Two new songs of Paul McCartney for recordstore day !

Please, no. I honestly dislike his production work in general and it sounds very mono and bland. I also dislike how the songs end abruptly.

Not bad songs, but could be MUCH better with better production.

That said, I LOVE the new single! I’ve liked the outtakes more than several songs off the actual album. Get Started, Sixty Second Street and Home Tonight are probably my favorites of the outtakes.

 

I love new Macca music but can't say I'm not a tad annoyed. There was this super duper official deluxe best ever edition of Egypt Station sold and my OCD riddled brain was in Nirvana with all the material in one place...now two more songs from those sessions are released.

I get with modern listening practices that playlists can create any "complete" collection you want. But from a physical media standpoint? Ehh, it's annoying. Glad to have the songs but still...

I'm sure some 14 year old Macca fan is saying "OK Boomer" right now but I'll have you know I was born in 1975: proud GenX slacker thank you!

Onto the tunes themselves...

"Home Tonight" is a great little McCartney pop/rock tune. Instantly remembered the melody after first listen which is a good sign. Kurstin & McCartney seemed to have had like half a dozen songs in this vein, just real solid songwriting craftsmanship & straight ahead production. Excising the Tedder stuff (yes, ALL of it) and focusing on straight ahead songs would've made a great album even better IMO. I think the faux double tracking effect of the slap delay Macca's been fond of using since the Off The Ground era is very effective on his later-70's voice (that's later 70's age wise, not late 1970's ). The bass is the Hofner to my ears; through a pair of Sony MDR-7506 headphones you can hear that tubby warmth in the 4th fret and above range of notes. Very tasty.

"In A Hurry" I see the lyrical comparisons to "Another Day", "She's Leaving Home", "She's Given Up Talking" , "Daytime Nighttime Suffering", etc. Did we need another one of Macca's female protag story songs? Eh. Musically it's very interesting, but almost too busy-changey to seem different. A few of the section changes are a bit stiff at first listen but after hearing it a few times it's got the same kind of theatrical bombast that "Despite Repeated Warnings" has. Which is a compliment. The "never too late" bit is especially earwormy. Again, I'm hearing Hofner: those damp, thuddy high notes at the beginning are indicative of THE bass. A Rick will still sound a bit spiky that far up even with flatwounds, the mutes on, etc.

All in all a cool single that really demonstrates the way McCartney sometimes leaves better songs in the can than on the album. He's did it a lot in the 70's ("Waterspout" & "Cage" come to mind) and although the CD era of the 80's-early 2000's increased the available real estate an album would hold, Paul did it a lot in that timeframe too (How "Motor Of Love" & "How Many People" made FITD but "Back On My Feet" and "Loveliest Thing" didn't is one of the Universe's great mysteries.

I do applaud McCartney for clearing the decks so to speak and not keeping many of these Kurstin produced songs on ice until the next album. Not only does it show an embarrassment of riches, it also shows he very confident in his songwriting joojoo continuing to provide for him.

 

Personally I think either one would fit on Egypt Station better than Fuh You (and I really don't mind Fuh You anymore). I still think In a Hurry is the stronger of the two, but Home Tonight is starting to grow on me.

 

OK Boomer

I’m 19, is that close enough, boomer?

 

I never really put it together, but you and my son are the same age! That's kind of cool! I have fun conversations with him too!

 

Elton John?

 

Loving me some Home Tonight. Nice one Paul!
Killer bass line, brass section and bang on lyrics.
Just as good as the exceptional materiel a la Egypt Station.

 

In A Hurry has clicked for me! I remember someone said it was like a combination of Egypt Station and New's styles - I can definitely see that.

In A Hurry, along with songs like Nothing For Free and Appreciate, has a sort of style that can only be found in Paul's 2010s career. I can't really think of songs from the earlier decades that sound like them. It's cool that he seems to have developed yet another "way" of songwriting.

 

B side material.

 

Home Tonight is catchy, if lyrically slight. Pleasant and inoffensive.

In A Hurry is OK too. It has some nice moments, although I suspect it may not have legs.

Why could we not just have proper complete set of recordings on one set?These presumably have no physical release at all. Egypt Station has been such a mess in terms of the way it has been released. There should have been a standard release and deluxe edition with everything.

 

Home Tonight/In A Hurry will be released as a 7" picture disc this Friday. I agree however that a "Complete Works" type release would have been preferable from a consumer's point of view.

