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Track Listings
| Disc: 1 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Fine Line | |||
| 2. How Kind Of You | |||
| 3. Jenny Wren | |||
| 4. At The Mercy | |||
| 5. Friends To Go | |||
| 6. English Tea | |||
| 7. Too Much Rain | |||
| 8. A Certain Softness | |||
| 9. Riding To Vanity Fair | |||
| 10. Follow Me | |||
See all 13 tracks on this disc
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| Disc: 2 | |||
| 1. Between Chaos and Creation – 30 minute documentary | |||
| 2. Fine Line – 4 minute studio performance video (5.1) | |||
| 3. Line Art – 12 minute animated film including 3 instrumental tracks (Riding to Vanity Fair, At the Mercy and Anyway) | |||
| 4. How Kind of You – 5 minute menu | |||
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Sir Paul is an elder statesman now, but Chaos and Creation in the Back Yard finds McCartney in considered and tastefully restrained form--dignfied and old--penning songs worthy of his finest hour. McCartney crafts this collection of songs with exquisite balance, lining up haunting chimes and heartfelt lyrics ("Riding to Vanity Fair") alongside pounding 
"Hey Bulldog"-esque chords and eerily Beatles-ish multi-tracked vocals ("Promise to You Girl", "Fine Line") and, most impressively, distinctively new yet timeless gems of songcraft ("Anyway", "Jenny Wren"). Emotionally, the songs on Chaos and Creation manage to avoid being mired in over-sentimentality while retaining a powerful, understated sincerity. Poignant though it is, however, this record is essentially positive and hopeful: Sir Paul's playfulness beams through in his intonation which picks up a line such as "It's not right/In your life/Too much rain" and breathes life and optimism into its words. "English Tea" completes the package, an unrepentantly twee serving of Anglo-nostalgia with recorder.
"Hey Bulldog"-esque chords and eerily Beatles-ish multi-tracked vocals ("Promise to You Girl", "Fine Line") and, most impressively, distinctively new yet timeless gems of songcraft ("Anyway", "Jenny Wren"). Emotionally, the songs on Chaos and Creation manage to avoid being mired in over-sentimentality while retaining a powerful, understated sincerity. Poignant though it is, however, this record is essentially positive and hopeful: Sir Paul's playfulness beams through in his intonation which picks up a line such as "It's not right/In your life/Too much rain" and breathes life and optimism into its words. "English Tea" completes the package, an unrepentantly twee serving of Anglo-nostalgia with recorder. Chaos and Creation in the Back Yard displays the full range of Sir Paul McCartney's inimitable talent, presenting listeners with one of his finest solo albums. -- Jonathan Davies
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Review
This is the first time since, ooh, 1978's London Town that a Paul McCartney album been genuinely awaited. That's not to say the listener hasn't been surprised and delighted by the contents of many of his records since then. When they have been good (Flaming Pie, Flowers In The Dirt), they have bordered on exemplary; when they have been less good (Press To Play, Off The Ground) they have bordered on the execrable. But, throughout, there is always something there to remind us of Pauly's shimmering majesty. Now, we all know McCartney doesn't need to work, but his endless drive to be cutting edge makes him all the more endearing. He's Paul bloody McCartney, after all.
2001's Driving Rain was a fine rock album despite it's awful sleeve. What truly killed it was mixing eulogies to his recently deceased wife with ones to his new partner. It felt a little, er, hasty. And he'd forgot, in the main, to pack the tunes. Oh, and 9/11 happened on its release date too. No wonder it only spent a solitary week in the chart.
Since then, McCartney has reconnected with his live audience and has gone back to playing virtually everything himself in the studio. In working with Radiohead/Beck producer Nigel Godrich, McCartney actually sounds somewhat stretched.
So what does it sound like? Very, very good. He still finds it essential to play the chart game hence opener "Fine Line", the weakest track on the 14-track collection. But "Riding To Vanity Fair", "Too Much Rain", "Anyway" and "How Kind Of You" are full of subtle nuances, killer hooks and sweet surprises. They really do rank among his very best work. And "Jenny Wren" nods to "Blackbird" too.
