EGYPT STATION
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Beatles4Ever&Ever wrote:
Macca84 wrote:
Beatles4Ever&Ever wrote:
Nancy R wrote:
Beatles4Ever&Ever wrote:
"Fuh You" just seems too crass and too beneath Paul. It's not as if he was/is going to have a top 40 tune anymore. He didn't need that on his finely crafted album.
Paul made the mistake of letting the producer title the song. He should have just said "No, it's called For You." and the lyrics should have been printed as "for you." Even though they are printed as "I just want it fuh you" people still hear "I just wanna fuh you." which is a totally different thing of course!
I agree. He should have named it "For You," but then just sing it the way he does and let people think what they want about what is being said....or not said. I think people really don't stop with hearing...."I just wanna fuh you." They go for hearing the whole four-letter f-word!!!
Paul must be fine with the ambiguity or he would haven’t made the title what it is.
Or he just wanted to seem trendy. He liked it to be thought of as a bit naughty. There was/is no ambiguity to it.
Agree!
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Is it weird that I have not heard Egypt Station yet? I generally buy Paul albums as soon as they come out, but I was in no hurry with this one. Now, I have it. It's sitting next to my computer, ready to get uploaded. But I have not touched it.
It's not that I prefer nostalgia music and hate anything new by older artists. I think the last/most recent albums by Paul Simon, James Taylor, Sting, Stevie Wonder, Peter Gabriel, Don Henely were among their best. I don't expect Egypt Station to be among Paul's best. I just really don't want it to be bad, or worse, mediocre.
I know Paul's voice isn't what it used to be, but that's true for everyone mentioned above. Except Stevie Wonder & Peter Gabriel. Their last albums came out a hundred years ago. I'm more worried about the songs being forgettable. If you say Memory Almost Full, I have to think about which songs are on that album, but go to Flaming Pie or anything earlier and I know all the songs right away. Part of that is nostalgia, but I have no nostalgia for Paul Simon's Stranger To Stranger. It's just a great album.
I will listen to Egypt Station sooner or later, but right now it's Schrodinger's album.
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HaileyMcComet wrote:
Is it weird that I have not heard Egypt Station yet? I generally buy Paul albums as soon as they come out, but I was in no hurry with this one. Now, I have it. It's sitting next to my computer, ready to get uploaded. But I have not touched it.
It's not that I prefer nostalgia music and hate anything new by older artists. I think the last/most recent albums by Paul Simon, James Taylor, Sting, Stevie Wonder, Peter Gabriel, Don Henely were among their best. I don't expect Egypt Station to be among Paul's best. I just really don't want it to be bad, or worse, mediocre.
I know Paul's voice isn't what it used to be, but that's true for everyone mentioned above. Except Stevie Wonder & Peter Gabriel. Their last albums came out a hundred years ago. I'm more worried about the songs being forgettable. If you say Memory Almost Full, I have to think about which songs are on that album, but go to Flaming Pie or anything earlier and I know all the songs right away. Part of that is nostalgia, but I have no nostalgia for Paul Simon's Stranger To Stranger. It's just a great album.
I will listen to Egypt Station sooner or later, but right now it's Schrodinger's album.
As I've said before, Egypt Station is my favorite Paul solo album, period. But the songs are mostly not instant "grabbers" -- you have to listen at least 8 or 10 times before they really sink in. Give it time and don't rush to judgment.
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You're a Paul fan or you wouldn't be here so I didn't get it when you seemed so apprehensive about playing Egypt Station. Why are you? It's a Paul album so there's bound to be at least some very good songs on it. And there are some. With lyrics that are thought out and very good and very mature seeming as befits his time of life. ES boasts some excellent melodies on many of the songs as you'd expect from a musician so gifted with melody. ES is much better overall than "New," I think. And to me it's superior to "Memory Almost Full." Egypt Station certainly makes one long for more new songs from him.
