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Post by B.E. on Apr 30, 2023 13:41:48 GMT
I actually listened to Driving Rain yesterday. It's not an album I rate/rank highly, but just having it on in the background while getting some work done? I enjoyed it. My favorite track is "About You", but last time we all listened to Driving Rain I realized that I had overlooked "Lonely Road". That's a good track and a highlight of the album.
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Post by kds on Apr 30, 2023 15:21:13 GMT
I remember buying Driving Rain because I was seeing Paul for the first time in April 2002.
Coming off the very solid Flaming Pie, when Lonely Road kicked off the album, I thought this was going to be another really good album. But then, it...wasn't.
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Post by Kapitan on Apr 30, 2023 16:23:14 GMT
I actually listened to Driving Rain yesterday. It's not an album I rate/rank highly, but just having it on in the background while getting some work done? I enjoyed it. To me, that's what that album always has been: a not-unpleasant bit of background noise. That was actually one of my criticisms when we rated solo Beatles albums, that it was so nondescript as to be background music. I think at least until McCartney III, this is my least favorite of the post-Linda era Paul solo albums.
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Post by kds on May 8, 2023 19:32:39 GMT
I actually listened to Driving Rain yesterday. It's not an album I rate/rank highly, but just having it on in the background while getting some work done? I enjoyed it. To me, that's what that album always has been: a not-unpleasant bit of background noise. That was actually one of my criticisms when we rated solo Beatles albums, that it was so nondescript as to be background music. I think at least until McCartney III, this is my least favorite of the post-Linda era Paul solo albums. I'd agree with that. Hardly what one would really want from one half of arguably the greatest songwriting duo in rock/pop history, even in the later decades of his career. But, such is life.
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Post by Kapitan on May 8, 2023 19:44:35 GMT
I don't want to be overly down on the guy, especially at his age, but I wonder ... will there be another really good Paul McCartney album? The past couple--spanning the past five years or so--were pretty weak, in my opinion. (Egypt Station and III.)
Obviously the guy doesn't have to do anything ever again. But he's such a worker, I think he might just keep it going until the end. Whether that includes albums or just touring, I don't know. But he doesn't seem like the kind of guy to retire.
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Post by kds on May 8, 2023 20:03:34 GMT
I don't want to be overly down on the guy, especially at his age, but I wonder ... will there be another really good Paul McCartney album? The past couple--spanning the past five years or so--were pretty weak, in my opinion. ( Egypt Station and III.) Obviously the guy doesn't have to do anything ever again. But he's such a worker, I think he might just keep it going until the end. Whether that includes albums or just touring, I don't know. But he doesn't seem like the kind of guy to retire. I'd love to be surprised, but for my money, his last good album was Flaming Pie, and that album's over 25 years old now. And, really, a lot of his albums in the 80s and 90s were pretty spotty. But, at least with those albums, you could count of a few songs to hang your hat onto. I can't really say that about his last 3-4 (maybe more) albums. I hate saying that, because I really try to be open minded about later era material from legends. And, I find the whole "so and so hasn't done anything good since 19---whatever" stuff you hear from fans to be somewhat tiresome. But, I have found a lot to like from later era releases from plenty of artists, but I can't seem to do that with Paul McCartney.
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Post by Kapitan on May 8, 2023 20:08:01 GMT
I actually thought a few after Driving Rain had some solid moments: Chaos & Creation, Memory Almost Full and even New (or at least the title track) all are good enough that I could listen and enjoy to varying degrees. But there have been far fewer things I've liked, and nothing I've liked as much as what I'd like previously, since then. So I'm not especially optimistic either.
But we'll see. It's not like Paul forgot how to write songs, or play instruments, and while his singing is increasingly thin and ragged (as you'd expect from a guy his age), he's still more than passable in that respect, too. Am I confident he will have another good album? Ummm...no, I am not.
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Post by kds on May 8, 2023 20:25:50 GMT
I actually thought a few after Driving Rain had some solid moments: Chaos & Creation, Memory Almost Full and even New (or at least the title track) all are good enough that I could listen and enjoy to varying degrees. But there have been far fewer things I've liked, and nothing I've liked as much as what I'd like previously, since then. So I'm not especially optimistic either. But we'll see. It's not like Paul forgot how to write songs, or play instruments, and while his singing is increasingly thin and ragged (as you'd expect from a guy his age), he's still more than passable in that respect, too. Am I confident he will have another good album? Ummm...no, I am not. I thought Chaos and Creation had some OK songs, but overall, I didn't much care for it. And, Memory Almost Full, released well before I starting using Spotify, was my jumping off point when it comes to buying new McCartney albums.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on May 8, 2023 20:27:24 GMT
I really enjoy about half of Egypt Station. That album clocks in at 57:30 and it's sometimes hard to navigate through the whole thing. If Paul would've cut a couple of the weaker tracks (I know, in who's opinion?) Egypt Station would be a later period highlight. Is it any way?
