What's the best Paul McCartney album?

I'm going against the grain here and voted "London Town". Of course "BOTR" has the most kudos commercially and "Ram" is his first great album (i.m.o.), but song for song "London Town" is the album I like the most. It's the care-free McCartney; not yet the 'ex-Beatle' from the '80s who battled against John's sainthood and not yet fighting his 'Old Fart'-image when punk and new wave were on the rise.
It has quite a few half-baked songs, but so has every McCartney/Wings-album. And he does his Elvis in "Name And Adress"!

 

The first two tracks of V&M should be enough to give you the answer

 

Personally love everything up from McCartney up to Venus, things get bit patchy from then but love the invention of McCartney 2, Fireman records and the reflection, maturity on Flaming Pie and Chaos if I had to pic one though it would be RAM, followed closely by Chaos and McCartney 2 showcasing all sides of his brilliant work.

 

Depends how old you are in some respects.

I wasn't alive when Ram or Band on the Run came out. I mean they are great albums, BUT when Flaming Pie came out, it was not only a great album, but it's almost an important part in my life.
I was graduating high school and it was the year before my entire family went down the crapper and we all went our separate ways. BUT, I remember going to the store to buy the album and playing it all through the summer of '97. I didn't smoke, so I used Flaming Pie to calm my nerves.

So in that regard, I think it really helps the impact of an album if you were alive to experience, not just the music, but it release day.

 

No one has disagreed with that from an official standpoint but a band that goes through 3 lead guitarists and 4 drummers in a decade, and their mainstay members next to Paul being only his wife and Laine, it's natural for folks to refer to Wings era material as solo era McCartney.
Wham was a duo but their songs were as much George Michael as his official solo releases.

 

Ram on

 

Band On The Run

 

I voted Band, but I really like Driving Rain and Chaos too.

 

...that is widely acknowledged to be another word for "Paul McCartney Solo Record." Do most record stores file Wings records separate from the Macca section?

 

Obviously, you need to buy TWO albums. Ram and Band On The Run.

Both great albums but they are different animals. Band on the Run is the more straight forward rock album and the more 'serious' of the two.

Ram is the more adventurous one where more chances are taken and mostly, it pays off. McCartney's vocals on Ram are all over the place too. Not just stylistically from ballads to country to rockers but there's a lot of vocal 'tics' throughout as well (thanks to my stepson for pointing that out to me). Uncle Albert is a great example, as is Monkberry Moon Delight. For the most part, Ram is a fun album.

Oh, one more thing. Both albums benefit from their mastering on the DCC disks, if you're a CD person. Many timnes they can be found for less than $40US, esp. Band on the Run, and IMHO they're worth it.

 

Back To The Egg

 

McCartney because it's laid back and has the best songs in my opinion

 

"Penny Lane" and "Strawberry Fields Forever" are part of the original Sgt Pepper release. "Strawberry Fields Forever" was recorded after "When I'm Sixty-Four" and "Penny Lane" was recorded two days before "A Day In The Life". If those two aren't legitimate Pepper tracks I don't know what is.

Back then, commercialism took precedence over art. Record company pressure for a single took the best song (or in this case, songs) off the LP it was intended to be on. We can fix that with a playlist. So why not? It's your music.

And I ask the question: If you don't put tracks like 'Paperback Writer' on Revolver and 'Hey Jude' on the White Album, just how exactly do you listen to them? As random tracks next to 'I Want To Hold Your Hand' on a lousy greatest hits package?

 

There is no best, only your favourite.

 

I think Venus and Mars is highly underrated. I like it a lot.

Ram would be my favorite if there weren't so many half finished songs on it. I wish McCartney would have spent a little more time on it.

 

Separately, because they're not part of those records. Or on Past Masters.

 

Flowers in the dirt - because this was the first one where I was properly aware of a new McCartney album. I'd pretty much only started buying music/albums in 1987 (bought All the best! as the second LP in my collection) so Flowers in the dirt was my first experience of new McCartney songs. OK, I can appreciate Ram and Band on the run, but they don't have that personal attachment. Which is so important in music.

 

Yeah...ahhh..."Past Masters"...."Hey Jude"...right between "The Inner Light" and "Revolution".
You appear to have a skewed perspective, in regard to how things were done. Record companies weren't taking the "best songs" off albums. The Beatles wrote and recorded songs, designated for singles. They were proud of their double A-side singles. "Hey Jude" was meant to be a single, individual, artistic statement, not to be lost within the midst album tracks.

 

Again if it wasn’t released on the album it’s not to be considered. I don’t think I can explain it any clearer. If you can’t differentiate I have nothing else for ya

 

I fear it's a lost cause.

 

I like Ram more, but think Band On The Run is a more solid album from front to back... so BOTR got my vote.

BTTE and V&M are my #3 and #4 picks.

 

McCartney 2 bonus disc is crazy good. Blue Sway??? You didn’t release that!!!!

Electric Arguments is great! Good pick!

I feel like Paul’s versatility works against him sometimes. These albums all have their merits, but they are also so different that it is difficult, imo, for there to be a real consensus. Obviously Ram and Band On The Run stand out, but even then if you told me McCartney was your favorite, I wouldn’t begrudge that. If you pick Venus & Mars, I don’t mind that. Electric Arguments, ok I see it. Chaos or Flaming Pie? Yes, absolutely. I mean it never ends because he has so many different songs and albums across so many different genres. So many people want to know “what’s the definitive album?” Paul switches gears so often it’s hard to say.

 

Dunno about "most" but I know that one of the used record stores in town here does indeed file the "Paul McCartney" albums under "M" and the "Wings" albums under "W"...in the $3 'bargain section', that is Most of the record stores here tend to just have one big "Beatles" section that encompasses Beatles, solo and even b--tleg albums.

 

Band on the Run