My Amazon Reviews: Paul McCartney "New"

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4 Out Of 5 Stars
 

Like the modernistic neon bars used to indicate the "New" title, Paul McCartney steps up to the new world of modern-ish music and applies a sheen and glow to his newest collection of pop-tunes. While "Memory Almost Full" seemed like a coda to a long career and well lived life and "Kisses From The Bottom" had a wiff of the old-fogy about it, "New" tosses that aside and finds McCartney still willing to challenge his younger contemporaries, down to having hot-shot Mark Ronson produce a few selections, in particular, the buoyant title track.

The lead-off, "Save Us," is a rocker in the Wings mold, without the annoyance of "Nod Your Head" (from "Memory") or the screaming mania of "Cut Me Some Slack," the song Paul recorded with the surviving members of Nirvana. Yes, despite the willingness to go out on the occasional limb, "New" is an album that is eager to please, even if it doesn't play its hand as a totally safe one. In that aspect, it's reminiscent of "Flaming Pie," one of Paul's best from the 90's. Which also means that there's a shout out to his days as a Liverpool youngster on "Early Days," where he tells those who have romanticized The Beatles too much for his tastes by stating "I don't see how they can remember/When they weren't where it was at."

McCartney certainly isn't above a little cheekiness, as "Early Days" and the buzzy "Queenie Eye" show. And who would have thought Paul still had time for a little lyrical nonsense like the clever "Alligator?" It's also a pleasant surprise to hear the keyboard driven "Road," which is the haunting final song before the uncredited song "Scared." "I'm still too scared to tell you...the simplest of words won't come out of my mouth, though I'm dying to set them free," he croons in the way only McCartney can in "Scared." That McCartney can still be so emotionally naked and willing to try and challenge himslef in the way "New" does is a pretty remarkable feat for a man making music for over 50 years.

     

My Amazon Reviews: Paul McCartney and Wings "Wings Over America"

Paul McCartney Embraces his Legacy
5 Out Of 5 Stars

When Paul McCartney and The Beatles dissolved their partnerships, McCartney was bound and determined to go his own way. He made a few solo albums, like the masterpiece "Ram," but then decided he wanted a full fledged rock band behind him. Hence were Wings born. The corresponding Wings albums, like "At The Speed Of Sound" and "Venus and Mars" had McCartney insisting, over and over, that Wings was a band. To the point where Linda McCartney and Denny Laine were singing. The Beatles were dead and gone. Wings were here and now.

Until 1976 and the tour where McCartney shocked everyone. "Wings Over America," the then triple album, featured Wings and Paul digging into The Beatles' catalog, which also meant that he was performing some of these songs for the first time in their existence to a live audience. (As a reminder, The Beatles turned their back on touring in 1966.) The crowds, understandably, went nuts. With that kind of energy, Paul leans into "Lady Madonna," "Blackbird," "Yesterday" and a few others with an obvious glee; he may have been trying to erase his past before, but there's no way to deny he was reinvigorated to be on the road without dragging around the invisible elephant in the room.

It also shows off Wings as a more capable band than most critics gave them credit for. The opening "Venus and Mars/Rock Show" opens the concert with some serious electricity, and "Live and Let Die" rivals "Helter Skelter" for McCartney's all time rockingest tune. As an added feature, the song "Soily," which was a regular on McCartney tours, has never been released except for "Wings Over America." It's among the McCartney and Wings songs that take up the bulk of the album, with highlights being "Hi Hi Hi," "Band On The Run," and the single from the album, "Maybe I'm Amazed."

Now condensed to a double CD, the remastered sound is terrific. (I had the older CD, and a one on one comparison reveals a crisper sound, less muffled.) If you want to spend a couple extra bucks, the triple version contains an eight song bonus disc from San Fransisco's Cow Palace and adds "Let Me Roll It" and a differently arranged "Bluebird" as the main attractions. (Although the fade on "Picasso's Last Words" is annoying.) All together, this is one of the more important documents of Paul McCartney's recorded legacy, the moment in time where he let his past catch up with him and he didn't turn it away.