EGYPT STATION
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Thanks Yankeefan...you are making me feel better already. Like you, I love, love the song"Confidante". The guitars, melody are great and just so classic Paul but not at all crazy about his vocal here. If I were Greg Kurstin, I would have asked Paul to do some more vocal takes until he got it right. His vocals on a similar song like "Happy With You" for example are much superior. Hopefully, Paul will do "Confidante" on tour and perhaps he will get an improved live version. It does not ruin Egypt Station (ES) for me. I just got to get used to it I guess. The song is definitely that good.
I couldn't agree with you more about "Who Cares". I also think it should have been the "first" single coming out of the gate. Just love it and it rocks. I think of all the songs on ES, it could possibly be the one that the young kids might be drawn to. As you say, the subject matter (internet bullying) is current which is a big plus and you can dance to it. Watching the "live" version of "Who Cares" at the NYC Grand Station Concert on Friday night shows how good the song will go over on tour. And you could tell the 2 young girls on stage just loved dancing to "Who Cares". I can imagine it being played at "clubs".
I think if Capitol and Paul were smart, they will market "Who Cares" as the next single. "Come On To Me" has been very successful on the Adult Contemporary chart (#6) and I think this song is better.
So far I think ES is another very good "late career" Paul album. I also like:
*I Don't know - Liked this one from the beginning and on the CD it sounds even better
*Come On To Me - again hearing it on the CD you get all the benefits of the full production and all the instrumentation
* Happy With You - ...Like Confidante, I love the guitar picking and the lyrics; it sounds so Paul and Beatlesque
*People Want Peace -starting to grow with me
*Hand in Hand - Another one where I wished Paul's vocal was better but I love the song. Since I have a wedding on my mind, it could be a classic Wedding song
*Dominoes - One of the frst songs (after the intro "single" songs) on ES that I really love. Has a strong ELO/Traveling Wilbury sound to me. Like the guitar sounds at the end.
* Back in Brazil - didn't like this in the beginning but it's starting to grow with me especially the music. Latin and Jazz style.
* Do It Now - Another one I really like. Typical Paul strong piano ballad and for some reason his vocals sound really good here. Just makes me think that he could have done a better vocal take on Confidante and Hand in Hand.
In fairness, I still haven't listen enough to the rest of ES yet. Really liking what I've heard so far despite a couple of vocal misteps (mainly Confidante and Hand In Hand). Great production, creativity and diversity so far.
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Not going into any great depth on ES other than to say its easily his best album since Flowers in the dirt,honestly didnt think he still had this sort of quality left in him,and his voice yes it sounds tired and old..it is tired and old and his songwrtiing relects this and just adds to it.
If,and i hope to heaven its not,this album is to be Pauls swansong its a hell of a way to sign off,but trouble is we know theres more to come from him the man seems invincible,but will it reach the same sort of quality? i doubt it myself,i rate it that highly.
But this is Paul and if nothing else he always surprises everyone.
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oobu24 wrote:
Only the deluxe editions (Blue & Orange - McCartney; Black- Amazon) come in a gatefold, such as the one Paul is holding. Spotify (green) and B&N (red) have the traditional right side opening.
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I'm still unsettled in my overall impression besides the fact that I totally love Dominoes and Who Cares, and like I Don't Know a lot. I'm pretty sure I could live without Ceasar Rock and Back in Brazil, but there's nothing on the album I really dislike. I'm even learning to tolerate Fuh You as a sort of guilty pleasure.
Meanwhile, Come On To Me is taking off on U.S. Adult Contemporary radio. (as previously noted, you have to create an account to access the charts on AllAccess.com, but it's free). Egypt Station is holding onto no. 1 on the Amazon CD/vinyl bestseller list and at no. 7 on their digital albums list.
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Early numbers indicate that Egypt Station will enter the Billboard Top 200 album chart at # 2 in the coming week. If only it could have legs for a couple of weeks (doubtful but who knows) would be incredible to see it reach #1.
