Defense Case 2- Off the Ground
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Squid:
Off the Ground has a misconceived new age quality about it. The songs range between from anti-vivisection to "peace in the neighbourhood" without saying anything original or new about these issues; in fact, they're presented in such vague doped up terms that they can antagonise. Some are nice in spite of all this - Golden Earth Girl, for example. Or I Owe It All To You. The low point is the plainly abject attempt at a narrative song - Biker Like an Icon which, to this day, cannot be heard without Paul's exortation to "think about it" and the inevitable cringe. Winedark Open Sea is a long pointless dirge which has no business outside of a soundcheck; C'Mon People appears to be an offensive end of history track re fall of Communism. Peace in the Neighbourhood is a sort of drive-by song. The high points are the collaborations with Costello, particularly The Lovers that Never Were, which stands head and shoulders above everything else here. The album's case is not helped by the fact that those songs recorded at the sessions and then reserved for b-sides and extra tracks on Cds are better than most of the rubbish on it. Though not that much better, it has to be said. Plus the cover art is atrocious.
This pretty much sums up my feelings about OTG, except that I also like the title track and Hope of Deliverance. After that it's a pretty steady downhill ride. Not terrible for the most part, just not close to Paul at his best. Winedark Open Sea is maybe the most frustrating track for me -- there's the kernel of a good song there, but instead the thing just rambles and loses focus.
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Well I'm still loving it. Winedark Open Sea is amazing!
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Wyrdskein:
Well I'm still loving it. Winedark Open Sea is amazing!
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Yeah, I like the slower ones on this... Winedark Open Sea, I Owe it All to You, Golden Earth Girl...... I remember at the time of this release being a tad disappointed in the choice of single. A good song, but nothing amazing.... as the years have rolled on, I appreciate Hope of Deliverance more. But expect a bigger punch from a new single.... Same with Young Boy as the first single from Flaming Pie. Quite melodious on reflection, but so many above it that should've "announced" the albums... missed the mark with the choice of heralding the arrival of a new album with both those releases, in my opinion.
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toris:
Yeah, I like the slower ones on this... Winedark Open Sea, I Owe it All to You, Golden Earth Girl...... I remember at the time of this release being a tad disappointed in the choice of single. A good song, but nothing amazing.... as the years have rolled on, I appreciate Hope of Deliverance more. But expect a bigger punch from a new single.... Same with Young Boy as the first single from Flaming Pie. Quite melodious on reflection, but so many above it that should've "announced" the albums... missed the mark with the choice of heralding the arrival of a new album with both those releases, in my opinion.
Paul is very poor at knowing which songs should be released as a single! Witness "Maybe I'm Amazed" off McCartney not being released as a single!! And I still think he should have released "Appreciate" off NEW as a single! (do you think I said "as a single" enough times?)
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Nancy R:
toris:
Yeah, I like the slower ones on this... Winedark Open Sea, I Owe it All to You, Golden Earth Girl...... I remember at the time of this release being a tad disappointed in the choice of single. A good song, but nothing amazing.... as the years have rolled on, I appreciate Hope of Deliverance more. But expect a bigger punch from a new single.... Same with Young Boy as the first single from Flaming Pie. Quite melodious on reflection, but so many above it that should've "announced" the albums... missed the mark with the choice of heralding the arrival of a new album with both those releases, in my opinion.
Paul is very poor at knowing which songs should be released as a single! Witness "Maybe I'm Amazed" off McCartney not being released as a single!! And I still think he should have released "Appreciate" off NEW as a single! (do you think I said "as a single" enough times?)
Could not agree more.... I still can't work out how Maybe I'm Amazed was not released as a single in its original recorded form.... baffling....it stood out like talent at a Kardashian family cookout.
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Who love Off the Ground?... I really love that one!
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Love it to pieces!! Looking For Changes, Peace In The Neighbourhood, Mistress and Maid, Golden Earth Girl.... Just beautiful. I honestly don't care for those who critique it.
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DreamingofYesterday:
Love it to pieces!! Looking For Changes, Peace In The Neighbourhood, Mistress and Maid, Golden Earth Girl.... Just beautiful. I honestly don't care for those who critique it.
Well said.
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Squid made some genuinely accurate observations regarding Off the Ground, but failed to mention the album's outstanding track: Mistress and Maid. I quite like the album. More so than Driving Rain and even Flaming Pie at times.
