POLL: How do you rate Paul & Linda McCartney's "Ram" album?

RAM is the best work that Paul has ever done outside of The Beatles. It's a mandatory album purchase and belongs in your collection. Even as a child when I was exposed to and started to buy Paul's solo work, I kept playing this one over and over (along with McCartney II). This album is literally and perhaps blatantly Paul's White Album.

 

Paul has confirmed in the past that "Great Day" was indeed written around this period (1970-1971). He was just so prolific from 1968 - 1971 writing as many as 70 songs! (that we know of) and I for one cannot wait to hear that stash of Ram acoustic demos he's been sitting on and I can't help but wonder what other gems he has from this amazing period of song writing that he never finished. Oh BTW "Ram" is Paul's greatest solo achievement bar none. And as someone pointed out we now have a new meaning for the word "RAM" so I believe the time is right for a "Ram II".. (just do new versions of all the unreleased gems from back then).. easy peasy.

 

I wish Paul would play songs from this in concert - esp. Back Seat of My Car

 

I think Ram is a fine album and I enjoy it but I'm always surprised at how well loved it is. Sure, it contains some fabulous music: Too Many People, Dear Boy, Heart of the Country and Back Seat of my Car are essential. But it suffers from the same lack of consistency that many of Macca's albums have.

At the risk of sounding more negative about this album than I actually am, here are the things I can find fault with:
General: many of Linda's vocals are just too high in the mix and she's too whiny for me.
3 Legs: a fun song but it's a guilty pleasure. I can see why many would ridicule it.
Uncle Albert: beautiful melody but too many bizarre lyrics (I believe I'm gonna rain - WTF?)
Admiral Halsey: whiny vocals to the fore, more bizarre lyrics and the whole thing overstays its welcome.
Smile Away: a fine, fun rocker with a rubbish lyric.
Eat At Home: I loved the groove on this when I was a kid but the lyrics are crap and it goes nowhere. Edit it down to under two and half minutes and you have a fun throwaway.
Long Haired Lady: more bad vocals and the song just goes on too long
Monkberry Moon Delight: fabulously off the wall but a real acquired taste. I can see why many would roll their eyes.

All told, it's a fine album and as good as most Macca albums but there's too much here for me to find fault with to enable me to rate it higher than middling. I like that it's no longer considered the "nadir of 60s songwriting"

 

I have the original Apple and the mono. Sometimes I will listen to them back to back. Love this record.

 

I'm with those who were oblivious of it being panned by RS. Loved it from the time of its release, didn't listen to it for decades, stumbled onto this forum and Back Seat's book thread where it was being discussed...and re-acquired it. Glad I did as it is as fantastic as I remembered it to be. Absolutely essential.

 

Totally agree about that, and "II"!
I know a lot of people here HATE "II", and, you know... it's the only album that's got the same healthy dose of 'silly' that "RAM" has...

 

There is nothing else for me to say about this album other than that it is one of my favourite albums of all time by any recording artist, and that it is on par with many Beatles albums IMO. I have voted for the top category, and I see it as one of Paul's top 1 or 2 solo albums.

Paul was working at his absolute peak at this time, and it shows all over the album, one of the most hook filled and melodic albums that I have ever heard. It is amazing to see how many great songs Paul had available during these sessions, and it is thus no wonder that the finished product is so good.

I would call this Paul's most characterful album, and in many ways his most important. His debut was intentionally an experimental one-man-band album, which was released whilst he was still technically a Beatle, before he knew whether they had definitely broken up or not.
Ram is his first ever solo statement after the split, and you can tell that he really worked on making the album brilliant.

I think the fact that it was not liked by many critics when it was released stunned him, and in many ways their reaction changed his reputation and what he did next.

As it was, criticism of his debut album had an affect on how he recorded Ram, and in that case it was a positive thing. I think that their criticism made him want to show what he could do in a studio with a group, in a situation where he was in control. I sense the passion that he had all throughout the album; from his digs at John, George and Ringo, through to his love for Linda and his life with her, the passion shines through.

I love the diversity of the album; it goes from the country influenced 'Heart Of The Country' (which reminds me of the White Album), to the Abbey Road-esque mini song-suite of Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey (a song only he could have written), to the Brian Wilson-esque 'Back Seat Of My Car', via the raucous psychedelic 'Monkberry Moon Delight' and the rock and roll of Eat At Home.

