McCartney 3?
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Yankeefan2 wrote:
Nancy R wrote:
BJ and Yankeefan, I met Ken Womack at the Aug. 2019 Fest For Beatles Fans in Chicago and spoke with him briefly after one of his talks (Lady Leslie was there too) He was only 4 years old when the Beatles broke up and I definitely wouldn't classify him as a "fanboy" but I'm sure he's a fan of their music.
You can see here he's written about 10 books about them, and a couple about George Martin.
Thanks for the information Nancy. The first two reviews I read here were very good but Mr. Womack's review was a full out "rave". I am always a bit skeptical when I read a glowing review or one that completey trashes the album. That is why I was wondering about his background and if he had history of overtly praising McCartney albums. Others may disagree with me but I trust the writers of Rolling Stone, they have been very fair with McCartney the last 25 years IMO. I mentioned to BJ in a post I will be interested in the guys from "Take It Away" podcast opinion of "McCartney III". I have grown to really love and respect their opinions of his solo work.
The Take It Away podcasts are excellent! Very knowlegeable and fair.
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Kestrel wrote:
Apparently the McCartney lll album has been delayed a week until 18th December owing to manufacturing problems. But there is a train of thought now that it could be pushed back into the New Year. Hmmmm.
They have too many different colors & they all got confused!
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Kestrel wrote:
Apparently the McCartney lll album has been delayed a week until 18th December owing to manufacturing problems. But there is a train of thought now that it could be pushed back into the New Year. Hmmmm.
Just saw the updated release date on Paul's "Home Page". That's terrible since December 11th was really "pushing it" for a Christmas release anyway. Any kind of shipping delays will mean that stores (especially Target for the US) may not have them on the "shelves" for last minute Christmas shoppers. For something like a low cost single CD that could really hurt "impulse" sales.
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Yankeefan2 wrote:
Kestrel wrote:
joyce wrote:
Good review by Salon
Thank you for the link. I take a lot of notice of what Kenneth Womack says and although its just one mans opinion, I'm even more encouraged now that McCartney lll is going to be classic McCartney. And I like the way he describes it as a return to form too.
That is awesome review !! If the author is not some McCartney fanboy than I am really impressed with "McCartney III" prospects.
I disregard all post-1995 reviews that talk about a "return to form." That all by itself shows they haven't been paying attention.
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B J Conlee wrote:
Kestrel wrote:
Apparently the McCartney lll album has been delayed a week until 18th December owing to manufacturing problems. But there is a train of thought now that it could be pushed back into the New Year. Hmmmm.
Just saw the updated release date on Paul's "Home Page". That's terrible since December 11th was really "pushing it" for a Christmas release anyway. Any kind of shipping delays will mean that stores (especially Target for the US) may not have them on the "shelves" for last minute Christmas shoppers. For something like a low cost single CD that could really hurt "impulse" sales.
That is a major screw up IMO. The album has had some buzz with good reviews and there was publicity about him being on the cover of "Rolling Stone" with Taylor Swift". Pushing it back a week really destroys it getting a lot of Christmas sales, most people are done by Dec 18th. If it is pushed back to January, it really will bad for sales.
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Bruce M. wrote:
Yankeefan2 wrote:
Kestrel wrote:
joyce wrote:
Good review by Salon
Thank you for the link. I take a lot of notice of what Kenneth Womack says and although its just one mans opinion, I'm even more encouraged now that McCartney lll is going to be classic McCartney. And I like the way he describes it as a return to form too.
That is awesome review !! If the author is not some McCartney fanboy than I am really impressed with "McCartney III" prospects.
I disregard all post-1995 reviews that talk about a "return to form." That all by itself shows they haven't been paying attention.
Since 1995, he has had about four albums at least that have a "return to form" -lol.
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According to the McCartney Legacy FB page this morning, the one week delay is due to getting the various vinyl versions of the album manufactured. Other news revealed by a Capital insider includes that there won't be a single released from McCartney lll but there will be a deluxe edition released next year with extra tracks.
