Solo works ranked
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Scroll down to see how they ranked the individual Beatles’ solo albums:
http://ultimateclassicrock.com/paul-mccartney-2018-tour-plans/
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Nancy R wrote:
Scroll down to see how they ranked the individual Beatles’ solo albums:
http://ultimateclassicrock.com/paul-mccartney-2018-tour-plans/
So many things I disagree with especially rating "Back To The Egg" ahead of "Tug Of War".
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Nancy R wrote:
Scroll down to see how they ranked the individual Beatles’ solo albums:
http://ultimateclassicrock.com/paul-mccartney-2018-tour-plans/
Things I was glad to read were albums like CHAOS and MAF were given high marks and it appears that all these critics are admitting they did not judge RAM correctly when it came out.
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Yankeefan2 wrote:
Nancy R wrote:
Scroll down to see how they ranked the individual Beatles’ solo albums:
http://ultimateclassicrock.com/paul-mccartney-2018-tour-plans/
Things I was glad to read were albums like CHAOS and MAF were given high marks and it appears that all these critics are admitting they did not judge RAM correctly when it came out.
Ram was really slammed by John Lennon as well as the critics in '71, but he got as well as he gave a year later with Sometime in NYC. Even though Ram has been reassessed, especially by Rolling Stone, it's not in my Solo top 10. Several of these in my opinion deserve higher rankings, esp. a couple of Ringo's albums, and some of Paul's (Off The Ground, Run Devil Run, and Venus and Mars) . But as with any Beatles poll, I'm glad to see they are still being discussed.
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beatlesfanrandy wrote:
Yankeefan2 wrote:
Nancy R wrote:
Scroll down to see how they ranked the individual Beatles’ solo albums:
http://ultimateclassicrock.com/paul-mccartney-2018-tour-plans/
Things I was glad to read were albums like CHAOS and MAF were given high marks and it appears that all these critics are admitting they did not judge RAM correctly when it came out.
Ram was really slammed by John Lennon as well as the critics in '71, but he got as well as he gave a year later with Sometime in NYC. Even though Ram has been reassessed, especially by Rolling Stone, it's not in my Solo top 10. Several of these in my opinion deserve higher rankings, esp. a couple of Ringo's albums, and some of Paul's (Off The Ground, Run Devil Run, and Venus and Mars) . But as with any Beatles poll, I'm glad to see they are still being discussed.
I agree with you on RAM, not in my top 10 but I think much better than the early reviews. There are a few songs I just love on the album like "Dear Boy" and "Back Seat Of My Car". I think "Run Devil Run" may have been ranked lower due to it only had three originals. I always love this album because I love 50's rock and I think this album is one of the best McCartney vocal performances in many years. I am glad CHAOS and MAF were given high marks but disappointed to read the remarks about TOW. How anybody can actually think "Back To The Egg" was better than TOW is beyond me. Finally, I get really tired about the trashing of "Ebony and Ivory". It was a single with two superstars that was intended to be commercial and radio friendly. Even if it may have not fit in with the rest of the album, there have been a lot worse McCartney songs on other fairly good solo albums.
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The Plastic Ono Band is in no way on this planet a better album than Band On The Run. And to prove I'm not a complete McCartney fan, I do agree that All Things Must Pass is a brilliant lp and deserves #1.
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wingsoverkc wrote:
The Plastic Ono Band is in no way on this planet a better album than Band On The Run. And to prove I'm not a complete McCartney fan, I do agree that All Things Must Pass is a brilliant lp and deserves #1.
Totally agree with you!
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Yankeefan2 wrote:
beatlesfanrandy wrote:
Yankeefan2 wrote:
Nancy R wrote:
Scroll down to see how they ranked the individual Beatles’ solo albums:
http://ultimateclassicrock.com/paul-mccartney-2018-tour-plans/
Things I was glad to read were albums like CHAOS and MAF were given high marks and it appears that all these critics are admitting they did not judge RAM correctly when it came out.
Ram was really slammed by John Lennon as well as the critics in '71, but he got as well as he gave a year later with Sometime in NYC. Even though Ram has been reassessed, especially by Rolling Stone, it's not in my Solo top 10. Several of these in my opinion deserve higher rankings, esp. a couple of Ringo's albums, and some of Paul's (Off The Ground, Run Devil Run, and Venus and Mars) . But as with any Beatles poll, I'm glad to see they are still being discussed.
