Paul McCartney.....half an album?

Can't speak for other people but I like Daytime Night time suffering because it's a fantastic song! It sounds absolutely great to my ears! Great vocals, great harmonies, just a great sounding song!

See my above post!

Press To Play is far better than it has ever been given credit for!
Stranglehold - An absolutely fantastic snare pounding rocker isn't even close to being below McCartney's standards! In fact it's one of his best rockers! Always wished he had performed it live!
It's Not True - Absolutely love this r&b gem, especially the single version with the great sax solo!
Footprints, Only Love Remains, Just great!
Angry - Oh a tough bass thumping rocker, love it! Another I wish he had performed live!
Write away - Just love the jazz feel of this one and the piano solo is great!
Tough On A Tightrope - Absolutely great vocals!
All of these songs are much much better than they've ever been given due!
Not below McCartney's standards at all!

 

While I wouldn't call it, "great" by any means, I do like Daytime Night Time Suffering as a song...I just never thought the production/mix did it justice; it sounds very cold and quickly done in order to have non-album track ready for the B side of the 45. But i do consider it a bit underrated as compared to some of the other latter 70's McCartney/Wings stuff that's gotten way more attention over the years (I think, for instance, it's a far better song than With A Little Luck ). It always reminded me of something that would have fit nicely on Red Rose Speedway...would've sounded a lot better as well with the "thicker" production on that album.

..just a thought on Press To Play...I think along with Tug of war, it's Paul's best, most musically consistent 80's album.

 

I think McCartney's output Might be held in higher regard today if it had had a little more quality control. Paul Simon has released about half as many albums in the same time period, and I think the case could be made his albums are a little more consistent start to finish than Paul's. Some artists are better self editors than others, and I would have to say Paul is not one of the best. Having said that I think he has released an unmatched amount of amazing work in a fifty year span and I continue to enjoy it. Thanks to the digital age I long ago re sequenced many of his albums to my liking and that is the way I have listened to them for years. I am thankful for the great body of work he has created and it is still a very unusual week when I don't listen to some music created by Paul McCartney

 

Great post. If there was ever an artist with whom I've often thought, "if only he'd have combined the best of these two consecutive albums we'd have one *great* album", it's McCartney...especially when it came to his 70's output in which nearly every one of his albums had material that ranged from excellent to questionable. But as you imply, when looking at the whole picture, his greatness cannot be denied, love him or hate him.

 

I posted both these comments because my comments relates to them.

The thing is what part needs so called quality control? The part you or I think does, someone else thinks doesn't. The songs I think aren't good, someone else absolutely loves. The part one person wants to get rid of, another person says absolutely not that's the part I like! So what to do? Leave it alone, because for every part there's someone who loves it!
I'm not talking about things like remixing or remastering, I'm all for those type things, but something like quality control, who agrees on what is or isn't quality?
There will never ever be a consensus on this because all of us like something different. I always use this example, McCartney II I think is one of the absolute worse albums of McCartney's entire career! I'm talking Beatles, Wings and solo, but how many people absolutely love that album? Now should there have been some quality control? Which songs would you want removed?
The Fireman, for me out of all the Firemen albums there are only two, count them two songs that I like! Those two are live versions, Sing The Changes and Highway, that's it! The rest I never have to ever hear again! Should there have been some quality control? Which songs would you get rid of?
The absolutely beautiful thing about McCartney's body of work is, there's something for everyone!

 

Like I said in my post I have done my own quality control on the McCartney catalog and many others. I have reconfigured many of his albums to a point that I'm sure many here would howl, but that's fine. I think you could get pretty good consensus on what constitutes his lesser work, but I agree you can always find someone who thinks "Speed Of Sound" is the best thing he ever did and that Mumbo is his greatest song. At the end of the day his work is out there for everyone to sort through as they see fit, and I'm fine with that.

 

I don't think you can get a pretty good consensus of what constitutes his lesser work (maybe on an album or two, but as a body of work)? Many think BOTR is his absolute greatest album, I don't! I think it's one of them, but there are others that I think are just as good! For me his absolute best album is Wings Over America! Again what one doesn't like, another does! All anyone can do is decide for themselves what they do or don't like, and as you say, I'm fine with that.

 

Band On The Run is a 5/10 for me. I don't like these:

Mrs. Vanderbilt
Mamunia
No Words
Picasso's Last Words (Drink To Me)
Nineteen Hundred And Eighty Five

 

I got sick of mucking through Paul’s albums to find the tracks I wanted on mixtapes or playlists (depending on the era). It takes a few listens to get an idea Of what is good, what I like, and those listens made me like Paul’s music less. A little quality control, please, Paulie! I should be able to put on an album by an artist of his stature and enjoy most of it, not have to cherry pick a few tracks.

