used the other three in whatever capacity they needed. This seems like an awful way for a 'group' to operate but in this case it worked really well. The album is not perfect and it's not without its faults, but the highs are brilliantly high and the lows are not all that bad.

 

I love Hearts And Bones but the album was so personal for Paul that I can't hear Art on it. The fundamental difference with S&G and solo Paul is that on his own his lyrics became much quirkier and personal to where I can't hear Art harmonizing on songs about being married to Carrie Fisher

 

Are you saying this for effect? Or, is that your considered opinion? Just curious.

It ain't Alice Cooper.

 

Do I recall correctly that Art had harmonized on Hearts and Bones and Paul axed Art's vocals when he produced the final album?

 

Yes but, no but...

Think Too Much: The S&G Album That Wasn't

 

Thanks for the link. Much more complicated than I realized and I want to hear the S&G version (however it turned out).

 

I'm sure you're not alone in that!

 

I wonder if some songs were written and recorded after Paul decided not to use Art. I can hear Art doing songs like Cars Are Cars, Train In The Distance. Song About The Moon and so forth but relationship songs like Allergies and the title cut seem too personal for Paul and Art to be trading harmonies

 

CSN&Y - yawnsville.

CCR - Mixed bag. A couple of great singles; some filler. Grapevine ultimately sinks it.

 

Nobody could do "Grapevine" the way Marvin Gaye did it, but CCR does a decent job IMO.

 

CCR's album is about five or six records from now

 

Paul McCartney - McCartney
US: May 23-Jun 6, 1970

1. The Lovely Linda
2. That Would Be Something
3. Valentine Day
4. Every Night
5. Hot as Sun/Glasses
6. Junk
7. Man We Was Lonely
8. Oo You
9. Momma Miss America
10. Teddy Boy
11. Singalong Junk
12. Maybe I'm Amazed
13. Kreen-Akrore

 

I know the significance that this was the first "proper" solo Beatles album after John and Yoko experimenting and George doing instrumental albums, but I will admit of the three main solo albums to come in 1970, I'd rank this a distant third to All Things Must Pass and Plastic Ono Band. Maybe I'm Amazed and Every Night are fantastic cuts, but most of the album never really did much for me

 

Don't know this one.

For someone who is not generally a fan, is there anything different to the usual McCartney schtick? Something that might draw me in?

(This is a genuine query. Over the years I have occasionally gained a grudging appreciation of performers I've previously disliked by someone pointing out work that I hadn't heard).

 

This one was mostly him recording in his home studio by himself, it was by and large a deliberate attempt to show that The Beatles were over and that his solo career was its own thing. Maybe I'm Amazed of course is an all time classic, but besides that and Every Night, I've never really been able to get into this one. To me the next album of his that topped the UK album chart the following year was a much superior record in every way.

 

Many thanks for the reply.

Just given Maybe I'm Amazed a blast. For me it's a typical Paul song inasmuch as it's tuneful enough without really capturing my attention at all.

However that's just on one listen so maybe I'm being a little harsh.

 

I'm not the Macca fanatic some people here are, though I like him plenty and saw him a few weeks ago for the first time in concert (and he was phenomenal for a 76-77 year old) but I'd wait for the next album of his that will show up around a year from "McCartney" to give more of a chance since Ram I do feel is a much more interesting album (it only got to #2 in the states but topped the UK charts, while McCartney didn't top the UK charts, so they were smarter in this instance) and more of a "wow, this is Paul McCartney?" type of album that ranks up with his best post-Beatles work IMO

 

McCartney has two very good songs (Maybe I'm Amazed and Every Night), and the rest is hardly more than some ideas for songs that were never fleshed out or got past the demo stage. Junk is a good song, but I wish he'd polish it up a bit more and make it sound finished.

 

McCartney - understated; homespun; organic; authentic; lo-fi.........miles away from the final two Beatles albums. Overall, I think it's a very good album.

 

Why are you posting albums when the OP isn’t ready yet?

 

Simon & Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water

I feel I'm supposed to love this album since it's considered a classic, but I don't. There are a few exceptions, but for the most part I connect so much more with Paul Simon's solo music rather than what he did with Garfunkel. I like that this album is so eclectic, that was definitely surprising. The production is often too heavy-handed and obscures what are in their core good songs. The title track is a classic song that I only came to appreciate in the past few years. I didn't get it before; I think it was the extremely quiet first half that made me not want to put the effort in. I'm glad I finally did. The other songs I enjoy from here are Cecilia, The Boxer, Only Living Boy in New York and Song For the Asking - great way to end the album. Overall it's a really inconsistent album with too much production and them trying to be too clever. Best track - title song, worst - Baby Driver.

5/10

 

Nice to see someone else who actually likes solo Paul even more than S&G. I understand why S&G is so beloved but a lot of Paul's solo songs connect with me on a deeper level

 

CSNY - Deja Vu

This album is a step forward from the debut CSN. The songs flow really well. I prefer it to the debut, to be honest. I love seeing the growth for them as songwriters. Songs like Country Girl and Deja Vu push the envelope into jazzy/proggy territory and it's pretty exciting. Of course their vocal harmonies are off the charts good, esp. on Carry On. I appreciate how eclectic the album is. The only songs that I don't outright love are Everybody I Love You, which I view as filler, and Almost Cut My Hair. I admire the emotion that Crosby brings on this track, but it doesn't hold up for me all these years later. Still, it's good enough. Otherwise, these songs are really fantastic and well-written. Best song: Deja Vu/Carry On, worst song: Everybody I Love You.

9/10