Electric Arguments [Limited Edition]

With 'Electric Arguments', The Fireman (a.k.a. Paul McCartney and ex-Killing Joke bassist Youth) have produced something in between a Paul McCartney solo album and an experimental release similar to the last two predominantly instrumental albums under the Fireman guise. After last year's well-received, fairly commercial 'Memory Almost Full', this is a nice change of pace from the mainstream, with Paul using this pseudonym to remind us of his avant-garde, ultra-creative side. Of course, if Paul was feeling particularly brave, he could have released this under his real name instead of The Fireman - but, thinking realistically, he probably wouldn't have got away with it, even though many of these compositions are more than good enough for a Paul McCartney solo album.

The album opens with the dirty 'Nothing Too Much Just Out Of Sight', featuring Macca's raw, throaty vocals over a persistent bluesy riff. The slightly twee 'Two Magpies' follows, featuring Paul's falsetto over a charming acoustic guitar pattern. The third track 'Sing The Changes' is the first glimpse of something approaching special on this release, even though the chords and melody are a tad simplistic - the production and instrumentation make this track a lot more interesting that it otherwise would have been. Next up is 'Travelling Light', an extremely lovely, dreamy piece which could easily have slotted straight onto 'Chaos & Creation In The Backyard' and been a fan's favourite.

'Highway' takes us back into rock territory and we're treated to a driving bass-line, thundering pianos and wailing harmonicas and it's great stuff. 'Light From Your Lighthouse' is a catchy folk-stomper which is charming enough but soon wears a little thin after a few plays. The next song, 'Sun Is Shining' is a summery, upbeat track which soon gets you tapping your feet and nodding your head, appreciating the musicianship contained within it. After 'Sun Is Shining', we come to the best song on the album, 'Dance 'Till We're High', an uplifting piece of utter brilliance which boast bells chiming, a string section punctuating the chorus, rolling and tumbling towards the almost anti-climatic end.

'Lifelong Passion' is an Asian-tinted piece which seems to be based around one chord and, while pleasant, is not particularly special. 'Is This Love?' is a beautiful mystical piece which seems to have Indian roots. The swelling cymbals, the sweet flute and the gently persuasive tambourine all topped off by Paul's vocals floating serenely over the music make this a very enjoyable track indeed. 'Lovers In A Dream' is a decent piece of ambient dance music backed by a persistent bass drum beat which slowly builds sonic levels until it reaches a climax and then takes a minute-or-so to wind down. 'Universal Here, Everlasting Now' is another, less mellow, "club" track and, again, while decent, for those who don't particularly care for this style of music, the album may be losing a little of its appeal. It does have a very pretty piano outro, though. The final track on 'Electric Arguments' is 'Don't Stop Running', another, albeit dancy, highlight of the album.

I have to admit that I'm not entirely convinced by all of this material. It's undoubtedly great to hear new, leftfield McCartney tracks, but some of the ideas are basic shells of compositions - there are a few three chord wonders here - which are then embellished with layers of instruments and admittedly excellent production, but at least half of these songs wouldn't stand on their own merits if performed by Paul with nothing but an acoustic guitar. This is, richly creative, an entertaining listen and without a doubt, the best of the three 'Fireman' albums. While it certainly keeps us fans ticking over waiting for the next "proper" solo album, I believe this is a little short of the work of genius some fans are proclaiming it to be and it does mean that a lot of these ultra-positive reviews are likely to be raising expectations. However, if you approach this album not expecting it to be absolutely fantastic, you will probably be pleasantly surprised. I have to admit, Paul's eclectic tastes and creativity make you wonder what his next release will be - but considering his current form, you know it will probably be rather good.