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Hunt You Down in my opinion should have been a complete song it has such a good groove and vibe going on production harmonies etc.. such a shame as it would have made a cracking single
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rich n wrote:
I feel like Caesar Rock is a song I'm not supposed to like, but do anyway...album's great btw, Happy With You, Ceasar Rock, Do It Now are stuck in my head at the moment. Funny enough, the songs I like the least seems to be the ones that were released on video a month or two ahead of the release...Still aborbing, so please excuse the less than detailed review
But as far as his voice, it's not 1969 or 1976 anymore...so what? Still sounds very good...while some of his vocals are what I've come to expect these days, there are other points where he seems to recapture a biit of what I thought he had lost. Anyway, I'll keep tracking along with this album and update my thoughts as pieces and bits sink in
First, before I add to my comments above - the word in bold is supposed to be 'absorbing', but it seems I can no longer edit the post...
But anyway, add Dominos and Despite Repeated Warnings to the songs I'm stuck on...and speaking of the latter, while that song overall sounds nothing like 'Gratitute' from MAF, he stole a bass line from that song (maybe second verse of Despite Repeated Warnings???) and it put my right back there for that momentary bass line...LOL
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Totally agree, would love to hear it live too.
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Everything Aflutter wrote:
Early numbers indicate that Egypt Station will enter the Billboard Top 200 album chart at # 2 in the coming week. If only it could have legs for a couple of weeks (doubtful but who knows) would be incredible to see it reach #1.
Most recent McCartney albums enter the charts in the top 10 but usually don't stay there more than a week, hope this will be different.
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Bill813 wrote:
oobu24 wrote:
Only the deluxe editions (Blue & Orange - McCartney; Black- Amazon) come in a gatefold, such as the one Paul is holding. Spotify (green) and B&N (red) have the traditional right side opening.
Thanks for that info. My Spotify green arrived just yesterday. Luckily I went to Target for their version last Friday.
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Contacted customer service about the where-a-bouts of the Green Spotify vinyl release and received this email responce
Hello ,
Thank you for the email.
Please accept my sincere apologies for the delay in shipping your order.
I am afraid we are still awaiting a delivery of the order from our supplier and do not have an exact date when this is due.
As soon as the stock arrives your order will be supplied and you will be sent an email confirmation once it leaves.
Should you wish to cancel your order, please let us know and we can arrange for you.
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Customer service support
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what's about "nothing for free" as further radio single? IMO it could be a HIT; it's such an modern and funny song
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I've listened to "Egypt Station" a bunch over the last few days - I really, REALLY love it. The standout songs for me at the moment are "Happy With You", "Hand In Hand", "Dominoes", "Back in Brazil", "Do It Now", "Despite Repeated Warnings", & "Hunt You Down/Naked/C-Link". The whole record is exceptionally well produced, chock full of well written, cleverly constructed songs with awesome melodies, interesting arrangements, and great performances (both musically and vocally).
"Fuh You" is definitely the weakest link on the record IMO (just from a pure "song" standpoint), but I still enjoy it - I think it's a harmless, fun, super catchy pop song. Like the man himself said, "It's only a fun song anyway. It's not trying to be important."
The quality of the material on the run of albums he's released from "Chaos and Creation in the Backyard" to "Egypt Station" is really remarkable, and the pure musical invention on this record astounds me. Several reviews I've read have made the "Ram 2018" comparison, and I can definitely understand that because of the eccentricity and stylistic variety (and I really dig that, as "Ram" is one of, if not my favorite McCartney LP). Still digesting the new songs, hearing new layers reveal themselves with every listen. Great stuff!
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Random musings on a Wednesday morning.... (Next album title)
Thinking about how Paul hinted at the possibility of taking the brass section on the tour dates... HELL YES...PLEASE!
Then thinking of the other closer before the bonus tracks, Hunt You Down/Naked/C-Link
This would sound amazing live. Could even see the horns repeating his notes in C-Link... could even see the mighty trio of Rusty/Paul/Brian exchanging blues hooks....
OMG, bring it on!!! Is it next Monday night yet???????
Think I'd like to hear about 6 tracks from the Album live...
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rich n wrote:
I feel like Caesar Rock is a song I'm not supposed to like, but do anyway...album's great btw, Happy With You, Ceasar Rock, Do It Now are stuck in my head at the moment. Funny enough, the songs I like the least seems to be the ones that were released on video a month or two ahead of the release...Still aborbing, so please excuse the less than detailed review
But as far as his voice, it's not 1969 or 1976 anymore...so what? Still sounds very good...while some of his vocals are what I've come to expect these days, there are other points where he seems to recapture a biit of what I thought he had lost. Anyway, I'll keep tracking along with this album and update my thoughts as pieces and bits sink in
Spot on Re Paul’s voice . I’m fine with Paul’s voice , and sometimes On the album he’s still surprising me in a good way .
