McCartney 3?
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Nancy R wrote:
Yankeefan2 wrote:
Nancy R wrote:
^ Why did you say #2?
I said it debuted at #2 in the US which I just double checked on "Wiki" (see below) and that is correct. It was #1 in the UK. I mentioned the US for charting rather than the UK because the US is much bigger market. Check the link you posted and you can tell it was the UK because it said his last #1 album was 31 years ago. "Egypt Station" was #1 in the US and his first #1 since TOW.
Wiki
"McCartney III performed strongly across a number of international charts. The album debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart on 25 December 2020, marking his first number one solo album in his home country in thirty-one years (since 1989's Flowers in the Dirt). The album reached the top spot by selling 33,079 album-equivalent units.[28] The album also reached the top 10 of many other European markets.
In the US the album debuted at number 2 of the Billboard 200 with 107,000 equivalent album units – of which 104,000 were album sales – behind Taylor Swift's Evermore.[29] The placement earned McCartney the feat of being the first artist to have a new album in the top two chart positions in each of the last six decades.[29]
That's strange, because in the link I posted it said this:
Paul McCartney’s latest studio album McCartney III has debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart, marking his first solo chart-topping record in 31 years.
(Which I thought was odd because Egypt Station debuted at #1!)
Sorry to step in here, but Yankeefan explained that in his 1st paragraph.
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oobu24 wrote:
Nancy R wrote:
Yankeefan2 wrote:
Nancy R wrote:
^ Why did you say #2?
I said it debuted at #2 in the US which I just double checked on "Wiki" (see below) and that is correct. It was #1 in the UK. I mentioned the US for charting rather than the UK because the US is much bigger market. Check the link you posted and you can tell it was the UK because it said his last #1 album was 31 years ago. "Egypt Station" was #1 in the US and his first #1 since TOW.
Wiki
"McCartney III performed strongly across a number of international charts. The album debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart on 25 December 2020, marking his first number one solo album in his home country in thirty-one years (since 1989's Flowers in the Dirt). The album reached the top spot by selling 33,079 album-equivalent units.[28] The album also reached the top 10 of many other European markets.
In the US the album debuted at number 2 of the Billboard 200 with 107,000 equivalent album units – of which 104,000 were album sales – behind Taylor Swift's Evermore.[29] The placement earned McCartney the feat of being the first artist to have a new album in the top two chart positions in each of the last six decades.[29]
That's strange, because in the link I posted it said this:
Paul McCartney’s latest studio album McCartney III has debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart, marking his first solo chart-topping record in 31 years.
(Which I thought was odd because Egypt Station debuted at #1!)
Sorry to step in here, but Yankeefan explained that in his 1st paragraph.
I understand that - my question is, why does the article I posted contradict what he said? It acted like Egypt Station didn't exist, and said McCartney III debuted at #1!
Here's another article that says it debuted at #1 and also mentions that ES was #1:
So what's the truth? Wikipedia is not always right.
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Nancy R wrote:
oobu24 wrote:
Nancy R wrote:
Yankeefan2 wrote:
Nancy R wrote:
^ Why did you say #2?
I said it debuted at #2 in the US which I just double checked on "Wiki" (see below) and that is correct. It was #1 in the UK. I mentioned the US for charting rather than the UK because the US is much bigger market. Check the link you posted and you can tell it was the UK because it said his last #1 album was 31 years ago. "Egypt Station" was #1 in the US and his first #1 since TOW.
Wiki
"McCartney III performed strongly across a number of international charts. The album debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart on 25 December 2020, marking his first number one solo album in his home country in thirty-one years (since 1989's Flowers in the Dirt). The album reached the top spot by selling 33,079 album-equivalent units.[28] The album also reached the top 10 of many other European markets.
In the US the album debuted at number 2 of the Billboard 200 with 107,000 equivalent album units – of which 104,000 were album sales – behind Taylor Swift's Evermore.[29] The placement earned McCartney the feat of being the first artist to have a new album in the top two chart positions in each of the last six decades.[29]
That's strange, because in the link I posted it said this:
Paul McCartney’s latest studio album McCartney III has debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart, marking his first solo chart-topping record in 31 years.
(Which I thought was odd because Egypt Station debuted at #1!)
Sorry to step in here, but Yankeefan explained that in his 1st paragraph.
I understand that - my question is, why does the article I posted contradict what he said? It acted like Egypt Station didn't exist, and said McCartney III debuted at #1!
Here's another article that says it debuted at #1 and also mentions that ES was #1:
So what's the truth? Wikipedia is not always right.
