The release of "memory almost gone" made me revisit my other McCartney albums, one of which is this total gem. Flaming Pie was written during Linda's (then private) tragic battle with cancer, and it's an album about all the things that are good in life: love, hope, reconciliation, friends and, indeed, partying.
that McCartney made such an intimate album as this, is quite amazing. his songs have never been more honest, and never more pointnant. this is an album which gently moves from one mood to the next, dealing with his wife's struggle with cancer not in a pessimistic way, but by making the most of every possible moment. there are some obvious tracks which are classic latter-day McCartney - the 60's rocker "Young Boy" and the almost-Lennon homage "Flaming Pie" with the near-nonsense-yet-strangely-meaningful lyrics and the classic McCartney piano-bashing. but it's the songs that are indirectly (or directly) about his family which are the most memorable. "Little Willow", "Heaven on A Sunday" and "Calico Skies" are tender, calm intimate portraits which are quite moving.
It feels like a family effort, indeed Linda provides some backing-vocals on one of the tracks, and McCartney's son, James provides some rather good guitar on a couple of them. Other guests invited round are steve miller and jeff lynne, but most special of all, to complete the old-boys reunion, ringo and george martin pop round for a bit of back-beat drumming and some fantastic orchestral arrangements. McCartney himself plays a lot of the instruments too - couple of tracks feature him playing nearly everything - there's a great sense of fun and 'just try it' attitude as if he felt the songs would work whatever. and they really do. He clearly enjoyed himself making this, despite the obvious adversity at home. A testament to his optimism and character if ever there was one.
you get a lot of 'up-close-and-personal' moments with just McCartney and his acoustic guitar - which are really rather effective. "Great Day" is a short little footnote after the superb "Beautiful Night" - a wind down to the latter's bombast and mayhem, and ends the album on a thoroughly optimistic tone. Can't resist a word on "Beautiful Night": It's one of those great tracks that starts off well and just improves. A really strong piano part leads into a gorgeous ballad which soars away and then back down to earth, and then - slam! - into a classic McCartney rock-out with a superb George Martin horn and string arrangement and some great guitar and general mayhem for good measure.
when I first bought this album 10yrs ago, "Beautiful Night" rapidly became one of my favourite songs. 10yrs on, nothing's changed - only now this album has become one of my all time favourites. Truly, an album that grows, and has lasted the test of time.
