Driving Rain revisited
-
I like his middle period. I hope that doesn't mean I'm middle aged.
-
Here is our take on the album: https://2legspodcast.podbean.com/e/driving-rain/ "Driving Rain" November 22, 2016 2Legs is back! In 2001 Sir Paul released the well received album "Driving Rain." Working with a new band and producer Paul was able to tackle songs about losing Linda and his new love Heather Mills. Unfortunately - the album failed to connect with the public and only hardcore McCartney fans seemed to care about it. Did this album age well? Is it underrated? Join Tom Hunyady and David Gargalino as they give their fans perspective on "Driving Rain!" As always we would love to hear from you. Check us out at our Facebook page 2Legs A Paul McCartney Podcast or email us at 2legspodcast@gmail.com
-
HaileyMcComet:
TommyC909:
Ultimate Classic Rock's listing of Paul's albums worst to first 20 Driving Rain 19 Wild Life 18 McCartney II 17 Pipes of Peace 16 Press to Play 15 London Town 14 Memory Almost Full 13 New 12 Off the Ground 11 At the Speed of Sound 10 Tug of War 9 Red Rose Speedway 8 Venus and Mars 7 Flowers in the Dirt 6 Back to the Egg 5 McCartney 4 Flaming Pie 3 Chaos and Creation in the Backyard 2 Ram 1 Band on the Run
Fixed 1 Driving Rain 2 Wild Life 3 McCartney II 4 Pipes of Peace 5 Press to Play 6 London Town 7 Memory Almost Full 8 New 9 Off the Ground 10 At the Speed of Sound 11 Tug of War 12 Red Rose Speedway 13 Venus and Mars 14 Flowers in the Dirt 15 Back to the Egg 16 McCartney 17 Flaming Pie 18 Chaos and Creation in the Backyard 19 Ram 20 Band on the Run
Surprised by how high 'Back to the Egg' is ranked. 6th best Macca album - ahead of Tug of War?? Most reviews of BTTE are pretty poor (e.g., Allmusic, Rolling Stone). Getting back to DR, I agree its bottom-tier Macca. Whether its last or 5th worst is just a matter of degree. I rarely listen to it.
-
JoeySmith:
HaileyMcComet:
TommyC909:
Ultimate Classic Rock's listing of Paul's albums worst to first 20 Driving Rain 19 Wild Life 18 McCartney II 17 Pipes of Peace 16 Press to Play 15 London Town 14 Memory Almost Full 13 New 12 Off the Ground 11 At the Speed of Sound 10 Tug of War 9 Red Rose Speedway 8 Venus and Mars 7 Flowers in the Dirt 6 Back to the Egg 5 McCartney 4 Flaming Pie 3 Chaos and Creation in the Backyard 2 Ram 1 Band on the Run
Fixed 1 Driving Rain 2 Wild Life 3 McCartney II 4 Pipes of Peace 5 Press to Play 6 London Town 7 Memory Almost Full 8 New 9 Off the Ground 10 At the Speed of Sound 11 Tug of War 12 Red Rose Speedway 13 Venus and Mars 14 Flowers in the Dirt 15 Back to the Egg 16 McCartney 17 Flaming Pie 18 Chaos and Creation in the Backyard 19 Ram 20 Band on the Run
Surprised by how high 'Back to the Egg' is ranked. 6th best Macca album - ahead of Tug of War?? Most reviews of BTTE are pretty poor (e.g., Allmusic, Rolling Stone). Getting back to DR, I agree its bottom-tier Macca. Whether its last or 5th worst is just a matter of degree. I rarely listen to it.
________________________________________ Just my opinion on my favorites and to differ from this source: albums rated too high * McCartney (more mid tier) * BTTE (more mid tier) * Red Rose Speedway (lower tier) * At the Speed of Sound (lower tier) Albums rated too low * MAF (top tier) * Tug of War (top tier) * Driving Rain (closer to mid tier)
-
20: 'Driving Rain' (2001) Strangely self-conscious, 'Driving Rain' is the sound of an artist trying to combine two parts of his craft (a natural inclination toward ornate pop and an interest in lengthier forms) as McCartney attempts to balance the loss of wife Linda and the arrival of a new love. For one of the few times ever, it simply doesn't work. 'Driving Rain' comes off as indulgent, impenetrable and strangely disconnected. this is from a Worst To Best McCartney Albums from Ultimate Classic Rock Website.. It sums up the reason I just cant get in to this Record. There are some very cool moments , He should have cut the album down by 4-5 songs . Opened it with About You.. I took out those 5 songs on my Mp3 Player and it's much better.. It doesn't age well to me..