The article you first posted was written by lady from "Hot Press" magazine which is a Irish publication so I assume she was writing about how well the album did in the UK not the US. "Egypt Station" was #1 in the US but it was not #1 in the UK. As to your other point see link below. (I am confused -lol)
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^ Is there a Billboard in the U.K.? The article I first posted said #1 on Billboard.
That last link you posted confuses things even more! I give up!
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Yankeefan2 wrote:
B J Conlee wrote:
McCartney III - 2 MONTHS OLD
Now that McCartney III is a little more than 2 months old, I have subtle but slightly different opinions on the album since first hearing the songs right before Christmas of 2020. While I still love the album, I find it very difficult to compare McCartney III to other Paul Solo albums from the early 80's till today. As I said several times, I find Mcartney III to be better than McCartney 2 of 1980and more complete than McCartney 1 way back in 1970. But comparing McCartney III to other great Paul Solo Albums (starting from the early 80's) like Tug of War, Flowers in the Dirt, Flaming Pie, Chaos and Creation, Memory Almost Full, New and even Egypt Station is for me very hard, One thing for sure, I do find the "stripped down"production to be a "welcomed change" so I still really like McCartney III a lot.
The "lightning rod" track on McCartney III seems to be "Deep Deep Feeling"that begins in the middle of the album. People seem to either "love it or hate it". My initial impression was that I didn't like the song very much. But as I have said, my opinion really changed on "Deep Deep Feeling". Yes, initially it was too long but instrumentally, Paul's music and playing really took over for me. After hearing it several times, I really started liking the song from the about the 2 minute mark. The music kept evolving to the point that the full 8 minutes started going by quite quickly. I loved the piano chords that Paul introduced "early on" followed by the electric and bass guitar parts. It really helped listening to "Deep Deep Feeling" with headphones. While the lyrics were repetitive, I loved the way Paul reintroduced the different parts of the lyrics to the full song. Instead of becoming a clunker like I initially lthought, it became a good album cut. Like what some other critics pointed out, "Deep Deep Feeling" became the track where McCartney III started peaking. The next 3 tracks (Sliding, Kiss of Venus and Seize the Day) became the best songs, in my opinion, on the album.
I like McCartney 3 mostly for its consistency, To me, it sounds more like an "album" rather than a collection of songs. That is why I never loved albums like Pipes of Peace or Off the Ground. Some good songs for sure but not great "albums". McCartney III really flows well from track to track to my ears. After hearing McCartney III for these 2 plus months, here are my final "track by track" ratings (1 to 10 with 10 being the best):
Long Tailed Winter Bird (9)
Find My Way (9)
Pretty Boys (9)
Women and Wives (9)
Lavortory Lil (8)
Deep Deep Feeling (9)
Slidin (10)
Kiss of Venus (10)
Seize the Day (10)
Deep Down (9)
Winter Bird/When Winter Comes (10)
Conclusion - I'm not going to say that McCartney III is better than other great Paul Solo Albums like Flaming Pie, Tug of War, Chaos and Creation, Memory Almost Full, New or Egypt Station but it is a very unique CD with a great album feel. Long term, I think it will go down as a great entry to his Self titled and Do It Youtself type Solo Projects. It will also become more of a favorite, in my opinion, down the road. Songs like Kiss of Venus and Seize the Day might make "best 10 or 15 Paul Solo Lists". "Slidin" will go down as one of Paul's best "hard rock" type songs and "When Winter Comes" will go down as one of Paul's best "closing album" tracks . McCartney III didin't last very long on the Charts but that is to be expected. New material by aging Rock/Pop stars never stay long on the charts, but I do think that McCartney III will do well for Paul's legacy. A tremendous evolving artist who at 78 years young was still writing great music.
My conclusion is pretty much the same as yours. I think "McCartney III" is the best of his one man albums and I have it in the top 10 of his solo albums, I think I had it at #8. I might quibble a point or two with your ratings on songs but generally agree. For example, I think "Find My Way" is a "10" (love the video) and I would knock down "Pretty Boys" to an "8 ". The more I listen to "Deep Deep Feeling" the more I don't care about the length and this song has really grown on me. We hoped the album would last longer on the charts but we all were not surprised it faded pretty quickly. Once again I will say I am ok with that and I am satisified that it entered the charts at #2 (US) and was critically acclaimed. My gut feeling is this album will age well with me and I will still enjoy it years from now. Finally, if McCartney does ever play live shows again he easily has 3-4 songs from this album that would be great live IMO.