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Kestrel wrote:
According to the McCartney Legacy FB page this morning, the one week delay is due to getting the various vinyl versions of the album manufactured. Other news revealed by a Capital insider includes that there won't be a single released from McCartney lll but there will be a deluxe edition released next year with extra tracks.
Why should vinyl versions' issues have anything to do with release dates for CDs?
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Beatles4Ever wrote:
Kestrel wrote:
According to the McCartney Legacy FB page this morning, the one week delay is due to getting the various vinyl versions of the album manufactured. Other news revealed by a Capital insider includes that there won't be a single released from McCartney lll but there will be a deluxe edition released next year with extra tracks.
Why should vinyl versions' issues have anything to do with release dates for CDs?
I would think that they wouldn't release one without the other. Especially since this all started with the release of all the different colors of vinyl.
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oobu24 wrote:
Beatles4Ever wrote:
Kestrel wrote:
According to the McCartney Legacy FB page this morning, the one week delay is due to getting the various vinyl versions of the album manufactured. Other news revealed by a Capital insider includes that there won't be a single released from McCartney lll but there will be a deluxe edition released next year with extra tracks.
Why should vinyl versions' issues have anything to do with release dates for CDs?
I would think that they wouldn't release one without the other. Especially since this all started with the release of all the different colors of vinyl.
I guess that's it. Or maybe....it's because it's his 18th post Beatles album and he want's that tie-in. "The 18th on the 18th!!!"
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oobu24 wrote:
Beatles4Ever wrote:
Kestrel wrote:
According to the McCartney Legacy FB page this morning, the one week delay is due to getting the various vinyl versions of the album manufactured. Other news revealed by a Capital insider includes that there won't be a single released from McCartney lll but there will be a deluxe edition released next year with extra tracks.
Why should vinyl versions' issues have anything to do with release dates for CDs?
I would think that they wouldn't release one without the other. Especially since this all started with the release of all the different colors of vinyl.
....or streaming for that matter. Basically they want all sales from all formats to be in the same week in order to get the album to #1. Staggering releases over two weeks would work against that.
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Another very good review for the new album.
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Kestrel wrote:
Another very good review for the new album.
Finally, a review that gives me a perfect idea of what to expect. I have a feeling I will agree with the reviewer...some indulgence on Paul's part here and there....a song that goes on too long...but enough of Paul's melodic genius throughout the album to give him a pass here and there. Good to know there won't be any song with vocals that make me skip over it (ala Confidante). If Paul has indeed played to all of his considerable strengths and recognizes his vocal limitations, that is great news. Would love to have it earlier, as Amazon won't delive it on the 18th and I will be away for Christmas when it arrives, so......
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Kestrel wrote:
Another very good review for the new album.
Pretty good review and if the album really does have a "CHAOS" feel to it I will love it. Glad the review mentioned his voice, sounds like what we would expect and no worse. I am like the reviewer when a song lasts around eight minutes I start to lose interest. This is now the fourth review I have read and they all seem to agree about the album. Very good for the most part with a couple of "misses" that kept album from being excellent.
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Yankeefan2 wrote:
Kestrel wrote:
Another very good review for the new album.
Pretty good review and if the album really does have a "CHAOS" feel to it I will love it. Glad the review mentioned his voice, sounds like what we would expect and no worse. I am like the reviewer when a song lasts around eight minutes I start to lose interest. This is now the fourth review I have read and they all seem to agree about the album. Very good for the most part with a couple of "misses" that kept album from being excellent.
This review and the writer sounds more realistic here as compared to Kenneth Womack who is an admitted Beatle geek. Like you said Yankeefan, this review wants me to hear the album even more. And this critic really addresses the state of Paul's voice on McCartney 3. Personally, I had no problem with Paul's vocals on Egypt Station by and large. While "Confidante" bothered me on the first few listens, I grew to really like the song and got used to Paul's vocal imperfections and rough parts on Confidante. If the quality of Paul's vocals are similar on McCartney 3, it shouldn't be a problem for me. I'm used to his "older" voice. I was glad the reviewer spoke about the "music" on the new album. As long as the melodies are there I will problably love the album. It appears as though this critic really liked many of the songs and that McCartney 3 wasn't by and large too experimental.
