One last bunch of mini-reviews of Paul McCartney’s live albums. I haven’t heard them all, so I’ll stick to the ones I know. In chronological order. Wings Over America. If you only own one live McCartney album, and you like Wings, it should be this one. Recorded on Paul’s first American tour with the best iteration of Wings, it serves up a solid bunch of Wings and Beatles tunes, originally in three vinyl albums. The acoustic set on Side Three is magnificent. Almost all of the solo tunes are an improvement over the studio originals. A magnificent document of the … Continue reading The Night Thread Ranks Paul McCartney’s Albums: Live Albums

This is part of a series of mini-reviews of Paul McCartney’s studio albums, ranked worst to best. (Don’t worry; I’ll keep them short.) And now. My pick for Paul McCartney’s greatest album. Tug of War WHY IT’S CLASSIC: Written and recorded after John Lennon had died, this marked a reappraisal by Paul of his work with Wings and why he felt he needed to move on. George Martin co-produces, and Paul, who is an emotionally reserved person since the Beatles dissolved, creates his most honest and moving album. BEST SONGS: Tug of War; Take It Away; What’s That You’re Doing, … Continue reading The Night Thread Ranks Paul McCartney’s Albums: #1

This is part of a series of mini-reviews of Paul McCartney’s studio albums, ranked worst to best. (Don’t worry; I’ll keep them short.) Number Three: Chaos and Creation In The Backyard. WHY IT’S CLASSIC: This was written and recorded when Paul’s second marriage was dissolving. It has a tone and quiet pain which reminds me of Pet Sounds. Co-producer Nigel Godrich gives it a contemporary and eerie feel. BEST SONGS: Fine Line; Jenny Wren; At The Mercy; Too Much Rain; Riding To Vanity Fair; This Never Happened Before. WORST SONGS: Follow Me is a bit weak, but that’s a nitpick. … Continue reading The Night Thread Ranks Paul McCartney’s Albums: #3

This is part of a series of mini-reviews of Paul McCartney’s studio albums, ranked worst to best. (Don’t worry; I’ll keep them short.) And now. Here we are in the Top Five Paul solo albums. Next in line: Electric Arguments, The Fireman (Paul and Youth). WHY IT’S CLASSIC: This record has a sound like no other McCartney album. It’s transcendent. It works better as an entire album than as songs; the sound sweeps over you in waves. The production from Youth is inventive and gorgeous. BEST SONGS: See my comment above. Sing The Changes, Dance ‘Til We’re High and Don’t … Continue reading The Night Thread Ranks Paul McCartney’s Albums: #5

This is part of a series of mini-reviews of Paul McCartney’s studio albums, ranked worst to best. (Don’t worry; I’ll keep them short.) Next in line: Ram, Paul and Linda McCartney. WHY IT’S GREAT: The melodicism and production on this album are beautiful. It practically invented indie-pop. So why isn’t it higher? Because in the wake of the Beatles breakup, the lyrics read as a poison-pen card to the rest of the group. BEST SONGS: Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey; Eat At Home; Long Haired Lady; The Back Seat of My Car. WORST SONGS: Depends on how you define “worst”. For me, … Continue reading The Night Thread Ranks Paul McCartney’s Albums: #7

This is part of a series of mini-reviews of Paul McCartney’s studio albums, ranked worst to best. (Don’t worry; I’ll keep them short.) Next in line: Run Devil Run. WHY IT’S GREAT: The second of Paul’s “rock standards” albums, produced by Chris Thomas, who’d also done Back To The Egg. He gave the record a sizzling hot production, much stronger than Choba B CCCP. Paul recorded this shortly after Linda died, and you can hear the pain in some of the songs, but also the release of no longer suffering day after day with her illness. It’s a bit too … Continue reading The Night Thread Ranks Paul McCartney’s Albums: #9

This is part of a series of mini-reviews of Paul McCartney’s studio albums, ranked worst to best. (Don’t worry; I’ll keep them short.) Next in line: Egypt Station. WHY IT’S GOOD: Solid songs, produced by Greg Kurstin (who did Adele and others). Some of his best tunes. BEST SONGS: I Don’t Know is a gorgeous, emotionally direct piano ballad. Happy With You is how much better he feels with his current love, who would be Nancy. Dominoes is an excellent catchy rock tune. Back In Brazil throws in some electronic salsa. WORST SONGS: Fuh You, produced by Ryan Tedder, is … Continue reading The Night Thread Ranks Paul McCartney’s Albums: #11

This is part of a series of mini-reviews of Paul McCartney’s studio albums, ranked worst to best. (Don’t worry; I’ll keep them short.) Next in line: McCartney. WHY IT’S AVERAGE: His very first album, played all by himself, with Linda singing on a few songs. It’s pleasant, but a lot of it is instrumentals, and the songs aren’t classics for the most part. BEST SONGS: Maybe I’m Amazed is the keeper. That Would Be Something is one I like although it’s a tossoff; it has a great groove. Junk and Teddy Boy, both Beatles leftovers, are good. WORST SONGS: The … Continue reading The Night Thread Ranks Paul McCartney’s Albums: #13

This is part of a series of mini-reviews of Paul McCartney’s studio albums, ranked worst to best. (Don’t worry; I’ll keep them short.) Next in line: Choba B CCCP. (That’s Back In The U.S.S.R. in Russian/Cyrillic.) WHY IT’S AVERAGE: The first of two rock and roll standards albums. It’s very good, but it’s not quite great. That came later. BEST SONGS: Twenty Flight Rock; Lucille; I’m Gonna Be A Wheel Someday; Midnight Special. WORST SONGS: Bring It On Home To Me and Summertime both drag somewhat. WHY YOU SHOULD TRY IT: Paul’s obviously having fun with some rock classics. Continue reading The Night Thread Ranks Paul McCartney’s Albums: #15

This is part of a series of mini-reviews of Paul McCartney’s studio albums, ranked worst to best. (Don’t worry; I’ll keep them short.) Next in line: Wings At The Speed Of Sound. WHY IT’S AVERAGE: It’s kind of lightweight, and half the songs are sung by band members other than Paul. BEST SONGS: Let ‘Em In; The Note You Never Wrote, sung by Denny (yes, I know what I just said); Beware My Love; Silly Love Songs; Must Do Something About It, sung by Joe, the drummer; San Ferry Anne. WORST SONGS: Wino Junko, sung and written by Jimmy McCulloch; … Continue reading The Night Thread Ranks Paul McCartney’s Albums: #18

This is part of a series of mini-reviews of Paul McCartney’s studio albums, ranked worst to best. (Don’t worry; I’ll keep them short.) Next in line: Memory Almost Full. WHY IT’S AVERAGE: The songs are pretty good, but the worst thing about this record is that it has INSANE levels of compression on the tracks. Sonically, it’s the worst sounding McCartney album. I blame the producer, David Kahne. BEST SONGS: Ever Present Past, where Paul takes a look back with some electronic backing; Mr. Bellamy, which sounds like an outtake from McCartney II; the entire medley of songs from Vintage … Continue reading The Night Thread Ranks Paul McCartney’s Albums: #19