POLL: How do you rate Paul McCartney's "Tug of War" album?

WHY THE HELL ISN'T TAKE IT AWAY ON MY LIST?!?! I must've had a brain-fart there as I certainly didn't forget about it. It's a favorite of mine!

I love The Other Me as well, but I think it's one of the slightly lesser tracks. It's a tad on the cheesy side, imo, with the drum machine and the whole "sigh" parts, haha. I'd love to hear it redone more "sophisticated" or proper. I'd love to hear something like that in the hands of Nigel Godrich. #chaos4life

 

When you say Come Dancing, are you referring to the Kinks album State Of Confusion?

 

On any combo album, the seque from Tug of Way to Take it a Way should stay. It is pretty cool too!

 

Definitely!

 

Ballllll...rooooom..Dancing.

 

One of his best works - essential!

 

It's up there with his best albums, and one of the best pop albums of the 1980s, which is like being the best bull rider in Guam, but it's still something. The album doesn't showcase rocking Paul, but all the other ones are there, and the lyrics are actually quite smart and affecting. It's also tremendously easy to get into, something that can't always be said for Paul's albums. Standouts for me are "Wanderlust," "Ballroom Dancing," "The Pound Is Sinking," "Take It Away," "What's That You're Doing?," and "Here Today." I think the segue from "Tug Of War" to "Take It Away" is one of my favorite Paul moments from the 1980s. I also enjoy "Ebony And Ivory" which fits this album with its chunky keyboard passages and plaintive vocals.

The only song I don't like is "Somebody Who Cares," and I've been mellowing on it. I keep finding things I like in this one, after 30-plus years.

 

One of his best for me - great album.

 

I am glad to see that so many other people rate the album; I fully agree, and consider it one of his top 5 or 6 Solo/Wings albums, alongside Ram, BOTR, New, Chaos and Flaming Pie. For that reason, I went with option 1.

In the 70's, Paul made a conscious decision to work on a 'new' sound, rather than releasing 'Beatlesque' music. I feel that Tug Of War was the first album where he allowed himself to return to a Beatles type sound, most likely because it was his first album after John's death. It shows how diverse his talents are that he released it after McCartney 2, which is about as different an album as any could be.

I am very pleased that we are soon going to have the remastered reissue of the album, and I cannot wait to hear the outtakes.

Here is a post I made about the album last year, which I feel says everything that I want to say about the album as well as I can:

''Tug Of War is one of my top 3 or 4 favourite albums that Paul has released since he left the Beatles. I think that it was a huge achievement to go into the studio with George Martin, and Ringo, just after John's death and the disbanding of Wings and to come out with an album as great as this, with all of those expectations on him. He definitely met them in my opinion. I see this as his solo 'Abbey Road', a lush, melodic and diverse album with a lovely warm sound. I am really pleased that Rolling Stone also recognised how good it is, it partly makes up for their disgusting character assassination on Ram.

The title track is a masterpiece, a wonderful melodic plea for peace that I am sure John would have appreciated. I always get emotional when he sings 'In years to come, they may discover, what the air we breathe and life we lead are all about, but it won't be soon enough, soon enough for me.' As Godrich said, they are some of the finest and most moving lyrics he has ever written. I think that had this been a Beatles song it would have gone down as a classic and it would be far more well know. Everyone I have ever played it to has said how great it is. I especially love Linda's part on this and in light of her tragic early death, it adds even more poignancy to the song. The best word to describe this song is majestic.

Take It Away is a fabulous pop song with a nice calypso flavour to it. I can really hear the Buddy Holly influence on it that Paul mentioned during the recording of the demo. Of all of his hit songs that he ignores that I wished that he played live, this is number 1 for me. It is so infectious and catchy, and it stays in my head for days. I love the rhythm section in particular.
I also love the music video with Martin, Ringo and John Hurt, it is one of Paul's best. I think that George Martin played an integral role in this album, his first full album reunion with Paul since Abbey Road, adding his classical influences and instrumental flourishes, so I am glad to see him get a role in the video. Take It Away deserved to be a bigger hit than it was IMO. I wish that this song had been the smash hit from the album instead of Ebony and Ivory, it would have done Paul good in the long run, and it would probably have helped E&I's reputation, which was badly affected by the amount of radio play that it had.

Somebody Who Cares is a beautiful ballad with a lovely latin feel, it is one of Paul's most underrated solo songs IMO. I love his vocals on this song and the wonderful acoustic guitar, especially the intro and the solo. I wish that Paul would use the acoustic like this more often. The melody of this song is wonderful and the lyrics are also some of his best. This is another song that would be considered a classic had it been on a Beatles album.

