McCartney II - Misunderstood?

I hadn't listened to this album in a while but today I got the Fame version and decided to pop it in the CD player. For some reason, despite other's reaction to it, I've always liked it - more so as time goes on. It's not a masterpiece by any means but it is charming and in many respects a redux of McCartney's influences. Also, though I don't know why, I hear things in the album that make me think of what the Beatles could have done had they stayed together... perhaps I hear a bit of Lennon in the album? Anyway, I found myself smiling and singing along with it today. Anyone else reassess this album in its favor?

 

I hated it in 1980, but it sounded pretty solid after Give My Regards to Broad Street and Press to Play dragged McCartney's reputation to new depths. Once you accept McCartney II as a trifle, though, I agree it has its moments.

 

Not I. This is by far one of McCartney's weakest albums, IMO.

"On The Way" & "One of These Days" are decent tunes however, & "Waterfalls" is a great song, but that's about it for this album.
Out of 10 songs, not nearly enough to call it a good album, IMO.

 

I assume that two-disc 'bootleg' makes it a little more complete. Never heard it, but I do enjoy "II" for the sole reason that it solidified my fan-like nature, for it was the first Beatle-related record I bought when it was origionally released. $5.99 @ Record World. I was only 12.

 

I've tried and tried to like this album. But, I can't!

Not a big deal to me. He's got a lot of other stuff that I do like!

 

I've always loved this album - Paul at his most experimental. He recorded it in his parlour at home (pictures of the 16-track inside the LP jacket...and you can see Paul at the piano in the "Waterfalls" video). He'll probably never make another album like this again. Favorite songs for me are "Coming Up", "On The Way", "Waterfalls", "Summer's Day Song", "Darkroom" and "One Of These Days." I imagine "Temporary Secretary" and "Bogey Music" might not be everybody's cup of tea, they're a little further out there than the other songs on the album. I love this side of Paul McCartney. I wish he would do more stuff like this.

 

Misunderstood? Completely!

Somebody recently lumped this in with the recent Lennon/Ono experimental trilogy. I don't get that at all.

This too was one of the first Beatles-related LPs that I begged my mom to drive me to the mall to buy as a 9 year old. I still have it and the white label bonus 45 of Coming Up (Live) that came with it. The album was great then and still is strong today for me. Back then I loved Temporary Secretary for it's unique (to a 9 year old) sound, but today I'll swear by One Of These Days.

Personally, I'm still waiting for McCartney III.

 

You guys just don't get it. Listen to it more.

 

I didn't like this album when I first got it (upon release), but it has grown on me as a "quirky classic". It's a bit unfortunate that this was the newest McCartney album at the time of Lennon's death - especially since those little pictures on the inside jacket appeared to be poking fun at Lennon. There's also an interesting companion piece to this album - a promo-only interview LP called something like "The McCartney Interview" that feaures Paul fielding questions about the Beatles, etc......just prior to Lennon's passing.
------ Chris

 

Coming Up. A textbook example of the live version besting the studio. And why did my LP include the live single but my CD doesn't, despite containing bonus tracks?

Temporary Secretary. First of all, the melody of the verse is not bad. But that horrid computer thing is awful. It reminded be of a game show at the time that used the same sound (Joker's Wild I think). The OTT singing on the chorus is bad and the melody of bridge ('She can be a belly dancer...') very unoriginal. Lyrics bad through out.

On the Way. Not bad. Not enough to convince me that Paul is a blues player, but not bad.

Waterfalls. Also not bad. I'd suggest Paul do this in concert with a completly different arrangement and breathe new life into it.

Nobody Knows. A good example of a successful artist thinking that anything he does is worthy to be heard, or of an artist losing his ability to tell what is good.

Front Parlour. Instrumentals are not Paul's strong suit.

Summer's Day Song. I like this one. Sure, it's dreamy (and potentially boring), but the melody is really nice and the lyrics match. The long instrumental sections though should have told Paul not to stick it between two instrumentals. Listen to it by itself.

Frozen Jap. Instrumentals are not Paul's strong suit. And a horrible title, which I always associate with the Japanese caricatures Paul does in the photos accompanying. (Maybe I shouldn't, but I do.)

Bogey Music. Same comments for 'Nobody Knows.'

Darkroom. Same comments for 'Nobody Knows.'

'One of These Days.' Possibily the best song on the album. Another one he should resurrect in concert. (Or has he?)

I don't recall the bonus tracks 'Check My Machine' and 'Secret Friend.' I listened to them once when I replaced my LP with the CD.

 

I've always really, really liked it and considered it one of my favorite McCartney albums. Definitely in my top three or four post-Wings efforts.

 

My buddy HATED Paul McCartney UNTIL he heard McCartney II. He thought it was one of the coolest things he'd ever heard from an ex-Beatle. Now he has a totally different appreciation for Paul. I think it's funny that this same album puts off so many of McCartney's "serious" fans.

 

Only liked Coming Up and Temp Sec. Did'nt like Frozen Jap based on the title alone. I thought it was really racists and tasteless to name a song like that. Maybe it was a knock on Yoko.

What I remember vividly, however, is when he sang Coming Up on Saturday Night Live. He appeared to be such a recluse at the time to me, and to see him perform live on tv and actually go along with some skits really fascinated me.

 

McCartney II has always ranked very highly among my favorite Paul solo albums. I love the experimental nature of it; in fact, I'm a fan of the Fireman, Liverpool Sound Collage and Twin Freaks projects, too. I even like "Temporary Secretary", and actually put the beginning of the song on my answering machine at one time... I don't get the criticism of "Nobody Knows"--kinda reminds me of a song that would fit comfortably on RAM with a different arrangement, perhaps. The only track I don't particularly enjoy is "Bogey Music".