We will both have to wait and see if "Deep Deep Feeling" is one of the skippers on the album. I liked Rough Ride on Flowers but it was only 4:43 in length. Conversely, I grew weary on "Motor of Love" on the same album which was 6:25 in lenght. I mostly skipped "What's That You're Doing" on Tug of War and that was 6:23 so it remains to be seen if either of us likes an 8 minute plus song like "Deep Deep Feeling". But that's Ok as long as we like the rest of the album. I love the fact that the album's bookends (first and closing tracks) tie together and make McCartney 3 come back full circle. That would be a great quality and give a partial "theme" to the album. It appears that there is plenty enough of high quality, good material on McCartney 3 to easily keep our attention. That was my hope all along. I just want Paul to prove to almost all the doubters of his enormous musical abilities. I have always thought that Macca was a genius when it came to melody and every bit the equal to John especially in the melody department. Like before, I can't wait for this album to release after this more realistic and honest review. He answered almost all the questions I previously had.
I couldn't tell,,,Did this review give an actual score for McCartney 3?
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B J Conlee wrote:
Yankeefan2 wrote:
Kestrel wrote:
Another very good review for the new album.
Pretty good review and if the album really does have a "CHAOS" feel to it I will love it. Glad the review mentioned his voice, sounds like what we would expect and no worse. I am like the reviewer when a song lasts around eight minutes I start to lose interest. This is now the fourth review I have read and they all seem to agree about the album. Very good for the most part with a couple of "misses" that kept album from being excellent.
This review and the writer sounds more realistic here as compared to Kenneth Womack who is an admitted Beatle geek. Like you said Yankeefan, this review wants me to hear the album even more. And this critic really addresses the state of Paul's voice on McCartney 3. Personally, I had no problem with Paul's vocals on Egypt Station by and large. While "Confidante" bothered me on the first few listens, I grew to really like the song and got used to Paul's vocal imperfections and rough parts on Confidante. If the quality of Paul's vocals are similar on McCartney 3, it shouldn't be a problem for me. I'm used to his "older" voice. I was glad the reviewer spoke about the "music" on the new album. As long as the melodies are there I will problably love the album. It appears as though this critic really liked many of the songs and that McCartney 3 wasn't by and large too experimental.
We will both have to wait and see if "Deep Deep Feeling" is one of the skippers on the album. I liked Rough Ride on Flowers but it was only 4:43 in length. Conversely, I grew weary on "Motor of Love" on the same album which was 6:25 in lenght. I mostly skipped "What's That You're Doing" on Tug of War and that was 6:23 so it remains to be seen if either of us likes an 8 minute plus song like "Deep Deep Feeling". But that's Ok as long as we like the rest of the album. I love the fact that the album's bookends (first and closing tracks) tie together and make McCartney 3 come back full circle. That would be a great quality and give a partial "theme" to the album. It appears that there is plenty enough of high quality, good material on McCartney 3 to easily keep our attention. That was my hope all along. I just want Paul to prove to almost all the doubters of his enormous musical abilities. I have always thought that Macca was a genius when it came to melody and every bit the equal to John especially in the melody department. Like before, I can't wait for this album to release after this more realistic and honest review. He answered almost all the questions I previously had.
I couldn't tell,,,Did this review give an actual score for McCartney 3?
BJ, he did not have it in words but I did notice he had 3 1/2 dice under the title. Maybe that was signifying him giving it a rating of 3.5, just a guess.
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Yankeefan2 wrote:
B J Conlee wrote:
Yankeefan2 wrote:
Kestrel wrote:
Another very good review for the new album.
Pretty good review and if the album really does have a "CHAOS" feel to it I will love it. Glad the review mentioned his voice, sounds like what we would expect and no worse. I am like the reviewer when a song lasts around eight minutes I start to lose interest. This is now the fourth review I have read and they all seem to agree about the album. Very good for the most part with a couple of "misses" that kept album from being excellent.
