"Underappreciated Genius."
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streetlegal:
Absolutely agree, John was brilliant but-as you say-he could write sentimental songs without being slated by the critics whereas Paul always gets criticised for his ballads. I don't take many critics seriously-prefer to take notice of other musicians. Bob Dylan gave an interview a while back and he mentioned that he regarded Paul as an awesome musician. I think Bob's opinion is worth more than any music journalist! If anyone says Paul is just a MOR artist who has written nothing of substance since Band On The Run, I'd get them to listen to Chaos...Memory Almost Full and Electric Arguments. Those are not exactly safe, conservative MOR albums.
We are obviously of the same mind on this issue.I suppose Paul's "Beatle concerts" are to the detriment of his post Beatle career.Paul's career has certainly been erratic overall but there's still a lot of great songs in there.
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'erratic' you can only WISH yours could be so 'erratic' -
BOYCIE:
streetlegal:
For me Paul's solo albums have generally been under rated because-to borrow and Elvis Costello song title-he is a man out of time. Lots of critics blamed him for the break up of The Beatles and then went on dismiss his solo records as lightweight nonsense. I think there has always been musical snobbery from critics-some sort of tuneless racket get's praised as being brave and experimental whereas melodic tunes are dismissed as meaningless pop. There's also the image thing-John was regarded as a serious artist, making political statements while Paul was accused of wasting his talent. McCartney also made the mistake of selling too many records! Recently though I think the tide is turning-Paul's recent records have-rightly-been praised and if they aren't particularly well known it's probably Paul's fault for not playing many new songs on tour. Imagine if Paul had written...Imagine! I bet he would have been slated by the critics for writing a naive, sentimental song and if John had written Ebony & Ivory the expert critics would have praised him for tackling race relations in a song!
I agree Paul's more sentimental music seems to be slaughtered but John's slushy music is forgiven.If Paul had written Beautiful Boy or Goodnight he would be mercilessly criticised.Also if he writes anything surreal or eccentric he gets criticised for it being silly and daft, whereas John is lauded for it.I'm not trying to denegrate John's music but i'm trying to balance out the picture.There's so much more to Paul than the Beatles,i just wish the world would wake up to the fact.
John's sentimental music was taken to task and he was roundly criticized for his last album until that certain event took place. All of John's solo music lacked any trace of what he did as a Beatle and was good to bland and repetitive at best. Any experimentation was out the window and that, in my opinion, was directly related to him not working with Paul, who clearly should be given a lot of credit for all the 'experimental' John songs. John just took one cause after another and wrote a song about it in the 70's. What would have happened past then is anyones guess, and sadly we'll never know, but at least Paul took chances in that same period. And I still feel Paul's main 'problem' is his lack of any discernable style. He does it all and programmers just don't know where to put him anymore.
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I sawy it time and time again...Paul isnt dead...that helps in the cool factor and people dont want a star growing old coz they lose their crdibility
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I once heard someone (a quantum physicist) say something to the effect of, it takes a genius of the same level to fully understand what the genius in question, is really all about. Who would that even be for someone like Paul....not too many I dare say. And that person, would be the only opinion in which I would really take seriously. What should be clear to everyone, is that Paul is pretty much a one of a kind musician, artist, poet, humanitarian, people lover, animal lover, lover of life, kind person... who is so multi talented, that he doesn't really need to listen to anyone... and he is so humble about it!!! Amazing... That's why all those physicists really only have each other, to understand what they are trying to say in a quantum world... or to even comment properly... it's a very small subset
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love2travel:
I once heard someone (a quantum physicist) say something to the effect of, it takes a genius of the same level to fully understand what the genius in question, is really all about. Who would that even be for someone like Paul....not too many I dare say. And that person, would be the only opinion in which I would really take seriously.
What about Dylan.....?!
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And I still feel Paul's main 'problem' is his lack of any discernable style. He does it all and programmers just don't know where to put him anymore.
That, in a nutshell is what I was saying, too, in my big "essay" above.
Paul's career has certainly been erratic overall but there's still a lot of great songs in there.
I don't know what you mean there. There have only ever been one or two albums that didn't sell well, I think some critics liked them. If you don't personally like one or more of the different styles he's done you might look at it that way, but I really wouldn't call that erratic, just more diverse than marketting will bear.
it takes a genius of the same level to fully understand what the genius in question
I totally agree! However, "normal" clever people can still recongise the genius exists without fully understanding it or how it works. Today the schools are much better (at least in Canada) about recognising the different ways of learning and differnt kinds of intelligence. I believe if Paul were going to school here today he woud have a very different experience. He was recognised for being very smart, but the facility wasn't there to foster his creativity. Everyone had to fit the mould. Today he might have gone quite a differnt direction from what he did - not saying we would want him to have, but it might have happened. Paul has commented the scientists he's working with on the environmental advocacy are "smarter" that he, but I don't think that's correct. They have more knowledge and the formal training, but they're probably not any smarter. That's why Paul can grasp the concepts so easily. He's logical and sensible. That's why I like him so much, he's truly intelligent. Yet, he's charming and clever enough to appear to be just one of the guys, fitting right in at a beer party. Then he can sleep off the party and take a trip to the university to chat with academics buddies. Maybe sometimes he's a little too clever. And yes, he's a genius, but he still needs good producers and such to give outside honest criticism.