I agree with you on RAM, not in my top 10 but I think much better than the early reviews. There are a few songs I just love on the album like "Dear Boy" and "Back Seat Of My Car". I think "Run Devil Run" may have been ranked lower due to it only had three originals. I always love this album because I love 50's rock and I think this album is one of the best McCartney vocal performances in many years. I am glad CHAOS and MAF were given high marks but disappointed to read the remarks about TOW. How anybody can actually think "Back To The Egg" was better than TOW is beyond me. Finally, I get really tired about the trashing of "Ebony and Ivory". It was a single with two superstars that was intended to be commercial and radio friendly. Even if it may have not fit in with the rest of the album, there have been a lot worse McCartney songs on other fairly good solo albums.
Totally agree with you about Tug of War. Like with many similar song/album Beatle polls, it is so subjective to rank top quality songs/albums. For example, when you get to the top 5 on this Beatle Solo albums, it is so hard to say that "All Things Must Pass" is better than Band on the Run. You can have solid arguments for both albums. Same thing for John Lennons's Plastic Ono Band Album vs. Ram.
But then there are just ridiculous, way out of wack opinions on a certain song or album, that generally show the author's obvious bias. I remember a recent poll of best Beatle songs (not Solo ones). This poll had "Here There and Everywhere" in the 80's. Personally, it would be in my Top 5, but too have this gorgeous song that low is just cracy.
As far as this poll, I agree with Yankeefan about "Tug" (ranked at a way too low #27) and I'll take it one step further. Relative to general creativity and songwriting craft, I could never put John's Rock 'N' Roll Album (an all covers album and ranked #11) above Tug of War. TOW has so many great songs written solely by Paul and some, in my opinion, right up there with many of Paul's great Beatle songs. While I like Paul's own "Run Devil Run" album a lot (only 3 Paul original's on the album) I could never rate it higher than Tug of War for this same "creativlty" factor.
I also agree with Yankeefan on "Ebony and Ivory". While it is "middle of the pack" for me rela
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You okay BJ? Your post ended in mid-sentence.
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Nancy R wrote:
wingsoverkc wrote:
The Plastic Ono Band is in no way on this planet a better album than Band On The Run. And to prove I'm not a complete McCartney fan, I do agree that All Things Must Pass is a brilliant lp and deserves #1.
Totally agree with you!
Completely disagree. POB is the best Beatles related work by any of them. In many ways it's better than any Beatles album. Raw,gritty,unapologetic,honest,un-commercial,un-censored,and 100% un-"poppy".
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Nancy R wrote:
You okay BJ? Your post ended in mid-sentence.
Maybe copy & paste & didn't get the whole thing.
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Nancy R wrote:
You okay BJ? Your post ended in mid-sentence.
I'm ok. Tried to edit my own post and lost the edited one.
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B J Conlee wrote:
Yankeefan2 wrote:
beatlesfanrandy wrote:
Yankeefan2 wrote:
Nancy R wrote:
Scroll down to see how they ranked the individual Beatles’ solo albums:
http://ultimateclassicrock.com/paul-mccartney-2018-tour-plans/
Things I was glad to read were albums like CHAOS and MAF were given high marks and it appears that all these critics are admitting they did not judge RAM correctly when it came out.
Ram was really slammed by John Lennon as well as the critics in '71, but he got as well as he gave a year later with Sometime in NYC. Even though Ram has been reassessed, especially by Rolling Stone, it's not in my Solo top 10. Several of these in my opinion deserve higher rankings, esp. a couple of Ringo's albums, and some of Paul's (Off The Ground, Run Devil Run, and Venus and Mars) . But as with any Beatles poll, I'm glad to see they are still being discussed.
I agree with you on RAM, not in my top 10 but I think much better than the early reviews. There are a few songs I just love on the album like "Dear Boy" and "Back Seat Of My Car". I think "Run Devil Run" may have been ranked lower due to it only had three originals. I always love this album because I love 50's rock and I think this album is one of the best McCartney vocal performances in many years. I am glad CHAOS and MAF were given high marks but disappointed to read the remarks about TOW. How anybody can actually think "Back To The Egg" was better than TOW is beyond me. Finally, I get really tired about the trashing of "Ebony and Ivory". It was a single with two superstars that was intended to be commercial and radio friendly. Even if it may have not fit in with the rest of the album, there have been a lot worse McCartney songs on other fairly good solo albums.
Totally agree with you about Tug of War. Like with many similar song/album Beatle polls, it is so subjective to rank top quality songs/albums. For example, when you get to the top 5 on this Beatle Solo albums, it is so hard to say that "All Things Must Pass" is better than Band on the Run. You can have solid arguments for both albums. Same thing for John Lennons's Plastic Ono Band Album vs. Ram.