Chaos and Creation In The Backyard is a better album than anyone could reasonably expect from a 63-year-old who helped remould not just world popular music but world popular culture, as well. He's Paul bloody McCartney, after all. --Daryl Easlea
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
It strikes me as a perennially cruel injustice that Macca (in common with a number of other elder rock figures) is so often dismissed by the lazier variety of music critic as irrelevant, out of touch, past-it, mawkish, or whatever is the dimissive put-down nearest to hand at time of writing. The fact is, even his worst albums have always included three or four classic songs.
Only an individual with the clothiest of cloth ears could listen to Chaos and Creation and fail to be impressed and moved by it. You will struggle to find more than one or two records genuinely as good as it in 2006.
Macca's Achilles heel has always been his tendency to release too much material. Someone once opined that he should have released only about one third as much music as he did, holding back the reams of weaker songs that might have been good enough for most artists, but which were unworthy of a Beatle. Releasing only the very best of his solo compositions would have seen him maintain the Olympean standards set by the Beatles.
The impact of his best work has sometimes been diminished because so much of the material on the same album was weak. A good example is "With a Little Luck" on London Town: a truly great song, well beyond the capability of just about anyone else you care to name. The preceding and following songs on London Town were mediocre at best, and somehow this makes "With a Little Luck" seem less great than it really is. Admittedly, the opposite effect was common on Beatles records. "Oh, Darling" probably seems better than it is for having been on Abbey Road.
Chaos and Creation is excellent from start to finish. It is similar in some ways to its strong predecessor, Driving Rain, but the melancholic tone of Chaos and Creation is more potent, somehow, than the harder Driving Rain sound. I feel that Chaos and Creation is a cousin of Beck's superb "Sea Change". Something about the mood and the sonic landscape, particularly in the second half of Chaos and Creation, reminds me of this record.
The song that stands out on the first listen is "Jenny Wren", which everyone compares to Blackbird, even though the resemblance is fairly superficial. It's a fantastic song, but subsequent listens reveal that at least as fantastic are the likes of "Riding to Vanity Fair" (reminds me of Beck's "Round the Bend"), "A Certain Softness" (delicate and nuanced), Follow Me (so very simple, yet hugely uplifting), and Anyway (again, simple and uplifting).
These are among my personal favourites, but really there are no weak tracks.
A bonus: The instrumental postscript to the album is pure Macca too - a string of short musical ideas that convey playfulness, humour and the simple joy of composing and playing that has always been one of the man's most appealing characteristics.
Only an individual with the clothiest of cloth ears could listen to Chaos and Creation and fail to be impressed and moved by it. You will struggle to find more than one or two records genuinely as good as it in 2006.
Macca's Achilles heel has always been his tendency to release too much material. Someone once opined that he should have released only about one third as much music as he did, holding back the reams of weaker songs that might have been good enough for most artists, but which were unworthy of a Beatle. Releasing only the very best of his solo compositions would have seen him maintain the Olympean standards set by the Beatles.
The impact of his best work has sometimes been diminished because so much of the material on the same album was weak. A good example is "With a Little Luck" on London Town: a truly great song, well beyond the capability of just about anyone else you care to name. The preceding and following songs on London Town were mediocre at best, and somehow this makes "With a Little Luck" seem less great than it really is. Admittedly, the opposite effect was common on Beatles records. "Oh, Darling" probably seems better than it is for having been on Abbey Road.
Chaos and Creation is excellent from start to finish. It is similar in some ways to its strong predecessor, Driving Rain, but the melancholic tone of Chaos and Creation is more potent, somehow, than the harder Driving Rain sound. I feel that Chaos and Creation is a cousin of Beck's superb "Sea Change". Something about the mood and the sonic landscape, particularly in the second half of Chaos and Creation, reminds me of this record.
The song that stands out on the first listen is "Jenny Wren", which everyone compares to Blackbird, even though the resemblance is fairly superficial. It's a fantastic song, but subsequent listens reveal that at least as fantastic are the likes of "Riding to Vanity Fair" (reminds me of Beck's "Round the Bend"), "A Certain Softness" (delicate and nuanced), Follow Me (so very simple, yet hugely uplifting), and Anyway (again, simple and uplifting).