Hey Yankeefan...thanks for your imput. I have to say that the morning after I sent the above post, I was already second guessing myself. Right away I thought that I should have given "Find My Away" the same grade (10) that I gave the other tracks that I think are "top tier" on McCartney III. Maybe because I've heard it too many times recently I was forgetting just how good "Find My Way" really is. I probably overrate Pretty Boys a little more than others. I just love the performance and the lyrics.
The more difficult question is just how good these "best" tracks on McCartney III are and how do they compare to the best tracks on other great Paul Solo albums like Tug of War, Flaming Pie, Chaos and Creation and Egypt Station. While I know a few others here vehemently and honestly believe that these new McCartney III songs aren't nearly as good, I think they are generally on a par with those previously great Paul Solo songs. As I said, and after fully digesting these McCartney III songs, I think songs like Seize the Day, The Kiss of Venus and Slidin would make my Top 10 or 15 Best Paul Solo songs. They are that good to my ears.
More importantly I think the next tier of McCartney III songs (Pretty Boys, Women and Wives, Deep Deep Feeling, Lavatory Lil, Deep Down) are very good album tracks. The greatest strength of McCartney III is its consisistency. No bad tracks in my opinion and they jell so well together. Just one person's opinion.
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"More importantly I think the next tier of McCartney III songs (Pretty Boys, Women and Wives, Deep Deep Feeling, Lavatory Lil, Deep Down) are very good album tracks. The greatest strength of McCartney III is its consisistency. No bad tracks in my opinion and they jell so well together. Just one person's opinion."
It was a pleasant surprise to me that McCartney not having any real input from other producers made a very solid album with no songs that make you cringe or want to skip IMO. Like many others, I was a little nervous when I heard the title "Lavatory Lil" but it turned out to bunch better than I expected -lol.
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Nancy R wrote:
^ Is there a Billboard in the U.K.? The article I first posted said #1 on Billboard.
That last link you posted confuses things even more! I give up!
Maybe our friends from the UK can help us or somebody who understands the nuances of the music charts better than us -lol
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Yankeefan2 wrote:
Nancy R wrote:
^ Is there a Billboard in the U.K.? The article I first posted said #1 on Billboard.
That last link you posted confuses things even more! I give up!
Maybe our friends from the UK can help us or somebody who understands the nuances of the music charts better than us -lol
I think (as opposed to actually knowing) the confusion with the US Billboard album chart is down to the method they were using. When McCartney III was given the #1 slot in its first week, the position was based solely on physical and digital download sales. When it was given the #2 position, they also used radio plays data etc, ...which allowed Taylor Swift to edge ahead into #1. And as the more data that is used,the more accurate the chart is, I think officially McCartney III will be judged as having reached #2. Not that it really matters one way or the other, the most concerning aspect is that it was out of the top 100 with in a few weeks.
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Kestrel wrote:
Yankeefan2 wrote:
Nancy R wrote:
^ Is there a Billboard in the U.K.? The article I first posted said #1 on Billboard.
That last link you posted confuses things even more! I give up!
Maybe our friends from the UK can help us or somebody who understands the nuances of the music charts better than us -lol
I think (as opposed to actually knowing) the confusion with the US Billboard album chart is down to the method they were using. When McCartney III was given the #1 slot in its first week, the position was based solely on physical and digital download sales. When it was given the #2 position, they also used radio plays data etc, ...which allowed Taylor Swift to edge ahead into #1. And as the more data that is used,the more accurate the chart is, I think officially McCartney III will be judged as having reached #2. Not that it really matters one way or the other, the most concerning aspect is that it was out of the top 100 with in a few weeks.
Thanks Kestrel, that makes sense to me. As for being out of the top 100 in a few weeks, I think most of us have come to the conclusion that no matter how good a record McCartney may put out, he is not going to have it last in the charts long. His fan base is older and dwindling .Younger people are not going to buy a new record from him, they may buy some new Beatle compilation. My last hope for this album is that it gets some "love" at the Grammy awards although I tend to doubt it.
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Kestrel wrote:
Yankeefan2 wrote:
Nancy R wrote:
^ Is there a Billboard in the U.K.? The article I first posted said #1 on Billboard.
That last link you posted confuses things even more! I give up!
Maybe our friends from the UK can help us or somebody who understands the nuances of the music charts better than us -lol
I think (as opposed to actually knowing) the confusion with the US Billboard album chart is down to the method they were using. When McCartney III was given the #1 slot in its first week, the position was based solely on physical and digital download sales. When it was given the #2 position, they also used radio plays data etc, ...which allowed Taylor Swift to edge ahead into #1. And as the more data that is used,the more accurate the chart is, I think officially McCartney III will be judged as having reached #2. Not that it really matters one way or the other, the most concerning aspect is that it was out of the top 100 with in a few weeks.
