POLL: How do you rate Paul McCartney's "Flowers In The Dirt" album?

For me, "Put It There" is Classic McCartney. These other 5 you've named? Can't stand any of them.

I feel oppositely. I thing "Figure Of Eight" was fine on the record, but was atrocious to open up a concert with... and it seemed to linger on and on, live.

 

I like it quite a bit, I voted a sold effort. But I also think it would have been improved as a full-on collaboration with Elvis.

 

no i dissagree...sounds pretty good here....

 

Call me crazy (I am sure you will) but I consider Flowers In The Dirt to be one of his top 3 albums of all time (the other 2 being Ram and NEW). Maybe it has to do with the fact that it was released when I was in high school and a lot of albums from that time hold special memories. I remember getting the cassette and Ou Est followed Put It There on the first side. It was also one of the first CDs I ever got. The sound of the album just blew me away. Still love it and cannot wait for the Archive release of it (whenever that will be).

 

I have many live recordings of 'Figure Of Eight' in my collection (audio and video). Even better camera angles. I just think it's a weak choice as opener, not so much that it can't sound good live. But it still goes on too long.

 

far more interesting than magical ****ing mystery tour!...now that song goes on and on and on
and its not a very good song by famous beatle song standards..infact its rubbish

 

No, I actually think "Magical Mystery Tour" is rather short. I think it's an excellent concert opener, and very festive as it introduces a show even in the MMT film (and not "rubbish"). Ditto for the choice of "Hello Goodbye" -very good "hello crowd" song. (Now, if you had said "Drive My Car" was a weak opener, I'd agree with you .. but it's still better than using "Figure Of Eight").

 

yes, 'hello goodbye' and 'drive my car' do the job well.......however 'magical mystery tour' would sound like a mess of a song even if he was singing it good,which of course he isnt.

 

The songs are there, but the only thing that holds me back from listening to this album is the production. If it had been recorded in the 70s I feel it would be held in much higher regard.

 

Honestly, my favorite Macca solo album, in fact the only solo album of his that I routinely play. I agree with others who express amazement that it is 25 years old.

 

Solid. Some excellent tracks. Elvis Costello was a great choice of collaborator.

 

I voted not bad.
Actually, it's probably better than I think it is. It's just never been a favorite for me, especially the back end of the album. I much prefer the follow-up Off The Ground.

 

Pretty solid. Some real standouts (Put It There, This One), but also a certain amout of neatly polished boredom.

 

Motor Of Love is one of the definite standouts for me, McCartney's vocal is just so smooth and soulful on that song, how on Earth can anyone say that his singing wasn't good after 1979? It's one of my absolute all time fave ballads by him.

How Many People is another, this for me is the best raggae song of McCartney's entire career! That opening is just awesome.

Figure Of Eight was a great opener, the crowds loved it! I also think Magical Mystery Tour and Drive My Car are great openers. DMC really gets the show and the crowd started!

Roughride is another, the funky r&b groove of that song just gets me everytime, one of my very faves.

 

I wrote my opinions of the album on another thread recently, and thought that I should post them here:

I have always loved this album; it was one of the first solo-McCartney albums that I bought, and I have listened to it every few months since that time, in 2006 or 2007.

I absolutely love My Brave Face, and rank it as one of his top solo/Wings singles. I especially love the bass part, and the Beatlesque 'Take me to that place' line. The lyrics are also fantastic, partly thanks to some help from Costello.

I also love This One, which is also one of his finest pop singles since 1970. I personally think that it somehow references George and his love of Raga music. It is definitely one of Paul's classic ear-worms.

I also rate Figure Of Eight highly, although I prefer listening to the funkier live versions.

Put It There is one of Paul's most moving solo-songs, in a category with songs like Here Today and Little Willow, and I think that it is deserves to be seen as one of his finest solo ballads. I wish that he still sang it during his live shows.

I also agree that Rough Ride has a great groove, and that is the reason why I listen to the song. It is not a classic, but it deserves to be on the album, and I can see why he liked playing it live.

Distractions was a song that initially didn't stand out to me, but now I see it as one of the finest 2 or 3 songs on the album. The melody didn't hit me as immediately as some of the other songs, but now that it has sunk in, I can appreciate how beautiful and delicate that it is. I love Clare Fisher's orchestral arrangement. For me the song is a cousin of the lovely Footprints from PTP; neither sound like classic McCartney ballads, but they are both wonderful songs IMO.

My other favourite ballad on the album is the Gospel-tinged That Day Is Done, which would be seen as a classic had it been released by the Beatles IMO. I am pleased that Costello continues to promote the song by occasionally playing it live. I agree with Costello that it does conjure up a similar feeling to Let It Be, which is high praise indeed. Paul should have performed this one on the '89 Tour.

