BEST OF THE BEST OF Paul MCCARTNEY POST BEATLES' songs (TOP 20)
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TommyC909 wrote:
Bruce M. wrote:
Kestrel wrote:
B J Conlee wrote:
The production on MAF still frustrates me a lot because so many of the songs are so great.
A victim of the 'loudness wars' era unfortunately? Hopefully a future re-mix / remastering project will put right that error of judgement.
I love a lot of the songs on MAF, but I just have to put aside the production in the case of many of them.
I don't know enough about the recording process to know who to blame for the bad sound but I did read that it can't be fixed. The harshness is "baked in".
TommyC909...I probably know less about the "recording process" than you do and I also remember reading somewhere the same sort of remark you state. On the other hand, I also remember the guys who do the "Take It Away" Podcast (think it was Chris) saying that he originally bought the Vinyl version of MAF upon its release and that he didn't hear the loudness/harshness on the vinyl and it was much better than the CD. If that is true, you would think that it could be rectified in the remastering process. I would think it would have to be a "true" remaster but let's hope with the technology available today, it can be done.
Looking back at the overall time period (Chaos and MAF) it was undoubtedly one of Paul's most fruitful writing period. I still love almost all the songs on MAF and with better production it was one of Paul's best albums. Looking at the tracklist, the only song that I originally disliked was Gratitude and even that song grew with me. To this day, I still think that "See Your Sunshine" is one of Paul's greatest hidden gems and I always loved Ever Present Past, Only Mama Knows, You Tell Me, Mr. Bellamy, Vintage Clothes, That Was Me, House of Wax and The End of the End. Like Gratitude, Feet in the Clouds and even Nod Your Head grew with me with repeated listens. As Bruce stated, Nod Your Head was a good follow-up track to the "heavy" The End of the End".
I always thought MAF and Chaos were great bookends. If you had great production on MAF, they would have been 2 fantastic back to back albums from Paul. Just my opinion. And think about all the "extra songs" during the Chaos and MAF sessions...a very fruitful period for Macca.
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B J Conlee wrote:
TommyC909 wrote:
Bruce M. wrote:
Kestrel wrote:
B J Conlee wrote:
The production on MAF still frustrates me a lot because so many of the songs are so great.
A victim of the 'loudness wars' era unfortunately? Hopefully a future re-mix / remastering project will put right that error of judgement.
I love a lot of the songs on MAF, but I just have to put aside the production in the case of many of them.
I don't know enough about the recording process to know who to blame for the bad sound but I did read that it can't be fixed. The harshness is "baked in".
TommyC909...I probably know less about the "recording process" than you do and I also remember reading somewhere the same sort of remark you state. On the other hand, I also remember the guys who do the "Take It Away" Podcast (think it was Chris) saying that he originally bought the Vinyl version of MAF upon its release and that he didn't hear the loudness/harshness on the vinyl and it was much better than the CD. If that is true, you would think that it could be rectified in the remastering process. I would think it would have to be a "true" remaster but let's hope with the technology available today, it can be done.
Looking back at the overall time period (Chaos and MAF) it was undoubtedly one of Paul's most fruitful writing period. I still love almost all the songs on MAF and with better production it was one of Paul's best albums. Looking at the tracklist, the only song that I originally disliked was Gratitude and even that song grew with me. To this day, I still think that "See Your Sunshine" is one of Paul's greatest hidden gems and I always loved Ever Present Past, Only Mama Knows, You Tell Me, Mr. Bellamy, Vintage Clothes, That Was Me, House of Wax and The End of the End. Like Gratitude, Feet in the Clouds and even Nod Your Head grew with me with repeated listens. As Bruce stated, Nod Your Head was a good follow-up track to the "heavy" The End of the End".
I always thought MAF and Chaos were great bookends. If you had great production on MAF, they would have been 2 fantastic back to back albums from Paul. Just my opinion. And think about all the "extra songs" during the Chaos and MAF sessions...a very fruitful period for Macca.
