What do you think of the song 'Press'?
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ewanme:
ZodiakFool:
Omg, I'm sorry, I can't stand this song, lol. Most of it has to do with the sound and the production. It's like being hit by a tsunami of cheese. All those synths, and electronic drums, and flourishes make it such a shmaltzy pop song. It feels like a SuperNintendo song on acid. I was analyzing this song a bit more the other day. I was listening to a more stripped-down version on youtube, and I found it immensely more tolerable. Melody-wise I don't think it's too bad, it's nicely crafted, but I think it lacks the monster hook of some of his best hits. It's a potpourri of song bits, and some of them I think are pretty good! The opening line "I love you very, very, very much", I find very, very, very grating, lol. There could be an Elvis vibe in that opening bit of melody which I think would have been more cool to capitalize on. Getting back to the "sound", it made me wonder what Paul was going for. In the previous years, he had just scored a couple of HUGE hits with Coming Up and Say Say Say, and I would describe those as pop-funk type songs, which, in a general sense, feels like what Press is going for, too. But I think the production and arrangements of Coming Up and Say Say Say was far better and stronger (i.e. less cheezy) and had better hooks. I don't think synths are necessarily bad either. There are a lot of cool bands (Prince, NIN) that do well with synths. I wonder if Paul was trying to evoke a Talking Heads vibe with this song? I can hear some similarities in sound, with the funky-african grooves, fat bass, high keyboards, etc. Sometimes it's a fine line between a really cool sound and cheezy crap. It might have been nice if he had restrained himself to more of a Talking Heads vibe with this song (?). I don't buy into the argument that Paul was a "victim" of the sound stylings of the day. Sure, there was lots of embarrassing crap during this era. Hugh Padgham was the producer. I was listening to the Police's Synchronicity again, and it's a ****ing brilliant album with a fantastic sound (produced by Padgham), just a couple years previous to Press. (On a sidenote, as weird as it sounds, I can hear a lot of McCartney-isms in Synchronicity. Miss Grenenko sounds like a classic McCartney song I wish he'd make again. Shades of Temporary Secretary?) I suspect that Padgham is just another super producer who can't stand up to Paul's, ummm, aesthetic indulgences. So, yeah, I just find Press way too over-the-top in all its poppy flourishes and accents. That's just my tastes!
Had Paul made the album 2 years earlier, it would have had a completely different production sound. I reckon Hugh Padgham was conforming to the latest production trends - type of drum and synth sounds etc which were very much confined to 1985-86. You can hear this from the track 'Spies Like Us' from '85. By 1987 and 'Once Upon A Long Ago', the more organic sounds were returning. Having said all that, there are hits from 1986 ('oldies') played on the radio every day in 2014 which have similar production values to those heard on 'Press To Play'. And people tend not to complain about these....because, for whatever reason (airplay/timing/image etc) they were big hits.......so there's possibly a little hypocrisy going on.
Organic sounds were returning, but synthesized sounds still lingered on in songs like "Rough Ride" and "Motor Of Love" and others on FITD. Quite true that we accept other eighties hits with this sound. By and large, that sound kind of defined some of those bands. I guess it irks some McCartney fans because it was someone else's sound before it was "his" sound. But really, if you think back, he had already followed trends in the seventies, too, from glam rock to reggae to disco to punk to new wave. He's always been a curious guy, trying on different clothes, though some don't fit quite as well as others! Personally, I didn't mind this sound on PTP. Adds to the diversity of his catalogue. If every album sounded like Flaming Pie, it would get boring, I think.
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''If every album sounded like Flaming Pie, it would get boring, I think.'' Agreed. In fact even one other album sounding like Flaming Pie would be to much
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Not sure I consider it one of his great songs, it sounds like something he just played with in the studio, but it's likeable and charming, I'm very fond of "Press", there's so many artists who struggle to write songs, but with McCartney... he just does it, it's what he's made of.
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Love it. As catchy as hell. The the whole album in fact.
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Great song on a brilliant album.
