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Chaos and Creation in the Backyard
 
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Chaos and Creation in the Backyard [Import]

~ Paul McCartney
4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (48 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Audio CD (13 Sep 2005)
  • Number of Discs: 1
  • Format: Import
  • Label: Capitol
  • ASIN: B000AL730O
  • Other Editions: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 328,063 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Track Listings

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. Certain Softness
9. Riding to Vanity Fair
10. Follow Me
11. Promise to You Girl
12. This Never Happened Before
13. Anyway

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.

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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From the Label
Chaos And Creation In The Back Yard, Paul McCartney’s 20th studio recording since The Beatles, marks an end to a nearly four-year hiatus since his last studio recording, 2001’s platinum certified Driving Rain. The new 13-track album is co-produced by Nigel Godrich (Radiohead, Travis and Beck) and McCartney, and was recorded in London and Los Angeles over the course of the past two years

Chaos And Creation In The Back Yard is a return to the basics for McCartney. The album successfully fuses his undeniable song writing talents with his unparalleled musicianship. In fact, McCartney is credited with playing the majority of the instruments on the album, which is somewhat reminiscent of McCartney when he was credited with playing all of the instruments. They include the drums, guitar, bass, keyboards, as well as many of the less traditional instruments such as block flute, harmonium and flugelhorn.

Chaos And Creation In The Back Yard is a mix of up-tempo piano driven McCartney instant classics such as the new single "Fine Line" and "Promise To You Girl" and more introspective darker tracks such as "At The Mercy", "Too Much Rain" and "Riding To Vanity Fair". One of the many highlights is a track entitled, "Jenny Wren", which Paul describes as "daughter of Blackbird", as well as "Follow Me", which McCartney debuted at The Glastonbury Festival, while on his ’04 Summer European Tour.

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Customer Reviews

48 Reviews
5 star:
 (30)
4 star:
 (11)
3 star:
 (3)
2 star:
 (1)
1 star:
 (3)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.3 out of 5 stars (48 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars His best album for many many years, 22 May 2006
By Greg Farefield-Rose (Hertfordshire United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   
This review is from: Chaos And Creation In The Backyard (Audio CD)
There's not a lot of chaos in the end result but lots of dedicated creativity to produce the best album Paul McCartney has made in a long time - if not his best post-Beatles LP ever.

A lot of credit has to go to renowned producer Nigel Goodrich who insisted on Macca eschewing his touring band and playing virtually every instrument. No respecter of reputation, Goodrich by all accounts worked his charge very hard to get the best results. His production also gives the album a modern sound whilst retaining those distinct McCartney characteristics.

Some credit also has to go to the brilliant arranger and sometime Divine Comedy member Joby Talbot who arranged the background strings and brass on several songs. Talbot's arrangements always embellish rather than take over the tunes with his work on the gloriously whimsical English Tea being a particularly fine example of his talents.

Most of the credit though has to go to Paul McCartney himself for a set of stripped down, catchy but long-lasting songs and some excellent playing. The lyrics - so often a cloying bugbear of Paul's solo work - are also excellent being slightly vague and very readable. It's a measure of Macca's creativity and confidence that several songs on Chaos & Creation are rightly two-three minutes long rather than being unnecessarily fleshed out to use up CD space.

Particular highlights for me range from the poppy Fine Line and Friends To Go to the more atmospheric Riding To Vanity Fair. Further highlights include the brilliant, meditative Jenny Wren, deliberately written and arranged in a similar style to The Beatles' Blackbird, and the aforementioned quintessentially eccentric English Tea. No one plays either of these styles as well as McCartney.

Although there was plenty of chaos in the creation of C&CITBY, it was well worth all the studio conflict. A brilliant album by an artist making his best music for many many years.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Macca goes it alone, 5 May 2006
By R. A. Cross "busheyrd" (U.K.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Chaos And Creation In The Backyard (Audio CD)
This was my first McCartney studio album since 'Flowers in the Dirt', and therefore my first one without Linda. I must say I like it a lot. Experience has taught me to excercise a certain amount of caution where Paul's albums are concerned, but I really liked the single and, at the currant low price how could I go wrong? McCartney songs tend to be growers rather than instantly memorable, and this collection is no acception. A couple of the tracks I tend to skip, but compared to the aforementioned 'Flowers in the Dirt', (which contains a number of real horrors) the quality is consistently high.
The album is very much a 'do it yourself' affair, most noticable on the backing vocals, where I keep thinking 'that's where Linda should be', especially Paul's double tracked backing on 'A certain Softness'.The arrangements are generally kept simple which works well most, though not all of the time. All in all a very pleasing album.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Accomplished and Mature - How To Write Songs, 25 Nov 2005
By Dl Fairey "ousetunes" (Sheffield, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Chaos And Creation In The Backyard (Audio CD)
Chaos and Creation finds McCartney ageing like a quality wine, there to be enjoyed by those who recognise a good song when they hear one and for those who can appreciate the skills in writing memorable melodies and thought-provoking (usually personal) lyrics. The album shows a maturity in McCartney's songwriting knowing for once when to leave things out as opposed to trying to cram everything in.

No lush George Martinesque strings on here, although there are a few George Martin moments especially on the bridge during Follow Me and in the twee nostaligia of English Tea (where you can visualise McCartney's smug smile when he plonks his finger on that final piano note 'There, that's how you do it').

The strings are, especially during the haunting yet beautiful Riding To Vanity Fayre more akin to those used on Lennon's Imagine album, there to create a sense of well, suspense, of something sinister lurking in the background. They may carry a heaviness from Paul's own heart, a sigh at some of the images that must have been going through his mind when he wrote and recorded this album (John, George and Linda to name but three).

Infact, there's quite a bit of looking back on this album. Promise To You Girl sounds as though it should have been on the b-side to Red Rose Speedway, the guitar tone being almost identical to that played on the closing medley. And the backing vocals hark back to Abbey Road almost sounding too 'John and George'.

Fine Time is a grower really getting into its element during the instrumental break where the organ comes in. Jenny Wren could be a Double White out-take. The choice of duduk as an instrument is inspired, sounding half musical instrument, half human voice. Again it's haunting and brings a slightly disturbing feel to the song.

For me though, the finest songs are left to the end. This Never Happened Before was 'the missing Abbey Road Macca ballad'. The big key change hits you in the heart and McCartney sings this with real meaning, almost a yearning sounding both surprised and yet regretful. An astonishing track.

Likewise Anyway the album's closing track proper. Beautiful, sincere and yet with a degree of sadness. You can see Paul sat at the piano playing but his eyes are askance, looking far away, possibly into the past, but arguably into the future.

Chaos and Creation is a wonderful piece of work that finds McCartney for once maybe facing up to facts that he's not getting any younger and that sadly, of all the Beatles, only he and Ringo are still with us.

In being in a reflective and possibly sombre mood, Paul has written an album from the heart and in producer Michael Goodrich, has found someone to put those feelings onto record without the need to overdress any of those songs.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

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4.0 out of 5 stars LET IT GROWN ON YOU.......
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1.0 out of 5 stars Sadly Unlistenable
I am a firm Macca supporter, and have bought everything he has released; the good, the bad, and unfortunately the ugly, into which category Chaos and Creation snugly fits... Read more
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