We Got Married is a catchy and decent song that I always enjoy hearing. I like Paul's lyrics on this one. I am also very keen on the completely different version of the song that he performed at Knebworth, where he turned it into a much more rocking song.

I like both Don't Be Careless Love and You Want Her Too as songs, but I am not keen on the album versions. I much prefer the demo versions, where they are not as stifled by the arrangement and production.

Motor Of Love is a song that I never used to listen to, but which I now really like thanks to this forum. I saw a few people praising it, listened to the Keaggy cover, noticed the lyrics for the first time in a major way, and now I cannot get it out of my head when I hear it. I wish that Paul had released a more stripped down version, but I do now like the album version as it is.

That only leaves the catchy but slight How Many People (Ou est le Soliel isn't part of the album proper as far as I am concerned), which has a nice message, but not much else IMO. It is the only song that I would cull from the album.

Had Paul recorded Don't Be Careless Love and You Want Her Too like the demos, and added the brilliant Back On My Feet, Same Love and Loveliest Thing, then the album would be a classic IMO.

 

FLOWERS IN THE DIRT has two of McCartney's all-time great songs in "Put It There" and "This One". "My Brave Face" was a very good single and "You Want Her Too" is a very good duet with Elvis Costello. "Distractions" is a good song. The rest is fairly average.
A good album, borderline top 10 McCartney, but clearly not one of his very best.

 

I like "Motor of Love" but totally understand why others don't. But as for "How Many People," I'm baffled why so many dislike it. It's such a catchy and melodic tune. I love it.

 

I certainly don't dislike How Many People; it is catchy and has a good message. I just don't really think that it fits on the album very well, the mood of the song seems quite different from all of the others.

 

"A pretty solid effort" that has grown with me over time. I listened to it well, well after its release, and it seemed like a pretty hyped album in his catalog - like Tug of War and Flaming Pie, it seemed like it was one of those "comeback" albums that re-established McCartney. So with that hype in mind, I didn't quite get it at first. There were some songs that jumped out as great right away (My Brave Face, This One), but it took a while for me to latch onto some of the other stuff and think of it more highly. Now I hold the album in pretty high regard, but still shy of the top rating.

 

One song I really dislike off this album is "Motor Of Love". A few weeks ago it was played on a Beatles weekly radio show, and I was cringing throughout. Definitely never need to hear this again, and it is definitely on my list of "worst Paul songs".

 

I completely agree.

It's just amazing to me that some people on a music board still can't recognize a good opener.

 

I love most of he tracks except three at the end. I cringe when I hear oui est le soiled, how many people and Motor of love bores me.

But I love 9 other tracks. On the album and even a couple of non album b sides like Flying to my home.

The only drag is how McCartney closed an otherwise career high album with 3 below par songs.

I give it 8 out of ten, without those Three songs I give it 9.5

I rate it roughly sixth out if his 25 post Beatle studio albums.

 

Some fantastic songs on this record. If I had a complaint at all is that to me, the record seems a bit too long. There are a few clunkers I'd have cut, "Motor of Love" and "Ou Est Le Solei" are a couple that spring to mind. I voted A pretty solid effort - worth recommending

 

On my McCartney top 5. His best post Venus&Mars. I love the Costello collaborations with "You Want Her Too" as one of his happiest moments.

 

I just listened to this album for the very first time and am posting my impressions of each song. Things to keep in mind: I always focus on the melody, feel, and arrangement of songs upon the first few listens. Lyrics are secondary, and so are not being considered in these reviews.

My Brave Face – Amazing. Solid A. This is one of 2 songs I have had on my iPod for years and am familiar with.

Rough Ride – This was a Rough Listen for me. I didn’t like it very much.

You Want Her Too – Not bad. It was interesting hearing Costello. This warrants another listen.

Distractions – I like this. The strings remind me of “Song For The Asking” by Simon and Garfunkel a bit.

We Got Married – I like this. I can tell it will grow on me nicely. It’s kind of long, though.

Put It There – Ahhhh. There’s that classic McCartney you expect. Beautiful song, great melody. I haven’t heard this song in years (since The McCartney Years DVD). It was the highlight of listening to this album.

Figure of Eight – Good song

This One – Amazing. Solid A. This is the second of 2 songs I have had on my iPod for years and am familiar with.

Don’t Be Careless Love – Interesting. Not bad. I can tell this will grow on me.

The Day Is Done – So-so.

How Many People – So-so

Motor of Love – So-so


The album as a whole - decent. Like most albums by most artists, I need time with it, to let it grow on me.