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Is the sweetest album that Paul has made?
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Some very good songs on "Off the Ground", I think the production is a bit too slick or smooth, especially with the rockers I wish more upfront guitars and a ramshackle live band sound. I'm still fond of it, only missing something that makes it not among my favorites.
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Definitely should've been released as a double-album from the get-go. Too many strong songs for a standard album -- plus, it makes the very few weak songs easier to digest.
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Winedark Open Sea
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I have always preferred off the ground to FITD. It was actually the first Paul solo album I started to pay attention to and then I went back to catch up. Had always been just a beatles girl to that point
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I prefer Off The Ground over Flowers In The Dirt, too.
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It has never been one of my favourites. It was the first Paul album I bought (not the first I heard though, as the Wild Life and Red Rose Speedway vinils were at my house). I more or less like all the songs, but none is all that great imo, except for Hope of Deliverance, which I think is one of his best ever. The production is also lacking imo. I even think Paul's singing has been better in later albums, Flaming Pie, Driving Rain, Chaos, Memory. But maybe the production has to do with that?. Maybe I should give it another listen after all this time. I will say, I love how political the album is. I love how political Paul was at the time, especially regarding animal issues. I've got a magazine of the 1993 tour and it's so cool
Nancy R:
Paul is very poor at knowing which songs should be released as a single! Witness "Maybe I'm Amazed" off McCartney not being released as a single!! And I still think he should have released "Appreciate" off NEW as a single! (do you think I said "as a single" enough times?)
Well, this shows how different tastes are I LOVE Hope of Deliverance, no other song should have been the single there as far as I'm concerned. Appreciate has to be one of the songs by Paul I like the least... I even skip it. As for Maybe I'm Amazed, wasn't it some kind of deal with the other Beatles?, because of the dates of release of McCartney and Let it Be?. Wasn't this very issue a big motive for conflict back in 1970?.
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crisstti:
It has never been one of my favourites. It was the first Paul album I bought (not the first I heard though, as the Wild Life and Red Rose Speedway vinils were at my house). I more or less like all the songs, but none is all that great imo, except for Hope of Deliverance, which I think is one of his best ever. The production is also lacking imo. I even think Paul's singing has been better in later albums, Flaming Pie, Driving Rain, Chaos, Memory. But maybe the production has to do with that?. Maybe I should give it another listen after all this time.
Nancy R:
Paul is very poor at knowing which songs should be released as a single! Witness "Maybe I'm Amazed" off McCartney not being released as a single!! And I still think he should have released "Appreciate" off NEW as a single! (do you think I said "as a single" enough times?)
Well, this shows how different tastes are I LOVE Hope of Deliverance, no other song should have been the single there as far as I'm concerned. Appreciate has to be one of the songs by Paul I like the least... I even skip it. As for Maybe I'm Amazed, wasn't it some kind of deal with the other Beatles?, because of the dates of release of McCartney and Let it Be?. Wasn't this very issue a big motive for conflict back in 1970?.
There was no "deal" about Maybe I'm Amazed not being released as a single. The thing was, the other Beatles (John) wanted Paul to delay McCartney's (the album) release until after Let It Be. Paul refused and put it out in April 1970.
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Nancy R:
There was no "deal" about Maybe I'm Amazed not being released as a single. The thing was, the other Beatles (John) wanted Paul to delay McCartney's (the album) release until after Let It Be. Paul refused and put it out in April 1970.
He put it out but released no single. Sure seems like a concession of sorts. Since it was an Apple album, couldn't the other Beatles have outright stopped its release until after Let it Be?.
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crisstti:
It has never been one of my favourites. It was the first Paul album I bought (not the first I heard though, as the Wild Life and Red Rose Speedway vinils were at my house). I more or less like all the songs, but none is all that great imo, except for Hope of Deliverance, which I think is one of his best ever. The production is also lacking imo. I even think Paul's singing has been better in later albums, Flaming Pie, Driving Rain, Chaos, Memory. But maybe the production has to do with that?...
Ironically, it's the rockers on Off The Ground where the production lacks something; you'd think that less would be expected. Otherwise, the production on "Golden Earth Girl," "Mistress & Main" and "The Lovers That Never" is brilliant. Subtle, but brilliant.