This review and the writer sounds more realistic here as compared to Kenneth Womack who is an admitted Beatle geek. Like you said Yankeefan, this review wants me to hear the album even more. And this critic really addresses the state of Paul's voice on McCartney 3. Personally, I had no problem with Paul's vocals on Egypt Station by and large. While "Confidante" bothered me on the first few listens, I grew to really like the song and got used to Paul's vocal imperfections and rough parts on Confidante. If the quality of Paul's vocals are similar on McCartney 3, it shouldn't be a problem for me. I'm used to his "older" voice. I was glad the reviewer spoke about the "music" on the new album. As long as the melodies are there I will problably love the album. It appears as though this critic really liked many of the songs and that McCartney 3 wasn't by and large too experimental.
We will both have to wait and see if "Deep Deep Feeling" is one of the skippers on the album. I liked Rough Ride on Flowers but it was only 4:43 in length. Conversely, I grew weary on "Motor of Love" on the same album which was 6:25 in lenght. I mostly skipped "What's That You're Doing" on Tug of War and that was 6:23 so it remains to be seen if either of us likes an 8 minute plus song like "Deep Deep Feeling". But that's Ok as long as we like the rest of the album. I love the fact that the album's bookends (first and closing tracks) tie together and make McCartney 3 come back full circle. That would be a great quality and give a partial "theme" to the album. It appears that there is plenty enough of high quality, good material on McCartney 3 to easily keep our attention. That was my hope all along. I just want Paul to prove to almost all the doubters of his enormous musical abilities. I have always thought that Macca was a genius when it came to melody and every bit the equal to John especially in the melody department. Like before, I can't wait for this album to release after this more realistic and honest review. He answered almost all the questions I previously had.
I couldn't tell,,,Did this review give an actual score for McCartney 3?
BJ, he did not have it in words but I did notice he had 3 1/2 dice under the title. Maybe that was signifying him giving it a rating of 3.5, just a guess.
Yea Yankeefan, that would be a fairly high grade and yet another good review. I'm happy that it's not too "experimental" and like you said, if it is on the lines of Chaos, I will be thrilled. The guy has so many songs in his head. Can't believe that the "bookends" on the album started around 1992 and an early Flaming Pie song that Paul was working on with George Martin. As we know, he never included it on even the Archive FP editions and I'm glad he held it back for another new album. If I read it correctly he was working on it right around the same time he was recording Calico Skies and Great Day.
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"That was my hope all along. I just want Paul to prove to almost all the doubters of his enormous musical abilities. I have always thought that Macca was a genius when it came to melody and every bit the equal to John especially in the melody department"
BJ, I believe the music critics know of his enormous musical abilities and have given his solo albums the last 25 years pretty darn good reviews for the most part. I have also read in quite a few reviews how they are impressed that he is still creative after all these years. I think it is just the general public music fan that is stuck in a time warp and still only thinks of him as Beatle Paul and everything he has done since then is trash. IMO most critics think McCartney is better than Lennon when it comes to melody. McCartney gets slammed in comparison to Lennon when it comes to song lyrics where McCartney can be a bit lazy at times. It appears that "McCartney III" will be another good example of how gifted McCartney is but sadly many of those "first timers" type of people will not give it a chance.
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I totally agree with you Yankeefan. People who don't like Paul will probably still not like him but if McCartney 3 is 80 or 90% as good as some of these critics have said, it will really be a shot in the arm for Paul's Solo and Post Beatles' Career. I think this last critic is a very fair and objective reviewer and does a great job of describing the album. As I said, I like the fact that McCartney 3 is not too experimental. He specifically points out that McCartney 3 has no Darkroom or Bogey Music on it and that is fine by me. I liked a good number of songs on McCartney 2 but I didn't particularly care for those 2 closing tracks.
As far as individual tracks here are my takeaways:
Winter Bird/When Winter Comes - this critic really likes this closer and the way this song brings the album back full circle to the album's opener. He said the album by and large leaves the listener with a smile and it is a beautiful lullaby.