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favoritething:
ewanme:
ZodiakFool:
Omg, I'm sorry, I can't stand this song, lol. Most of it has to do with the sound and the production. It's like being hit by a tsunami of cheese. All those synths, and electronic drums, and flourishes make it such a shmaltzy pop song. It feels like a SuperNintendo song on acid. I was analyzing this song a bit more the other day. I was listening to a more stripped-down version on youtube, and I found it immensely more tolerable. Melody-wise I don't think it's too bad, it's nicely crafted, but I think it lacks the monster hook of some of his best hits. It's a potpourri of song bits, and some of them I think are pretty good! The opening line "I love you very, very, very much", I find very, very, very grating, lol. There could be an Elvis vibe in that opening bit of melody which I think would have been more cool to capitalize on. Getting back to the "sound", it made me wonder what Paul was going for. In the previous years, he had just scored a couple of HUGE hits with Coming Up and Say Say Say, and I would describe those as pop-funk type songs, which, in a general sense, feels like what Press is going for, too. But I think the production and arrangements of Coming Up and Say Say Say was far better and stronger (i.e. less cheezy) and had better hooks. I don't think synths are necessarily bad either. There are a lot of cool bands (Prince, NIN) that do well with synths. I wonder if Paul was trying to evoke a Talking Heads vibe with this song? I can hear some similarities in sound, with the funky-african grooves, fat bass, high keyboards, etc. Sometimes it's a fine line between a really cool sound and cheezy crap. It might have been nice if he had restrained himself to more of a Talking Heads vibe with this song (?). I don't buy into the argument that Paul was a "victim" of the sound stylings of the day. Sure, there was lots of embarrassing crap during this era. Hugh Padgham was the producer. I was listening to the Police's Synchronicity again, and it's a ****ing brilliant album with a fantastic sound (produced by Padgham), just a couple years previous to Press. (On a sidenote, as weird as it sounds, I can hear a lot of McCartney-isms in Synchronicity. Miss Grenenko sounds like a classic McCartney song I wish he'd make again. Shades of Temporary Secretary?) I suspect that Padgham is just another super producer who can't stand up to Paul's, ummm, aesthetic indulgences. So, yeah, I just find Press way too over-the-top in all its poppy flourishes and accents. That's just my tastes!
Had Paul made the album 2 years earlier, it would have had a completely different production sound. I reckon Hugh Padgham was conforming to the latest production trends - type of drum and synth sounds etc which were very much confined to 1985-86. You can hear this from the track 'Spies Like Us' from '85. By 1987 and 'Once Upon A Long Ago', the more organic sounds were returning. Having said all that, there are hits from 1986 ('oldies') played on the radio every day in 2014 which have similar production values to those heard on 'Press To Play'. And people tend not to complain about these....because, for whatever reason (airplay/timing/image etc) they were big hits.......so there's possibly a little hypocrisy going on.
Organic sounds were returning, but synthesized sounds still lingered on in songs like "Rough Ride" and "Motor Of Love" and others on FITD. Quite true that we accept other eighties hits with this sound. By and large, that sound kind of defined some of those bands. I guess it irks some McCartney fans because it was someone else's sound before it was "his" sound. But really, if you think back, he had already followed trends in the seventies, too, from glam rock to reggae to disco to punk to new wave. He's always been a curious guy, trying on different clothes, though some don't fit quite as well as others! Personally, I didn't mind this sound on PTP. Adds to the diversity of his catalogue. If every album sounded like Flaming Pie, it would get boring, I think.
Press To Play was produced with the absolute intention of celebrating the burgeoning compact-disc format revolution at that time. Its production was deliberate, and the goal was to emphasize the state of the art. I think people should listen to the album with that in mind. It's quite a joyride via headphones. It's as much of its time as Sgt. Pepper was for the '60s or as Electric Arguments is for the current era.
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audi:
".Its production was deliberate, and the goal was to emphasize the state of the art. I think people should listen to the album with that in mind. It's quite a joyride via headphones. It's as much of its time as Sgt. Pepper was for the '60s or as Electric Arguments is for the current era.
Press To Play's issues for me are the overall patchy song writing quality more than the well criticised '80's production sound. I think over Paul's long post Beatle career it's the quality control issue that hampers his musical output more than any production issue of the time.If you put the best songs from PTP and Flowers you have a great album on your hands, less is more sometimes. PRESS THE FLOWERS (86-89) MY BRAVE FACE GOOD TIMES COMING/FEEL THE SUN WE GOT MARRIED FOOTPRINTS THIS ONE FIGURE OF EIGHT PUT IT THERE ONCE UPON A LONG AGO BACK ON MY FEET FLYING TO MY HOME
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Too many great Press songs left out of that tracklist.
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audi:
Too many great Press songs left out of that tracklist.
Are you talking Stranglehold, Only Love Remains or Pretty Little Head? The songs i picked for the Press To Flowers album was just off the top of my pretty little head, but i wouldn't change too much! I left off as many Flowers In The Dirt tracks as PTP so no bias at least?