A little bit OT:
Does anyone else recognize a "Lindsey Buckingham" element to McCartney II?? It begins with Lindsey's work in some of Tusk, and progresses throughout his solo albums. My best friend is a Lindsey freak, so one day when I played McCartney II for her, I believe she played Out of the Cradle immediately following, and I couldn't believe the similarity of structure and feeling. She also told me that Lindsey is known to keep a picture of Paul at his mixing desk.

 

I've loved McCartney II since it came out - which is more than I can say for many of his albums released since. Sure, some of the songs are underdone, but in that way it's like 1970's McCartney, which has a big following on this forum. The only real difference is that the first is pretty much acoustic, while th second is pretty much electronic.

I'm constantly amazed by 'Muricans prefering the live version of Coming Up - I guess it's just a case of familiarity with it. To many fans in The Rest Of The World, where the studio version was heard on the radio, the live version sounds like a boring rock run-through, while the studio single is quirky and original.

 

Kevin - I'm not out to convince you of anything and I respect your comments. Definitely understand what you are saying as MII is a tough sell to even the most hardcore of fans. That said, here are my notes:

Coming Up - my issue here is that the song, in either version, is not finished. Live it comes off as sterile IMO but the studio version has clever instrumentation and vocals that give it the edge. Definitely Paul doing a sort of Motown thing and he even sounds a little like Michael Jackson.

Temporary Secretary - one of my favorite PM songs. Agree that the computer thing is a little irritating but it works with the office setting of the lyrics...one of the best set of fully realized PM lyrics IMHO. It reminds me so much of his work with the Beatles - for some odd reason.

On the Way - sounds almost like a White Album outtake. Again, not finished but as you say, not bad.

Nobody Knows - yes, probably another unfinished song to your point but what is so clever is the homage to Sun Studios. It seems to me to be summary of everything old school about PM. Same goes Boogey Music which suffers from the silly lyrics.

Waterfalls - to me a near perfect PM song just the way it is. I love the ambient sounds - little noises that give you the sense of McCartney controlling the recording or moving around.

Darkroom - I'm impressed that PM seems to be doing early 10cc here. Maybe its not intentional but its a very close approximation.

Check My Machine (bonus) - either the most irritating song in the PM cannon or a one that is way ahead of its time. I played this for my kids and they got a kick out of it. Experimental hip hop.

I remember the reviews echoing your point that its a bunch of songs that should have stayed in PM's private collection but I'm convinced that over time appreciation for it will increase. If nothing else its a glimpse of a master at work and an artist showing his influences. Just my opinion on all of this of course.

EDIT: Michael - I swear I hadn't seen you post before I wrote mine. Our comments on Coming Up are oddly similar. Great minds....

 

Absolutely! Law and Order too. Quirky, melodic, pop guys all seem to have their roots with McCartney - at least in part.

 

Yeah, it does...and it IS a trifle, no way around it, but couldn't we say that about so many of Paulie's albums? LONDON TOWN is hardly 'heavy', you know...

 

I was getting into The Beatles for the first time when it came out. Being a 70's kid, McCartney was all over the radio, either solo, with Wings, or The Beatles. I hadn't heard the first solo album (that would be later), but I think what was cool about it in 1980 was that it was electronic, and some of it sounded like going into a video game room, especially "Temporary Secretary" and "Frozen J@p". In fact, "Frozen J@p" sounds a lot like Yellow Magic Orchestra's "Computer Games" (or "Theme From The Circus", depending on how you heard the song).

I also remember the inner sleeve where he was standing in front of the 16-track tape machine, which I didnt know back then. I just knew it was a tape machine, Paul was using it at home, and I wanted one.

 

McCartney II was one of the first solo McCartney albums I had. I think Tug Of War was the first. I had that even before I had all the Beatles albums. At any rate, at about age 11, I wasn't any kind of critic of music, so I basically liked the album. I still like it today, even though I can see its faults.

If we're to believe the PR, the album started out as McCartney just goofing around in his studio in the summer of 1979, with no intention of making an album. He played some tracks to a friend who asked if it was his next album, and McCartney decided it was. I don't know if thats true because it certainly contains a few of McCartney's great songs mixed in with the experiments. I doubt he intended for them to just languish in his cupboard.

I don't know if it's common knowledge, but the flutes in "Summer's Day Song" are played on the same mellotron that was used for "Strawberry Fields Forever". I don't know how mellotrons work, but I think it was even the same sample.

 

Misunderstood? Abso-freaking-lutely. Or it's at least underrated.

I love Paul the stadium rocker (ala Wings), too. But it's Paul the quirky "experimental" guy I love the most (and not that this tendency didn't surface in Wings, too), and that side of Paul is what this album is ALLLL about.

And I think that Lindsey Buckingham comparison above is SPOT ON. I'd never thought of it before, but it's true.

 

I absolutely love this album. Coming Up sounds like a leftover from TH's Remain in Light, and Temporary Secretary, Darkroom, and most of all Secret Friends are so ahead of their time it's ridiculous.

 

Coming Up... When I was cycling in torrential rain between Edinburgh and Hawick (for Snoot SYHA) they played Coming Up in the café somewhere along the A7 road. Whenever I play the track I think of the peculiar lighting as I crossed over the Forth road bridge, then the skies opening up as I left Edinburgh...

 

I also have such a friend. He was mesmerized by "Secret Friend" and we've both struggled to find it on vinyl since.

Another question: which is the better cd version: the 1993 remaster or the "fame" CD?

 

Their fairly close in sound but the 1993 version must have some noise reduction. It's not awful but in spots I can hear NR artifacts.