-
Been long time since I posted here but always ready to praise Driving Rain. For me a great album. I would be happy if Paul played half a dozen songs from it when I see him in Sydney in December .Obviously wont happen but if he just did Rinse The Raindrops, what a great kick arse epic rocker and would be great live, I would be ecstatic.
-
I predict he'll play zero Driving Rain songs in Sydney.
-
HaileyMcComet:
I predict he'll play zero Driving Rain songs in Sydney.
I know but still I hope he will throw in a few surprises. I know he's got to play the usual standards for the casual fans but a few neglected gems would be great. I remember back in '93 he did a great version of Things We Said Today. It was a highlight. Does he still do it ?Haven't seen any recent set lists.. How about a few of the obscure gems that are on Pure McCartney 4CD set. Don't Let It Bring You Down, Winedark Open Sea, Warm and Beautiful, Too Much Rain & Dear Boy for instance. I hope he does a fair share of Wings (some of the more obscure stuff for the real fans).
-
Apollo C. Vermouth:
HaileyMcComet:
I predict he'll play zero Driving Rain songs in Sydney.
I know but still I hope he will throw in a few surprises. I know he's got to play the usual standards for the casual fans but a few neglected gems would be great. I remember back in '93 he did a great version of Things We Said Today. It was a highlight. Does he still do it ?Haven't seen any recent set lists.. How about a few of the obscure gems that are on Pure McCartney 4CD set. Don't Let It Bring You Down, Winedark Open Sea, Warm and Beautiful, Too Much Rain & Dear Boy for instance. I hope he does a fair share of Wings (some of the more obscure stuff for the real fans).
Don't hold your breath!
-
Apollo C. Vermouth:
HaileyMcComet:
I predict he'll play zero Driving Rain songs in Sydney.
I know but still I hope he will throw in a few surprises. I know he's got to play the usual standards for the casual fans but a few neglected gems would be great. I remember back in '93 he did a great version of Things We Said Today. It was a highlight. Does he still do it ?Haven't seen any recent set lists.. How about a few of the obscure gems that are on Pure McCartney 4CD set. Don't Let It Bring You Down, Winedark Open Sea, Warm and Beautiful, Too Much Rain & Dear Boy for instance. I hope he does a fair share of Wings (some of the more obscure stuff for the real fans).
He will play the same old stuff he is playing now. He has not been to Australia in many years so he will figure the current setlist will be just fine.
-
I just listened to it today. She's Given Up Talking is still my favorite song he wrote from that album and I STILL love this album. I was listening to the song About You and I liked part of the lyrics he wrote in it "You give me the power to get out of bed/when in the morning Im feeling dead" Yeah Paul sure gives me the power to get out of bed lol! His music alone does that. And Back in the Sunshine Again is another good one. I just felt like I passed out of a storm earlier this summer and I feel like Im back in the sunshine again no more worries no more worries. I swear no matter what I am going through if I pick at least one of these songs by Paul, I can easily relat to it.
-
Danish Macca wrote:
JoeySmith:
DR had not 1 but 2 of the worst Macca album covers ever!
I love the original cover, always has. But the re-issue cover? I agree with you on that one..
I prefer the original cover too, but have to agree that I prefer almost any other McCartney album cover I've seen to either.
Perhaps we should do a thread on favorite album cover. There are so many cool ones: "Ram" "Back to the Egg" "Tug of War" etc..,
-
B J Conlee wrote:
I need to revisit Driving Rain again. Thanks Martin Luther for your post. I remember liking the album a lot in the months following its release. I also recall that I had to get used to Paul's vocals on a few of the tracks. I remember reading that Paul had a bad cold during parts of its recording. While I still don't consider DR one of Paul's top tier albums. I thought it was consistently good but didn't think it had enough "great" songs like Chaos, MAF, FP, Flowers or Tug of War had. Still I loved the diversity of the album and the "live" feel of DR. Besides Rusty and Abe joining Paul for the 1st time, I liked Gabe Dixon's distinctive electric piano on several of the tracks. Besides Lonely Road, Your Loving Flame, Heather, and From a Lover to a Friend, I also liked songs like She's Given Up Talking, I Do, Magic, Your Way, About You, and Back in the Sunshine Again (written with his Son James). I just heard this last song on the Sirius Beatle station and it sounded real good. A really good R&B/Al Green vibe to it. All in all, a good mid-tier Macca album in my opinion. I kind of put DR in the same vein as Press to Play. Press is more maligned but both albums cover many genres of music styles. I like both better than the too Pop oriented Pipes of Peace and Off the Ground.
