EGYPT STATION
-
Judging by the reviews that I've read so far (as we all have seen...they have been collectively quite positive) Egpty Station (ES) seems to have a few things in common:
*Most of these critics bring out that the songs on ES in general have a unified, creative feel to them
* Most bring out that Paul isn't trying deliberately to write his last album...that he is more in "midstream" creatively despite his age (as Leah Greenblatt from Entertainment Weekly said in her review). He isn't too caught up in his legacy.
*There may not be a song that will be considered great or be put up on a pedestal of other Macca classic Beatle or Post Beatle songs but they like the overall thematic feel of the songs collectively (not just lyrics but music too).
Like the rest of us, I can't wait to hear this album. A few songs (other than the 3 singles) seem to really interest me like Happy With You, Confidante, Hand in Hand etc. Here is what CrypticRock said about Happy With You:
"a Beautiful acoustic guitar driven piece, it's a touching look into Paul's life where he fights through hard times to find happiness at the end of the dark tunnels"
Sounds like there are few songs on ES with mature, universal and meaningful themes. That is why I'm so anxious to hear so many new songs from Macca. I do think a lot of his late period material is so underrated and I hope ES continues this trend.
-
Just as we expected, the reviews for Egypt Station are coming through fast and furious.
One of the latest is from Consequence of Sound's Tyler Clark. This critic is a little more negative about ES than almost all I have seen but in my opinion, he is still very fair. He gives ES a B- which is still pretty good.
His review Subtitle is " A minor entry in Macca's Catalog is still worth a couple of spins" told me right away Mr. Clark was going to indicate parts of ES that he didn't like. But at least he spends the other half telling the reader what he does really like. It does seem to be a honest review and that is all you want in an objective review if the album is worthwhile.
The Good... I Don't Know, Happy With You, Hand in Hand, Dominoes and his favorite (and closing track) Hunt You Down/Naked/C-Link.
The Bad...
# 1, a few tracks that seem to Mr. Clark to be too simplistic on giving advice and probably won't inspire any life changing realizations
#2, he went a little off on the 2 modern tracks....Come On To Me and Fuh You saying that it will try the patience of old school McCartney fans "if you are not into senior citizen sexiness".
As a big time Macca fan, I didn't like his verdict on ES ("minor entry in a major Catalog) but I have to be objective too once I listen to ES. I did like the fact that he mentioned that ES is " for people who like Paul McCartney records". If that is true in the end, I will be plenty satisfied.
-
On my usual coffee run to Wawa this morning, I just heard "Dominoes" off Egypt Station for the first time on the Sirius Radio Beatles' channel.
I have to say that I instantly liked it. It had Macca written all over it...a medium tempo song with an instant McCartneyesque melody, good bridge and great guitars and drums. Paul's vocal was his "older" sound but it is what you expect relative to his latest recordings. I didn't mind his voice at all on my first listen.
I have to wonder why "Dominoes" wasn't released before both "Come On To Me" and "Fuh You"because it is so Beatles/Wings sounding. Not surprising I guess since I tend to like his less commercial songs better anyway.
-
The review of Egypt Station from C of S of course had a dig about Wings (whether to count the Wings albums in his catalogue) "depends on how you feel about Wings". Really? 60 million records sold, 6 #1 songs, 20 Top Twenty singles, over 1.5 million fans at the Wings Over The World tour, etc., etc. How do I feel about Wings? I love 'em. And on several of the reviews, many note how Egypt Station has the Wings sound on several songs.
-
wingsoverkc wrote:
The review of Egypt Station from C of S of course had a dig about Wings (whether to count the Wings albums in his catalogue) "depends on how you feel about Wings". Really? 60 million records sold, 6 #1 songs, 20 Top Twenty singles, over 1.5 million fans at the Wings Over The World tour, etc., etc. How do I feel about Wings? I love 'em. And on several of the reviews, many note how Egypt Station has the Wings sound on several songs.
Great points Wingsoverkc and I love Wings also as a whole. I think that "Back to the Egg" is one of Paul's most underrated albums.
Actually C of S was the first review I believe I read that was fairly negative on "Come On To Me" and "Fuh You" so I am definitely keeping an open mind. The other reviews were quite positive. I like "Come On To Me" a little better than "Fuh You" but I have also heard it a few more times. You can't blame Paul for trying to reach younger audiences on the 2 "modern" songs.
As I said, I loved "Dominoes" on my first listen this morning. It was "classic" mid tempo Paul in my opinion. Loved the guitars and drums.
-
Sorry for all my posts, but now I can't keep up with the Egypt Station reviews piling into the Internet.
The latest 2 are People Magazine and Ultimate Classic Rock. I have to say that I can't believe the positivity eminating from Paul's latest album. Sounds like 5 years since his last album was well worth it.
The People Magazine review by Jordan Runtagh was just over the top in praise. The last paragragh stated:
"Egypt Station is a tour through the imagination of one of our greatest artists -- what's not to love? It's a celebration of all things that make McCartney great: hope, exuberance, open-mindedness and sweet melody. These days we need all of these more than ever".
While Michael Gallucci from Ultimate Classic Rock says that Paul will probably never make a Sgt. Pepper's, Band of the Run or even Chaos again, he compares Egypt Station to Paul's Ram. High praise indeed.
-
B J Conlee wrote:
Sorry for all my posts, but now I can't keep up with the Egypt Station reviews piling into the Internet.
The latest 2 are People Magazine and Ultimate Classic Rock. I have to say that I can't believe the positivity eminating from Paul's latest album. Sounds like 5 years since his last album was well worth it.
The People Magazine review by Jordan Runtagh was just over the top in praise. The last paragragh stated:
"Egypt Station is a tour through the imagination of one of our greatest artists -- what's not to love? It's a celebration of all things that make McCartney great: hope, exuberance, open-mindedness and sweet melody. These days we need all of these more than ever".
