EGYPT STATION
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SusyLuvsPaul wrote:
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.I agree with you on "Come On To Me", that is the only song I have grown to dislike the more I play "Egypt Station". I think the repetition at the end has become more tiresome to me. On the positive side, "I Don't Know" really grew on me the more I have heard it.
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Yankeefan2 wrote:
SusyLuvsPaul wrote:
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.I agree with you on "Come On To Me", that is the only song I have grown to dislike the more I play "Egypt Station". I think the repetition at the end has become more tiresome to me. On the positive side, "I Don't Know" really grew on me the more I have heard it.
I like "Come On To Me" better than you guys. Not one of the 8 or 10 best songs on ES imho but I do like the production on the song. I agree that it is too repetitious, but between the drums, guitars, horns, bass, piano etc. , Greg Kurstin makes the most out of a more limited Paul song music wise. I also have always liked Paul's singing on the song. It became a top 10 Billboard hit on the Adult Contemporary charts but unfortunately "radio" didnt pick the other side of the Double Sided Single ("I Don't Know") which in my opinion is the real gem of the 2 and quite possibly the best song on ES. Best songs on ES (in any order)
I Don't Know
Happy With You
Who Cares
Confidante
People Want Peace
Hand in Hand
Dominoes
Do It Now
Despite Repeated Warnings
Hunt You Down/Naked
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B J Conlee wrote:
Yankeefan2 wrote:
SusyLuvsPaul wrote:
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.I agree with you on "Come On To Me", that is the only song I have grown to dislike the more I play "Egypt Station". I think the repetition at the end has become more tiresome to me. On the positive side, "I Don't Know" really grew on me the more I have heard it.
I like "Come On To Me" better than you guys. Not one of the 8 or 10 best songs on ES imho but I do like the production on the song. I agree that it is too repetitious, but between the drums, guitars, horns, bass, piano etc. , Greg Kurstin makes the most out of a more limited Paul song music wise. I also have always liked Paul's singing on the song. It became a top 10 Billboard hit on the Adult Contemporary charts but unfortunately "radio" didnt pick the other side of the Double Sided Single ("I Don't Know") which in my opinion is the real gem of the 2 and quite possibly the best song on ES. Best songs on ES (in any order)
I Don't Know
Happy With You
Who Cares
Confidante
People Want Peace
Hand in Hand
Dominoes
Do It Now
Despite Repeated Warnings
Hunt You Down/Naked
If they would have cut the repetition of "Come On To Me" at the end by 20-30 seconds, I think I would have been able to enjoy it more than I do now. "I Don't Know"really grew on me over time and "Home Tonight" has become one of my favorites. I really liked "Confidante" the moment I heard it and felt the same way about "Despite Repeated Warnings" and "Hunt You Down/Naked". "Egypt Station" is very good album but still behind albums like "CHAOS" and "MAF" IMO.
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Yankeefan2 wrote:
B J Conlee wrote:
Yankeefan2 wrote:
SusyLuvsPaul wrote:
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.I agree with you on "Come On To Me", that is the only song I have grown to dislike the more I play "Egypt Station". I think the repetition at the end has become more tiresome to me. On the positive side, "I Don't Know" really grew on me the more I have heard it.
I like "Come On To Me" better than you guys. Not one of the 8 or 10 best songs on ES imho but I do like the production on the song. I agree that it is too repetitious, but between the drums, guitars, horns, bass, piano etc. , Greg Kurstin makes the most out of a more limited Paul song music wise. I also have always liked Paul's singing on the song. It became a top 10 Billboard hit on the Adult Contemporary charts but unfortunately "radio" didnt pick the other side of the Double Sided Single ("I Don't Know") which in my opinion is the real gem of the 2 and quite possibly the best song on ES. Best songs on ES (in any order)
I Don't Know
Happy With You
Who Cares
Confidante
People Want Peace
Hand in Hand
Dominoes
Do It Now
Despite Repeated Warnings
Hunt You Down/Naked
If they would have cut the repetition of "Come On To Me" at the end by 20-30 seconds, I think I would have been able to enjoy it more than I do now. "I Don't Know"really grew on me over time and "Home Tonight" has become one of my favorites. I really liked "Confidante" the moment I heard it and felt the same way about "Despite Repeated Warnings" and "Hunt You Down/Naked". "Egypt Station" is very good album but still behind albums like "CHAOS" and "MAF" IMO.