The whole album also has a certain 'feel' to it, almost like a musical 'genus loci' or 'sense of space', in a way that some of his other albums do not. All of the songs sit nicely together, and I can't imagine hearing them on other albums.

I would also say that Paul's vocals were extraordinary, and arguably his best, and the musicianship was superb, especially the wonderful guitar parts. The harmonies that Paul and Linda sprinkled all over the album are also fantastic, and arguably the best of his solo career. I love her contributions, and feel that they give the album another edge.

This was a deeply misunderstood album amongst critics (and even other Beatles), but I am glad to see its reputation recover to a point where it is now seen by many as a classic, and I can also see the influence that it had on Indie rock/pop.

I enjoy every song from start to finish, but my favourite songs include the lovely laid back title song, which always reminds me of going on holiday to somewhere tropical, the beautiful 'Back Seat Of My Car', which should have been one of his big solo hits IMO, the melodic and quirky Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey, the Buddy Holly-esque 'Eat At Home' (which Lennon also liked), and Too Many People, one of the most passionate and angry songs of his career. I love the stinging guitar parts in particular. I am also a big fan of Dear Boy, one of his most underrated solo songs and I song that I would love to hear him play live.

This album for me is the like the culmination of his work on Abbey Road, and I would say that it is arguably even more amazing than his work on that album. It is almost the Abbey Road of his solo career.

I think that BOTR will always be seen as his biggest and most successful solo/Wings album, but it should not be forgotten that Ram was very popular with the public, and it spent 5 months in the US top 10; obviously most of the rock music buying public 'got' the album.

I am sad that this series of threads have now come to an end; I have enjoyed every part of it. I feel that I have learned a great deal from many of the other members about Paul's solo career, and I now have more appreciation than ever as a result. I would like to thanks Mr.Jinks for starting this in the first place; I think that he has done a superb job, and I find the results fascinating.

I also think that it would be interesting to see how New would be reviewed now? The thread for New was started fairly soon after the album was released, and on other threads, most comments about the album are very positive, so it would not surprise me to see New go above 4.0 if we had a second thread for it.

 

Here are some interesting quotes from articles written about Ram when the reissue was released, mentioning the influence and impact that it had on Indie pop/rock, for those interested:



Allmusic said: ''Where McCartney was homemade, sounding deliberately ragged in parts, Ram had a fuller production yet retained that ramshackle feel, sounding as if it were recorded in a shack out back, not far from the farm where the cover photo of Paul holding the ram by the horns was taken. It's filled with songs that feel tossed off, filled with songs that are cheerfully, incessantly melodic; it turns the monumental symphonic sweep of Abbey Road into a cheeky slice of whimsy on the two-part suite "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey." All this made Ram an object of scorn and derision upon its release (and for years afterward, in fact), but in retrospect it looks like nothing so much as the first indie pop album, a record that celebrates small pleasures with big melodies, a record that's guileless and unembarrassed to be cutesy.''



Pitchfork said: ''It is exactly this homemade charm that has caught on with generations of listeners as the initial furor around the album subsided. What 2012's ears can find on Ram is a rock icon inventing an approach to pop music that would eventually become someone else's indie pop.''



Wondering Sound said: ''But however wry or seemingly offhand the master musician is elsewhere, the album's climactic mission statement is dead earnest: Paul and Linda were liberated by love. They believed in it, and with it, they essentially invented what we now call indie rock.''



Gadfly said: ''There is a joyfulness that radiates through side two. Paul veers really close to the line between disgusting couple and adorable proto-indie pop, especially with the song “Long Haired Lady.''



Popstache: ''“Too many people, goin’ underground / too many reaching for that piece of cake,” McCartney yelps, and it’s hard not to think of the lackluster “mindie” bands now flocking to capitalize on indie rock’s commercial clout. Bands left of the dial owe something to McCartney’s first three albums, which seem to slowly be getting the respect they deserve. McCartney, Ram and the Wings debut Wild Life all amble along with imperfect sprawl but enough cracked gold to remind you this is still the man who wrote “Penny Lane.” If “Ram” was a blow to the Beatles brand, it certainly was good enough for generations of warts-and-all songwriters. It’s hard to imagine a wealth of shambling indie pop – from Beat Happening to Of Montreal to Tune-Yards – existing without “Ram’ as an ancestor (throw Spoon’s “Written In Reverse” in the middle of a Ram playlist, and the beat goes on).''