But then there are just ridiculous, way out of wack opinions on a certain song or album, that generally show the author's obvious bias. I remember a recent poll of best Beatle songs (not Solo ones). This poll had "Here There and Everywhere" in the 80's. Personally, it would be in my Top 5, but too have this gorgeous song that low is just cracy.
As far as this poll, I agree with Yankeefan about "Tug" (ranked at a way too low #27) and I'll take it one step further. Relative to general creativity and songwriting craft, I could never put John's Rock 'N' Roll Album (an all covers album and ranked #11) above Tug of War. TOW has so many great songs written solely by Paul and some, in my opinion, right up there with many of Paul's great Beatle songs. While I like Paul's own "Run Devil Run" album a lot (only 3 Paul original's on the album) I could never rate it higher than Tug of War for this same "creativlty" factor.
I also agree with Yankeefan on "Ebony and Ivory". While it is "middle of the pack" for me rela
I wanted to add that while Ebony and Ivory is pretty much in the lower middle of my favorite songs on Tug of War (title cut, Take It Away, Somebody Who Cares, Here Today, Wanderlust, The Pound Is Sinking, Ballroom Dancing are better to me) it is still a good album cut and a good closing track. While it has Paul and Stevie sharing the vocals, it was totally written by Paul and it does, in my opinion, fits the general theme of the album (struggle of opposites, hope). While the simplistic lyrics use the metaphor of piano keys, it still has a universal message that is just as true today as when it was written.
The song that marrs the album to me is the other Paul/Stevie duet... "What's That You're Doing". In this case, the song is totally written by Stevie Wonder and doesn't fit the album well at all. In my opinion, it is basically a funky jam session that goes on entirely too long (over 6 minutes). Worse yet, it follows 3 great Macca classic songs...title cut, Take It Away and Somebody Who Care and just cuts down the momentum of the album. As much as I have tried to like it, I seem to end up skipping it. Replacing that track with another song that is "true" McCartney could have made Tug of War the "masterpiece" it could have been. Putting that aside, Tug of War is still a great album filled with very good to great songs.
That is why I think this publication ranking of Tug of War at #27 of all of the Beatles' Solo albums is out of wack. For example, and in my opinion, you can't put 2 "cover" albums (John's Rock 'N'Roll 50's covers at #11 and Paul's Run Devil Run at #24) higher than Tug of War simply because of all great compositions that Paul personally "wrote" on Tug. Then you have some of Paul's other albums that are placed higher like McCartney (Paul's first Solo album), Back to the Egg and Memory Almost Full. They are all good albums with a few very good songs on them but they don't have the overall quality and consistency of Tug of War. Just my opinion.
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Maccaroni1974 wrote:
Nancy R wrote:
wingsoverkc wrote:
The Plastic Ono Band is in no way on this planet a better album than Band On The Run. And to prove I'm not a complete McCartney fan, I do agree that All Things Must Pass is a brilliant lp and deserves #1.
Totally agree with you!
Completely disagree. POB is the best Beatles related work by any of them. In many ways it's better than any Beatles album. Raw,gritty,unapologetic,honest,un-commercial,un-censored,and 100% un-"poppy".
It’s like comparing apples to oranges! Agree to disagree.
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B J Conlee wrote:
B J Conlee wrote:
Yankeefan2 wrote:
beatlesfanrandy wrote:
Yankeefan2 wrote:
Nancy R wrote:
Scroll down to see how they ranked the individual Beatles’ solo albums:
http://ultimateclassicrock.com/paul-mccartney-2018-tour-plans/
Things I was glad to read were albums like CHAOS and MAF were given high marks and it appears that all these critics are admitting they did not judge RAM correctly when it came out.
Ram was really slammed by John Lennon as well as the critics in '71, but he got as well as he gave a year later with Sometime in NYC. Even though Ram has been reassessed, especially by Rolling Stone, it's not in my Solo top 10. Several of these in my opinion deserve higher rankings, esp. a couple of Ringo's albums, and some of Paul's (Off The Ground, Run Devil Run, and Venus and Mars) . But as with any Beatles poll, I'm glad to see they are still being discussed.