I'm with you on "Come On To Me". Could have been cut down a little. Sometimes when I'm playing ES I skip "Come On To Me" and when I haven't heard it for a while, I like it better. Really like the drums/percussion on it. I agree that Chaos is a tighter album with high consistency throughout. For that reason, I think Chaos is Paul's best album. Add "Home Tonight" and "In a Hurry" to ES and take out 2-3 existing tracks and ES might be pretty perfect.
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I think "Egypt Station" is even better than "Memory Almost Full" but the latter isn't just chopped liver, either, LOL and that it's the equal (or even superior to, in a way) of "Chaos and Creation In the Back Yard" or maybe "Chaos" is even better, but ES holds a special place in my heart and mind, being the newest, the most recent from him. I wish "Chaos" had featured a rocker or two. It did blow me away, though, especially the first few times I heard it, even without all out raving rockers. Paul was unusually introspective and revealing of his inner thoughts and feelings on that album.
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B J Conlee wrote:
Yankeefan2 wrote:
B J Conlee wrote:
Yankeefan2 wrote:
SusyLuvsPaul wrote:
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.I agree with you on "Come On To Me", that is the only song I have grown to dislike the more I play "Egypt Station". I think the repetition at the end has become more tiresome to me. On the positive side, "I Don't Know" really grew on me the more I have heard it.
I like "Come On To Me" better than you guys. Not one of the 8 or 10 best songs on ES imho but I do like the production on the song. I agree that it is too repetitious, but between the drums, guitars, horns, bass, piano etc. , Greg Kurstin makes the most out of a more limited Paul song music wise. I also have always liked Paul's singing on the song. It became a top 10 Billboard hit on the Adult Contemporary charts but unfortunately "radio" didnt pick the other side of the Double Sided Single ("I Don't Know") which in my opinion is the real gem of the 2 and quite possibly the best song on ES. Best songs on ES (in any order)
I Don't Know
Happy With You
Who Cares
Confidante
People Want Peace
Hand in Hand
Dominoes
Do It Now
Despite Repeated Warnings
Hunt You Down/Naked
If they would have cut the repetition of "Come On To Me" at the end by 20-30 seconds, I think I would have been able to enjoy it more than I do now. "I Don't Know"really grew on me over time and "Home Tonight" has become one of my favorites. I really liked "Confidante" the moment I heard it and felt the same way about "Despite Repeated Warnings" and "Hunt You Down/Naked". "Egypt Station" is very good album but still behind albums like "CHAOS" and "MAF" IMO.
I'm with you on "Come On To Me". Could have been cut down a little. Sometimes when I'm playing ES I skip "Come On To Me" and when I haven't heard it for a while, I like it better. Really like the drums/percussion on it. I agree that Chaos is a tighter album with high consistency throughout. For that reason, I think Chaos is Paul's best album. Add "Home Tonight" and "In a Hurry" to ES and take out 2-3 existing tracks and ES might be pretty perfect.
Chop 20-30 seconds off "Come On To Me" and replace "Fuh You" and "Ceasar Rock" with "Home Tonight" and "In A Hurry" and I think you have a top 3 McCartney album IMO. I am not a big fan of multiple producers on an album and this is a classic example. "Fuh You" just did not fit on this album IMO and should have just been a single and or part of a deluxe edition of "Egypt Station". Greg Kurstin did great job with all the other songs on "Egypt Station" and album should have been totally his work with McCartney. I know "New" had multiple producers but each producer had more than one song and their songs were not radically different from each other in style.
Part of the reason CHAOS was so wonderful was the work of Nigel Godrich. He had the guts to tell McCartney a song stunk and would not take anything less than McCartney's best. Godrich also did not want McCartney to record this album with his touring band. He wanted the best band possible for CHAOS and that band was Paul McCartney -lol.
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SusyLuvsPaul wrote:
I think "Egypt Station" is even better than "Memory Almost Full" but the latter isn't just chopped liver, either, LOL and that it's the equal (or even superior to, in a way) of "Chaos and Creation In the Back Yard" or maybe "Chaos" is even better, but ES holds a special place in my heart and mind, being the newest, the most recent from him. I wish "Chaos" had featured a rocker or two. It did blow me away, though, especially the first few times I heard it, even without all out raving rockers. Paul was unusually introspective and revealing of his inner thoughts and feelings on that album.
While they may not have been full out rock songs, "Promise To You Girl" and "Fine Line" were definitley upbeat and mid tempo.
