The merits of McCartney 2
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Now that "NEW" is no longer new, I have been rotating NEW in my car along with all of the Remastered/Archive Collection Macca CD's. Out of all of these remasters, the one I was least excited about was McCartney 2. I remember when it came out in 1980 how dreadful most of the reviews were (at least the ones I read). On top of that, I was going through a divorse so financially I was in bad shape. Consequently, I never bought it. When Mc 1 and 2 came out simultaneously, I gladly purchased both of them although I wasn't expecting that much from the latter. I have to say I have been pleasantly surprised. This is especially surprising since every time this Site has done a Macca Greatest Albums rating, MC 2 is always at or near the bottom. Here are a few things I like about the album: * while it is a little "out there" compared to Macca's normal Pop-Rock music, it is still very melodic. * every song seems like it "fits" within the context and style of the album * none of the songs are too long (i.e. those 6 minute plus songs that seem to go on forever * not a bad song on the album and all complete songs as compared to a few of the tracks on Mc 1 Best songs on MC2 - Coming Up, Waterfalls, One of these Days Highly underrated songs on Mc2 - On the Way, Nobody Knows, Summer's Day Song All in All, a nice, little album to play when you are in the right mood. As I said, all the songs seem to fit but at the same time, there is also good diversity. While I had heard Coming Up and Waterfalls on the radio quite a bit, I think One of these Days is another Macca unknown gem. I love Paul's "Little Richard" howling on Nobody Knows as well as the bluesy "On the Way. I also like both instrumentals... Front Parlour and Frozen Jap. And "Summer's Day Song" has that sweet, hymn-like melody that Macca is so known for. Even though Temporary Secretary is admittedly way out there for standard Macca fare, I like it. The only 2 songs that took time to grow with me are Bogey Music and Darkroom. I'm still not that crazy about Bogey Music but I don't skip it since it seems to fit the album nicely. While the top 3 songs on MC1 (Maybe I'm Amazed, Every Night and Junk) are probably better than the top 3 songs on MC2 (Coming Up, Waterfalls, One of These Days), I think that MC2 is a tighter better album. I do like both of them. Any thoughts on MC 2 and did you like it better once you started playing the remaster. I am only talking about the remastered album and not the Bonus Audio CD. thanks
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McCartney II is easily one of Paul's best albums. Ahead of its time in many ways, it sounds much better and more relevant today than any of Paul's other albums in the 80s or 90s where he was producing too much adult contemporary mush, IMO. My only criticisms of McCartney II: Secret Friend, Blue Sway, and Check My Machine should have been on the main album. And Waterfalls probably should have been saved for a conventional pop album since it doesn't really fit the McCartney II vibe. He should have take the time to come up with better lyrics for Waterfalls and slapped it on a later album and it would have been another classic. McCartney II is under-rated (or downright ridiculed) by too many of Paul's older fans.
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Love Mc II but I admit it sounds different now than it did for me 25+ years ago. I think I recognize the talent and genius behind it more now. Back then I remember feeling bummed that it was "different". But I always loved Coming Up. Temporary Secretary got some love in his pre-concert songs remix/video roll and I squealed when it came on. A lot of the people sitting around us were definitely not familiar.
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LOVE Temporary Secretary!
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Nah. About a third of the album is pretty good and the rest is nearly unlistenable. The negative reviews were mostly right.
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Bruce M.:
Nah. About a third of the album is pretty good and the rest is nearly unlistenable. The negative reviews were mostly right.
Nope. The negative reviews in 1980 were mostly wrong. Badly wrong. And in fact, the recent reviews of the McCartney II reissue were uniformly positive in 2011. Music caught up to where his head was at back then. Funny how that happens to Paul a lot.
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I'm a fan. Maybe not of the instrumentals so much, but Coming Up is one of his best, Temp Sec is great even if it originally took me a while to get into that electronic bit (the guitar strum reminds me a lot of Kiss the Dirt by INXS). One of these Days is a nice song. I find Bogey Music and Darkroom funky little adventures. A good album.