I love MAF like you and agree "Gratitude" is definitely the weak link on the album but it has not grown on me over the years. It is amazing to me that McCartney started MAF first and then stopped it to work on CHAOS with Godrich. Then after CHAOS is done he goes back and completes another excellent album which is totally different than the brillant CHAOS. My one regret is that McCartney never did "That Was Me" and "House Of Wax" live besides the show in Paris and maybe a couple of others.
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Yankeefan2 wrote:
B J Conlee wrote:
TommyC909 wrote:
Bruce M. wrote:
Kestrel wrote:
B J Conlee wrote:
The production on MAF still frustrates me a lot because so many of the songs are so great.
A victim of the 'loudness wars' era unfortunately? Hopefully a future re-mix / remastering project will put right that error of judgement.
I love a lot of the songs on MAF, but I just have to put aside the production in the case of many of them.
I don't know enough about the recording process to know who to blame for the bad sound but I did read that it can't be fixed. The harshness is "baked in".
TommyC909...I probably know less about the "recording process" than you do and I also remember reading somewhere the same sort of remark you state. On the other hand, I also remember the guys who do the "Take It Away" Podcast (think it was Chris) saying that he originally bought the Vinyl version of MAF upon its release and that he didn't hear the loudness/harshness on the vinyl and it was much better than the CD. If that is true, you would think that it could be rectified in the remastering process. I would think it would have to be a "true" remaster but let's hope with the technology available today, it can be done.
Looking back at the overall time period (Chaos and MAF) it was undoubtedly one of Paul's most fruitful writing period. I still love almost all the songs on MAF and with better production it was one of Paul's best albums. Looking at the tracklist, the only song that I originally disliked was Gratitude and even that song grew with me. To this day, I still think that "See Your Sunshine" is one of Paul's greatest hidden gems and I always loved Ever Present Past, Only Mama Knows, You Tell Me, Mr. Bellamy, Vintage Clothes, That Was Me, House of Wax and The End of the End. Like Gratitude, Feet in the Clouds and even Nod Your Head grew with me with repeated listens. As Bruce stated, Nod Your Head was a good follow-up track to the "heavy" The End of the End".
I always thought MAF and Chaos were great bookends. If you had great production on MAF, they would have been 2 fantastic back to back albums from Paul. Just my opinion. And think about all the "extra songs" during the Chaos and MAF sessions...a very fruitful period for Macca.
I love MAF like you and agree "Gratitude" is definitely the weak link on the album but it has not grown on me over the years. It is amazing to me that McCartney started MAF first and then stopped it to work on CHAOS with Godrich. Then after CHAOS is done he goes back and completes another excellent album which is totally different than the brillant CHAOS. My one regret is that McCartney never did "That Was Me" and "House Of Wax" live besides the show in Paris and maybe a couple of others.
Yes I agree. "See Your Sunshine" is another MAF song that is so, so underrated. As I said, it was a terrific 2-3 years of songwriting for Paul when you consider all the great songs on both Chaos and MAF. There are even a whole bunch of extra songs during that time span that weren't even included on the two albums. I'm still hoping at some point for a Solo McCartney Anthology that would cover each Decade. It could include so many good to great songs over each decade that aren't even on his main albums.
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Pertaining to this thread, I just saw a very similar from Udiscovermusic that listed their Top 20 Essential McCartney songs Post Beatles. I could hardly quibble with any of their selections but it made me feel pretty good at how similar they were to my initiial list (1st post here).