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SusyLuvsPaul wrote:
I think "Egypt Station" is even better than "Memory Almost Full" but the latter isn't just chopped liver, either, LOL and that it's the equal (or even superior to, in a way) of "Chaos and Creation In the Back Yard" or maybe "Chaos" is even better, but ES holds a special place in my heart and mind, being the newest, the most recent from him. I wish "Chaos" had featured a rocker or two. It did blow me away, though, especially the first few times I heard it, even without all out raving rockers. Paul was unusually introspective and revealing of his inner thoughts and feelings on that album.
Good analysis Susy. When you think about it, Paul has had a really good "latter" Solo career... very underrated in my opinion ES, NEW, Chaos, Memory, Flaming PIe etc. are a very good run of Paul Albums. Even "Driving Rain" had its moments.
Besides looking for the brand new Archive Release of FP in July, I'm esecially hopeful that we will get an Archive Release of Memory Almost Full at some point. I've mentioned this a few times here that the original "CD" of Memory Almost Full had especially "loud" production in its sound. I noticed it but I remember different reviewers and consumers complaining about the same thing. Like you guys, I think the songs on MAF are very good for the most part so I'm hoping that a "remastering" would seriously improve the overall sound of the CD.
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Here we go again. Now its my turn, again. I was never a fan of Chaos; I mean English Tea, Jennie Wren, A Certain Softness, Fine Line did not do a thing for me. Remember being terribly disappointed listenting to Chaos. Do I like it? Yep. Do I love it like I love Egypt Station, NEW, Memory Almost Full, and every Wings album. Nope. And once again here I am defending Fuh You, Come On To Me, and now Caesar Rock. IMO replacing Back In Brazil, Hand In Hand, and People Want Peace with Frank Sinatra's Party, Home Tonight, and In A Hurry would have improved the album. And as always, I go to the live shows, where Fuh You and Come On To Me sounded great with great crowd reaction. Especially Fuh You; the 'wall of sound' this song created throughout the arena in Lexington (where I was in the upper deck) was impressive.
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wingsoverkc wrote:
Here we go again. Now its my turn, again. I was never a fan of Chaos; I mean English Tea, Jennie Wren, A Certain Softness, Fine Line did not do a thing for me. Remember being terribly disappointed listenting to Chaos. Do I like it? Yep. Do I love it like I love Egypt Station, NEW, Memory Almost Full, and every Wings album. Nope. And once again here I am defending Fuh You, Come On To Me, and now Caesar Rock. IMO replacing Back In Brazil, Hand In Hand, and People Want Peace with Frank Sinatra's Party, Home Tonight, and In A Hurry would have improved the album. And as always, I go to the live shows, where Fuh You and Come On To Me sounded great with great crowd reaction. Especially Fuh You; the 'wall of sound' this song created throughout the arena in Lexington (where I was in the upper deck) was impressive.
Not surprised, CHAOS is a pretty somber album and you like more upbeat type of music for the most part. To be honest with you, it is tough for me to imagine that "Fuh You" and "Come On To Me" got a great fan reaction. The only non-Beatle song I really think gets great crowd reaction is "Live And Let Die" and lets face it part of that is due to the fireworks. "Here Today" might be one other exception since it it is dedicated to John Lennon.I have watched youtube clips of these songs live and it gets ok response like most other solo songs. See link below for New Orleans show. Applause sounds pretty routine to me. If you disagree then we will just agree to disagree.
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Yankeefan2 wrote:
wingsoverkc wrote:
Here we go again. Now its my turn, again. I was never a fan of Chaos; I mean English Tea, Jennie Wren, A Certain Softness, Fine Line did not do a thing for me. Remember being terribly disappointed listenting to Chaos. Do I like it? Yep. Do I love it like I love Egypt Station, NEW, Memory Almost Full, and every Wings album. Nope. And once again here I am defending Fuh You, Come On To Me, and now Caesar Rock. IMO replacing Back In Brazil, Hand In Hand, and People Want Peace with Frank Sinatra's Party, Home Tonight, and In A Hurry would have improved the album. And as always, I go to the live shows, where Fuh You and Come On To Me sounded great with great crowd reaction. Especially Fuh You; the 'wall of sound' this song created throughout the arena in Lexington (where I was in the upper deck) was impressive.