 

I have 5 of his albums on vinyl which should tell you what I think of his Wings/solo career (McCartney, Ram, BOTR, McCartney II, Chaos).

I wouldn't of even bothered recording Speed of Sound, Broadstreet, Pipes of Peaces, Press to Play, Off The Ground, Driving Rain....even Tug of War I find mostly terrible. I did listen to Flaming Pie and though well recorded and well played, thought it was a bit, well...boring, but has 3-4 great tracks, there are many albums like that! His lyrics are usually awful too.

It's just all a bit of a yawnfest for me, like most solo Beatles albums...sorry.

 

I don't see anything to be sorry about.

 

I'm waiting for the "YOU'RE WRONG!" replies

 

How about "Don't care" replies?

 

I will respectfully disagree here. If you took a poll asking people to name their five favorite McCartney albums, I believe there would be some clear cut winners. If you then broke it down and asked people to name their favorite songs on a given album you would again get a clear cut list if you had enough votes. Of course it wouldn't be 100% agreement, but a clear cut list would emerge. It also doesn't mean one of us is wrong if our lists are exactly opposites.

 

Agree with the OP premise. And the fact that some fantastic B-sides are....B sides, and not on albums. Great as he was/is, could have been even greater with a few lesser albums of higher caliber.

But look at Dylan, Neil Young, Van Morrison among others. Great songs left in the vaults or appearing years later. Baffling.

Happened to hear Uncle Albert this morning driving. It's essentially a suite, and just an amazing record. Especially for the time it was originally released. Lyrically it doesn't quite add up, but as a forceful melange of musical ideas it certainly does. It's almost an example of the rare artist who is overly creative.

 

It is your own opinion, how can you be wrong.

 

That is probably true of most artists, right? That you could get a common consensus on their greatest albums and songs.

But Paul does have quite a few marmite songs, songs that are equally loved and loathed. This is where Paul may differ from many artists. Where there are people who are adamant that We All Stand Together, Ebony and Ivory, Silly Love Songs, Mull of Kintyre amongst others should not exist while many will see such songs as highlights of his career.

 

Everybody deserves respect to their own opinion.
However I am surprised you have continued to put yourself through the mill with the continued negative reaction to McCartney's solo work.
If it was me and an Artist continued to release music I did not like I would have ditched them.

 

In my opinion, an artist’s only obligation is to him- or herself. Sir Paul would probably admit that at times he failed to deliver the goods; failed to live up to his own high standards.

On the other hand, Paul has taken so many chances he never needed to take! I love Electric Arguments, and it is a highly experimental album. So is McCartney II, but personally I can’t stand that one! So what? Paul follows his muse wherever it leads him, as he should.

Too often (in my opinion), Paul seeks to appeal to the lowest common denominator. I’m thinking of the pop pap like Ebony and Ivory. But that single sold a buhzillion copies, so I guess Paul understood very well what he was doing. I’m content to “let it be.”

The masses clearly prefer the saccharine, radio-friendly material, while others (a niche audience) dismiss those songs and celebrate Paul’s experimental tracks instead. Whatever one’s personal predilections may be, Paul has left us with SO MUCH CERTIFIABLY GREAT MUSIC!

John Lennon was always my favourite Beatle. But by this point McCartney has left him far, far behind. Of course, Paul was fortunate enough to live twice as long as John (so far). But I seriously doubt John would have produced albums as solid as Chaos and Creation and Memory Almost Full in his 60s or 70s. Maybe not even as good as Egypt Station … though sadly we’ll never know.

When Sir Paul is no longer with us, we’ll be grateful for the vast number of recordings he has left us. That’s what I think. Maybe then people will finally stop slagging him for his lesser material.

 

ummmm. 1/2 and album every 4-6 months plus strong musical contributions (as was true for all 4 Beatles) and harmonies on other tracks.

 

Those are EXACTLY my favorite songs on BOTR!!!!

 

I'd say your last sentence describes Band on the Run.

 

Like the album, Off The Ground? I was floored by the tracks included on the Complete Works edition of Off The Ground.

 

This is exactly what I'm talking about, see for me I do enjoy most of McCartney's albums! The ones I like I don't have to so called cherry pick! The few don't spoil the many! On the vast majority of McCartney's albums there is way more good than bad, way more!

Yes clear cut list would emerge and none of them would be the same! If the list are exactly opposites that means there wasn't a consensus! Especially the more people you ask!

They are highlights of his career! Those songs are loved by millions of people around the world! This type conversation happens in our McCartney bubble, but the general public when they heard those songs fell in love with them by the millions, thus three of them shot to #1!
Which just confirms my point, in fact this very discussion confirms the point!

 

Really? Consistent for maybe two albums, then it got sketchy real fast.