PAUL McCARTNEY (ABO#418a)

PAUL McCARTNEY
INCOGNITO
(1970-2007)

When Paul McCartney said in 1969 that he was leaving in the Beatles, there was no question that the band would no longer exist, but the group was so brilliant that it seemed obvious we would now have at least two great bands instead of one. What did we get from one of the greatest composers of the Twentieth Century? Mary Had A Little Lamb, We're So Sorry Uncle Albert and My Love whoa whoa whoa whoa. Paul had not been my favorite, but I knew he had written some very good songs in the past. As time went on, I became more disappointed. This year I decided that there weren't many Beatles left, and it was time to reconcile. I listened to all of the twenty-three studio albums from Wings and his solo rock career, ignoring the four classical works. I've also put aside his albums as The Fireman. I will tackle those at a later date. My goal was to produce a two disc Baistophe, and it was apparent that the studio albums would provide more than enough material and I would not be able to fit in anything from his seven concert albums. Because I disliked most of his hit songs, and because they are very well known and widely available on store shelves, I decided to leave those off the collection also. When It was done, I thought that only four of his albums were truly wretched and three of those were conceptual albums. The others could be counted on for at least one good song other than the hit single. I really liked six of them, and the rest fell somewhere in the middle. I am impressed with the songs that ended up in this Baistophe. McCartney is capable of equaling his former efforts but it seems that he only occasionally makes an effort. In my opinion, his work has improved greatly in the past ten years. Before I apply a rank to McCartney's albums, I will remove four of them from the running. Thrillington, Liverpool Sound Collage and Give My Regards To Broadstreet are concept albums and cannot be considered part of the canon. They are only for completists. Run Devil Run would be in my Top Three but for the fact that it is mostly covers of Fifties rock 'n' roll songs. I enjoyed it very much but it is unneccessary and listening to the originals would be a better use of your time.

Thanks to BURNS for having compiled this BAISTOPHE. This one is finally a 3CD set just because it deserves it... and I let BURNS say why :

"These are the three Paul McCartney discs that I made. My intention was to only make a two disc collection for Baistophe. It later was agreed on La Caverne d'Ali Baba that there should be three discs, with a third possibly containing concert recordings. I do not want to do that, but I had already made a third disc for myself that contained a few hits and what was left over from the Baistophe."

Extracts :

Little Willow
(from Flaming Pie, 1997)
It seems like an evidence that the recent edition of Bealtes' Anthology had taken Mcca in a nostalgical mood. This song must undoubtedly be compared with such beautiful songs like Julia

Run Devil Run
(from Run Devil Run, 1999)
The album is a full fifties' rock cover. This also might be considered like a tribute to Paul's early Beatles days.

Band On The Run
(from Band On The Run, 1973)
One of the only 3 hit singles included in this Baistophe is on of McCartney's best work : a 3-pieces tune recorded like a scenarized story. All 3 pieces are independantly great. The all 3 gathered are just excellent.

BURNS' Mcca Bottom 3 :
1. Wings At The Speed Of Sound (1976)
2. McCartney II (1980)
3. Flowers In The Dirt (1989)

BURNS' Mcca Top 3 :
1. Ram (1971)
2. Band On The Run (1973)
3. Driving Rain (2001)