OK, first of all, I like them both. Honestly. Especially the second one, "Come On To Me". But both are good.
Second, I feel like these sound like two songs from "McCartney 3". They sound like songs where he played all the instruments, layered everything, arranged everything. Sounds like Paul and nobody else in the studio. I liked it in "1", mostly (and strongly) disliked it in "2", and am undecided (ambivalent??) so far in "3".
Overall they are GOOD songs, just need some time to process how they are produced.
I Don't Know is more of the unmemorable pablum Paul has been dishing up for decades. Come To Me however is an all too short catchy little rocker even though the "lyrics" must have been written in less than 5 minutes! Thanks for the listen.
Pleasant. Enough so that I want to hear the album. But, yeah, it's sounds like more one-man-show efforts and I'm less enthused about that than I am when he works with an actual band.
The first song is exquisite! Great McCartney songwriting. The second one sounds a bit like a throwaway. I'll have to hear it a bit more. I do think his vocals are getting in the way - kind of a sadness knowing that he's aged. He has so much more music to give yet time is working against him.
Macca's doing that car share thing with James Corden this week. I believe it airs tonight for you US folk & tomorrow for us Brits. Don't know though if he's "premiering" either of the new tunes - which are "Macca-erish" enough for a listen. So cheers for that!
It definitely sounds like "McCartney 3". With "McCartney" he had something to prove. Now he doesn't, really. I hear everything through the sad vacuum of his isolation. I couldn't get all the way through. "Uh, hear we go" I thought, seconds in, "not this one again". On the other hand the fast one is a lot of fun, but would have benefited greatly from the harmonies, John, George, and Ringo would have provided. It sounds hermetic. Sure he can play everything, but should he? If other musicians were involved, I'm sorry there was no apparent chemistry.
Pleasant enough, wish he worked more on the lyrics. He seems to have a problem knowing when to end a song, they go on a bit long. But the bass is strong as ever. Long live Paul, he has the music, he just needs the muse IMO.
I enjoyed both tunes. The first tune sounds new and familiar at the same time. The second song sounds less familiar, but still enjoyable. I'm ready to hear the album.
On first listen I was pretty underwhelmed, feeling that I've heard these before in better songs from McCartney. I did give them another couple of spins this morning and they are growing on me, which isn't that unusual for Macca's new tunes. They do sound good through headphones. Here's a link to a very good recent BBC interview with Paul which Burning Wood members might enjoy reading: https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-44551937
I love the first track, the ballad (?) "I Don't Know." I think there are some gorgeous chord changes and some classic McCartney melody tricks. It's sounds like a continuation of the more adult stuff on "Chaos & Creation." I'm not sure what people are hearing, but it sounds like a band to me. Really sounds great loud. Paul was always a good drummer, but at 76 I don't think he doing subtle funky ghost notes on the snare. I love this track and to my ears, it sounds like a band.
The rocker (?) is fine. I can take or leave it, but I wouldn't be unhappy when it was its turn on the album.
I shared it on ye ol' Shout It Out Loud yesterday and really like both, but especially the ballad. I get the "he's playing all the instruments himself thing" (not a problem for me) because I hear a lot of that hermetic Emmitt Rhodes thing in the ballad - and I believe he was an "I'll play it all" guy.
Maybe I have the benefit of not keeping up with PM over the years, so lacking familiarity with his stuff over the past few decades (save for a few songs here and there, and 'Run Devil Run', which I bought when I heard it in a record store while shopping). I thought both songs were quite nice! C in California
Please, oh please, allow some people to hear the words of their youth when they are 76 years old. I hope they get that far. “I do think his vocals are getting in the way.” Getting in the way of what, exactly? Sure, we all remember the days of the Little Richard screams fondly but time and its passage does impact us all.
Paul is not my favorite Fab anymore than the other three are. But hat tip to him that rather than resting on his laurels (which he has totally earned) he writes his age. He shows that as we journey through life we continue to doubt ourselves and wonder if we could be better, can be better. On the other hand, “Come On To Me” proves that great line from Elvin Bishop, “There might be snow up on the mountain/ But there’s fire down below.”