There's that cute little boy again (laughs) in "Fuh You" in the throes of first "puppy love"....the crowd response sounds pretty lively and appreciative, to me. Could have been more peeps bouncing up and down to the beat when some of the audience was shown briefly, but...I still think "Fuh You" was enjoyed, pretty much, in that vid. Wingsoverkc doesn't dig "English Tea, Jennie Wren, A Certain Softness, Fine Line" on "Chaos"? That run of songs? Oy...I can sort of understand feeling a bit tepid toward "Softness," which has always struck me as maybe a little TOO mushy (tender sounding, though) a love ditty. When I hum it, though, it strikes me as a charming throwback to Golden Age of Hollywood type American Songbook odes. If it got that treatment, with the horns, strings, etc. "Fine Line" strikes me as intellectual lyrics, somewhat complex thoughtful words with a lively jaunty perky tune that's catchy. "English Tea" evokes ecstasy in "the English Lit. major" in me while "Jenny Wren" is so sweetly and sadly mournful and compassionate; makes me feel that Macca has sympathy and empathy. And I love that. Man (Macca) has a lot of heart. I totally respect this fan's right to his own reactions and opinions though, and find it interesting his is so different from mine, about "Chaos."
Not surprised, CHAOS is a pretty somber album and you like more upbeat type of music for the most part. To be honest with you, it is tough for me to imagine that "Fuh You" and "Come On To Me" got a great fan reaction. The only non-Beatle song I really think gets great crowd reaction is "Live And Let Die" and lets face it part of that is due to the fireworks. "Here Today" might be one other exception since it it is dedicated to John Lennon.I have watched youtube clips of these songs live and it gets ok response like most other solo songs. See link below for New Orleans show. Applause sounds pretty routine to me. If you disagree then we will just agree to disagree.
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Suzy - "Wingsoverkc" said the songs "Come On To Me" and "Fuh You" got a great reaction from the crowd. I am not saying that audience did not like them but IMO I think it is a little far fetched to say it was huge applause. All one has to do is see the response of crowd after "Live And Let Die" at a show and compare. As I stated, the fireworks play a part in that response but some of it is for the song also. Maybe it is different when you are actually at the show to judge than from a youtube clip, I will concede that point. I have seen McCartney live when he toured behind FITD, OTG, DR and CHAOS and I never heard the crowd give any new song much more than polite applause. I just don't see these two songs getting that much of a better response than songs off those albums. I was not crazy about a couple of songs from "Egypt Station" and thought the songs "Home Tonight" and "In A Hurry" replacing a couple of other songs would have made it a better album. Some people disagree with me, differences make the world go round. Even with those songs I am not crazy about, I really like "Egypt Station",
I don't expect everyone to love CHAOS because as I said it is for the most part it is a somber album and not very commercial. You have to be in a certain mood to appreciate the album, it is not one you are going to get up and dance to at home -lol. I do believe it is hard to deny that it received critical acclaim as one of the best McCartney albums in his non-Beatle career.
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One thing that I think many of us here will agree is that Paul has had a stellar Post Beatles and Solo career. That is not the opinion of many older Beatle fans and older music critics who never got over that the Beatles broke up. One of the main reasons that Paul became my favorite Beatle (even in mid 60's) was because of the variety of music genres that Paul covered. That is why I have kept up with all of his Solo albums whereas others haven't really listened to Solo McCartney. Even on the Beatles Sirius Channel I have noticed a total lack of radio airplay from Paul's albums after the 70's on that station. My theory for this is that the station is run by mostly "older" Beatle fans who are just fixed on Beatle music and the first half of the 70's when all of them were still alive.
Getting back to the Chaos and Memory Almost Full period, I clearly remember liking both albums a ton but they were very different. Yankeefan is right that you have to be in a certain mood to appreciate Chaos fully. I remember liking all the songs but I particularly liked the 2nd half with songs like English Tea, Too Much Rain, A Certain Softness and Riding to Vanity Fair. A Certain Softness with its "Latin flair" took me a little longer to like but I now think it is a hidden gem on Chaos. Love the production on it as well as the production on "Vanity Fair". Quite different type songs for Paul which gave Chaos more of an appeal for me. I think it was also the reason that critics took to Chaos so much and it garnered various Award nominations including the Grammys. I was disappointed when it didn't win. I think that was the year Beck won which got Kanye West so upset that he didn't win.
On other side, Memory Almost Full was a very different album but also very good in my opinion. The guys on "Take It Away" liked both albums but Chris and Ryan liked Chaos the best of all of Paul's Post Beatles' albums with the exception of "Ram". I still remember Chris saying that he initially bought the vinyl version of "Memory" and it didn't have the "loud noise production" sound that the CD had. That is why I said in an earlier post that I hope "Memory Almost Full" gets an Archive treatment at some point in the future. Loved so many songs on Memory.