So you are saying it WAS #1 its first week out on U.S. Billboard? Yankeefan may get it, but I don't. Like I said, I give up. Doesn't really matter, I just wish there weren't so many conflicting articles!
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Nancy R wrote:
Kestrel wrote:
Yankeefan2 wrote:
Nancy R wrote:
^ Is there a Billboard in the U.K.? The article I first posted said #1 on Billboard.
That last link you posted confuses things even more! I give up!
Maybe our friends from the UK can help us or somebody who understands the nuances of the music charts better than us -lol
I think (as opposed to actually knowing) the confusion with the US Billboard album chart is down to the method they were using. When McCartney III was given the #1 slot in its first week, the position was based solely on physical and digital download sales. When it was given the #2 position, they also used radio plays data etc, ...which allowed Taylor Swift to edge ahead into #1. And as the more data that is used,the more accurate the chart is, I think officially McCartney III will be judged as having reached #2. Not that it really matters one way or the other, the most concerning aspect is that it was out of the top 100 with in a few weeks.
So you are saying it WAS #1 its first week out on U.S. Billboard? Yankeefan may get it, but I don't. Like I said, I give up. Doesn't really matter, I just wish there weren't so many conflicting articles!
I may be wrong but I assumed this was kind of like on election night when a candidate is leading but not all the votes like absentee ballots have been counted yet. "McCartney III" was said to be #1 with just part of the sales that are counted and when everything was counted it was #2. I wish they would just wait until all things are counted and then send out one article with the correct chart position. I agree, all these articles make it confusing. Kestrel, correct me if I made wrong assumption.
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We've talked about this previously but what I would love to see Paul do in the coming months as a new project (or when they can) is for Paul to gather his Band together for the purpose of playing a smaller scale "live" show. In my mind, the primary purpose of this Post Covid Event would be doing a "live presentation" of the McCartney III album. I'm talking here about a "special show" and not a typical "Tour" show where he combines songs from his entire career including Beatles, Wings, big 70's hits etc.
How neat would it be for the full Band to play the McCartney III songs "live" with Paul. The fact that it would be the full band alone would give the songs a different overall sound versus Paul's studio performance and subsequent album. I'm not saying they would have to do every song but at least the majority of the album tracks.
Initially, I can easily imagine the Band with Paul doing "Slidin" as one of the encore songs. How great would that be? As part of the Setlist, I would love to hear them doing the good guitar base songs like Seize the Day, Find My Way, Pretty Boys, Lavatory Lil and When Winter Comes. It could sound dramatically different but still very good at the same time. A song like "Women and Wives" could be done during a piano segment and I would love to hear the band doing a song like "Deep Down" with the Band using the added "horn" players.
While this show would focus on McCartney III songs, they could also play a few extra and recent songs from Egypt Station (not done on the previous tour) like "I Don't Know", "Happy With You", "Confidante", "Dominoes", "Do It Now", "Hunt You Down" and "Naked". The last 2 songs could be played as part of the encore along with "Slidin".
Some of the advantages with a show like this is that the songs are all recent songs. Paul knows them from a memory point of view and he also recorded them with his "latter"era voice. Even some of these songs were recorded with Paul's current Band members.
The biggest benefit however is that they could do a few of these shows and then release a " new" CD of the best performances from them. How refreshingly different and successful this kind of CD could be when you consider how great his recent albums and songs have been from the last 20 years or so.
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Nancy R wrote:
So you are saying it WAS #1 its first week out on U.S. Billboard? Yankeefan may get it, but I don't. Like I said, I give up. Doesn't really matter, I just wish there weren't so many conflicting articles!
No, I'm saying it got to #2 in the chart where Billboard use all the various methods of what constitutes a 'sale' these days. However, a second chart exists where 'radio plays of tracks' are removed which hurt Taylor's album more than it hurt Paul's album, which then allowed McCartney III to get to #1 instead. Naturally MPL and the record company are more in favour of the latter chart. That's the only explanation i can come up with.
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Yankeefan2 wrote:
I may be wrong but I assumed this was kind of like on election night when a candidate is leading but not all the votes like absentee ballots have been counted yet. "McCartney III" was said to be #1 with just part of the sales that are counted and when everything was counted it was #2. I wish they would just wait until all things are counted and then send out one article with the correct chart position. I agree, all these articles make it confusing. Kestrel, correct me if I made wrong assumption.