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BOYCIE:
audi:
Too many great Press songs left out of that tracklist.
Are you talking Stranglehold, Only Love Remains or Pretty Little Head? The songs i picked for the Press To Flowers album was just off the top of my pretty little head, but i wouldn't change too much! I left off as many Flowers In The Dirt tracks as PTP so no bias at least?
I love "Talk More Talk," "Move Over Busker" and -- most definitely -- "Angry" (some of the best lyrics he's ever written -- Lennon would've been envious). I like that you would include "Once Upon A Long Ago" -- great track that never got released over here. It wasn't that long ago that I learned of its existence and that it was a UK smash.
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Stranglehold, Move Over Busker, Angry, Footprints, However Absurd..... my favourites from the album.... Only Love Remains does the job of ballad better than many other post-Press to Play efforts.... and I stick by "It's Not True".... ahahaha.... even though it's not on the album, it should've been..... I love it....the only song I can't rate is Pretty Little Head.... And yet I still have that 12 inch vinyl in my collection.... but it's crapola.
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audi:
favoritething:
ewanme:
ZodiakFool:
Omg, I'm sorry, I can't stand this song, lol. Most of it has to do with the sound and the production. It's like being hit by a tsunami of cheese. All those synths, and electronic drums, and flourishes make it such a shmaltzy pop song. It feels like a SuperNintendo song on acid. I was analyzing this song a bit more the other day. I was listening to a more stripped-down version on youtube, and I found it immensely more tolerable. Melody-wise I don't think it's too bad, it's nicely crafted, but I think it lacks the monster hook of some of his best hits. It's a potpourri of song bits, and some of them I think are pretty good! The opening line "I love you very, very, very much", I find very, very, very grating, lol. There could be an Elvis vibe in that opening bit of melody which I think would have been more cool to capitalize on. Getting back to the "sound", it made me wonder what Paul was going for. In the previous years, he had just scored a couple of HUGE hits with Coming Up and Say Say Say, and I would describe those as pop-funk type songs, which, in a general sense, feels like what Press is going for, too. But I think the production and arrangements of Coming Up and Say Say Say was far better and stronger (i.e. less cheezy) and had better hooks. I don't think synths are necessarily bad either. There are a lot of cool bands (Prince, NIN) that do well with synths. I wonder if Paul was trying to evoke a Talking Heads vibe with this song? I can hear some similarities in sound, with the funky-african grooves, fat bass, high keyboards, etc. Sometimes it's a fine line between a really cool sound and cheezy crap. It might have been nice if he had restrained himself to more of a Talking Heads vibe with this song (?). I don't buy into the argument that Paul was a "victim" of the sound stylings of the day. Sure, there was lots of embarrassing crap during this era. Hugh Padgham was the producer. I was listening to the Police's Synchronicity again, and it's a ****ing brilliant album with a fantastic sound (produced by Padgham), just a couple years previous to Press. (On a sidenote, as weird as it sounds, I can hear a lot of McCartney-isms in Synchronicity. Miss Grenenko sounds like a classic McCartney song I wish he'd make again. Shades of Temporary Secretary?) I suspect that Padgham is just another super producer who can't stand up to Paul's, ummm, aesthetic indulgences. So, yeah, I just find Press way too over-the-top in all its poppy flourishes and accents. That's just my tastes!
Had Paul made the album 2 years earlier, it would have had a completely different production sound. I reckon Hugh Padgham was conforming to the latest production trends - type of drum and synth sounds etc which were very much confined to 1985-86. You can hear this from the track 'Spies Like Us' from '85. By 1987 and 'Once Upon A Long Ago', the more organic sounds were returning. Having said all that, there are hits from 1986 ('oldies') played on the radio every day in 2014 which have similar production values to those heard on 'Press To Play'. And people tend not to complain about these....because, for whatever reason (airplay/timing/image etc) they were big hits.......so there's possibly a little hypocrisy going on.
Organic sounds were returning, but synthesized sounds still lingered on in songs like "Rough Ride" and "Motor Of Love" and others on FITD. Quite true that we accept other eighties hits with this sound. By and large, that sound kind of defined some of those bands. I guess it irks some McCartney fans because it was someone else's sound before it was "his" sound. But really, if you think back, he had already followed trends in the seventies, too, from glam rock to reggae to disco to punk to new wave. He's always been a curious guy, trying on different clothes, though some don't fit quite as well as others! Personally, I didn't mind this sound on PTP. Adds to the diversity of his catalogue. If every album sounded like Flaming Pie, it would get boring, I think.
