Off the Ground
-
Kicked around no more is a great song, this is one of my fav macca lps it seems to get slated a lot esp on a podcast I was listening to just after Christmas I've got a beatles podcast it was a very funny episode but they did not rate off the ground at all. Unfairly IMO
-
I like the actual OTG album fine but it seems to me (and often times the case) that some of the best tracks are left OFF the official album. All the extra tracks that show up on OTG: The Complete Works are terrific! Some are BETTER than cuts that made the official album IMO. So if during Tug Of War, Paul turned the extra tracks into Pipes Of Peace, I am surprised that the extra cuts from the OTG sessions didn't form the basis of another album like Tug/Pipes. Or if you are going to do a 'Complete Works' set like for Off The Ground, why not for the other albums too? Well, I guess he IS now with the remasters but back then it was clearly unique. Odd side note: In my local Walmart, in the New Arrivals rack, Off The Ground has turned up in there. The original pressings from 1993. It's there are $9. As far as I can tell, it is supposed to be out of print.
-
Wyrdskein:
... I don't really understand the criticism.
I don't mind the criticism. My favorite song in the album is "Peace In The Neighbourhood." I prefer the live version of "Cmon People." I'm not saying I don't like the studio recording, though.
-
carlos guerreiro:
i really like Off the ground a lot and Pipes of peace too in fact was Pipes of peace that made me a Super Paul fan
YOU DON'T HEAR THAT EVERY DAY!
-
I would probably rank it as my third favourite McCartney album.
-
jessiemillano:
Wyrdskein:
... I don't really understand the criticism.
I don't mind the criticism. My favorite song in the album is "Peace In The Neighbourhood." I prefer the live version of "Cmon People." I'm not saying I don't like the studio recording, though.
C'mon People did sound better live than on record for me.
-
This is one of my favorite albums too! Favorite songs are Off The Ground, Hope of Deliverance, I Owe It All To You, Golden Earth Girl, Winedark Open Sea, Cosmically Conscious... I really enjoy the album!
-
I got a lot of flack at my school for liking OTG so much. A few kids liked the Beatles, but no one seemed to enjoy Paul's current stuff. I actually got my hair cut like his at the time (rather than a Beatles cut).
-
I love FITD, one of my favourites. I always thought that the tracks 'Lovers that never were', 'Get out of my way' & 'Windark' were the most perfect trio of consecutive songs.
-
greenmetalsuit:
I love FITD, one of my favourites.
On FITD, Distractions is one of my favorites. I played clarinet and related to this song.
-
C'mon People is a great, great McCartney song. Pure magic. In 1993 the song rocked in concert.
-
"The Lovers That Never Were" is my own personal favourite - another superb collaboration with Elvis Costello. (I'd love to see the two of them get together again actually.) But I actually like all the OTG songs with the exception of "Biker Like An Icon", which could so easily have been replaced with one of the B-sides.
-
rich n:
Wyrdskein:
Thanks people. Some interesting points. I'm already a fan of Flowers in the Dirt and Press to Play, so next stop for me is Pipes of Peace. As usual I've read some opinions on this, and they seem completely polarised. I know the title track and Say Say Say, but the others I have never heard. Ordering CD today.
Pipes of Peace is not my favorite - but I think 'Through Our Love' is a hidden gem and Average Person isn't quite the bomb people make it out to be...and despite the fact that I'm on the side of believing the alledged stories of Michael Jackson and what he did with kids, I don't let that cloud the fact that I find Say Say Say to be a fine song. But this album does have 'Hey Hey', which to me, may be the worst thing he ever actually taped (ok, maybe in private he taped himself farting or something...but of all things that ever hit the street on official or bootleg release, this is it - the worst) And this album also contains the one lyric that has always been used by critics to show (unfairly I may add since there's no doubt Paul's a great writer), how 'bad' of a writer he is..I defend the man from the general criticism because it's not fair...but I can't really defend the line (but hey, it's just one line - what's the big whip about???)
I would have left off both "The Other Me" and "Hey Hey", and included "Ode To A Koala Bear". Another way the album could have been stronger is if Paul had used it as an opportunity to release some of the COLD CUTS tracks - the likes of "Waterspout", "Cage" and "Robber's Ball" would have fit in perfectly.
-
(Did try a search but couldn't bring up a thread dedicated to this album- I know they exist) I've just purchased this album, given it a listen and I cannot understand why it receives the amount of flat it gets. Seems a pretty decent effort overall. Ok, so there are a few weak lyrics here and there, but no more than any other Macca album of the past 20 years. So, why does it receive the criticism it does? Over to you........ EDIT: Oh, looks my new thread was merged onto this thread. Thanks mod!
-
Beats me. It's in my top 5 Macca albums. As soon as I hear the opening bars it makes me want to punch the air in delight.
-
I loved the blue and orange artwork on the CD box. I bought this when they used to come in those cardboard boxes and I kept all of them to put on my wall.
-
To me this is one of those albums where the tracks he left off (e.g. Big Boys Bickering) are better than a lot of what's on the album.
-
chrisstevens:
(Did try a search but couldn't bring up a thread dedicated to this album- I know they exist) I've just purchased this album, given it a listen and I cannot understand why it receives the amount of flat it gets. Seems a pretty decent effort overall. Ok, so there are a few weak lyrics here and there, but no more than any other Macca album of the past 20 years. So, why does it receive the criticism it does? Over to you........ EDIT: Oh, looks my new thread was merged onto this thread. Thanks mod!
It's a good album that could have been so much better by adding songs from the complete works. I'm sorry but Peace in the Neighborhood is awful, as is Looking for changes. And he played both of those live! Biker like an Icon would have made an OK B-side. Otherwise some great songs on the album. C'Mon People is fantastic and the rest are good. Put Kicked Around No More, Keep Coming Back to Love and I Can't Imagine would have made it a classic.
-
Maccafan82:
I'm sorry but Peace in the Neighborhood is awful, as is Looking for changes.
I love both those tracks.
-
Maccafan82:
I'm sorry but Peace in the Neighborhood is awful, as is Looking for changes. And he played both of those live!
Agreed! By the way, I have the same feeling with the current tour and NEW: two of the weakest songs are played live: Save Us and Everybody Out There.