Kestrel wrote:
I guess if you look at every album Paul has ever released there will be fans who love it, dislike it or are just okay with it. Music is very personal, very subjective and we all respond to what we hear with different reactions...thankfully. I'll have to start listening to ES again but last time I played it I was working at the PC and the album had finished playing without my realising it. And when I tried to remember what the songs sounded like, I couldn't. It just didn't grab or hold my attention at all. Yes,I noticed about those Abbey Road ticket prices too. What with travelling expenses it does make for a costly day out.
Quite a few fans hold Chaos And Creation In The Backyard as the barometer of what makes a great late career Macca album, but for me apart from a handful of admittedly top-notch songs like At The Mercy, Friends To Go, Too Much Rain, A Certain Softness, This Never Happened Before and Anyway the rest is a tad pedestrian and dull. The album's production by Nigel Godrich for me is a little lifeless and should I say a little plodding. The two up-tempo songs Fine Line and Promise To You Girl have no zest and life. they are good songs let down by the production.
Egypt Station for me though not flawless is his best-produced album since Tug Of war in 1982, it was one of the first things that struck me, a great drum sound, the right instrumentation for every song and despite a few downbeat songs great zest and vitality. If I had my way Fuh You, Confidante and People Want Peace would've bit the dust and would've been replaced by Get Started, Nothing For Free and Frank Sinatra's Party or Sixty Second Street and then it would be a stunning McCartney album rather than just a great Macca album. I must admit I didn't think Paul had it in him to come up with an album as strong as this at 76 but luckily he proved me wrong.