McCartney

Twenty or so years later, I still think it's a great little record. If you like Paul McCartney, then you'll love this album - every song exemplifies the man, and his capacity to write superb pieces of music, the occasional wonderful lyric, but more than any of that, this record presents Paul as a soon to be solo Beatle, proving to himself, and everyone else, that he COULD do it on his own, no matter how terrifying that prospect was at the time.

Other reviews will cite the classic songs such as 'Maybe I'm Amazed' as the reason for buying this, but for me 'Junk' and 'Every Night' are comparable, and certainly Junk is one of the most poignant songs that has EVER been written. Even tracks like 'The Lovely Linda' - throwaways to some - offer a quirky insight into McCartney's mindset at that time, and the strength of the relationship he had with Linda was defined forever.

Yes, there are elements of home 'doodling' on some tracks, but so what? It isn't indulgence, it's called 'talent', and he was more than capable of playing whatever instrument he needed (and had done so on a number of occasions within the Beatles - listen to his demo of 'Come And Get It' as an example). But this was the first time that he didn't have to answer to anyone other than himself, and this collection of songs demonstrates the excitement and fun that he generated by playing and recording everything himself. It's mostly a very upbeat record, with the odd nervous glance at the future thrown in for good measure.

But regardless of what anyone else has said about McCartney's 'form' at this time, this was a man very much on top of his game. He'd done his best to drag the Beatles through the mire that was the Get Back sessions (and pick up the Day By Day series of Nagra tape rolls if you can), saw the Abbey Road project through to completion, and now he took time out to relax and think about the future. Place yourself in his shoes... you're in the biggest band in the world... a band that has been your life for 13 years? And then it's over... how frightening is that?

That the public were probably expecting more supposedly Beatlesy material is not McCartney's fault nor problem. But none of these tracks are out of kilter with what he wrote for Abbey Road and Let It Be, and many of these songs were presented to the Beatles during those sessions, but held back/rejected.

To sum up, this is a wonderfully warm and intimate record, made by a music genius... one of the few that we have left. If you've never heard it, buy it and cherish it.

Whilst the harrowing Plastic Ono Band and somewhat overrated Imagine are frequently cited as examples of the bespectacled one's commitment to putting down on record what was going on in his life at that point in time, McCartney was doing exactly the same thing with this great record, yet I seldom hear it mentioned. The music on this album is the sound of a man and his new wife breaking out on their own,and enjoying themselves.

If you buy this album because you love The Beatles then this, his first solo album, may suffer on first listening as it presents a rather rough and ready feel - the sound of a talented musician just mucking about at home (apparently, some of the tunes came about as a result of the great man just testing some new recording equipment he had installed). However, this rapidly becomes part of its considerable charm, and is to its advantage in some cases - its more easy to forgive the relatively few silly throwaway songs such as Man We Was Lonely and The Lovely Linda when they were just thrown together for fun rather than painstakingly produced in the studio, as they might have been a few years later.

The majority of the songs on this album are excellent - in particular Maybe I'm Amazed and the beautiful Junk, which is one of the most underrated songs by any of the ex Beatles. Even the instrumental tunes, which benefit from excellent bass playing and wonderfully idiosyncratic drumming, reward repeat listening.

This is a fabulous record and, in my opinion, expressed the same sentiments as much of Lennon's work of the time (love, peace) but in a more homespun, less populist manner. Sadly, within 15 years, he was singing about frogs.