Here's this writer's (Paul McGuinness) list starting with 20:
#20 - Early Days (this writer has similar Macca music taste to me; my favorite song on the album "NEW"
19 - I Don't Know (this writer's only Egypt Station entry and just happens to be my fav on ES)
18 - Letting Go (a great, great song that I hadn't considered on my list; as the writer says "such an infectious groove"
17 - Waterfalls (Kestrel will like this choice and I have to agree that it's one of Paul's most underrated songs)
16 - My Brave Face (this probably would have been one of my choices but my criteria was McCartney Only written songs)
15 - Jenny Wren (I was thinking about this one but went with a couple of other tracks from Chaos)
14 - Coming Up (Of course the writer brought up how much John L. liked this one and supposedly pushed him to get back into the studio)
13 - Goodnight Tonight (I didn't have this one and not one of my favs but I have to say that the bass is terrific)
12 - Too Much Rain (this was one of the Chaos tracks that I too had on my list)
11 - Pipes of Peace (was one of my honorable mentions and no doubt the best track on the album of the same name)
10 - Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey
9 - No More Lonely Nights (not on my final 20 list but not a surprise to me...a big hit of course) Never crazy about the lyrics but the melody/vocal/David Gilmorre's guitar is terrific
8 - Say Say Say (not on my list because it was cowritten by Paul and Michael) but certainly a big, big hit
7 - Beautiful Night (I had more Flaming Pie songs on my list including this great one but this author had it as his lone Flaming Pie song
6 - Back Seat of My Car (I like it but I would have another Ram track "Too Many People" ahead of it for a Top 20)
5 - Here Today (I had 2 Tug of War songs on my list including this one but I also love, love Wanderlust and Somebody Who Cares)
4 - Every Night (thought about this one so I'm glad the writer included it; so many great Paul Post Beatles' songs)
3 - Live and Let Die
2 - Maybe I'm Amazed
1 - Band on the Run
The last 3 are obvious ones that would be on practically anyone's list. All in all, a great list. It also tells me from our little survey that there are so many Macca Post Beatle songs that you could include and as Bruce says..depending on what mood you're in.
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Another interesting article about Paul McCartney's Solo Career by Nick Deriso from Ulimate Classicrock. Here the author is very complementary to Paul's late period "writing" flourishes beginning in 2005 through 2007 with Chaos and Creation and Memory Almost Full and all the way through last year's Egypt Station Album.
The article is called..."How to Make the Perfect LP from Paul McCartney's Recent Albums". In it, Mr. Deriso makes his perfect playlist/tracklist covering 12 songs and roughly 45 minutes like classic vinyl releases of old. I found his individual takes on each song to be very interesting.
Many of these tracks were on various (Best of Best) lists here so I thought you would find it interesting.
Side 1
1. Only Mama Knows (Memory Almost Full)
2.Dominoes (Egypt sStation)
3. Queenie Eye (New)
4. Sing the Changes (Electric Arguments)
5. Jenny Wren (Chaos and Creation)
6. Vintage Clothes (Memory Almost Full)
Side 2
1. Anyway (Chaos and Creation)
2. New (New)
3. Sun is Shining (Electric Arguments)
4. How Kind of You (Chaos and Creation)
5. See Your Sunshine (Memory Almost Full)
6. I Don't Know (Egypt Station)
I know if I saw this exact album in a record store I would buy it without question. I love all the songs.
The track "Anyway" (side 2 track 1) is an often neglected one for making any "Best Of" Macca lists but it is a great song. Personally, I love Paul's vocals on this song. Other underrated ones here in my mind are... See Your Sunshine, How Kind of You, Sun is Shining and Vintage Clothes.
What do you guys think of this playlist.
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B J Conlee wrote:
Another interesting article about Paul McCartney's Solo Career by Nick Deriso from Ulimate Classicrock. Here the author is very complementary to Paul's late period "writing" flourishes beginning in 2005 through 2007 with Chaos and Creation and Memory Almost Full and all the way through last year's Egypt Station Album.
The article is called..."How to Make the Perfect LP from Paul McCartney's Recent Albums". In it, Mr. Deriso makes his perfect playlist/tracklist covering 12 songs and roughly 45 minutes like classic vinyl releases of old. I found his individual takes on each song to be very interesting.
Many of these tracks were on various (Best of Best) lists here so I thought you would find it interesting.
Side 1
1. Only Mama Knows (Memory Almost Full)
2.Dominoes (Egypt sStation)
3. Queenie Eye (New)
4. Sing the Changes (Electric Arguments)
5. Jenny Wren (Chaos and Creation)
6. Vintage Clothes (Memory Almost Full)
Side 2
1. Anyway (Chaos and Creation)
2. New (New)
3. Sun is Shining (Electric Arguments)
4. How Kind of You (Chaos and Creation)
5. See Your Sunshine (Memory Almost Full)
6. I Don't Know (Egypt Station)
I know if I saw this exact album in a record store I would buy it without question. I love all the songs.
