I'll repeat Dave's warning right up top: ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dave Seaman" > WARNING: All those tired of the McCartney thread, please delete this > loooooong and winding message right here and now.... ********** I've got no interest in, or familiarity with, his classical or electronic dance stuff so Ill skip that. > Choba B CCCP: The Russian Album (88) - live? / oldies The sessions that produced this record-- informal jams among mates-- led to his '89 touring band, and so are an important document in that they got him off his duff and on the road (from whence he churned out 4 live discs in 4 years-- the 2-disc Tripping the Live Fantastic, plus the Unplugged-- highly recommended-- and Paul is Live). Like Lennon's Rock'n'Roll album, but with less intrusive production (which is not a criticism of Spector's work.) If only for "Just Because." >Are Speed of Sound, London Town, > and Back to the Egg worth owning, or would I be better off with a comp of > the best of the 3? If so, what would you recommend be on that comp? Speed of Sound: spotty and a come down after BOtR and V&M. Still, Sily Love Songs, Beware My Love, Let 'em In, and She's My Baby are worth the price of admission (and I'll save Stewart an email by mentioning San Ferry Annie.) And bonus track Sally G is a favorite as well. The B-side to Junior's Farm, and I don't know that the latter made it onto any album as a bonus. It is on Wingspan; indeed Wingspan might be worth the investment just for the anthologizing it does of these stray singles. London Town: Maybe I'm biased, but I always loved it. Enough good songs to make the investment worthwhile-- title track, Cafe on the Left Bank, I'm Carrying, Backward Traveler, I've Had Enough, Girlfriend, With a Little Luck, and I like the Elvis rip, Name and Address. Wings was back to Paul, Linda and Denny, the same folks who brought you BOtR. And the dreary Mull of Kintyre is bonused, but so is the rockin' B-side, Girls School. 9 good songs makes for a good buy. Back to the Egg: Growing on me. I like it almost as much as London Town. Rocks harder, while London Town is pure silly love songs. Arrow Through Me is as exquisite as I remembered, Getting Closer and the other rockers still rock. And of course one of his best (and Linda's fave), Daytime Nighttime Suffering, is a bonus track. > - The only 80s release I have is Flowers in the Dirt, and Iım a fan of it. > I know I need to get Tug of War; but from what I hear, the other 80s > releases are rather spotty. If there was to be a good comp (or 2) made of > the first 5 80s releases (McCartney 2 through Press to Play), what would > be > on it? You do need Tug. I'm unfamiliar with Mac II as I never re-bought it on CD and my vinyl is in storage. I remember being underwhelmed; I could have been very wrong. I remember liking (but also being sick of) Coming Up, as well as Waterfalls and Temporary Secretary. And this is where Goodnight Tonight ended up as a bonus track. Indeed most of the non-album singles have ended up somewhere as bonus tracks. Pipes: I like the title track. Say Say Say has contrived and formulaic all over it; but what IS good is the other Jacko collaboration, The Man. Chilling harmonies. Also So Bad and Sweetest Little Show, the latter somewhat lost as the beginning of a medley; I have a demo of it somewhere where it is played in full and ends. So for me 4 good songs (or three and a half, the half being Sweetest Little Show). Broad Street: A nice Yesterday > Here, There & Everywhere > Wanderlust medley; No More Lonely Nights; and Chris Spedding and Dave Edmunds light up Tug's Ballroom Dancing and the new Not Such a Bad Boy. But overall a weak effort, notable only for its embracing the Beatle catalog. Press: Top-tier faves are Its Not True, Write Away, and Footprints. Then Stranglehold and Tough On a Tightrope. 3 or 5 good songs depending on mood. After Pipes, Press, and this, Flowers was a revelation (I didn't hear CCCP till after).