One of the reasons that I hope at some point we get a complete Paul McCartney Post Beatles' and Solo Anthology by DECADE. Too many of the good "extra Paul songs that didn't make the final albums" need to be on this type of Anthology. The last Paul Compilation "Pure McCartney" just didn't cut it for me. Too many duplications from past Paul Compilations and so many of the good extra songs plus B-sides werre not on "Pure McCartney". I look at this as an opportunity for Paul to give us a great compilation in the next couple of years. The Chaos and Memory Almost Full Years was no exception withextra songs that didn't make the albums. Look at the good "extra songs" like "Summer of 59", This Loving Game, She is So Beautiful, Why So Blue, 222, etc.
Not surprising that we get so many different opinions on varous Paul songs but that doesn't mean that he hasn't had a stellar Post Beatles and Solo Career.
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B J Conlee wrote:
One thing that I think many of us here will agree is that Paul has had a stellar Post Beatles and Solo career. That is not the opinion of many older Beatle fans and older music critics who never got over that the Beatles broke up. One of the main reasons that Paul became my favorite Beatle (even in mid 60's) was because of the variety of music genres that Paul covered. That is why I have kept up with all of his Solo albums whereas others haven't really listened to Solo McCartney. Even on the Beatles Sirius Channel I have noticed a total lack of radio airplay from Paul's albums after the 70's on that station. My theory for this is that the station is run by mostly "older" Beatle fans who are just fixed on Beatle music and the first half of the 70's when all of them were still alive.
Getting back to the Chaos and Memory Almost Full period, I clearly remember liking both albums a ton but they were very different. Yankeefan is right that you have to be in a certain mood to appreciate Chaos fully. I remember liking all the songs but I particularly liked the 2nd half with songs like English Tea, Too Much Rain, A Certain Softness and Riding to Vanity Fair. A Certain Softness with its "Latin flair" took me a little longer to like but I now think it is a hidden gem on Chaos. Love the production on it as well as the production on "Vanity Fair". Quite different type songs for Paul which gave Chaos more of an appeal for me. I think it was also the reason that critics took to Chaos so much and it garnered various Award nominations including the Grammys. I was disappointed when it didn't win. I think that was the year Beck won which got Kanye West so upset that he didn't win.
On other side, Memory Almost Full was a very different album but also very good in my opinion. The guys on "Take It Away" liked both albums but Chris and Ryan liked Chaos the best of all of Paul's Post Beatles' albums with the exception of "Ram". I still remember Chris saying that he initially bought the vinyl version of "Memory" and it didn't have the "loud noise production" sound that the CD had. That is why I said in an earlier post that I hope "Memory Almost Full" gets an Archive treatment at some point in the future. Loved so many songs on Memory.
One of the reasons that I hope at some point we get a complete Paul McCartney Post Beatles' and Solo Anthology by DECADE. Too many of the good "extra Paul songs that didn't make the final albums" need to be on this type of Anthology. The last Paul Compilation "Pure McCartney" just didn't cut it for me. Too many duplications from past Paul Compilations and so many of the good extra songs plus B-sides werre not on "Pure McCartney". I look at this as an opportunity for Paul to give us a great compilation in the next couple of years. The Chaos and Memory Almost Full Years was no exception withextra songs that didn't make the albums. Look at the good "extra songs" like "Summer of 59", This Loving Game, She is So Beautiful, Why So Blue, 222, etc.
Not surprising that we get so many different opinions on varous Paul songs but that doesn't mean that he hasn't had a stellar Post Beatles and Solo Career.
I agree pretty much with everything you've written, especially "One of the main reasons that Paul became my favorite Beatle (even in mid 60's) was because of the variety of music genres that Paul covered. That is why I have kept up with all of his Solo albums whereas others haven't really listened to Solo McCartney"
Also "extra songs that didn't make the albums. Look at the good "extra songs" like "Summer of 59", This Loving Game, She is So Beautiful, Why So Blue, 222, etc." There are so many extra songs that don't make it on albums, perhaps they're not cohesive to that particular album but are such fantastic songs!! Like you mention, Why So Blue, 222, some of my favs the updated version of Blue Sway, the song Paul gave to Diana Krall, If I Take You Home, India, the last two songs after Egypt Station In A Hurry and Home tonite, there are so many! The song he did with George Michael, Heal the Pain is better than the Seal version George used on the album, My Soul with Nitan Sawheny, The song he did with Eric Stewart for a charity fund raiser. The song for Ethel and Earnest is beautiful as is the song for the movie I Want to Come Home. IMHO so many wonderful and beautiful songs that are not attached to albums and are overlooked along the way.