“Make your mistakes, take your chances, look silly, but keep on going. Don’t freeze up.” - Thomas Wolfe “You Can’t Go Home Again”
I think "I Don't Know" is just lovely and gets stronger with repeated listens. I think the other is more of a B side than a double A side, but it's frisky and ok. I look forward to living with them both and anticipating the new album. If it can match "New" and "Chaos and Creation," what an amazing third or fourth or fifth act he's having.
Wholly fuck I really like both tracks a lot!!! Too bad the rest of the boys and George Martin weren't around to help Paul make these all-time classics!
Well said, Gene Oberto... it's a minor miracle that some of my heroes from the 60s (when I was just born) are still living and making great music. Don't nit-pick the hell out of it - let's enjoy!
I really love both of these songs. I loved the last album "New" as well. Like a lot of other people, I have come to appreciate that we have taken Paul for granted for too long. Yes, he was a Beatle, of course. But we loved rolling our eyes at "Silly Love Songs" and the rest and saying that John or George were our favorites, just to show our integrity. I love John and George, of course, but in the last 10 years I realize how utterly wrong I was about Paul. Solo Paul. And, like a lot of others, I've re-assessed a lot of his catalogue. Strangely, I think his run from "Flowers In the Dirt" is his most consistent. they show a drive, curiosity and grit that someone would never, ever expect from someone's in Paul's position. This album looks to continue in that direction. What a treat
Like them both! "I don't Know" suits his voice perfectly and really sticks with you. "Come on To Me" is pure fun, and I'm a sucker for an electric sitar. Looking forward to the CD.
Thank you for such a thoughtful and entertaining blog.
I watched the "Carpool Karaoke" bit with McCartney yesterday, and I was literally brought to tears. Seeing him visiting all of the old haunts from his youth, and the disbelief of the gathering crowd that it was *really* Paul McCartney, and the outpouring of joy and love, was just too much for this old fan. I saw him once, ATL in '92. It was perfect: right after Wings, when he first began playing his old Beatles tunes again. I'll never forget it. He was, and still is, a master performer.
21 comments:
Hi Nunz
I think Paul has had better days!These 2 are NAFF.
Hmmmm....
OK, first of all, I like them both. Honestly. Especially the second one, "Come On To Me". But both are good.
Second, I feel like these sound like two songs from "McCartney 3". They sound like songs where he played all the instruments, layered everything, arranged everything. Sounds like Paul and nobody else in the studio. I liked it in "1", mostly (and strongly) disliked it in "2", and am undecided (ambivalent??) so far in "3".
Overall they are GOOD songs, just need some time to process how they are produced.
Thanks for sharing.
I Don't Know is more of the unmemorable pablum Paul has been dishing up for decades. Come To Me however is an all too short catchy little rocker even though the "lyrics" must have been written in less than 5 minutes! Thanks for the listen.
Pleasant. Enough so that I want to hear the album. But, yeah, it's sounds like more one-man-show efforts and I'm less enthused about that than I am when he works with an actual band.
The first song is exquisite! Great McCartney songwriting. The second one sounds a bit like a throwaway. I'll have to hear it a bit more. I do think his vocals are getting in the way - kind of a sadness knowing that he's aged. He has so much more music to give yet time is working against him.
Macca's doing that car share thing with James Corden this week. I believe it airs tonight for you US folk & tomorrow for us Brits. Don't know though if he's "premiering" either of the new tunes - which are "Macca-erish" enough for a listen. So cheers for that!
It definitely sounds like "McCartney 3".
With "McCartney" he had something to prove. Now he doesn't, really. I hear everything through the sad vacuum of his isolation. I couldn't get all the way through. "Uh, hear we go" I thought, seconds in, "not this one again".
On the other hand the fast one is a lot of fun, but would have benefited greatly from the harmonies, John, George, and Ringo would have provided. It sounds hermetic.
Sure he can play everything, but should he?
If other musicians were involved, I'm sorry there was no apparent chemistry.
Pleasant enough, wish he worked more on the lyrics. He seems to have a problem knowing when to end a song, they go on a bit long. But the bass is strong as ever. Long live Paul, he has the music, he just needs the muse IMO.
I enjoyed both tunes. The first tune sounds new and familiar at the same time. The second song sounds less familiar, but still enjoyable. I'm ready to hear the album.