While Michael Gallucci from Ultimate Classic Rock says that Paul will probably never make a Sgt. Pepper's, Band of the Run or even Chaos again, he compares Egypt Station to Paul's Ram. High praise indeed.
Pretty good review form Newsday (NY newspaper), see below.
https://www.newsday.com/entertainment/music/paul-mccartney-egypt-station-review-1.20836633
-
-
oobu24 wrote:
Reviews all over the place!
https://www.loudersound.com/reviews/paul-mccartney-egypt-station-album-review
http://americansongwriter.com/2018/09/paul-mccartney-egypt-station/
Yep and they are all very positive. I really liked the "americansongwriter" review and notice how much they have liked the last four solo albums. See the one from "People" magazine below, this is about as close to a rave as I have seen for this album.
https://people.com/music/paul-mccartney-egypt-station-review-most-ambitious-work-in-years/
-
Yankeefan2 wrote:
oobu24 wrote:
Reviews all over the place!
https://www.loudersound.com/reviews/paul-mccartney-egypt-station-album-review
http://americansongwriter.com/2018/09/paul-mccartney-egypt-station/
Yep and they are all very positive. I really liked the "americansongwriter" review and notice how much they have liked the last four solo albums. See the one from "People" magazine below, this is about as close to a rave as I have seen for this album.
https://people.com/music/paul-mccartney-egypt-station-review-most-ambitious-work-in-years/
yes I saw that one too! Thet are going to play the entire thing again today on Sirius! Great advertising!
https://people.com/music/paul-mccartney-egypt-station-review-most-ambitious-work-in-years/
-
Holy Batman!! Rolling Stone just gave Egypt Station FOUR out of FIVE Stars. Can Friday get here already?
-
B J Conlee wrote:
Just as we expected, the reviews for Egypt Station are coming through fast and furious.
One of the latest is from Consequence of Sound's Tyler Clark. This critic is a little more negative about ES than almost all I have seen but in my opinion, he is still very fair. He gives ES a B- which is still pretty good.
His review Subtitle is " A minor entry in Macca's Catalog is still worth a couple of spins" told me right away Mr. Clark was going to indicate parts of ES that he didn't like. But at least he spends the other half telling the reader what he does really like. It does seem to be a honest review and that is all you want in an objective review if the album is worthwhile.
The Good... I Don't Know, Happy With You, Hand in Hand, Dominoes and his favorite (and closing track) Hunt You Down/Naked/C-Link.
The Bad...
# 1, a few tracks that seem to Mr. Clark to be too simplistic on giving advice and probably won't inspire any life changing realizations
#2, he went a little off on the 2 modern tracks....Come On To Me and Fuh You saying that it will try the patience of old school McCartney fans "if you are not into senior citizen sexiness".
As a big time Macca fan, I didn't like his verdict on ES ("minor entry in a major Catalog) but I have to be objective too once I listen to ES. I did like the fact that he mentioned that ES is " for people who like Paul McCartney records". If that is true in the end, I will be plenty satisfied.
BJ, see below from Rolling Stone which is really cool review. I like how he mentions mcCartney has really done some excellent work in the last decade or so. With all these reviews, I think it is safe to say "Egypt Station" is a critical hit !!
-
Egypt Station is due for release on Friday which seems strange as these days it is hard to avoid hearing an album till it's official release. But i have succeeded in not hearing a full song and only one partial song with only 34 hours to go I am even avoiding reviews.
So come Friday morn it will be get the bus into town or taxi fi the back is killing me, and off to HMV and get my copy. This might seem daft to some folk but buying iy online or hearing it online just doesn't do it for me. yes I am an old sod. Some years ago, I did buy one online and it did come before the offie release, luckily i wasnt at home so didnt get to play it. I was in London and then buggerlugs announced a signing session of said album so in the end i got two. One is worth about £3 i reckon and the other is priceless to me.
Basically I think i am trying to recapture my youth in terms of anticipation and excitement.
Peter sad old get.
-
I ordered my copy on Amazon. I want to get Paul's albums on CD !ike I used to in the past. I hope I will get Egypt Station on Saturday since I ordered it on line CD format. I gotta get a portable CD player for it though.
-
Wondering what are the chances that Egypt Station could enter the U.S. Billboard Album Chart at #1? I believe there is a chance. Wouldn't that be amazing?!? Would be his first #1 album in the U.S. since TOW in '82.
-
-
Everything Aflutter wrote:
Wondering what are the chances that Egypt Station could enter the U.S. Billboard Album Chart at #1? I believe there is a chance. Wouldn't that be amazing?!? Would be his first #1 album in the U.S. since TOW in '82.
Almost zero chance. He's up against Eminem, scorching the sales charts with an unusual 2 stage release. Digital only last week, with the CD dropping Friday. http://hitsdailydouble.com/news&id=313268
Final numbers aren't in, but I've seen projections of 300K sales digital-only for Eminem the first week. Even if it drops by half despite the edition of the CD version, that would be well over double the first week sales of "New."
-
https://www.newsday.com/entertainment/music/paul-mccartney-egypt-station-review-1.20836633
Clickable links!
Yankeefan, just click on the little paper clip above and paste the link into the URL box! Thanks.
-
Meanwhile, has anyone who ordered from Paul's site gotten a shipping notice yet? If I don't get my copy till next week I will go nuts. If it's not hear by Saturday I may have to hit up my local Amoeba Records and then give away the second copy when it arrives.
-
I ordered the Target one with the 2 bonus songs and got an email saying it’s been shipped!!
Also got an email that I will get a regular CD because I bought a ticket to his Greenville show!