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B J Conlee wrote:
One thing that I think many of us here will agree is that Paul has had a stellar Post Beatles and Solo career. That is not the opinion of many older Beatle fans and older music critics who never got over that the Beatles broke up. One of the main reasons that Paul became my favorite Beatle (even in mid 60's) was because of the variety of music genres that Paul covered. That is why I have kept up with all of his Solo albums whereas others haven't really listened to Solo McCartney. Even on the Beatles Sirius Channel I have noticed a total lack of radio airplay from Paul's albums after the 70's on that station. My theory for this is that the station is run by mostly "older" Beatle fans who are just fixed on Beatle music and the first half of the 70's when all of them were still alive.
Getting back to the Chaos and Memory Almost Full period, I clearly remember liking both albums a ton but they were very different. Yankeefan is right that you have to be in a certain mood to appreciate Chaos fully. I remember liking all the songs but I particularly liked the 2nd half with songs like English Tea, Too Much Rain, A Certain Softness and Riding to Vanity Fair. A Certain Softness with its "Latin flair" took me a little longer to like but I now think it is a hidden gem on Chaos. Love the production on it as well as the production on "Vanity Fair". Quite different type songs for Paul which gave Chaos more of an appeal for me. I think it was also the reason that critics took to Chaos so much and it garnered various Award nominations including the Grammys. I was disappointed when it didn't win. I think that was the year Beck won which got Kanye West so upset that he didn't win.
On other side, Memory Almost Full was a very different album but also very good in my opinion. The guys on "Take It Away" liked both albums but Chris and Ryan liked Chaos the best of all of Paul's Post Beatles' albums with the exception of "Ram". I still remember Chris saying that he initially bought the vinyl version of "Memory" and it didn't have the "loud noise production" sound that the CD had. That is why I said in an earlier post that I hope "Memory Almost Full" gets an Archive treatment at some point in the future. Loved so many songs on Memory.
One of the reasons that I hope at some point we get a complete Paul McCartney Post Beatles' and Solo Anthology by DECADE. Too many of the good "extra Paul songs that didn't make the final albums" need to be on this type of Anthology. The last Paul Compilation "Pure McCartney" just didn't cut it for me. Too many duplications from past Paul Compilations and so many of the good extra songs plus B-sides werre not on "Pure McCartney". I look at this as an opportunity for Paul to give us a great compilation in the next couple of years. The Chaos and Memory Almost Full Years was no exception withextra songs that didn't make the albums. Look at the good "extra songs" like "Summer of 59", This Loving Game, She is So Beautiful, Why So Blue, 222, etc.
Not surprising that we get so many different opinions on varous Paul songs but that doesn't mean that he hasn't had a stellar Post Beatles and Solo Career.
I agree with you BJ. For the record, I really liked MAF also. I stated on this board many times I wished McCartney had played songs like "That Was Me" and "House Of Wax" live more than once. (Paris). Listening to songs like "Dance Tonight" and "Every Present Past" are fun and always put me in a good mood. Loved the quirkiness of "Mr. Bellamy" and even the one somber song on the album (The End Of The End) was beautiful. Also, I really wish "Summer Of 59" would have been included on this album when it came out.
"Pure McCartney" did not cut it for me either, it did not give you any B sides and not having any songs from FITD on it was absurd. If they ever do an compilation/anthology type of project, I hope they do better job on it than they did on "Pure McCartney". Wouldn't it be nice if they included B side singles, maybe unreleased songs done at soundchecks and demo of some songs like "On The Wings Of A Nightengale" .
McCartmey has had a stellar solo career, the problem is it is not widely known. Critically he has been acknowledged with some high praise for his albums the last 25 years. The "Take It Away" guys are a perfect example of critics appreciating his wonderful solo music. The sad thing is that the majority of the general public is stuck in the past and is not willing to even give his solo music a chance. To them, he is "Beatle Paul" and leader of Wings only and that unfortunately will not change.
Finally, I hope he has one more album left in him because he really continues to amaze with his songwriting. I hope "It's A Wonderful Life" does hit the stage because I really want to see how well he does writings songs for a musical. This is so entirely different and hope he rises to the occasion.
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love2travel wrote:
B J Conlee wrote:
One thing that I think many of us here will agree is that Paul has had a stellar Post Beatles and Solo career. That is not the opinion of many older Beatle fans and older music critics who never got over that the Beatles broke up. One of the main reasons that Paul became my favorite Beatle (even in mid 60's) was because of the variety of music genres that Paul covered. That is why I have kept up with all of his Solo albums whereas others haven't really listened to Solo McCartney. Even on the Beatles Sirius Channel I have noticed a total lack of radio airplay from Paul's albums after the 70's on that station. My theory for this is that the station is run by mostly "older" Beatle fans who are just fixed on Beatle music and the first half of the 70's when all of them were still alive.