The track "Anyway" (side 2 track 1) is an often neglected one for making any "Best Of" Macca lists but it is a great song. Personally, I love Paul's vocals on this song. Other underrated ones here in my mind are... See Your Sunshine, How Kind of You, Sun is Shining and Vintage Clothes.
What do you guys think of this playlist.
I lile it very much but I would tinker it a little bit on both sides for my own personal taste. On side 1, I would replace "Queenie Eye" with "I Can Bet"(New). On side 2, I would replace "Sun Is Shining" with "Dance Til We're High" (Electric Arguments)
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B J Conlee wrote:
Pertaining to this thread, I just saw a very similar from Udiscovermusic that listed their Top 20 Essential McCartney songs Post Beatles. I could hardly quibble with any of their selections but it made me feel pretty good at how similar they were to my initiial list (1st post here).
Here's this writer's (Paul McGuinness) list starting with 20:
#20 - Early Days (this writer has similar Macca music taste to me; my favorite song on the album "NEW"
19 - I Don't Know (this writer's only Egypt Station entry and just happens to be my fav on ES)
18 - Letting Go (a great, great song that I hadn't considered on my list; as the writer says "such an infectious groove"
17 - Waterfalls (Kestrel will like this choice and I have to agree that it's one of Paul's most underrated songs)
16 - My Brave Face (this probably would have been one of my choices but my criteria was McCartney Only written songs)
15 - Jenny Wren (I was thinking about this one but went with a couple of other tracks from Chaos)
14 - Coming Up (Of course the writer brought up how much John L. liked this one and supposedly pushed him to get back into the studio)
13 - Goodnight Tonight (I didn't have this one and not one of my favs but I have to say that the bass is terrific)
12 - Too Much Rain (this was one of the Chaos tracks that I too had on my list)
11 - Pipes of Peace (was one of my honorable mentions and no doubt the best track on the album of the same name)
10 - Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey
9 - No More Lonely Nights (not on my final 20 list but not a surprise to me...a big hit of course) Never crazy about the lyrics but the melody/vocal/David Gilmorre's guitar is terrific
8 - Say Say Say (not on my list because it was cowritten by Paul and Michael) but certainly a big, big hit
7 - Beautiful Night (I had more Flaming Pie songs on my list including this great one but this author had it as his lone Flaming Pie song
6 - Back Seat of My Car (I like it but I would have another Ram track "Too Many People" ahead of it for a Top 20)
5 - Here Today (I had 2 Tug of War songs on my list including this one but I also love, love Wanderlust and Somebody Who Cares)
4 - Every Night (thought about this one so I'm glad the writer included it; so many great Paul Post Beatles' songs)
3 - Live and Let Die
2 - Maybe I'm Amazed
1 - Band on the Run
The last 3 are obvious ones that would be on practically anyone's list. All in all, a great list. It also tells me from our little survey that there are so many Macca Post Beatle songs that you could include and as Bruce says..depending on what mood you're in.
Is "Live and Let Die" really that good a song or do people love it becauseof all the "fireworks when it is played live? I was never a big fan of "Coming Up" either and cringed when he played it live, I know I am in the minority on that song -lol. I am glad he included "Letting Go", excellent Wings song although I am also a big fan of "Beware My Love" from the same album. "Every Night" gets ignored sometimes because it was on the same album as "Maybe I'm Amazed" and I love it, glad it was included. I like "Back Seat Of My Car"also but I might have included "Dear Boy" from RAM. I don't think you can have a top 20 Essential McCartney without a song from one of the Fireman albums, my selection would be "Dance Til We're High" but there are others like "Sing The Changes" that would be fine to include.
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Yankeefan2 wrote:
B J Conlee wrote:
Another interesting article about Paul McCartney's Solo Career by Nick Deriso from Ulimate Classicrock. Here the author is very complementary to Paul's late period "writing" flourishes beginning in 2005 through 2007 with Chaos and Creation and Memory Almost Full and all the way through last year's Egypt Station Album.