 

Not only my favorite thing he's ever done with any group of musicians - even THEM - but also my favorite album of all time by a mile. Not a dull moment. Always finding new things to love in it.

PS - I also like V&M, Flowers in the Dirt, BOTR and ATSOS more than most Beatles albums, too.

 

I'm afraid I agree with Larry Norman's 1973 comment: "I've been listening to some of Paul's new records. Sometimes I think he really is dead." Both this and "McCartney" are mostly junk IMO (pun intended).

 

I've decided. This is hands down his best solo album. Just gave it another listen cause of this album.. It's SO good!!

 

Yes, what he said lol!

 

How does the new mono vinyl sound? I'm curious since I keep seeing a copy at the local record store and it's tempting!

 

I hear something completely different. Yes, its a dark album - the contrast between the sunny melodies and the rather direct and angry lyrics is part of the appeal. In fact, all of Side One is pretty much a pissed off rant except for Uncle Albert, and even then that song is about loneliness and avoidance. For people who like to paint Macca as "soft" I would point them to Side One of Ram.

 

General: many of Linda's vocals are just too high in the mix and she's too whiny for me.

Agree. Just a little remixing fixes that. Most egregious example is the beginning of Long Haired Lady, the only thing on the album I don't like.

3 Legs: a fun song but it's a guilty pleasure. I can see why many would ridicule it.

I don't see how this is any different than Lennon's Yer Blues, a parody of a form (with a nice hidden FU message to the other Beatles).

Uncle Albert: beautiful melody but too many bizarre lyrics (I believe I'm gonna rain - WTF?)
Admiral Halsey: whiny vocals to the fore, more bizarre lyrics and the whole thing overstays its welcome.

Its the bloody #1 single, and a post-psychedelic classic. If you don't love this, you don't really like music.

Smile Away: a fine, fun rocker with a rubbish lyric.

Most great rock n roll numbers are trash - knockin me out with those american thighs?

Eat At Home: I loved the groove on this when I was a kid but the lyrics are crap and it goes nowhere. Edit it down to under two and half minutes and you have a fun throwaway.

This song is about, er, pleasuring your woman orally. Didn't understand this song until I was in my last 20s.

Monkberry Moon Delight: fabulously off the wall but a real acquired taste. I can see why many would roll their eyes.

The vocals alone are worth the price of admission, let alone the truly fantastic off the wall lyrics.

 

My personal favorite of his post-Beatle work.

 

I remember reading that Rolling Stone review and thinking "I guess I shouldn't like this record. But I still do. I guess I have no taste."

 

Who voted that it's the worst? why?

 

"Clearly one of his best works - essential listening for Paul fans"

 

I have to differ with you here. From reading what others have said, it seems like New has lost some of it's Newness, and that while it is generally appreciated, it has fallen a few notches for quite a few folks. I still rate it as my favorite Paul album, probably even above RAM, but I think a new poll would place it lower overall. For me right now Ram, New, and Chaos are the trinity of Paul's masterworks with everything else being a few notches below, but I know I am not in step with most other fans.

 

I really don't know; the thread for the album went on and on, and contained much praise, and the album was reviewed very well by most critics. It also charted well on the album charts around the world, better than any of his other albums since FITD on average.

Recently there was a thread asking for people to list their favourite 10 McCartney/Wings albums, and New did well, especially compared to some of his other recent albums.

Because there was so much discussion and hype, there did seem to be a bit of a backlash amongst certain people, but I think that amongst Paul's fans, it is rated highly.

I might be wrong, but I personally think that now we have had it for almost 2 years, and the dust has settled, people seem to appreciate the diversity and consistency of the album. When the New thread was revived, I called it one of my favourite McCartney albums, if not my favourite, and my comment has continually received likes ever since.

 

It would be interesting to see which one of us would be right on this... I honestly don't know either, but I'm sticking to my original post though I really hope you are right. New deserves to be heard and loved.

 

When it came out, it took a week of listening to enjoy the overall coherence. Not sameness, but a nice unfolding from one tune to the next which made each song stronger. A case of the whole strengthening the parts. On the first couple of listens, not so much.

 

Not a big fan of it.

BOTR is his best solo work.