I agree with you on RAM, not in my top 10 but I think much better than the early reviews. There are a few songs I just love on the album like "Dear Boy" and "Back Seat Of My Car". I think "Run Devil Run" may have been ranked lower due to it only had three originals. I always love this album because I love 50's rock and I think this album is one of the best McCartney vocal performances in many years. I am glad CHAOS and MAF were given high marks but disappointed to read the remarks about TOW. How anybody can actually think "Back To The Egg" was better than TOW is beyond me. Finally, I get really tired about the trashing of "Ebony and Ivory". It was a single with two superstars that was intended to be commercial and radio friendly. Even if it may have not fit in with the rest of the album, there have been a lot worse McCartney songs on other fairly good solo albums.
Totally agree with you about Tug of War. Like with many similar song/album Beatle polls, it is so subjective to rank top quality songs/albums. For example, when you get to the top 5 on this Beatle Solo albums, it is so hard to say that "All Things Must Pass" is better than Band on the Run. You can have solid arguments for both albums. Same thing for John Lennons's Plastic Ono Band Album vs. Ram.
But then there are just ridiculous, way out of wack opinions on a certain song or album, that generally show the author's obvious bias. I remember a recent poll of best Beatle songs (not Solo ones). This poll had "Here There and Everywhere" in the 80's. Personally, it would be in my Top 5, but too have this gorgeous song that low is just cracy.
As far as this poll, I agree with Yankeefan about "Tug" (ranked at a way too low #27) and I'll take it one step further. Relative to general creativity and songwriting craft, I could never put John's Rock 'N' Roll Album (an all covers album and ranked #11) above Tug of War. TOW has so many great songs written solely by Paul and some, in my opinion, right up there with many of Paul's great Beatle songs. While I like Paul's own "Run Devil Run" album a lot (only 3 Paul original's on the album) I could never rate it higher than Tug of War for this same "creativlty" factor.
I also agree with Yankeefan on "Ebony and Ivory". While it is "middle of the pack" for me rela
I wanted to add that while Ebony and Ivory is pretty much in the lower middle of my favorite songs on Tug of War (title cut, Take It Away, Somebody Who Cares, Here Today, Wanderlust, The Pound Is Sinking, Ballroom Dancing are better to me) it is still a good album cut and a good closing track. While it has Paul and Stevie sharing the vocals, it was totally written by Paul and it does, in my opinion, fits the general theme of the album (struggle of opposites, hope). While the simplistic lyrics use the metaphor of piano keys, it still has a universal message that is just as true today as when it was written.
The song that marrs the album to me is the other Paul/Stevie duet... "What's That You're Doing". In this case, the song is totally written by Stevie Wonder and doesn't fit the album well at all. In my opinion, it is basically a funky jam session that goes on entirely too long (over 6 minutes). Worse yet, it follows 3 great Macca classic songs...title cut, Take It Away and Somebody Who Care and just cuts down the momentum of the album. As much as I have tried to like it, I seem to end up skipping it. Replacing that track with another song that is "true" McCartney could have made Tug of War the "masterpiece" it could have been. Putting that aside, Tug of War is still a great album filled with very good to great songs.
That is why I think this publication ranking of Tug of War at #27 of all of the Beatles' Solo albums is out of wack. For example, and in my opinion, you can't put 2 "cover" albums (John's Rock 'N'Roll 50's covers at #11 and Paul's Run Devil Run at #24) higher than Tug of War simply because of all great compositions that Paul personally "wrote" on Tug. Then you have some of Paul's other albums that are placed higher like McCartney (Paul's first Solo album), Back to the Egg and Memory Almost Full. They are all good albums with a few very good songs on them but they don't have the overall quality and consistency of Tug of War. Just my opinion.
I agree with you about "What's That You Are Doing", it did not belong on the TOW album. This song would have been a good B side for either "Ebony and Ivory" or "Take It Away". The sad thing is that George Martin did not agree with us because he is one of the few with "clout" and could tell Paul and Stevie the song just does not work on this album. One of my favorite McCartney stories is in regards to this song. McCartney said in interview how Stevie got on him about his drumming saying it was "not in the pocket" and his reaction to it - lol. That being said, TOW is a wonderful album and it is in my top 5 McCartney albums. Ranking it #27 is absurd IMO, to each their own - lol
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Nancy R wrote:
wingsoverkc wrote:
The Plastic Ono Band is in no way on this planet a better album than Band On The Run. And to prove I'm not a complete McCartney fan, I do agree that All Things Must Pass is a brilliant lp and deserves #1.
Totally agree with you!
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I knew I was not going to agree with the list even before reading it
one thing surprised me is that Ringo had been that prolific