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There is some great material on McCartney 2......my personal faves being Waterfalls, Summer Day's Song & One Of These Days. I also like On The Way and Dark Room. The one popular song on the album that I don't like though is the overarted Coming Up
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I think the problem is the age of the fans and if you are a Beatles/McCartney fan or a McCartney fan or even a Wings/McCartney fan....let me explain i´m 41 years old i became a McCartney fan because "Pipes of peace" i grow up in Venezuela (Living in the country from 1976 to 1990) in the Venezuela tv i see "Give my regards to broad Steet" several times! and the Beatles cartoons too! I looooove McCartney II! and "Pipes of peace" and i don´t see too much criticism except from UK music papers (Remember Pipes went to have 3 stars and a half from Rolling Stone magazine and Press to play have 4 stars from the same magazine, yes McCartney II have a bad review) my point is i think the people who like "The long and winding road" maybe don´t like McCartney II but i prefer all the album to that Beatle song! that song is boring! the album is exciting and i love all the songs "Darkroom" for example remind me the spanish word "cama" in the chorus "cama" is bed for english and since the song is about sex?! right! hearing cacacame..."CAMA CAMA" it make sense to me!
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Bruce M.:
Nah. About a third of the album is pretty good and the rest is nearly unlistenable. The negative reviews were mostly right.
Do ever like anything?
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I think the perception of it depends on what you are looking for. If you are looking for a polished, serious rock/pop album like Abbey Road, this is not where I would look. If you are looking for something raw, fun, and experimental, it is a pretty enjoyable album. I don't think it could ever go down as a classic, but it has definitely grown on me over the years.
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There is more to Paul McCartney than just "Maybe I'm Amazed" and "No More Lonely Nights." He's always had an adventurous side. It's like thinking that all there was to Beatle-era Paul was "And I Love Her" and "Let It Be." He did some pretty out-there stuff in the '60s too.
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wingsdgm:
Bruce M.:
Nah. About a third of the album is pretty good and the rest is nearly unlistenable. The negative reviews were mostly right.
Do ever like anything?
:Yes, I like pretty much everything Paul's done from Flaming Pie forward. But I'm never going to be one of the Paul-can-do-no-wrong crowd that would swoon if he recorded himself burping for 45 minutes. Don't you ever dislike anything?
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I am not the type of guy"Paul can do no wrong!" but if i put what i don´t like some people maybe think i´m crazy....i don´t like "The long and winding road" I´m not that big fan of "Ram" ,i don´t like the 2 rockers in "Give my regards to broad Street" i really don´t like "Silly love songs"! well, wait a minute!? i am a BBBBIGGG Paul McCartney fan!! my all time fave album is "Band on the run" (well the album is Wings) the album i love from solo Paul is "Flaming Pie " i like all the songs in that album, "tug of war" i love the whole album except..."Here today"!!!!yes i love to my bones "Ebony and ivory" and what´s wrong with that!?and love "Mull of kintyre", i think that "No more lonely nights" is much much better than "My love" and love "HI HI HI", "Beware my love","Getting closer",the rockers that do´t do nothing for me are only 2 "I´ve had enough" and "Girls school" and prefer"I´m carrying" and "With a little luck" to "My love" I love "CHaos and creation...but i don´t like 2 songs from that album and one is Jenny Wren!!!! like you see McCartney music is the soundtrack of my life but not the obvious choices the whole "Pipes of peace" is an album that i love all songs yes i love "Hey HEY"!
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MII is the father of Electric Arguments.
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Always liked this album , but it's a bit of myth to say it was ahead of it's time if you listen to other albums from the late 70's early 80's and that popular synth period of music the album is a pretty average effort from Paul . We had already had ground breaking synth based albums fom the likes of Kraftwerk Trans-Europe-Express and David Bowie's low . In May 1980 I remember buying both MII and Travelogue by The Human League and there is no comparison Travelogue is a masterpiece of British synth music . MII on the other hand is a fun quirky album, but no way was it ahead of it's time .
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no myth here! we fans don´t say that but the people who knows about it says that,i have the Mojo magazine with the Paul cover from "McCartney II" and they write that he invented the electronic thing together with the others best example "Temporary Secretary" but i have other reserch people and books with prestige that say that! now stop talk about Bowie being "The One" yes the boring one! One of my faves histories is when Macca and Bowie were together cheking the Billboard book of hit records and they saw that Wings and Macca just are to big for little Bowie that ´s the reality!
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The recent reissue got 4 and even 5 star reviews. A classic album which doesn't necessarily appeal to the average McCartney fan and most likely not to Beatles bores. If you're musically open minded and are capable of spotting genius, then you'll love this album. And remember that it's the work of ONE MAN (with the exception of Linda on 'One Of These Days') whereas so many albums have other musicians and producers.
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Not bad for a collection of songs that weren't supposed to be an album. If Macca tells it straight, they were never intended to be an album release and he had to be talked into releasing them. "The songs were just so I could listen to them in the car on the drive up from home to London and back..." So he said at the time. but that's probably BS.