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Bruce M. wrote:
HaileyMcComet wrote:
Is it weird that I have not heard Egypt Station yet? I generally buy Paul albums as soon as they come out, but I was in no hurry with this one. Now, I have it. It's sitting next to my computer, ready to get uploaded. But I have not touched it.
It's not that I prefer nostalgia music and hate anything new by older artists. I think the last/most recent albums by Paul Simon, James Taylor, Sting, Stevie Wonder, Peter Gabriel, Don Henely were among their best. I don't expect Egypt Station to be among Paul's best. I just really don't want it to be bad, or worse, mediocre.
I know Paul's voice isn't what it used to be, but that's true for everyone mentioned above. Except Stevie Wonder & Peter Gabriel. Their last albums came out a hundred years ago. I'm more worried about the songs being forgettable. If you say Memory Almost Full, I have to think about which songs are on that album, but go to Flaming Pie or anything earlier and I know all the songs right away. Part of that is nostalgia, but I have no nostalgia for Paul Simon's Stranger To Stranger. It's just a great album.
I will listen to Egypt Station sooner or later, but right now it's Schrodinger's album.
As I've said before, Egypt Station is my favorite Paul solo album, period. But the songs are mostly not instant "grabbers" -- you have to listen at least 8 or 10 times before they really sink in. Give it time and don't rush to judgment.
Hailey
Bruce's comment below is pretty much the same advice I would give you as well. You have to be patient and slowly listen to parts of ES over a few weeks. It is a long album so it takes a while to digest and I agree totally with Bruce that many of the songs are not"instant grabbers". Many grow with you on repeated listens. I think some people who don't care for ES just didn't give the album enough time and they rushed to judgement that ES is not up to Paul's standards. Like Bruce, I think just the opposite. To me ES is yet another late period Paul Solo album that is suberb with great lyrics and melodies as a whole.
As an added note and for fans that have not kept up with Paul's Solo career especially over the last 10 years, I would imagine it would be quite an initial shock to their system to hear Paul's older voice on ES. That alone wouldn't give ES a favorable rating. As a big time fan however (especially Solo) I wasn't surprised with his older voice and again on the whole I think Paul's vocals on ES are quite good. I think Paul himself sounds more comfortable on ES with his different and older voice and uses it more to his advantage on most ES tracks than not.
The other point I would like to make about ES is the excellent production from Greg Kurstin. All of the tracks on the proper album (not including the one song that Greg didn't produce... Fuh You) have great production in my opinion. Hopefully Paul has another new album in him and I would be totally in favor if Paul used Greg has his future producer.
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B J Conlee wrote:
Bruce M. wrote:
HaileyMcComet wrote:
Is it weird that I have not heard Egypt Station yet? I generally buy Paul albums as soon as they come out, but I was in no hurry with this one. Now, I have it. It's sitting next to my computer, ready to get uploaded. But I have not touched it.
It's not that I prefer nostalgia music and hate anything new by older artists. I think the last/most recent albums by Paul Simon, James Taylor, Sting, Stevie Wonder, Peter Gabriel, Don Henely were among their best. I don't expect Egypt Station to be among Paul's best. I just really don't want it to be bad, or worse, mediocre.
I know Paul's voice isn't what it used to be, but that's true for everyone mentioned above. Except Stevie Wonder & Peter Gabriel. Their last albums came out a hundred years ago. I'm more worried about the songs being forgettable. If you say Memory Almost Full, I have to think about which songs are on that album, but go to Flaming Pie or anything earlier and I know all the songs right away. Part of that is nostalgia, but I have no nostalgia for Paul Simon's Stranger To Stranger. It's just a great album.
I will listen to Egypt Station sooner or later, but right now it's Schrodinger's album.
As I've said before, Egypt Station is my favorite Paul solo album, period. But the songs are mostly not instant "grabbers" -- you have to listen at least 8 or 10 times before they really sink in. Give it time and don't rush to judgment.