Getting back to the Chaos and Memory Almost Full period, I clearly remember liking both albums a ton but they were very different. Yankeefan is right that you have to be in a certain mood to appreciate Chaos fully. I remember liking all the songs but I particularly liked the 2nd half with songs like English Tea, Too Much Rain, A Certain Softness and Riding to Vanity Fair. A Certain Softness with its "Latin flair" took me a little longer to like but I now think it is a hidden gem on Chaos. Love the production on it as well as the production on "Vanity Fair". Quite different type songs for Paul which gave Chaos more of an appeal for me. I think it was also the reason that critics took to Chaos so much and it garnered various Award nominations including the Grammys. I was disappointed when it didn't win. I think that was the year Beck won which got Kanye West so upset that he didn't win.
On other side, Memory Almost Full was a very different album but also very good in my opinion. The guys on "Take It Away" liked both albums but Chris and Ryan liked Chaos the best of all of Paul's Post Beatles' albums with the exception of "Ram". I still remember Chris saying that he initially bought the vinyl version of "Memory" and it didn't have the "loud noise production" sound that the CD had. That is why I said in an earlier post that I hope "Memory Almost Full" gets an Archive treatment at some point in the future. Loved so many songs on Memory.
One of the reasons that I hope at some point we get a complete Paul McCartney Post Beatles' and Solo Anthology by DECADE. Too many of the good "extra Paul songs that didn't make the final albums" need to be on this type of Anthology. The last Paul Compilation "Pure McCartney" just didn't cut it for me. Too many duplications from past Paul Compilations and so many of the good extra songs plus B-sides werre not on "Pure McCartney". I look at this as an opportunity for Paul to give us a great compilation in the next couple of years. The Chaos and Memory Almost Full Years was no exception withextra songs that didn't make the albums. Look at the good "extra songs" like "Summer of 59", This Loving Game, She is So Beautiful, Why So Blue, 222, etc.
Not surprising that we get so many different opinions on varous Paul songs but that doesn't mean that he hasn't had a stellar Post Beatles and Solo Career.
I agree pretty much with everything you've written, especially "One of the main reasons that Paul became my favorite Beatle (even in mid 60's) was because of the variety of music genres that Paul covered. That is why I have kept up with all of his Solo albums whereas others haven't really listened to Solo McCartney"
Also "extra songs that didn't make the albums. Look at the good "extra songs" like "Summer of 59", This Loving Game, She is So Beautiful, Why So Blue, 222, etc." There are so many extra songs that don't make it on albums, perhaps they're not cohesive to that particular album but are such fantastic songs!! Like you mention, Why So Blue, 222, some of my favs the updated version of Blue Sway, the song Paul gave to Diana Krall, If I Take You Home, India, the last two songs after Egypt Station In A Hurry and Home tonite, there are so many! The song he did with George Michael, Heal the Pain is better than the Seal version George used on the album, My Soul with Nitan Sawheny, The song he did with Eric Stewart for a charity fund raiser. The song for Ethel and Earnest is beautiful as is the song for the movie I Want to Come Home. IMHO so many wonderful and beautiful songs that are not attached to albums and are overlooked along the way.
Great post "Lovetotravel"and great list of extra songs. The McCartney team should hire us to pick their next Anthology. IF they do it by "Decade" then we won't miss so many beautiful songs that the last Compilation (Pure McCartney") missed. Yankeefan just mentioned another great one "On the Wings of a Nightingale". And how about "Yvonne"(Press to Play sessions) "Waterspout" (Londontown sessions) and Lindiana. This partial list from the 3 of us alone are just some of the songs I would love to see in a future compilation. He has so many.
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B J Conlee wrote:
love2travel wrote:
B J Conlee wrote:
One thing that I think many of us here will agree is that Paul has had a stellar Post Beatles and Solo career. That is not the opinion of many older Beatle fans and older music critics who never got over that the Beatles broke up. One of the main reasons that Paul became my favorite Beatle (even in mid 60's) was because of the variety of music genres that Paul covered. That is why I have kept up with all of his Solo albums whereas others haven't really listened to Solo McCartney. Even on the Beatles Sirius Channel I have noticed a total lack of radio airplay from Paul's albums after the 70's on that station. My theory for this is that the station is run by mostly "older" Beatle fans who are just fixed on Beatle music and the first half of the 70's when all of them were still alive.
