Chaos and Creation in the Backyard

I've read reviews of albums and CD's where critics gush over an artist's ability to come up with that "Beatlesque" quality. For some reason, a musician who is able to capture that sound is given a lot of leeway and admiration . . . unless that artist is Paul McCartney. Here is an artist who has more right than anyone alive to sound like a Beatle, yet critics always tend to give him guff for it. As a huge Beatles fan and, through the scope of my blog, a critic, I have to distance myself from those critics. Since the Beatles break-up, McCartney has been the one who has received the most vitriolic criticism. Yet, if you go back and listen to each of his efforts, either as a solo artist or with the group Wings, you'll find numerous gems that never saw the light of day . . . unless it was in the home of a die-hard fan. But even the casual listener would be astounded to think of the great number of radio classics that came from the pen of ex-Beatle Paul. Think about these nuggets: "My Love", "Live and Let Die", "Uncle Albert & Admiral Halsey", "Band on the Run", "Another Day", "Hi Hi Hi", "Helen Wheels", "Junior's Farm", and the absolutely fantastic "Maybe I'm Amazed". I am absolutely amazed at this man's prodigious song-writing ability. And those are just a few of his post-Beatles hits. Even more amazing, when you combine his Beatles' catalogue with his post-Beatles' catalogue it's astounding. As a Beatle, he co-wrote 49 top ten hits and since then, McCartney has written or co-written an additional 50 top ten hits. This makes him the single greatest rock/pop composer in the history if the industry. McCartney has another unusual record, he has scored number one hits as a solo artist, duet (both with Stevie Wonder & Michel Jackson), trio (Wings with Linda and Denny Laine), quartet (Beatles), quintet (Beatles with Billy Preston), sextet (in the UK with the charity release of "Let It Be" by the quickly thrown together group, Ferry Aid), and with the even larger ensemble, Band Aid (on "Do They Know It's Christmas"). Quite an accomplishment. He has won Grammys, has been nominated for an Oscar twice (once with the Beatles and once as a solo artist) and won for "Let It Be". But, this is, as they say, putting the horse before the (if you'll excuse the pun) Apple Cart.

This is actually a review. I just finished listening to McCartney's twenty-second studio album since he left the Beatles. "Chaos and Creation in the Backyard" is scheduled to be released on September 12. It was produced by McCartney and Nigel Godrich, who is best known as the genius producer behind albums by Beck and Radiohead. This album has a very organic feel. Almost all the instruments and vocals were done by McCartney (something he's done before on both "McCartney" and "McCartney II").

The first track which was released last month as a single, "Fine Line" is a rollicking piano driven rocker that is sort of "Why Don't We Do it In the Road" meets "Live and Let Die" albeit without the orchestration and histrionics. The song has obvious tones of being an anti-war song. The first verse says, "There is a fine line between recklessness and courage. It is about time you understood which one to take. It's a fine line when your decision makes a difference. Get it wrong, you'll be making a big mistake." And later of course he makes the distinction even clearer with "There is a long way between chaos and creation." This is a perfect description of our problems in Iraq. Great tune, good message, and a wonderful start to the album.

"How Kind of You" is a beautiful ballad, but a little over-produced. Maybe my least favorite on the album.

"Jenny Wren" is a wonderful tune and instantly recognizable as a distant relative of "Blackbird". It was at this point I realized Paul was working with pretty much the same mindset he had during the 1967 through 1968 period of the Beatles . . . minus the hallucinogenics and marijuana. The first three songs could easily have been on the release famously known as "The White Album"

"At the Mercy" sounds almost lethargic. There is a discordant section that is very reminiscent of something John or George would have done. A great example would be George's "Blue Jay Way" on "Magical Mystery Tour".

"Friends to Go" is one of those songs that grows . . . both musically and on the listener. You begin a little leery of the song, but as each new section builds, you start humming along (quite a feat these day).

The music in "English Tea" is a direct descendant of "Martha My Dear" and the lyrics are descriptive of life in gentile England ala "Penny Lane".

The chord structure of "Too Much Rain" almost disguises the theme of the song's stop and smell the roses philosophy.

"Certain Softness" reminds me of Paul's early '70s single, "Another Day" but at the same time is an homage to Sergio Mendez who had a hit in the '60s with his remake of Paul's "The Fool on the Hill".

"Riding to Vanity Fair" is a bizarre reworking of the music behind his own "Driving Rain" tune off his last studio album. It tale of betrayal and dissonant friendship is also the only song on the album that doesn't have an optimistic view.

What begins as yet another moderately paced tune, "Follow Me" occasionally breaks into classic late '60s Beatles.

"Promise to You Girl" may be my favorite cut on the album. There are sections of the song when you believe John and George came back just to supply the harmonies. It's almost eerie the way Paul recreates the great vocal work from "Because" and "Sun King" on Abbey Road.

Paul's inevitable personal love song (now directed at Heather) is "This Never Happened Before".

"Anyway" is another strong but slow slow song.

The album ends on a strong little instrumental one-off called "I've Only Got Two Hands"

While I feel there are far too many melodic, moderate tempo tunes, the over-all strength of the album lies in the able hands of the tunesmith. My favorites are "Fine Line" "Jenny Wren", "Friends to Go", "English Tea", "I've Only Got Two Hands" and the wonderful "Promise to You Girl", but hey, if every album had at least six good tunes on it, no one would have much to complain about. The one complaint critics often throw at Paul, that I can't deny, is his propensity toward writing silly love songs, but he's already answered that criticism with "but what's wrong with that?"