On first listen I was pretty underwhelmed, feeling that I've heard these before in better songs from McCartney. I did give them another couple of spins this morning and they are growing on me, which isn't that unusual for Macca's new tunes. They do sound good through headphones. Here's a link to a very good recent BBC interview with Paul which Burning Wood members might enjoy reading:
https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-44551937
I love the first track, the ballad (?) "I Don't Know." I think there are some gorgeous chord changes and some classic McCartney melody tricks. It's sounds like a continuation of the more adult stuff on "Chaos & Creation." I'm not sure what people are hearing, but it sounds like a band to me. Really sounds great loud. Paul was always a good drummer, but at 76 I don't think he doing subtle funky ghost notes on the snare. I love this track and to my ears, it sounds like a band.
The rocker (?) is fine. I can take or leave it, but I wouldn't be unhappy when it was its turn on the album.
I shared it on ye ol' Shout It Out Loud yesterday and really like both, but especially the ballad. I get the "he's playing all the instruments himself thing" (not a problem for me) because I hear a lot of that hermetic Emmitt Rhodes thing in the ballad - and I believe he was an "I'll play it all" guy.
Good stuff, Paul!
I take it back. With headphones it sounds like programmed drums. But he did get a great sound. And I still love the first track.
Maybe I have the benefit of not keeping up with PM over the years, so lacking familiarity with his stuff over the past few decades (save for a few songs here and there, and 'Run Devil Run', which I bought when I heard it in a record store while shopping). I thought both songs were quite nice!
C in California
Please, oh please, allow some people to hear the words of their youth when they are 76 years old. I hope they get that far. “I do think his vocals are getting in the way.” Getting in the way of what, exactly? Sure, we all remember the days of the Little Richard screams fondly but time and its passage does impact us all.
Paul is not my favorite Fab anymore than the other three are. But hat tip to him that rather than resting on his laurels (which he has totally earned) he writes his age. He shows that as we journey through life we continue to doubt ourselves and wonder if we could be better, can be better. On the other hand, “Come On To Me” proves that great line from Elvin Bishop, “There might be snow up on the mountain/ But there’s fire down below.”
“Make your mistakes, take your chances, look silly, but keep on going. Don’t freeze up.” - Thomas Wolfe “You Can’t Go Home Again”
I think "I Don't Know" is just lovely and gets stronger with repeated listens. I think the other is more of a B side than a double A side, but it's frisky and ok. I look forward to living with them both and anticipating the new album. If it can match "New" and "Chaos and Creation," what an amazing third or fourth or fifth act he's having.
Wholly fuck I really like both tracks a lot!!! Too bad the rest of the boys and George Martin weren't around to help Paul make these all-time classics!
Captain Al
Well said, Gene Oberto... it's a minor miracle that some of my heroes from the 60s (when I was just born) are still living and making great music. Don't nit-pick the hell out of it - let's enjoy!
I really love both of these songs. I loved the last album "New" as well. Like a lot of other people, I have come to appreciate that we have taken Paul for granted for too long. Yes, he was a Beatle, of course. But we loved rolling our eyes at "Silly Love Songs" and the rest and saying that John or George were our favorites, just to show our integrity. I love John and George, of course, but in the last 10 years I realize how utterly wrong I was about Paul. Solo Paul. And, like a lot of others, I've re-assessed a lot of his catalogue. Strangely, I think his run from "Flowers In the Dirt" is his most consistent. they show a drive, curiosity and grit that someone would never, ever expect from someone's in Paul's position. This album looks to continue in that direction. What a treat
Like them both! "I don't Know" suits his voice perfectly and really sticks with you. "Come on To Me" is pure fun, and I'm a sucker for an electric sitar. Looking forward to the CD.
Thank you for such a thoughtful and entertaining blog.
-Tony
I watched the "Carpool Karaoke" bit with McCartney yesterday, and I was literally brought to tears. Seeing him visiting all of the old haunts from his youth, and the disbelief of the gathering crowd that it was *really* Paul McCartney, and the outpouring of joy and love, was just too much for this old fan.
I saw him once, ATL in '92. It was perfect: right after Wings, when he first began playing his old Beatles tunes again. I'll never forget it.
He was, and still is, a master performer.
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