McCartney III: Endearing, Strong, Memorable

I was never one to look for differences between the Beatles on their individual own and when they were The Beatles. To my ear and soul, Paul, John, George, and Ringo on their own sounded far more like The Beatles, captured and continued their extraordinary essence far better than any other artist. Sure, some solo numbers sounded more like The Beatles than others. I heard "Ticket to Ride" in Paul's "My Brave Face," and when someone on the Steve Hoffman Forum said it evoked "Things We Said Today," I could immediately hear it. 

Maybe that's why Robert Christgau's dispeptic reviews in The Village Voice of McCartney's of first two solo albums felt so wrong to me that I wrote a Letter to the Editor objecting to it, which The Voice published as a straight-up article, which turned out to be my first writing published anywhere.  I realized back then that professional reviewers get to where they are because they write well, not necessarily because they hear well (and the same applies to movie critics writing not necessarily watching well, etc).

So, although I've loved The Beatles more than any other music over all of these many years, I've loved Paul's work almost as much and sometimes just as much, and eagerly await everything he does.  McCartney III, which I just listened to, was well worth waiting for.

The album, as I'm sure you know, is the third album in the McCartney (1970 - the one that Christgau didn't care for) and McCartney II (1980) series of recordings in which McCartney played all of the parts.  One of the reasons why the new album is so endearing is that it evokes elements from both The Beatles and these solo all-McCartney albums.

Here are my favorites:

• "Seize the Day":  I just love the sound of "when the cold days come and the old ways fade," which could have come from any Beatles album.  Not to mention the double rhymes (cold days and old ways) which I always strive for when I can get them in my own lyrics.
• "Women and Wives":  A strong song with a good melody and lyric ("chasing tomorrow")
• "The Kiss of Venus":  Another good melody, which Paul sings in falsetto.  Look, his voice is obviously not as powerful or supple as it was for most of his years, but it's still enjoyable to hear. His phrasing and emotion come through fine.
• "Deep Down Feeling":  What I really like about this track is the way it shifts into acoustic/melodic in the last minute of the 8-minute-25-second song.  That was one of the fabulous moves in "Admiral Halsey".

All of this is after only one listening to the album.  It took me at least three or four hearings of Sgt. Pepper before I realized how great it was, and I still like Rubber Soul better.  But there's no doubt that McCartney III makes a memorable contribution to Paul's astonishing lifetime of work, which continues to light up many a soul.

from the Steve Hoffman forum