What's That You're Doing is a song that doesn't get much love, but I am very keen on it. This is probably the only song in Paul's career that could be described as funk, and the rhythm section is great. Although the song does sound very 80's, it is so catchy and infectious and the vocals so strong from Stevie and Paul that it doesn't bother me. I would love to hear the early studio versions of this song; I enjoy hearing the E&I sessions, because you can hear how much fun they were having, and they must have enjoyed making this even more. This is the only time that Paul and Stevie have genuinely collaborated on writing a song together and on the basis of how much I like it, I think that it is a shame that they didn't write together again. I could happily listen to a whole album like this. One final point, I love hearing Stevie sing She Loves You at the end.

Here Today is arguably the greatest achievement of Paul's career. A bold claim, but how many songwriters manage to write a classic song about the death of a former bandmate and songwriting partner? Of all of the tribute songs to John, this is by far the greatest IMO, which is very fitting.
This is a song that always manages to affect me, the lyrics are so honest, which is unusual for Paul, and the melody is so beautiful and delicate. The words capture Paul's relationship with John in a way that no one else has ever got close to. Martin's string arrangement is also incredible, his greatest since Eleanor Rigby. Not many songs make me cry almost every time I hear it, but this is one of them. I am amazed that Paul keeps it together as often as he does when he sings it live. Apparently the song also made Ringo very emotional when Paul sang it in front of him at the Amoeba show in 2007. Seeing Ringo whilst singing the song is apparently what made Paul cry at that show. The 'I love you' part is especially moving to me. I would rate this as one of Paul's all time top 15 songs, a genuinely brilliant song and a highlight on an album full of them.

Ballroom Dancing is a brilliant merging of music hall and dance, the type of song that only Paul and Ray Davies (I see this as Paul's Come Dancing) would write, and yet again Paul's vocals shine, with Paul really sounding like he has some 'gravel in the throat'. The scene where Paul sings this in Broadstreet is one of the few good parts of that film. This is such an energetic and upbeat song that it never fails to cheer me up after hearing the previous song, which is really quite an achievement in itself. This really feels like it could have been a Beatles song, I can imagine it on one of their mid-period albums. I remember hearing that George Harrison liked this song, and I can see why, it is certainly infectious and it makes you sing along. The piano part and horns are particularly good. This is another song that I would love to see Paul sing live.

The Pound is Sinking is another song that many people seem to dismiss, but I think that it is a wonderful quirky song with a very nice set of lyrics, even if they don't all make sense. This song also has a Beatles feel to it, I can imagine it being on Yellow Submarine because of the psychedelic qualities that it has. I am impressed at how Paul was able to string the three separate musical parts of the song together in such a natural sounding way, another quality of his that he regularly used to great affect in the Beatles. I think that Rolling Stone's description of the song is the most apt: 'Beatlesque and Madcap'.

Wanderlust may be my favourite song on the album. I fully agree with the description of the song as a 'stately ballad'. This is another one of his solo songs that should be far more well known and it is perhaps his most underrated seeing how great it is. I can imagine this on Abbey Road or Let It Be, where it could easily hold it's own, it is that good. The melody is incredible, the structure excellent and the ending particularly great, with Paul's wonderful intertwining vocals overlapping to bring a strong sense of release. Martin does a great job yet again, the horns were the perfect finishing touch to the song. It is such a shame that George didn't add guitar to this, not because it would necessarily have made the song much better, but because if any song from Paul's solo career deserved to have a Beatles cameo from John or George, it was this one.

Get It is a great collaboration with the legendary Carl Perkins that successfully achieves a 50's rockabilly sound. Both Paul and Carl sound great on the song, and like with Stevie, you can hear how much fun they were having. The song itself is a really nice, neat little song that is raised a level by the inclusion of Perkins and by the echoey production.

Be What You See is a very ethereal, almost creepy little 'link' song that sounds like the follow up to Can You Take Me Back from the White album. Both songs are actually very catchy and make you wish that they were longer. This was a nice touch, and I am sure that it was intended as a Beatles reference. For whatever reason it actually always makes me feel quite serious and emotional, as if it is some form of comment on John's death. I have no idea why I feel that way, but that always comes into my head when I listen to it.

Dress Me Up As A Robber is an unusual, but catchy and infectious song. I love Paul's high vocals and the acoustic guitar part, whilst the horns remind me of Silly Love Songs (in a good way). This is another song with a good dance quality to it and it is also one of the most 'modern' and contemporary sounding songs on the album, with a nice New Wave influence shining through, especially on the electric guitar part. Like the link song before it, the song has a nice ethereal quality to it.