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Post by kds on May 8, 2023 20:41:04 GMT
I would definitely say if Paul McCartney had a 21st Century album with 50% good tracks, that would qualify as a later period highlight. In my humble opinion though, such an album does not exist.
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Post by Kapitan on May 8, 2023 21:46:25 GMT
I would definitely say if Paul McCartney had a 21st Century album with 50% good tracks, that would qualify as a later period highlight. In my humble opinion though, such an album does not exist. I'm not sure whether we hit 50% good tracks (though we might ... I'd have to revisit the albums, or at least my ratings of them), but this seems like a nice time to plug my late-period Macca playlist, which I believe I defined as 2000 onwards. Obviously it spans over a decade's worth of material, but I think it's pretty strong. The guy isn't bankrupt of material yet.
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Post by B.E. on May 8, 2023 23:50:35 GMT
If we're talking merely "good" then I'd say every 21st Century Paul album (not including Kisses on the Bottom) is at least 50% good. Most are two-thirds or better. Actually, I just did a quick count, nearly 100 tracks, I'd say around 75-80 are good (or thereabouts). And of those 20 or so that aren't, I'd probably only be willing to call half of those "bad". To me, it's not that Paul was no longer any good, he just wasn't as great. And especially over the last 10 years or so, his voice aged significantly.
I'm also a huge fan of the late '90s album, Run Devil Run. His voice was still very strong, I like that genre a lot, and I love when he ROCKS.
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Post by kds on May 9, 2023 12:11:49 GMT
If we're talking merely "good" then I'd say every 21st Century Paul album (not including Kisses on the Bottom) is at least 50% good. Most are two-thirds or better. Actually, I just did a quick count, nearly 100 tracks, I'd say around 75-80 are good (or thereabouts). And of those 20 or so that aren't, I'd probably only be willing to call half of those "bad". To me, it's not that Paul was no longer any good, he just wasn't as great. And especially over the last 10 years or so, his voice aged significantly. I'm also a huge fan of the late '90s album, Run Devil Run. His voice was still very strong, I like that genre a lot, and I love when he ROCKS. I think that's a little more generous than my assessment of Paul's 21st Century output. I might go so far as to say more than half is "not bad," but not anything I really want to revisit. But, I do agree about Run Devil Run, and that's actually an album that I occasionally forget about (which is funny as it features members of three of my all time favorite bands in The Beatles, Floyd, and Purple). I wouldn't mind if Paul decided to go another album like that featuring his live band.
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Post by Kapitan on Jul 19, 2023 11:26:36 GMT
Paul McCartney will become the last of 7.888 billion people on earth to have a podcast beginning in September, when he and poet Paul Muldoon will launch McCartney: A Life in Lyrics.
The concept is more or less summed up in the title: they will discuss his lyrics, both Beatles and solo. I want to be optimistic, but the cynical side of me suspects we're going to hear a careful Paul mostly just retelling the stories he's retold so many times before. The bigger the celebrity, usually the duller the podcast. (Bruce Springsteen and former President Obama had one, and while it should have been spectacular, it was agonizing. I think the spotlight is just too bright for some people, and it sanitizes the product.) The trailer is below.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jul 19, 2023 11:33:26 GMT
Paul McCartney will become the last of 7.888 billion people on earth to have a podcast beginning in September, when he and poet Paul Muldoon will launch McCartney: A Life in Lyrics.The concept is more or less summed up in the title: they will discuss his lyrics, both Beatles and solo. I want to be optimistic, but the cynical side of me suspects we're going to hear a careful Paul mostly just retelling the stories he's retold so many times before. The bigger the celebrity, usually the duller the podcast. (Bruce Springsteen and former President Obama had one, and while it should have been spectacular, it was agonizing. I think the spotlight is just too bright for some people, and it sanitizes the product.) The trailer is below. This is right up Paul's alley. He likes to talk and he likes to talk about The Beatles and his music. I don't know if I'll go out of my way to catch this, but I think it'll be pretty good. And, I think we've probably heard a lot of the stories, too.
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