Its not the way I was seeing it but your assumption does appear sound. In the UK we have 'mid-week' charts which can confuse the issue. My assumption was more based on what factors they were using to compile the chart and how by using / not using some of them can alter the sales results.
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Kestrel wrote:
Nancy R wrote:
So you are saying it WAS #1 its first week out on U.S. Billboard? Yankeefan may get it, but I don't. Like I said, I give up. Doesn't really matter, I just wish there weren't so many conflicting articles!
No, I'm saying it got to #2 in the chart where Billboard use all the various methods of what constitutes a 'sale' these days. However, a second chart exists where 'radio plays of tracks' are removed which hurt Taylor's album more than it hurt Paul's album, which then allowed McCartney III to get to #1 instead. Naturally MPL and the record company are more in favour of the latter chart. That's the only explanation i can come up with.
Thanks Kestrel.
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Went back through this thread and found this:
Says McCartney III debuted at #2.
BUT, it also stated this:
"Paul McCartney’s McCartney III debuts at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 with 105,000 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, 102,000 are in album sales – which also makes it the top-selling album of the week, as it debuts at No. 1 on the Top Album Sales chart"
Hence, the confusion!
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Nancy R wrote:
Went back through this thread and found this:
Says McCartney III debuted at #2.
BUT, it also stated this:
"Paul McCartney’s McCartney III debuts at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 with 105,000 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, 102,000 are in album sales – which also makes it the top-selling album of the week, as it debuts at No. 1 on the Top Album Sales chart"
Hence, the confusion!
Exactly. At least it was pretty straight forward that "Egypt Station" was #1 in US -lol.
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B J Conlee wrote:
We've talked about this previously but what I would love to see Paul do in the coming months as a new project (or when they can) is for Paul to gather his Band together for the purpose of playing a smaller scale "live" show. In my mind, the primary purpose of this Post Covid Event would be doing a "live presentation" of the McCartney III album. I'm talking here about a "special show" and not a typical "Tour" show where he combines songs from his entire career including Beatles, Wings, big 70's hits etc.
How neat would it be for the full Band to play the McCartney III songs "live" with Paul. The fact that it would be the full band alone would give the songs a different overall sound versus Paul's studio performance and subsequent album. I'm not saying they would have to do every song but at least the majority of the album tracks.
Initially, I can easily imagine the Band with Paul doing "Slidin" as one of the encore songs. How great would that be? As part of the Setlist, I would love to hear them doing the good guitar base songs like Seize the Day, Find My Way, Pretty Boys, Lavatory Lil and When Winter Comes. It could sound dramatically different but still very good at the same time. A song like "Women and Wives" could be done during a piano segment and I would love to hear the band doing a song like "Deep Down" with the Band using the added "horn" players.
While this show would focus on McCartney III songs, they could also play a few extra and recent songs from Egypt Station (not done on the previous tour) like "I Don't Know", "Happy With You", "Confidante", "Dominoes", "Do It Now", "Hunt You Down" and "Naked". The last 2 songs could be played as part of the encore along with "Slidin".
Some of the advantages with a show like this is that the songs are all recent songs. Paul knows them from a memory point of view and he also recorded them with his "latter"era voice. Even some of these songs were recorded with Paul's current Band members.
The biggest benefit however is that they could do a few of these shows and then release a " new" CD of the best performances from them. How refreshingly different and successful this kind of CD could be when you consider how great his recent albums and songs have been from the last 20 years or so.
Great idea BJ and you know I would be on board with it. Sadly, the McCartney team would not think to do something like this because it would not make millions of dollars. IMO this as an artist would be fun to do, new songs never performed live in an intimate setting. While I 100% agree with you a CD of this type of show would be refreshingly different, I really doubt how successful it would be. As we have seen over the last few album releases, there is a great first week or two at most and then the album goes away.
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^ BJ, hate to be a "Debbie Downer" but I have to agree with Yankeefan.
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Your idea sounds great BJ, If I had a ticket to that show I would be as excited and thrilled as I was seeing my first Paul concert. The whole New and fresh thing about it.
then there is reality... the concert for those who only know a handful of Beatle songs, and maybe top 10 solo. The Concert machine gets in motion, the big money, the big audience and playing the songs to keep the part time fan engaged to the show. (Which I do like, but something way different and new sounds like a great thing). At this stage of Paul's playing and doing shows, he probably wants to continue playing the songs he plays all the time and possibly putting one or two of them in there.
It would be cool if he did your idea BJ with a Paul McCartney special II - and a few additional fun things as part of a TV or movie type of thing.
it is what is ....if Paul announced a concert doing what he always does, I would want to go to it - if it came around to an area near me.