McCartney II [Box set, CD+DVD, Original recording remastered]

MCCARTNEY II is an album that polarizes fans. Many think it's too weird and not enough of a "McCartney" record. Others, like me, think it shows Paul's experimental side in a batch of songs that are interesting and fun.

For those who haven't heard MCCARTNEY II, I would not recommend the Deluxe Edition as your initial experience. Seek out "Coming Up" (the studio version, NOT Wings' live version), "Temporary Secretary" and "Waterfalls" and a few other songs on YouTube, and if you like them, buy the 2 CD set. For those fans who rank MCCARTNEY II among their favorite of his albums, though, the Deluxe Edition is a must.

The first disc, the initial album, is remastered wonderfully. The sound is crisp and clear for the first time on CD. It really makes one appreciate the effort Paul went into in producing, engineering and recording this album--all done at home on a 16-track Studer machine, without help barring initial technical assistance from engineer Eddie Klein and a few backing vocals from Linda. The album is synth-heavy, which may turn fans off. Paul also experimented with his vocals, speeding them or slowing them and sometimes adding echo.

"Waterfalls" and "One Of These Days" are probably the most McCartneyesque tracks. "Temporary Secretary", "Bogey Music" and "Darkroom" are probably the strangest. "Front Parlour" and "Frozen J**" (the title unrelated to his prison time; Amazon will not let me quote it here) are instrumentals. This is a record where no song sounds quite like the one before it.

The bonus discs, unlike the MCCARTNEY Deluxe Edition, include quite a few outtakes and alternate takes. Originally, MCCARTNEY II was planned as a double album, but Columbia's record execs vetoed that idea. The bizarre "Check My Machine" (recorded to test his tape equipment) and the ethereal "Secret Friend" (a 10-minute long mostly instrumental number) were released as B-sides. Other numbers, like the instrumentals "Bogey Wobble" and "Blue Sway", are on Disc 2. The live version of "Coming Up" by Wings recorded at Glasgow also turns up there, with an additional verse. Unfortunately for completists, the intro and chanting at the end are cut out, and the track's been remixed. So don't throw out your 45s yet.

"Mr. H Atom" is a piece of fluff sung by Paul and Linda; it's not that great, but it's amusing. "You Know I'll Get You Baby" recalls Prince's material on DIRTY MIND in terms of sound, not content; the entire song is the title line. Still, as a piece of New Wave pop, it rocks. "All You Horseriders" is one of Paul's silliest songs, but again, the background is pure late Seventies New Wave. For that, I love it. Finally, "Blue Sway" had orchestration added to it back in 1986, when Paul was considering its release on an outtakes record, COLD CUTS. That take, along with the original, is preserved here, and it sounds absolutely gorgeous, like a lost Police song.

Disc 3 is more dispensable. It contains the original, "long" versions of songs that were cut down for MCCARTNEY II, such as "Coming Up", "Front Parlour" and "Frozen J**". The instrumentals aren't that interesting, but the longer versions of "Darkroom" and "Check My Machine" (nine minutes!) are even more alternative fun. "Wonderful Christmastime", however, isn't much improved with an extra 30 seconds or so. We also get a take of "Summer Day's Song" without the vocals added later; it's gorgeous. The disc ends with the DJ edit of "Waterfalls", for what that's worth.

Finally, the DVD has an interview between McCartney and Tim Rice from 1980 which is moderately interesting, but not very revealing. The videos for "Coming Up", "Waterfalls" and "Wonderful Christmastime" are included; they don't look significantly improved from their appearance on THE MCCARTNEY YEARS. ("Christmastime" still looks pretty awful.) The video of "Coming Up" from Kampuchea is nice to have, but I wish they'd release the entire concert--not just Paul, but the Who, Pretenders et al as well. A rehearsal take of "Coming Up" by Wings in 1979 is fascinating. It reminded me of the LET IT BE sessions in that no one, even Paul, seems to be having any fun. Perhaps this is why Wings eventually broke up. Finally, the "Making of 'Coming Up'" video is way too short, but it's a great look into how that groundbreaking promo film came together, with some comments from Paul.

The book is well worth the purchase price on its own. Chockfull of rare photos, with lots of technical details about the recording of the album from Paul, Eddie Klein and Richard Niles, who orchestrated "Blue Sway". Paul also tells a few fun stories about overdubbing, which I won't spoil here. We see photos of the other Wings members from the cover shoot for MCCARTNEY II, an alternate inside spread design, an interview originally published in Club Sandwich about the record, and full details on all the album tracks and videos. Beautifully done.

One last bonus: All the tracks are available as digital downloads, limited and unlimited, from Paul's website. You can't play them on your iPods, though.

Quibbles: I wish they'd left "Coming Up (Live at Glasgow)" alone. And where's the B-side of "Wonderful Christmastime", "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reggae"? He didn't record it at home, but it belongs here. Well, it's not that great anyway.

If you love MCCARTNEY II, you owe it to yourself to buy this edition. It's a keeper.

This isn't one of McCartney's best albums, but I knew that before I ordered it. Many of the songs seem like throwaways. However, the package is quite nice--well-designed hardcover book that offers background info on the album, and a link to high-res downloads (this link wasn't working initially, but has been repaired). I only recommend this for McCartney completists due to the price, however; if all you want is the music, buy the less expensive version.

"McCartney II" allowed Paul McCartney to escape the expectations of an ex-Beatle and the pop driven hits of Wings. Like it's counterpart album "McCartney" the album is homespun even with the technological trappings. The songwriting for the best songs here are appealing and fascinating. Although "McCartney II" IS flawed (not all the experimental and instrumental tracks work with McCartney sometimes too fascinated with the technology and not still somewhat trapped in the mentality of a songwriter)the best moments take their inspiration from Brian Eno and his experiments at the time. In many respects "McCartney II" holds its own with Eno's "Before and After Science" the only album that is comparable. Paul wasn't trying to create a PAUL McCARTNEY album as much as he was trying to defy critical expectations by doing something unusual and experimental in structure.

"McCartney II" unlike its counterpart album comes with plenty of bonus material. Aside from the deluxe, handsomely designed book that houses the CDs and DVD, we get THREE CDs of material. The first has the original album for the first time from the mastertapes (digitally recreated as the original masters were edited between the time they were created and the time they were pressed to vinyl at the demand of Columbia and were drawn from a tape one more generation away from the mastertape). The second has the b-sides, singles issued/recorded around the same time. "Blue Sway" is drawn from the tapes prepared for "Cold Cuts" an outtakes album that McCartney had planned for years and almost issued in 1986. It's also the soundtrack to a film on surfing. "Secret Friend" and other b-sides that were issued at the time are included along with the A-side single for the album the Wings version of "Coming Up" (it is the single version).

The second bonus disc contains the uncut tracks that were prepared when "McCartney II" was originally planned as a double album and before they were edited for the final album release.

The DVD includes the video for "Coming Up" in its original aspect ratio at the beginning of the Tim Rice Interview (Clarification)however the video itself presented alonge is in widescreen clearly ported over from the tranasfer done for the "McCartney Years" DVD. We also get the video with Paul's commentary track and an interview to promote the album conducted by lyricist Tim Rice that suggests Rice missed his calling as an interviewer.

The remastering by the Abbey Road team that created The Beatles, John Lennon and Apple remasters are quite well done.

There are also codes for the lossless version of the album as a digital download as well as a lossy version.

This is a terrific set and even if "McCartney II" is flawed it's an album that fans will enjoy and the real reason to get this are all the extras and the limited edition deluxe book.