These are among my personal favourites, but really there are no weak tracks.
A bonus: The instrumental postscript to the album is pure Macca too - a string of short musical ideas that convey playfulness, humour and the simple joy of composing and playing that has always been one of the man's most appealing characteristics.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
‘Chaos and Creation in the Backyard’ is a surprisingly sombre album, with opening single Fine Line being one of the more up-tempo tracks on the album. The Lady Madonna-esque rocker Promise To You Girl feels particularly out of place in this regard, while English Tea is the sort of highly melodic tune which will either annoy the listener as being overly twee, or enjoyed as a knowing parody. Away from these three songs the album is surprisingly – and enjoyably - downbeat, and even if the lyrics to a song like This Never Happened Before are positive then the music contains some very dark chords. Obvious Beatles comparisons come with such tracks as the Blackbird-style acoustic track Jenny Wren, or the George Harrison inspired Friends to Come, but for me the highlights include Too Much Rain, At the Mercy, This Never Happened Before and the Spanish-sounding A Certain Softness.
With not a single weak track on the album this is a very strong solo release, and the fact that almost everything is recorded by Paul McCartney himself gives it the sort of home-made charm as his debut solo record. If you’re looking for easy melodic pop songs then this album isn’t for you, instead this is a mature collection of interesting tracks that grow on the listener. Good stuff.
NB: The bonus version with the extra DVD is worthwhile, as this is a good in-depth behind the scenes look at each track on the album, while the Japanese import also contains the bonus track She Is So Beautiful.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I havn't bought a McCartney album for many years and bought this one because of the great reviews it recieved from the musical critics.
They were dead right. I could go on and on exalting the varous tracks but this would be spoiling it for you. It really is a great album and the dvd is a bonus and worth the extra money. So just go out and buy it. Vintage McCartney at his very best. You won't be disappointed !!!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Twenty Stars************************************************
Well I've found a record that warrants the lot. I've given 5 stars elsewhere
but in comparison this is way, way above other things I've looked at. Read more
but in comparison this is way, way above other things I've looked at. Read more
Published on 11 Jun 2008 by D Major
Brilliant
Absolutly stunning. When I first bought it (£1 in Woolworths!!!), the album blew me away and I couldn't stop listening. Read more
Published on 23 Dec 2007 by F. Cairns
Nice change of style but not quite convinced overall
Mccartneys first album of new material since the 2001 Driving rain, and I found it quite dissapointing on first listening, but then it started to grow on me, I have to say this is... Read more
Published on 15 Jun 2007 by Mr. P. J. WHEATLEY
Lost in translation
After all the hype and positive publicity this album had received, I really wanted to like it and join in the chorus of approval. Read more
Published on 29 Aug 2006 by Arthur Dooley
A DOUBTER STANDS CORRECTED
Never really being a great McCartney fan although I personally feel that no band or artist before or since can hold a candle to the Beatles,the only previously purchased material... Read more
Published on 23 Aug 2006 by A. Thorpe
Continues to grow
Having listened to just about every McCartney offering I believe this to be true vintage macca. I ignored the hype of this album prior to its release, 'better than Band On The Run... Read more
Published on 20 Dec 2005 by Mr. D. Mann
A Class Act in a Class All By Himself!
Paul McCartney, never at a loss for creating extraordiary songs does not disappoint on this collection either. The music is pure McCartney; the lyrics nonpareil. Read more
Published on 10 Nov 2005 by BeatleBangs1964
the masters voice
I have enjoyed Paul's music all my life and still do. He still writes amazing lyrics and music, but I feel these days his voice lets him down from time to time when trying for... Read more
Published on 4 Nov 2005 by Peter
What can I say?
What can I say? I never expected this to happen again. A McCartney album with such depth. I listened to it more on the first day I got it then I ever listened to the also... Read more
Published on 5 Oct 2005 by S. van Schagen
The magic lives on............
Memo to those who, like me , have been long-term McCartney admirers but who also like me were convinced that any new material would be a mere shadow of the legend's finest... Read more
Published on 23 Sep 2005 by Larry G
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