The article is called..."How to Make the Perfect LP from Paul McCartney's Recent Albums". In it, Mr. Deriso makes his perfect playlist/tracklist covering 12 songs and roughly 45 minutes like classic vinyl releases of old. I found his individual takes on each song to be very interesting.
Many of these tracks were on various (Best of Best) lists here so I thought you would find it interesting.
Side 1
1. Only Mama Knows (Memory Almost Full)
2.Dominoes (Egypt sStation)
3. Queenie Eye (New)
4. Sing the Changes (Electric Arguments)
5. Jenny Wren (Chaos and Creation)
6. Vintage Clothes (Memory Almost Full)
Side 2
1. Anyway (Chaos and Creation)
2. New (New)
3. Sun is Shining (Electric Arguments)
4. How Kind of You (Chaos and Creation)
5. See Your Sunshine (Memory Almost Full)
6. I Don't Know (Egypt Station)
I know if I saw this exact album in a record store I would buy it without question. I love all the songs.
The track "Anyway" (side 2 track 1) is an often neglected one for making any "Best Of" Macca lists but it is a great song. Personally, I love Paul's vocals on this song. Other underrated ones here in my mind are... See Your Sunshine, How Kind of You, Sun is Shining and Vintage Clothes.
What do you guys think of this playlist.
I lile it very much but I would tinker it a little bit on both sides for my own personal taste. On side 1, I would replace "Queenie Eye" with "I Can Bet"(New). On side 2, I would replace "Sun Is Shining" with "Dance Til We're High" (Electric Arguments)
Good substitutions Yankeefan. As you say and as a matter of personal taste, I would substitute a couple of songs also. I just like the fact that a music critic from a big music magazine/website "Ultimateclassicrock" is admiring Paul's later period Solo career. You don't often see this. As we say, too often the articles about Paul tend to talk about his Beatles' career. If you see the article, I also like the writer's individual takes on each track he picks.
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Yankeefan2 wrote:
B J Conlee wrote:
Pertaining to this thread, I just saw a very similar from Udiscovermusic that listed their Top 20 Essential McCartney songs Post Beatles. I could hardly quibble with any of their selections but it made me feel pretty good at how similar they were to my initiial list (1st post here).
Here's this writer's (Paul McGuinness) list starting with 20:
#20 - Early Days (this writer has similar Macca music taste to me; my favorite song on the album "NEW"
19 - I Don't Know (this writer's only Egypt Station entry and just happens to be my fav on ES)
18 - Letting Go (a great, great song that I hadn't considered on my list; as the writer says "such an infectious groove"
17 - Waterfalls (Kestrel will like this choice and I have to agree that it's one of Paul's most underrated songs)
16 - My Brave Face (this probably would have been one of my choices but my criteria was McCartney Only written songs)
15 - Jenny Wren (I was thinking about this one but went with a couple of other tracks from Chaos)
14 - Coming Up (Of course the writer brought up how much John L. liked this one and supposedly pushed him to get back into the studio)
13 - Goodnight Tonight (I didn't have this one and not one of my favs but I have to say that the bass is terrific)
12 - Too Much Rain (this was one of the Chaos tracks that I too had on my list)
11 - Pipes of Peace (was one of my honorable mentions and no doubt the best track on the album of the same name)
10 - Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey
9 - No More Lonely Nights (not on my final 20 list but not a surprise to me...a big hit of course) Never crazy about the lyrics but the melody/vocal/David Gilmorre's guitar is terrific
8 - Say Say Say (not on my list because it was cowritten by Paul and Michael) but certainly a big, big hit
7 - Beautiful Night (I had more Flaming Pie songs on my list including this great one but this author had it as his lone Flaming Pie song
6 - Back Seat of My Car (I like it but I would have another Ram track "Too Many People" ahead of it for a Top 20)
5 - Here Today (I had 2 Tug of War songs on my list including this one but I also love, love Wanderlust and Somebody Who Cares)
4 - Every Night (thought about this one so I'm glad the writer included it; so many great Paul Post Beatles' songs)
3 - Live and Let Die
2 - Maybe I'm Amazed
1 - Band on the Run
The last 3 are obvious ones that would be on practically anyone's list. All in all, a great list. It also tells me from our little survey that there are so many Macca Post Beatle songs that you could include and as Bruce says..depending on what mood you're in.