Lavatory Lil - Unlike the other early reviews he likes the song calling it a bouncy track with fun lyrics
Slidin - Like the other early reviews, this critic likes the track. He describes the song's grand opening a la "Only Mama Knows" and calls it a power pop song
Seize the Day - This critic calls this one a pure pop song with a great vocal. He thinks it would have fit perfect on the "New" album
Deep Deep Feeling - this is the one where the critic was somewhat ambivalent about the track. The fact that it is 8 plus minutes in length has me feelong skepital too. He thinks it would depend on his mood at the moment as to whether he would stay with it in full. He did say that he liked certain parts of it but it brings out the best and worse of Paul.
Women and Wives - He descibes this one as a piano driven song somewhat in the style of "Lady Madonna".
Pretty Boys - He calls this an acoustic song in the style of "Early Days"from the "New" album
Kiss of Venus - the critic calls this one an acoustic ballad and he liked it
All in all, this reviewer likes McCartney 3 and as you said, gave it 3 and a half stars. He basically said McCartney 3 is not a perfect album (what album is) but it has plenty of good material for repeated listens. As far as the "trilogy" of "All Paul" albums, it sounds as though he thinks it could be the best one yet. As i said, it isn't as experimental as McCartney 2 (a good thing in general)and is more on the lines of McCartney 1 and Chaos and Creation (a great thing i m o). This is what many of us on Maccaboard were hoping for! Can't wait for the album and I hope it is 80 or 90% as good as this critic says.
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B J Conlee wrote:
I totally agree with you Yankeefan. People who don't like Paul will probably still not like him but if McCartney 3 is 80 or 90% as good as some of these critics have said, it will really be a shot in the arm for Paul's Solo and Post Beatles' Career. I think this last critic is a very fair and objective reviewer and does a great job of describing the album. As I said, I like the fact that McCartney 3 is not too experimental. He specifically points out that McCartney 3 has no Darkroom or Bogey Music on it and that is fine by me. I liked a good number of songs on McCartney 2 but I didn't particularly care for those 2 closing tracks.
As far as individual tracks here are my takeaways:
Winter Bird/When Winter Comes - this critic really likes this closer and the way this song brings the album back full circle to the album's opener. He said the album by and large leaves the listener with a smile and it is a beautiful lullaby.
Lavatory Lil - Unlike the other early reviews he likes the song calling it a bouncy track with fun lyrics
Slidin - Like the other early reviews, this critic likes the track. He describes the song's grand opening a la "Only Mama Knows" and calls it a power pop song
Seize the Day - This critic calls this one a pure pop song with a great vocal. He thinks it would have fit perfect on the "New" album
Deep Deep Feeling - this is the one where the critic was somewhat ambivalent about the track. The fact that it is 8 plus minutes in length has me feelong skepital too. He thinks it would depend on his mood at the moment as to whether he would stay with it in full. He did say that he liked certain parts of it but it brings out the best and worse of Paul.
Women and Wives - He descibes this one as a piano driven song somewhat in the style of "Lady Madonna".
Pretty Boys - He calls this an acoustic song in the style of "Early Days"from the "New" album
Kiss of Venus - the critic calls this one an acoustic ballad and he liked it
All in all, this reviewer likes McCartney 3 and as you said, gave it 3 and a half stars. He basically said McCartney 3 is not a perfect album (what album is) but it has plenty of good material for repeated listens. As far as the "trilogy" of "All Paul" albums, it sounds as though he thinks it could be the best one yet. As i said, it isn't as experimental as McCartney 2 (a good thing in general)and is more on the lines of McCartney 1 and Chaos and Creation (a great thing i m o). This is what many of us on Maccaboard were hoping for! Can't wait for the album and I hope it is 80 or 90% as good as this critic says.
I like your takeaways and agree with them. There will be a few more reviews in the next couple of weeks but I think we kind of already got a good idea what the album is like and what the reviews will say. The only thing that I don't get is that the song "Seize The Day" sounds like a perfect single, why not release it. I guess we will know in a few weeks. Really looking forward to this album/cd release.