I've been following the various McCartney-related posts over the past few days
with great interest. Here's my take.

I'm a HUGE Macca fan, but I don't believe in blind acceptance of any artist's
material--any one is capable of putting out a bad record--so I haven't always
been a fan of everything he's done.

I've always loved Wild Life, mostly because it's so quirky and weird. And it's
of a time; my father brought it home to me when I was sick, having ventured
into a tiny, hole-in-the-wall record store on New Street in lower Manhattan,
and I was thrilled. "Bip Bop" and the like may be throwaways, but they're
pretty damn catchy and immaculately conceived, in my view, and have thus
stayed with me all these years.

I was similarly enamored of McCartney II, having gotten it as a promo when I
was music director at a country radio station in lower Delaware. I asked the
promo guy if he had one, and he offered it up via the mail in short order. It
too, is pretty quirky, and I still like its indifference to any and all
trends, its "I made this for me and maybe you'll like it, too" way of playing
itself through. And "One of These Days" is one of those effortless Macca
ballads that just slays me every time.

Is there a McCartney album released in the last 20 years that doesn't have a
naff tune or three on it? I'm sure there isn't. I won't say that's because
he's not living up to his promise, because I don't think that's what his solo
career has been about. I think it's been about doing something different, and
whether that is good or bad is, as others have said, a personal thing.

I can't stand Driving Rain; the songs sound like a young man trying to prove
himself and be relevant to an equally young audience. The problem is that he
is not a young man, and he's trying to sound like one, but straining to hit
notes in keys his voice isn't comfortable in isn't the way to do that. Most of
the Driving Rain songs sound half-baked to me. I don't think it's the least
bit inspired or valid. But I loved Flaming Pie. To me, that was a strong
return to form, as long as you forget about the Ringo duet/jam. "Flaming Pie"
may be his most wonderful toss-off ever. And "Young Boy" does it to me every
time. So does "Little Willow." Tears on my pillow and all that.

Even with his failures, and there are many (what possessed him to reimagine
Ram as an MOR record, arranged by a...ram?!), McCartney remains one of the
preeminent songwriters and performers of popular music. Ever. "Only Love
Remains" is the standard that never was, from Press to Play. Anyone who can
write something like that is okay in my book.

I have no doubt that McCartney will make another great record. Working with
people like Jason Falkner is a step in the right direction. But I do agree
that without someone to be honest with him and tell him when something isn't
good he's setting himself up for possible failure. There is a story, from the
book by the design team Hipnosis, about them going to see McCartney about
doing the cover for the Wings Over America live album, and asking McCartney if
he wanted to hear the truth about what they really thought about his ideas,
which weren't very good. They were torn between just being fans and having to
be the "design team" and get on the right thing, as it were. McCartney wound
up respecting them more when they told him the truth.

Someone needs to be that guy in the booth the next time he's tracking. I'd
volunteer, but I'm so busy... :o)

Alan
http://www.buhdge.com