Flowers In The Dirt a real masterpiece
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What a great album.... great melodies, lyrics, production, and a very strong band I can not single any of the songs...they are all marvelous ..and equal (if not better) than some Beatles tracks as for live act ..most of them can work very well... Paul should include 3 or 4 tracks of this album in his concerts..
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Ammar:
What a great album.... great melodies, lyrics, production, and a very strong band I can not single any of the songs...they are all marvelous ..and equal (if not better) than some Beatles tracks as for live act ..most of them can work very well... Paul should include 3 or 4 tracks of this album in his concerts..
I agree with it being one of his finest albums, but he didn't really have a cohesive band on that one, and I think they fell very short when they did Off the Ground. Paul is always better when he plays by himself or with a few guests, imo.
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Completely disagree with your comments about Paul's band. Wix was a staple back then, Robbie McIntosh was an excellent guitarist & Hamish Stuart's harmonies were superb. It was only the drum stool which changed occupant a couple of times. I think the "Unplugged" performance with that band is one of Paul's career highlights and the 89/90 World Tour a triumph. As for "Flowers", it's a brilliant album, but I think it falls slightly short of being a masterpiece, badly let down by "Motor Of Love" and "Ou Est Le Soleil". The McCartney/McManus compositions are particularly great and I really wish he still wrote with Elvis.
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i actually like 'motor of love'. we used to get stoned to it often..very trippy harmonies. FLOWERS IN THE DIRT will always be a favourite of mine although the low point for me was the absolute carve up of 'dont be careless love'.mccartney/mcmanus classic ruined by over production and out of place vocals. great album all the same which included mccartneys strongest pop singles to date....my brave face/this one
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lazydynamite88:
i actually like 'motor of love'. we used to get stoned to it often..very trippy harmonies. FLOWERS IN THE DIRT will always be a favourite of mine although the low point for me was the absolute carve up of 'dont be careless love'.mccartney/mcmanus classic ruined by over production and out of place vocals. great album all the same which included mccartneys strongest pop singles to date....my brave face/this one
LazyD have you heard the demo of Don't be careless love - a true lost opportunity for a real classic. Think between the best bits FITD and the bests bits of OTG and the bsides of the time (Flying to my home and Back on my feet to name two) there could have been possibly his best ever album.
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I think you'd have to be stoned to enjoy all six minutes (or however long it is) of "Motor Of Love"! If it would have been a three minute song, I'd probably like it, but the refrain drags on and on and on... As for the vocals on "Don't Be Careless Love", I think it's a very intricate and cleverly arranged song, typical Costello, bucking traditional timings. I really like it.
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The guys were good musicians, but they left me cold. I saw no performance where they stood out at all except as being competent. And I saw many shows back then and Paul was croaking heavily during the shows I saw him in. Fortunately he improved by the time the 93 shows came around. FLowers is a great album though, but not because of the band. And I like all of the songs except don't be careless love, which is kind of embarrassing. I also like ou est. But that is more a matter of taste. I actually like the songs that Elvis did with Paul more than the ones Paul did of their collaborations back then. But I still prefer Paul on his own. Felt that way when he was in that first band also.
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paul was a bit rusty on that tour at times,but at other times his vocals were very good .it was still miles better than the 67 rold vocal we get today. 'plastic' i do have the brilliant demo of 'dont be careless' alright. and i love it..i even did a cover myself on youtube 'demo' style not the one that ended up on the album!
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Dustbin Lid:
As for "Flowers", it's a brilliant album, but I think it falls slightly short of being a masterpiece, badly let down by "Motor Of Love" and "Ou Est Le Soleil".
My thoughts exactly. If only Flying To My Home had been on the album. Even the crap title doesn't ruin this return to form album for Paul.
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lazydynamite88:
paul was a bit rusty on that tour at times,but at other times his vocals were very good .it was still miles better than the 67 rold vocal we get today. 'plastic' i do have the brilliant demo of 'dont be careless' alright. and i love it..i even did a cover myself on youtube 'demo' style not the one that ended up on the album!
I've seen the 66 and 67 year old vocals up close 5 times this year and they are stellar. Nothing like the way he was in 89 which was painful at best. Maybe Paul had a rough night a few days ago, but I"ve been seeing him since Beatles days and he was by far spectacular this past year.
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not a chance for me. your not the first person to say that but i completely dissagree. i saw him 4 times on the 1989/90 tour and he was vocally perfect every time..i saw him in 93 and he was souding a bit older.in 2003 which i saw him 3 times his voice was competant and loud although it had lost some of its purity during the softer songs. in the 2005 dvd he is starting to really struggle in some parts,and on recent 'electric proms/2007 x factor 2009 he has reached the end of the road in my opinion!
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lazydynamite88:
not a chance for me. your not the first person to say that but i completely dissagree. i saw him 4 times on the 1989/90 tour and he was vocally perfect every time..i saw him in 93 and he was souding a bit older.in 2003 which i saw him 3 times his voice was competant and loud although it had lost some of its purity during the softer songs. in the 2005 dvd he is starting to really struggle in some parts,and on recent 'electric proms/2007 x factor 2009 he has reached the end of the road in my opinion!
Where did you see him this year? I do agree he wasn't best on those shows you posted, but he was vocally, and musically (never saw him play harder, especially electric guitar) than I've ever seen him, and I was at his feet 3 of those times. What a pleasure to watch his hands from such a close distance. And I've been up close for every tour at least once and this beats all of them by far. Well maybe one exception and that would have been Wings at MSG. But granted Paul needs a few days warm up to get going. Maybe he didn't need that early on, so I was lucky and had the best of him this year. Also got a chance to see a soundcheck and that was possibly even better than the show as they are more relaxed.