Hailey
Bruce's comment below is pretty much the same advice I would give you as well. You have to be patient and slowly listen to parts of ES over a few weeks. It is a long album so it takes a while to digest and I agree totally with Bruce that many of the songs are not"instant grabbers". Many grow with you on repeated listens. I think some people who don't care for ES just didn't give the album enough time and they rushed to judgement that ES is not up to Paul's standards. Like Bruce, I think just the opposite. To me ES is yet another late period Paul Solo album that is suberb with great lyrics and melodies as a whole.
As an added note and for fans that have not kept up with Paul's Solo career especially over the last 10 years, I would imagine it would be quite an initial shock to their system to hear Paul's older voice on ES. That alone wouldn't give ES a favorable rating. As a big time fan however (especially Solo) I wasn't surprised with his older voice and again on the whole I think Paul's vocals on ES are quite good. I think Paul himself sounds more comfortable on ES with his different and older voice and uses it more to his advantage on most ES tracks than not.
The other point I would like to make about ES is the excellent production from Greg Kurstin. All of the tracks on the proper album (not including the one song that Greg didn't produce... Fuh You) have great production in my opinion. Hopefully Paul has another new album in him and I would be totally in favor if Paul used Greg has his future producer.
Hailey,
As long as you're objective (and I'm sure you are) and you give ES the time to digest, I'm sure you won't find most of the tracks on the album to be forgetable. Given a chance with repeated listens, I'm also sure you won't find ES bad or even mediocre. I find the album to be one of Paul's very best. As far as Paul Solo albums, I put it right up there with Chaos and Tug of War. Like Bruce, right now ES is my favorite Paul solo album. While Chaos is easily one of very Paul's best and most consistent albums, I give ES a slight edge because of all the variety on ES. It covers so many music genres very well.
I think my wife wishes many of the songs on ES were forgettable. She's tired of me singing songs like Happy With You, Confidante, People Want Peace, Hand in Hand, I Don't Know, Dominoes etc, so often. My new wife was also not a Paul Solo fan at all before we met two years ago and she really likes many of the songs on ES. Unfortunately, she has to hear me playing the album too often. Like I think you are, she likes many artists and she is getting me to broaden my music tastes. That's a good thing for both of us.
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I will second what BJ says about Paul's voice on ES. If you're used to how he sounded on, say, Band on the Run, it will be a shock in place. But if you can put aside that certain glorious sounds are just not possible anymore, I think you'll find that he uses the voice he has now to great effect on this album. What at times is unmistakably and old person's voice gives certain songs an emotional resonance that just wouldn't have been possible if Paul had sung them when he was 30.
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Egypt Station, McCartney returns to Number 1 in the Billboard 200 ~ Rolling Stone
Good Job on that Paul
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love2travel wrote:
Egypt Station, McCartney returns to Number 1 in the Billboard 200 ~ Rolling Stone
Good Job on that Paul
This happened when the album first came out. The article is dated Sept. 17, 2018.
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Nancy R wrote:
love2travel wrote:
Egypt Station, McCartney returns to Number 1 in the Billboard 200 ~ Rolling Stone
Good Job on that Paul
This happened when the album first came out. The article is dated Sept. 17, 2018.
Thought it could use a refresh
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I am picking up my "new"
car latter next week
a second hand 2019 Subaru Forrester
good for me it has a CD player
so Egypt Station will be the first CD I will play
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rufus wrote:
I am picking up my "new"
car latter next week
a second hand 2019 Subaru Forrester
good for me it has a CD player
so Egypt Station will be the first CD I will play
Congrats! Only one "r" - it's Forester.
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rufus wrote:
I am picking up my "new"
car latter next week
a second hand 2019 Subaru Forrester
good for me it has a CD player
so Egypt Station will be the first CD I will play
That is a really nice car! Congrats on the new Forrester!!
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Just got back from California. We had a great time especially visiting a couple of the Northern coastal areas like Monterey and Big Sur. The drives and views were magnificent. Also I loved the Monterey Aquarium. I'm kind of an aquarium nut and the one in Monterey might have been the best one I have visited yet.