Press To Play was produced with the absolute intention of celebrating the burgeoning compact-disc format revolution at that time. Its production was deliberate, and the goal was to emphasize the state of the art. I think people should listen to the album with that in mind. It's quite a joyride via headphones. It's as much of its time as Sgt. Pepper was for the '60s or as Electric Arguments is for the current era.
Press to Play was the first CD I ever bought. Already had it on record and tape/cassette..... but certainly was the first CD I bought...... with Listen Like Thieves by INXS. Bought the two together. Cost me 60 dollars. Lotta money back in those days!
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INXS. I think we're gonna get along fine.
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audi:
INXS. I think we're gonna get along fine.
Correct!!!!
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audi:
BOYCIE:
audi:
Too many great Press songs left out of that tracklist.
Are you talking Stranglehold, Only Love Remains or Pretty Little Head? The songs i picked for the Press To Flowers album was just off the top of my pretty little head, but i wouldn't change too much! I left off as many Flowers In The Dirt tracks as PTP so no bias at least?
I love "Talk More Talk," "Move Over Busker" and -- most definitely -- "Angry" (some of the best lyrics he's ever written -- Lennon would've been envious). I like that you would include "Once Upon A Long Ago" -- great track that never got released over here. It wasn't that long ago that I learned of its existence and that it was a UK smash.
Talk More Talk is fine, but Busker and Angry are a bit weak for me! Once Upon A Long Ago will go down, until Paul croaks, as his last UK Top Ten single, most have forgotten it over here unfortunately.
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Here in the States, I dont think I ever heard Press once on the radio. I heard 'Only Love Remains' maybe once or twice. It seemed most radio stations dropped McCartney from their playlists after the No More Lonely Nights movie bombed. Paul went from a contemporary artist to a classic artist overnight it seemed.
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"No More Lonely Nights" got quite a bit of airplay on the Top 40 station in my city, but the very last McCartney single that I heard on the radio in heavy rotation was another soundtrack single that hit the Billboard Top Ten a year later: "Spies Like Us." While MTV played the "Press" video quite a bit, it was clear that the fat lady had just finished her encore -- and Paul McCartney records became toxic to hit-music radio stations.
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BOYCIE:
audi:
".Its production was deliberate, and the goal was to emphasize the state of the art. I think people should listen to the album with that in mind. It's quite a joyride via headphones. It's as much of its time as Sgt. Pepper was for the '60s or as Electric Arguments is for the current era.
Press To Play's issues for me are the overall patchy song writing quality more than the well criticised '80's production sound. I think over Paul's long post Beatle career it's the quality control issue that hampers his musical output more than any production issue of the time.If you put the best songs from PTP and Flowers you have a great album on your hands, less is more sometimes. PRESS THE FLOWERS (86-89) MY BRAVE FACE GOOD TIMES COMING/FEEL THE SUN WE GOT MARRIED FOOTPRINTS THIS ONE FIGURE OF EIGHT PUT IT THERE ONCE UPON A LONG AGO BACK ON MY FEET FLYING TO MY HOME
I like your album title! My favs are Good Times Coming/Feel The Sun, Once Upon A Long Ago and Flying To My Home...but really love every song on this list!
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love2travel:
BOYCIE:
audi:
".Its production was deliberate, and the goal was to emphasize the state of the art. I think people should listen to the album with that in mind. It's quite a joyride via headphones. It's as much of its time as Sgt. Pepper was for the '60s or as Electric Arguments is for the current era.
Press To Play's issues for me are the overall patchy song writing quality more than the well criticised '80's production sound. I think over Paul's long post Beatle career it's the quality control issue that hampers his musical output more than any production issue of the time.If you put the best songs from PTP and Flowers you have a great album on your hands, less is more sometimes. PRESS THE FLOWERS (86-89) MY BRAVE FACE GOOD TIMES COMING/FEEL THE SUN WE GOT MARRIED FOOTPRINTS THIS ONE FIGURE OF EIGHT PUT IT THERE ONCE UPON A LONG AGO BACK ON MY FEET FLYING TO MY HOME
I like your album title! My favs are Good Times Coming/Feel The Sun, Once Upon A Long Ago and Flying To My Home...but really love every song on this list!
I like Play In The Dirt better.