I just saw that this topic (Driving Rain) came back into our Macca albums' discussions recently. Over the last couple of weeks I have revisited Driving Rain again but primarily because the "Take It Away" Podcast (on this Site) just had a review of the album on their latest Podcast. Because of this, I have been listening to DR incessantly in my car. For those who haven't been hearing "Take It Away" it is very good.
Anyway, since I have been listening to DR, I find it quite interesting that my opinions haven't change much .....see my quote above which is just about a year ago.
The reviews were very mixed in 2001 upon its release. Some reviewers hated the album while others liked it a lot. I always take some of the "hate" reviews with a grain of salt since you always get the "biased" peope that just hate Paul. But there is no doubt that some of the negativity on DR is justified even from a Macca fan like me. And the negative aspects of DR does carries over to many Paul fans as well.
My theory on why DR is bashed (or at the very least not popular) with many fans is twofold:
* Paul's vocals especially on the first third of the album. Paul sounds hoarse on the opening track (Lonely Road) and then it gets worse on the 2nd song (From a Lover to a Friend). His vocals were so clean on his previous two albums. On Flaming Pie, his voice sounded so smoothe and his "rocking" voice sounded even better on Run Devil Run so DR was a shock to some fans. The third track (She's Giving Up Talking) had hard guitar edge to it and was too long...again not what the fans expect from Paul. Then you had the title cut which had the famous 1,2 3,4, 5 lyrics to it that the reviewers were already crucifying. Then the 5th track (I Do) again had a inferior vocal. I think you're getting the picture...many fans just didn't get into this album at the time and they never did even to this day.
* DR was too long with 4-5 inferior tracks some of which should have been B-sides only. In my opinion, DR should have been ended with "Your Loving Flame". I know that some of the hard core fans like Rinse the Raindrops (the last track on DR not including Freedom) but this is not for the average Paul fan in my opinion and it was way, way too long and repititve. It is basically a 10 minute jam session. Even as a big time fan, I don't have the patience to listen to something so long.
These are the basic reasons that DR didn't resonate with most fans. While I don't consider DR to be a top tier Paul album (for the reasons above) I like it for several other reasons. Having now revisited it again, I still consider it a dynamic favorite of mine primarily because it has a different "live" type feeling with some great players like Abe and Rusty as well as Gabe Dixon, a fabulous pianist. In my opinion, you have to be patient with DR. You have to be willing to listen to the album for a couple of weeks (your car is a great place as you are doing errands etc.). Once you get past the initial tracks and into the middle portion (the best part in my opinion) it will grow on you with quite a few good to very good deep tracks. Some of my favorite deep tracks include:
* Back in the Sunshine Again (written with Son, James) - probably my biggest surprise on this lates revisit. This song is a definite fusion of several genre's including R&B, Soul, Rock etc. I love the bridge...Life's too short to spend it lonely, you only throw it away...Listen to your voice of reason, yeah call it a day etc. Unlike the early tracks I mentioned, Paul's soulful vocal here is great and Gabe Dixon's piano is superb.
* Your Way - Love Paul's countryish little gem here
*About You - love this rocker and it is criminal that Paul and his band never did this one live
*Magic - great tribute song for Linda
* Tiny Bubble - the band gets into a real good groove here...forget the lyrics and just go with the melody
Along with Lonely Road, Your Loving Flame, Heather, I Do and a couple of others, DR is an album full of good deep tracks. Just have a little patience. You can start with track 6 (Tiny Bubble) and you'll find plenty of songs that you will like or like me that you will love.
-
While not one of my favorite McCartney albums, it is the album which began his association with the band he is STILL touring with, and the album which got him back on tour in 2002 with Driving USA and Back in the World. 16 years later and he is still on the road with those guys! And he has put out some of his best work ever since, particularly the follow up Chaos and Creation in the Backyard. It's amazing when you stop and think about it!
-
Paul is really good friends with his band since Driving Rain and they enjoy playing with Paul I mean who wouldn't enjoy playing guitar with Paul and being one of his close friends for that long!? That is a blessing in my eyes to have friends like that for a long time!
Driving Rain is still one of my favorite albums by Paul which I still listen to. I remember when it first came out when I was in high school! Then I got to see Paul October 4 2002 for the first time. That was a great show. Now if only I can see him for his new tour Freshen Up!
-
I've liked DR since the moment it was released, and still enjoy. I won't apologize for liking it either. It has some good tunes. It's better than "New" or "Off the Ground" or the overrated "Tug Of War". My 2 cents.