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Wendy2066:
And I still feel Paul's main 'problem' is his lack of any discernable style. He does it all and programmers just don't know where to put him anymore.
That, in a nutshell is what I was saying, too, in my big "essay" above.
Paul's career has certainly been erratic overall but there's still a lot of great songs in there.
I don't know what you mean there. There have only ever been one or two albums that didn't sell well, I think some critics liked them. If you don't personally like one or more of the different styles he's done you might look at it that way, but I really wouldn't call that erratic, just more diverse than marketting will bear.
it takes a genius of the same level to fully understand what the genius in question
I totally agree! However, "normal" clever people can still recongise the genius exists without fully understanding it or how it works. Today the schools are much better (at least in Canada) about recognising the different ways of learning and differnt kinds of intelligence. I believe if Paul were going to school here today he woud have a very different experience. He was recognised for being very smart, but the facility wasn't there to foster his creativity. Everyone had to fit the mould. Today he might have gone quite a differnt direction from what he did - not saying we would want him to have, but it might have happened. Paul has commented the scientists he's working with on the environmental advocacy are "smarter" that he, but I don't think that's correct. They have more knowledge and the formal training, but they're probably not any smarter. That's why Paul can grasp the concepts so easily. He's logical and sensible. That's why I like him so much, he's truly intelligent. Yet, he's charming and clever enough to appear to be just one of the guys, fitting right in at a beer party. Then he can sleep off the party and take a trip to the university to chat with academics buddies. Maybe sometimes he's a little too clever. And yes, he's a genius, but he still needs good producers and such to give outside honest criticism.
I don't mean erratic in terms of musical diversity,i mean in terms of the quality of the music.There's a lot of great music but there's quite a bit of mediocre stuff in there too.I think in a career of nearly 40 years as a solo/Wings musician there's bound to be a few misfires in there.
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i feel strongly that pauls vast cannon of works is probably the biggest treasure trove of musical melodic genious yet to be discovered by many many people[beatles fans included]. so his solo career as a whole is well worth defending.even his 'throwaway' and'incomplete' songs have a charm and bounce that most other artist [beatles included] could only dream about. mccartneys biggest problems through the years have come from himself..some of the decisions/choices he makes are beyond belief..you just have to see what program he was on last night to confirm this. i will always defend his work in argument because it is simply stunning ,with so much variety..however the ever needy beatles nostagla act he has tranformed himself into in recent years has become boring , elton johnish and pretty sad. forget the 'big tours' paul,your voice has seen better days anyway..concentrate on your still brilliant songwriting skills and get some more brilliant music down on record will you still can. i would love it if he actually brought out a new album of new songs every year now that the record company limitations are gone..it would be a shame if he didnt get every last tune out of his brilliant soul before its too late. and anyway,hes already scrapped the bottom of 'the beatles' barrel!
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he was on 'the x factor' because his little girl beatrice wanted to see him on there. she's a big fan of the show. when will that sink in??? he possibly should have labeled electric arguments a paul mccartney cd, but he didn't want to leave off his collaborater and producer, who apparently had a big role in its making. he didn't want to slight him. 'alternative' 'wired, weird, quirky' stuff in the fireman mode, though some say he's done that before sort of with 'mccartney ll' and others. maybe he thought it was just too much to be a 'straight' macca album (electric arguments) there's method to his madness lots of times when some might say he made a mistake. he knew what he wanted and went for it, trusting what he desired and his instincts. he's not a dullard, ya know
: history might prove him right 
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is it also true that his 'goldfish' was a big fan of bbc'S CHILDREN IN NEED the other week! im sure paul has to say NO to plenty of 'unreasonable requests' from his 6yrold daughter. i should know ,i have one.the other day she asked me if she could have 'ice ceam fish fingers ' for tea! what next.will he now be appearing on 'frannys feet' or 'bear in a big blue house'?... maybe not,im sure the 'ratings' dont appeal as much!
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maybe he will appear in pee wee herman's new stage show pee wee is putting on in los angeles --how many kids have you got anyway? aren't those your twin baby boys in your avatar?? you must be so exhausted (from looking after the kids, i mean 
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they are twin girls !,but yes it is exhausting at times! ive got 3 girls altogether. nadine 6, isla and libby [8 months]. thanks for the interest susy
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gawd
you're lucky -
He's under-appreciated by the people who don't appreciate him and not under-appreciated by those who do. Glad that's cleared up. Anyone for a cup of tea?
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Dustbin Lid:
He's under-appreciated by the people who don't appreciate him and not under-appreciated by those who do. Glad that's cleared up. Anyone for a cup of tea?
Yes please, white no sugar.
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Coming up! Like a flower.
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Dustbin Lid:
Coming up! Like a flower.
Yeah right.... So is Christmas.
: Your place or mine 
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Ah, well - if you are in Thailand, I think I'd be happier heading into the sun... we're expecting snow here tomorrow!
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Dustbin Lid:
Ah, well - if you are in Thailand, I think I'd be happier heading into the sun... we're expecting snow here tomorrow!
Your welcome any time. The kettles on the boil...