Like anytime you are far away from home there are aways simple things you miss. Besides our house, it was so great to revisit a couple of our favorite stores. For me, this includes our in-town supermarket Publix and my favorite convenience store...Wawa. Right now I'm sipping my second Wawa coffee.
Another thing I missed and the reason for this post was Egypt Station. Just getting back into my car and hearing the ES songs felt really great. During my 2nd trip around town this morning, I was at Bruce's (and mine too) favorite 4 in a row in the tracklisting sequence...Confidante, People Want Peace, Hand in Hand and Dominoes. It's funny how you miss certain things that you take for granted when you're away and ES was certainly one of those. As I mentioned, we had a wonderful time but I was the only one in our group that is really into Paul and the Beatles for that matter. Good thing that the scenery on many of our drives was so nice. The music during some of the longer trips was not my cup of tea so to be home again and hearing some of my favorite songs felt so nice.
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Hi BJ...enjoyed reading your post, agree that leaving your ES Cd behind does leave you missing it!! Have moved through different song's in stages. I'm on to the latest two at the moment.
I'm an aquarium enthusiast as well and think the Monterey Bay Aquarium is one of my favs because of its windows on the bay and dock area and the incredulous numbers of habitats in that one Aquarium. The only habitat I didn't see in this vid, is that of the shrimps and the little cute lobsters. Many habitat areas are open to the outside! Great place to take the kiddos for a weekend of wonder. A nice drive from San Francisco too!
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love2travel wrote:
Hi BJ...enjoyed reading your post, agree that leaving your ES Cd behind does leave you missing it!! Have moved through different song's in stages. I'm on to the latest two at the moment.
I'm an aquarium enthusiast as well and think the Monterey Bay Aquarium is one of my favs because of its windows on the bay and dock area and the incredulous numbers of habitats in that one Aquarium. The only habitat I didn't see in this vid, is that of the shrimps and the little cute lobsters. Many habitat areas are open to the outside! Great place to take the kiddos for a weekend of wonder. A nice drive from San Francisco too!
Thank you so much "love2travel". I just got home yesterday and felt bad that I didn't get one of their videos in the museum store. We had a long drive to Sacramento and had to rush out faster than I had wished. Just looking at the youtube video you attached is bringing back so many great memories. Thanks again.
PS. I love those last 2 songs on ES too.
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I really liked it when I got "Home Tonight" and "In A Hurry" and put it on my "Egypt Station" playlist on my IPOD. I have been listening to this more when I have been jogging lately, puts me in a good mood and it ends almost the same time as my jog. I think "Home Tonight" would be a good song to do live if McCartney does tour again in 2021. I mentioned it in another post but this album could have been much tighter/better if these two songs replaced "Fuh You" and "Caesar Rock" IMO.
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Yankeefan2 wrote:
I really liked it when I got "Home Tonight" and "In A Hurry" and put it on my "Egypt Station" playlist on my IPOD. I have been listening to this more when I have been jogging lately, puts me in a good mood and it ends almost the same time as my jog. I think "Home Tonight" would be a good song to do live if McCartney does tour again in 2021. I mentioned it in another post but this album could have been much tighter/better if these two songs replaced "Fuh You" and "Caesar Rock" IMO.
Hey Yankeefan...That was a great idea you had with "Home Tonight" and "In a Hurry". You know how much I like ES, but I must admit that everytime I get to "Who Cares" I immediately "skip" to "Confidante". As I have said, "Fuh You" doesn't ruin the entire album for me (it is catchy) but I got tired of the song pretty quickly. Besides the tricky word play on the song's "title", I got tired of the chorus which is Tedder's primary contribution to the song's performance (his vocals). it became grating to my ears. I realize that many on this site like the song, I just don't. Even critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine (a critic I like in general) called "Come On to Me" a considerably better song than the Tedder exercise. Like you, I would have preferred "Home Tonight" and "In a Hurry" over "Fuh You" anyday. Both are terrific McCartneyesque type songs. As I have always said, Paul liked Ryan Tedder and Ryan told him that "Fuh You" could become a Top 40 hit and Paul decided to put it on the main album. Fuh You never approached the "Top 40".