Getting back to the Chaos and Memory Almost Full period, I clearly remember liking both albums a ton but they were very different. Yankeefan is right that you have to be in a certain mood to appreciate Chaos fully. I remember liking all the songs but I particularly liked the 2nd half with songs like English Tea, Too Much Rain, A Certain Softness and Riding to Vanity Fair. A Certain Softness with its "Latin flair" took me a little longer to like but I now think it is a hidden gem on Chaos. Love the production on it as well as the production on "Vanity Fair". Quite different type songs for Paul which gave Chaos more of an appeal for me. I think it was also the reason that critics took to Chaos so much and it garnered various Award nominations including the Grammys. I was disappointed when it didn't win. I think that was the year Beck won which got Kanye West so upset that he didn't win.
On other side, Memory Almost Full was a very different album but also very good in my opinion. The guys on "Take It Away" liked both albums but Chris and Ryan liked Chaos the best of all of Paul's Post Beatles' albums with the exception of "Ram". I still remember Chris saying that he initially bought the vinyl version of "Memory" and it didn't have the "loud noise production" sound that the CD had. That is why I said in an earlier post that I hope "Memory Almost Full" gets an Archive treatment at some point in the future. Loved so many songs on Memory.
One of the reasons that I hope at some point we get a complete Paul McCartney Post Beatles' and Solo Anthology by DECADE. Too many of the good "extra Paul songs that didn't make the final albums" need to be on this type of Anthology. The last Paul Compilation "Pure McCartney" just didn't cut it for me. Too many duplications from past Paul Compilations and so many of the good extra songs plus B-sides werre not on "Pure McCartney". I look at this as an opportunity for Paul to give us a great compilation in the next couple of years. The Chaos and Memory Almost Full Years was no exception withextra songs that didn't make the albums. Look at the good "extra songs" like "Summer of 59", This Loving Game, She is So Beautiful, Why So Blue, 222, etc.
Not surprising that we get so many different opinions on varous Paul songs but that doesn't mean that he hasn't had a stellar Post Beatles and Solo Career.
I agree pretty much with everything you've written, especially "One of the main reasons that Paul became my favorite Beatle (even in mid 60's) was because of the variety of music genres that Paul covered. That is why I have kept up with all of his Solo albums whereas others haven't really listened to Solo McCartney"
Also "extra songs that didn't make the albums. Look at the good "extra songs" like "Summer of 59", This Loving Game, She is So Beautiful, Why So Blue, 222, etc." There are so many extra songs that don't make it on albums, perhaps they're not cohesive to that particular album but are such fantastic songs!! Like you mention, Why So Blue, 222, some of my favs the updated version of Blue Sway, the song Paul gave to Diana Krall, If I Take You Home, India, the last two songs after Egypt Station In A Hurry and Home tonite, there are so many! The song he did with George Michael, Heal the Pain is better than the Seal version George used on the album, My Soul with Nitan Sawheny, The song he did with Eric Stewart for a charity fund raiser. The song for Ethel and Earnest is beautiful as is the song for the movie I Want to Come Home. IMHO so many wonderful and beautiful songs that are not attached to albums and are overlooked along the way.
Great post "Lovetotravel"and great list of extra songs. The McCartney team should hire us to pick their next Anthology. IF they do it by "Decade" then we won't miss so many beautiful songs that the last Compilation (Pure McCartney") missed. Yankeefan just mentioned another great one "On the Wings of a Nightingale". And how about "Yvonne"(Press to Play sessions) "Waterspout" (Londontown sessions) and Lindiana. This partial list from the 3 of us alone are just some of the songs I would love to see in a future compilation. He has so many.
On the Wings of a Nightingale, how could I forget!! By Decade sounds like a good way to get them all in too! Yvonne, Waterspout and Lindiana... sooooo many of them Looking at that Paul McCartney project and seeing other ones I've forgotten Christian Pop, Love Song to the Earth, Hope For the Future and even that song Ringo wrote which was like a conversation between them...Walk With You. It's going to take days to go through all of these!!
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Would be neat if he did his own version of the song "If I Take You Home Tonight" that was never released and he gave to Diana Krall. I think he could do a nice vocal on this song and it would be another one of those rare type of songs that we believe should be on a compilation. See link below of Diana Krall singing song.
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Fuh You Lexington. People arent exactly rocking out. If you look in the crowd you see most people sitting while others are headed to the pisser.
Come on to Me-Lexington. Most people sitting for this one as well.
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I was there. You, as usual, were not. End of story.