 

Home Tonight is such a fun, infectious pop-song. Catchy as glue.
In a Hurry -a bit more busy but still pop-music. Features some brilliant melodic touches
Im happy having these songs that both imo are top-tier McCartney
Personally I would t change a thing on Egypt Station but as one of single these songs are darn great
Paul sure was on a till during these sessions. So much good songs. Im perfectly OK that Paul shares these delights in bits and pieces. Guess there ain t no more goodies from these sessions now

 

While I do not have a problem with picture discs I do find the random formats of Paul's releases these days to be very frustrating. I would just like to be able to buy the material in a standard and consistent format. Not everyone has vinyl playing facilities or prefers that. Not everyone has download facilities or considers that a 'real' artifact. Would be nice to just be able to buy his work in the format of your choice. You always used to be able to. He is a 'big act' and should have enough clout to do so. I realise that I am perhaps not typical of those purchasing music generally (or probably more accurately not purchasing music) but I probably am fairly typical of those buying (or attempting to buy) Paul McCartney's music. To be disenfranchised after all this time is to be honest a bit naff.

I guess when I am dead and gone there will be an archive collection that will collate the randomly scattered pieces of the Egypt Station recordings. A shame because there are some nice songs amongst them. Not everything hit the mark but it would have been nice to have it all in a consistent fashion. I have given up trying to keep track of the formats that have emerged, but I do know that it has been a horrendous mess. In my opinion of course.

 

I would love McCartney to work with Nigel Godrich again.

 

If his albums since Chaos had been critical or commercial flops, then maybe, but all of his releases since have been critically acclaimed Culminating with Egypt Station reaching the #1. Paul has seen success with a number of producers that seem to be much easier and more fun to work with than Paul describes Nigel.

 

I think Greg is the perfect producer for Paul, he brings the uniform quality of Nigel but actually keeping McCartney’s personality.

 

Exactly, I would be delighted if Paul worked exclusively with Greg for the remainder of Paul's recording career.

 

It's interesting how some people can't get their heads around the idea of a standalone single, despite McCartney's long history of releasing them.

This is not remotely true. Could you buy "Junior's Farm" on 8-track in 1974? "Wonderful Christmastime" on cassette in 1979? "We All Stand Together" on CD in 1984?

 

Can't say I've been paying much attention to Elton John lately and his voice never struck me as "angelic" like Paul's (until around 83/84 maybe) but I'll check out his latest videos on YT.

 

Elton's voice has definitely declined, but yes, it was never the equivalent of Paul's to begin with. Also in that vein: Dylan always had a limited voice but used it very effectively. The raspy sounds he makes now barely qualify as singing.

 

I know about stand-alone singles but this isn't really that, is it? It is a special edition picture disc only. And the standalone single does not really exist in the way it did in the seventies. I can't remember the last CD single I purchased. But, if these two tracks did appear in that format I would purchase them!

I do have Junior's Farm on 7" single, but I also have access to it on CD format (several times actually). These two new tracks I will not have at all. Not interested in downloads and don't currently have a turntable set-up.

I guess I will have to wait for the next 'best of' and hope he includes both tracks. I fear that won't happen, but there we go. Perhaps every so often we could have a mop-up CD to include all of the oddities which only appear in 'special' formats (a sort of solo Past Masters compilation). I'm sure that there are a few items that I am missing over the last decade or so - soundtrack songs, extended mixes, etc. I feel sorry for people who are fans but are either priced-out or formatted-out (Flowers in the Dirt downloads, Live in Europe, these latest two tracks etc.). I did pay the premium for the Live In Europe set and don't regret that but I would have bought the two individual sets anyway. I suppose you could make the point that the Archive edition extra tracks have not been available to all so it is not possible to keep everyone happy but...

I know my moans are going to fall on deaf ears but I do think the Egypt Station release has been pretty chaotic, and certainly very expensive (although I skipped the suitcase). Playing with jigsaw puzzles and cassettes is novel but not for me. Give fans the music in a mainstream format and be aware that many of your fans are not digitally enabled. I am, but I know many who are a couple of years too old and will never be online and hence these releases will be invisible to them. A shame.

Anyway, your points are taken. I guess we will just have to agree to differ on this.

 

That's exactly what it is.

 

Yes, technically! But you know what I mean.

 

I listen to the two new songs on Spotify for free. Suits me fine
Egypt Station is the album Paul wanted it to be and I don t like it any different. I can t see anything wrong at all with Paul keeping some stuff and releasing these songs as a stand-alone single. Which is exactley what it is. Just like a plentyful of other releases from Paul through the years
Of course it would have been fun if these songs had found their way to the Explorers Edition. But This is even more fun and surprising On the other hand I don t care so much about physical records anymore.

 

Ok.