I just reread a couple of the reviews on ES and Pitchfork really denounced the song and the Guardian said "there is something depressing about a Paul McCartney song as if it was assembled on a latter day pop production line". On Wikepedia's "Critical Reception" section of ES it said, "Despite positive reviews for ES, Fuh You received largely negative responses from music critics." I don't always agree with critics but in this case I do agree.
As you said, all the advertising being directed toward "Fuh You" unfortunately" hid" the real beaties underneath ES. Worse yet, I now believe that "Fuh You" was probably the main reason that ES didn't get a Grammy nomination. Obviously the Grammy voters didn't like "Fuh You" either.
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B J Conlee wrote:
Yankeefan2 wrote:
I really liked it when I got "Home Tonight" and "In A Hurry" and put it on my "Egypt Station" playlist on my IPOD. I have been listening to this more when I have been jogging lately, puts me in a good mood and it ends almost the same time as my jog. I think "Home Tonight" would be a good song to do live if McCartney does tour again in 2021. I mentioned it in another post but this album could have been much tighter/better if these two songs replaced "Fuh You" and "Caesar Rock" IMO.
Hey Yankeefan...That was a great idea you had with "Home Tonight" and "In a Hurry". You know how much I like ES, but I must admit that everytime I get to "Who Cares" I immediately "skip" to "Confidante". As I have said, "Fuh You" doesn't ruin the entire album for me (it is catchy) but I got tired of the song pretty quickly. Besides the tricky word play on the song's "title", I got tired of the chorus which is Tedder's primary contribution to the song's performance (his vocals). it became grating to my ears. I realize that many on this site like the song, I just don't. Even critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine (a critic I like in general) called "Come On to Me" a considerably better song than the Tedder exercise. Like you, I would have preferred "Home Tonight" and "In a Hurry" over "Fuh You" anyday. Both are terrific McCartneyesque type songs. As I have always said, Paul liked Ryan Tedder and Ryan told him that "Fuh You" could become a Top 40 hit and Paul decided to put it on the main album. Fuh You never approached the "Top 40".
I just reread a couple of the reviews on ES and Pitchfork really denounced the song and the Guardian said "there is something depressing about a Paul McCartney song as if it was assembled on a latter day pop production line". On Wikepedia's "Critical Reception" section of ES it said, "Despite positive reviews for ES, Fuh You received largely negative responses from music critics." I don't always agree with critics but in this case I do agree.
As you said, all the advertising being directed toward "Fuh You" unfortunately" hid" the real beaties underneath ES. Worse yet, I now believe that "Fuh You" was probably the main reason that ES didn't get a Grammy nomination. Obviously the Grammy voters didn't like "Fuh You" either.
Grammy choices have been so consistently erratic for so many decades that I wouldn't dare attribute any logical or rational motivation to their choices.
As for "Fuh You," folks here my recall that I loathed it when I first heard it, and still regard it as kind of a crass attempt to get one more Top 40 hit -- sorry folks, that ain't gonna happen. But I never skip any songs on Egypt Station (though on occasion I will just play the 4 songs run from "Confidante" through "Dominoes," which is my absolute favorite 4-song run on any Paul studio album), and have grown to tolerate "Fuh You" as a sort of guilty pleasure. No, it ain't gonna be on my list of top 20 Macca songs, or even the top 200, but it's catchy as hell and I've learned to live with it.
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I fancy the insanely catchy "Fuh You" oodles more than the repetitious, jarring, gratingly obnoxious and same-y "Come On To Me" which I grew to loathe. They're both coy, silly songs in their themes. But it was him having a lark and a laff, amusing himself which he's earned the right to, and they're a fun interesting contrast to the more profound ditties on ES such as "I Don't Know" and "People Want Peace,"
"Despite Repeated Warnings" etc.