Is "Live and Let Die" really that good a song or do people love it becauseof all the "fireworks when it is played live? I was never a big fan of "Coming Up" either and cringed when he played it live, I know I am in the minority on that song -lol. I am glad he included "Letting Go", excellent Wings song although I am also a big fan of "Beware My Love" from the same album. "Every Night" gets ignored sometimes because it was on the same album as "Maybe I'm Amazed" and I love it, glad it was included. I like "Back Seat Of My Car"also but I might have included "Dear Boy" from RAM. I don't think you can have a top 20 Essential McCartney without a song from one of the Fireman albums, my selection would be "Dance Til We're High" but there are others like "Sing The Changes" that would be fine to include.
Good points Yankeefan. As you know, Live and Let Die is one of Paul's monster hits that is always played on "classic rock" stations (and Paul himself has continued to play it at every one of his live shows for so many years) so I can see how anyone can tire of it. When I bought the Red Road Speedway 2018 Remaster, the bonus disc had a different studio version (maybe it was one of the singles they put out) and I loved it. This is a case where Paul's 1973 voice really enhances the song compared to much later "live versions" you often hear. Just the fact that younger bands like Guns N Roses years later started covering the song shows how admired the song is. I became a new fan of "LIve and Let Die" when I heard the version on the Red Road Speedway bonus disc. That same bonus disc (I bought it at Target) also had other songs that weren't on Ram, Wildlife or Red Road Speedway that I loved including "The Mess", I LIe Around, Best Friend, Mama's Little Girl, and I Would Only Smile (great Denny Laine song that early Wings played at their shows). Another reason why McCartney needs a true Post Beatles' Anthology by Decade. There are so many good songs that Paul fans (and even Beatle fans) just don't know.
I also like the much earlier "live versions" of Coming Up much better than his later live takes. Another case where the power in Paul's voice from about 2012 onward started to really falter. I'm really looking forward to the London Town and Back to the Egg Remaster Archive package coming out (if it ever does). They would probably have a live version or two of Paul and his later Wings' lineup singing "Coming Up" during the Europe shows that Paul did in 1979 or 1980. Again, his voice at that point was so much better.
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B J Conlee wrote:
Good points Yankeefan. As you know, Live and Let Die is one of Paul's monster hits that is always played on "classic rock" stations (and Paul himself has continued to play it at every one of his live shows for so many years) so I can see how anyone can tire of it. When I bought the Red Road Speedway 2018 Remaster, the bonus disc had a different studio version (maybe it was one of the singles they put out) and I loved it. This is a case where Paul's 1973 voice really enhances the song compared to much later "live versions" you often hear. Just the fact that younger bands like Guns N Roses years later started covering the song shows how admired the song is. I became a new fan of "LIve and Let Die" when I heard the version on the Red Road Speedway bonus disc. That same bonus disc (I bought it at Target) also had other songs that weren't on Ram, Wildlife or Red Road Speedway that I loved including "The Mess", I LIe Around, Best Friend, Mama's Little Girl, and I Would Only Smile (great Denny Laine song that early Wings played at their shows). Another reason why McCartney needs a true Post Beatles' Anthology by Decade. There are so many good songs that Paul fans (and even Beatle fans) just don't know.
I also like the much earlier "live versions" of Coming Up much better than his later live takes. Another case where the power in Paul's voice from about 2012 onward started to really falter. I'm really looking forward to the London Town and Back to the Egg Remaster Archive package coming out (if it ever does). They would probably have a live version or two of Paul and his later Wings' lineup singing "Coming Up" during the Europe shows that Paul did in 1979 or 1980. Again, his voice at that point was so much better.
And yet, Live and Let Die actually wasn't a monster hit when it was released. It reached no. 2 in the US and no. 9 in the UK -- a solid success, but nowhere near the chart performance of My Love, Listen to What the Man Said, etc. I think the difference is that he's made it both a staple and a highlight of his live shows, with all the pyrotechnics and flash.