Liking the album more with every listen . I thought it was good quality from the get go - it’s been very well engineered and produced .
Favourites at the moment are Dominoes , people want piece , Happy with You , fuh you and I don’t know . I thought fuh you was initially throwaway but now I find myself singing it loads !
hope the album does well chartwise . It deserves to
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B J Conlee wrote:
Anthony B. wrote:
I've listened to "Egypt Station" a bunch over the last few days - I really, REALLY love it. The standout songs for me at the moment are "Happy With You", "Hand In Hand", "Dominoes", "Back in Brazil", "Do It Now", "Despite Repeated Warnings", & "Hunt You Down/Naked/C-Link". The whole record is exceptionally well produced, chock full of well written, cleverly constructed songs with awesome melodies, interesting arrangements, and great performances (both musically and vocally).
"Fuh You" is definitely the weakest link on the record IMO (just from a pure "song" standpoint), but I still enjoy it - I think it's a harmless, fun, super catchy pop song. Like the man himself said, "It's only a fun song anyway. It's not trying to be important."
The quality of the material on the run of albums he's released from "Chaos and Creation in the Backyard" to "Egypt Station" is really remarkable, and the pure musical invention on this record astounds me. Several reviews I've read have made the "Ram 2018" comparison, and I can definitely understand that because of the eccentricity and stylistic variety (and I really dig that, as "Ram" is one of, if not my favorite McCartney LP). Still digesting the new songs, hearing new layers reveal themselves with every listen. Great stuff!
Anthony,
Always love your posts. And when you visit, I can easily hear my favorite cover of Paul's "Put It There".
Is your Brother, Father and of course you considering playing any of the new "Egypt Station" songs in your future sets. Several fit your acoustic style very well. For starters, I would love to see a video of you guys doing "Happy With You"...one of my favorites so far. It has that "Put It There" feeling.
Since you are singers, here are a few other requests and a couple of questions:
Hand in Hand - I also love this one. I'm getting married next month (10/27) and I'm considering putting this one on my "Wedding" playlist. I wished Paul's voice was a little stronger however. As singers, one question to you would be... I love the bridge on "Hand in Hand" ("We can make this dream come true, Only if we want it to"....part) but I wished Paul and Greg Kurstin would have repeated it during the 2nd half of the song. Just thinking that repeating the bridge might have made the song a little better. It is ony 2:35 in length so a repeat of the bridge would still only make it a 3:00 minute song. In general, what do you think. Still love the song and getting used to Paul's voice.
Confidante - Another acoustic one that I like quite a bit. I love the guitar chords and melody but my main problem that I have expressed in a couple of posts is that Paul's voice in parts is very shaky. Just seems like Paul and Greg should have done more vocal takes until he got it right. Is "Confidante" a hard song to sing? He sings "Happy With You" (a similar song) much better.
People Want Peace - This one is really growing with me and I think it is another one that you guys could do well. Would probably go over well with today's audiences. What do you think?
Do It Now - Really like this one too. I know it is basically a piano number but are you considering doing this one. As a side not, I think Paul's vocal on "Do It Now" is very good and strong. I wonder why he can "still" sound so good on certain songs like here and comparatively weak on others. Any thoughts.
Like you however I still love Egypt Station. I think it is "top tier" McCartney as far as albums go. Of all his albums, I have about 8-9 albums as top tier and this is certainly one of them. I'm still digesting the last third or so of the album at this point.
PS My absolute favorites at this point are "Who Cares" and "Dominoes". I love it when he tackles a serious subject like "Bullying" and the former does a great job on this.
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OUR...HOMEY
Horny Old Macca Entertaining You
Kendall Jenner was sure smiling on
Jimmy Fallon when Paul was on
Go Paul Go!!!
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Forbes article just released says it's actually possible that Egypt Station could enter the Billboard Album chart at #1 next week. Not out of the question at all now.
Paul, come on!!!
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HitsDailyDouble is out with a similar estimate of sales. They give Eminem a slight edge, but it's gonna be close. If you're thinking of buying a copy as a present for someone, the next 24 hours would be a good time!
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Clickable link:
Do they count the ones Paul is handing out to us ticket holders for free in the sales stats?