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lazydynamite88:
not a chance for me. your not the first person to say that but i completely dissagree. i saw him 4 times on the 1989/90 tour and he was vocally perfect every time..i saw him in 93 and he was souding a bit older.in 2003 which i saw him 3 times his voice was competant and loud although it had lost some of its purity during the softer songs. in the 2005 dvd he is starting to really struggle in some parts,and on recent 'electric proms/2007 x factor 2009 he has reached the end of the road in my opinion!
Apart from the 1979 Wings tour the strongest i've heard Paul vocally was in 2003 and 2004.The '89/'90 tour was great in parts but Jet and Maybe I'm Amazed were a struggle for him.The '89/'90 and '93 tour had Paul struggling with the high notes quite a bit and finding it tough on the screamer songs.I agree the Electric Proms and X Factor show Paul was finding it tough vocally.I think at 67 he probably has more poor days vocally than he used too.
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I saw him in Vegas, Halifax, Citifield, DC and twice in Boston (guess that's 6 times) plus a soundcheck and he's never been stronger vocally. And I'm hard pressed to say that. But I do think he needs a show or two warm up which makes one off shows a bit of a strain.
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ive been debating this subject too much on here and i aint gonna bore anyone anymore. my opinion. mccartneys vocals get worse by the year and judging by what ive heard lately its time for him to be told the truth. its one thing still sounding alright for your age,its another thing kidding yourself that you sound as good as ever.!foolishly backed up by those too wrapped up in him to realize!
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I agree that his vocals on the last US tour were great. Sounded better than ever. The 89/90 tour was great because it marked Paul's return to live performance. But... the vocals were pretty rough often. He actually sounded older then than he does now. The band itself was stacked with pros... but the stuff often sounded pretty flat (I actually have a similar complaint with the latest band... but only on the last couple tours). The album is interesting. Lots of good songs underneath 20 tons of production muck. In fact... I can't stand the recording of "Motor of Love..." but as I've said previously... I saw Greg Hawkes (from the Cars who is on the recording) play that song with just a ukulele and it really revealed what a beautiful tune it is. Sadly I think much of the rest of the album suffers similarly. Definite high points... but generally it sort of stinks of desperation. Like he was trying everything possible to regain his position after a number of disappointing years. The Elvis songs are great. "My Brave Face" was a great single too. "This One" is a great song that maybe could have used a less busy arrangement.
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mercyjames:
I agree that his vocals on the last US tour were great. Sounded better than ever. The 89/90 tour was great because it marked Paul's return to live performance. But... the vocals were pretty rough often. He actually sounded older then than he does now. The band itself was stacked with pros... but the stuff often sounded pretty flat (I actually have a similar complaint with the latest band... but only on the last couple tours). The album is interesting. Lots of good songs underneath 20 tons of production muck. In fact... I can't stand the recording of "Motor of Love..." but as I've said previously... I saw Greg Hawkes (from the Cars who is on the recording) play that song with just a ukulele and it really revealed what a beautiful tune it is. Sadly I think much of the rest of the album suffers similarly. Definite high points... but generally it sort of stinks of desperation. Like he was trying everything possible to regain his position after a number of disappointing years. The Elvis songs are great. "My Brave Face" was a great single too. "This One" is a great song that maybe could have used a less busy arrangement.
I think Paul producing himself on Flowers might have improved the overall sound.I think Paul producing himself is an underrated thing to be honest.The production on his '70's albums is generally good so maybe he should go back to it.
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lazydynamite88:
ive been debating this subject too much on here and i aint gonna bore anyone anymore. my opinion. mccartneys vocals get worse by the year and judging by what ive heard lately its time for him to be told the truth. its one thing still sounding alright for your age,its another thing kidding yourself that you sound as good as ever.!foolishly backed up by those too wrapped up in him to realize!
I've been sensitive to his vocals always and I'm guessing you don't want to acknowledge the fact that he is vocally doing better now than he has in years, but then you are basing your opinion on a few tv shows? Go back and you'll see anytime Paul goes into something cold it isn't as good as when he warms up. You just insist on being negative it seems. Sounds pretty foolish to me.
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jlw44:
lazydynamite88:
ive been debating this subject too much on here and i aint gonna bore anyone anymore. my opinion. mccartneys vocals get worse by the year and judging by what ive heard lately its time for him to be told the truth. its one thing still sounding alright for your age,its another thing kidding yourself that you sound as good as ever.!foolishly backed up by those too wrapped up in him to realize!
I've been sensitive to his vocals always and I'm guessing you don't want to acknowledge the fact that he is vocally doing better now than he has in years, but then you are basing your opinion on a few tv shows? Go back and you'll see anytime Paul goes into something cold it isn't as good as when he warms up. You just insist on being negative it seems. Sounds pretty foolish to me.
im only being negative because you and many others on here believe it so. believe me ive had it all said back to me.now you say i appear 'foolish'. im simply being HONEST,its the way i hear it or see it. i dont agree in any way with your statement that i refuse to acknowledge that paul is doing better vocally now than he has in years. if he is,then i aint hearing ,sorry for that! flowers in the dirt is still a great album mind
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Can we go back to the topic of "Flowers In The Dirt", please?