Now we finally get to one of the most love/hate songs of Paul's career, Ebony and Ivory, and I put myself, at risk of criticism, on the side that likes and appreciates the song. I see it as a highly catchy and infectious ballad with a great synth part. The song was a great vehicle for a Paul and Stevie duet and when I hear the intro to it I have to get ready to start singing along.
The piano/race relations comparison is one that works well IMO, it may be simple, but so was Imagine. I think that two of the reasons why the song has been attacked so much are that Paul McCartney wrote it and because it was so very successful. It seems that it really did get overplayed on the radio and on MTV. The song is definitely cheesy, but so are many other great songs. Unlike most of those songs E&I actually has a very meaningful political message. Race relations was an area that had hardly been written about in pop music and this song definitely did put them on the pop music map in a similar way that Give Peace A Chance did with peace.
I really believe that many people attack this song just to look cool, and I also think that had it not been a hit single, it wouldn't receive anywhere near as much vitriol as it does. I also think that had Paul given his part to someone young at the time, like George Michael, Boy George or Paul Young, then it wouldn't have been anywhere near as attacked.
I put this song in a group with songs like Shiny Happy People and the bubblegum songs of the Monkeys and other 60's acts, because if you like infectious, positive and extremely catchy pop, then you will probably like this, whereas if you dislike those songs, then you will probably dislike this.

Overall I feel that the album is brilliant, a fantastic performance from Paul who successfully flexes his impressive and diverse songwriting muscles. The album successfully places Funk, Music Hall, Neo-Classical balladry, New Wave, Latin, Calypso, Rock and Roll, Rockabilly and Psychedelia alongside each other, all of which are tied together by Paul's extreme talent for catchy melodies. Martin did a brilliant job with his Beatlesque production touches, Paul, Stevie and Carl all sound great, the lyrics are mainly very strong and Ringo makes a nice cameo. Denny Laine's parts were also left on the album, which I feel was a nice gesture from Paul. Steve Gadd, Stanley Clarke and Eric Stewart all also contribute to the album. As you can tell, I quite like this album.''

 

Fantastic review!

 

Not bad.

 

Nice review, Ben!

A couple comments...

It's too bad you weren't around when we did a very lengthy album-by-album thread of all the solo Beatle stuff - you would've enjoyed it!

I'll reference my own post from then about Tug of War, particularly in regards to the songs above.

Another favorite album moment for me is on "Wanderlust". I love how the downward trajectory of the "captain says there'll be a bust" collides with the upward trajectory of the counter-melody. "Bust" is going down simultaneously with "brand new day" rising up. Simply magical.
...I've said before that I'm always amused by the fact that E&I gets such a critical hammering. It may be a fairly simplistic view of a complex issue, but I'm pretty sure another guy from Liverpool would've loved it's sloganeering peace message, if only he would've been alive to hear it...​

 

Thanks to this thread, I've been revisiting my old "Rude Studios Demos" boot and is once again reminded how truly amazing these songs really are. I mean a track like "Average Person" almost have a "Sgt Pepper" quality to it when it comes to the lyrics... Even though I like it a lot, it's far from one of my favourites from these sessions! Paul even saved it for his next album! Keeping my fingers crossed that the forthcoming TOW/POP re-releases gives us plenty of nice outtakes and b-sides.

 

Somebody Who Cares is my favorite

 

Very good album. Only think I skip is Ebony and Ivory. Everything else is solid.

 

where it fits ,I am not sure it clearly better than a lot of his records Ram ,McCartney, and Band are on a different level Its somewhere after Venus and mars and before McCartney 2

 

Great post

 

Thanks.

 

Not one of my favorites. The melodies were ok.

 

Thanks.

Yes, I am annoyed that I missed those threads, but I did the next best thing which was to read through them, which I did enjoy. The great thing about this forum is that if you do read through a very long thread, you learn so much.

I fully agree with your comment regarding Wanderlust; in many ways, the moment that you describe may be the finest of his solo career IMO.

I also agree that Lennon would most likely have liked Ebony and Ivory. Like many pop songs it is quite cheesy, but unlike most pop hits, it actually conveys a meaningful political message. I actually think that the melody is extremely good; it is classic catchy McCartney, and I also think that the lyrics are needlessly attacked. They are simple, but they do work.

 

I don't know that I agree that it conveys a "meaningful political message", but I still think John would've loved it. In one of his later interviews he talked about the "connection" from "The Word" through to "All You Need Is Love" to "Give Peace A Chance" to "Imagine". He liked the simple earworm "slogans" that could change people's minds. In another interview (maybe in the Imagine movie?) he talked about some of his work (was it the bed-in?) being "an advertisement for peace". That's exactly what E&I is. I don't think it would have needed a meaningful message for John to appreciate it and I think the evidence for that is clearly laid out in his words through the years.

 

Well, what I mean by 'meaningful' is simply that the song calls for peace between the races. It may not do it in a sophisticated way, but is still has a positive message.

 

The lyrics may be cheesy, but they make sense. "Give Peace a Chance" seems to be a lot of words just thrown together:

Everybody's talkin' 'bout ministers, sinisters
Banisters and canisters, bishops and fishops
Rabbis and pop eyes, bye bye, bye byes
All we are saying, is give peace a chance
All we are saying, is give peace a chance

 

You really should do the sleeve notes for all future Archive releases.

 

I agree. Think John would have loved Tug of War! He probably would have joked about George Martin producing it. I can almost hear him say - "I've always said that Paul is Mr. Martins favourite!"