Paul McCartney: New

     A friend of mine asked me if I was going to get the new McCartney album. Then he asked me something I hadn't considered before, "Did you get any of his other albums when they came out?" Oddly, the answer was "no". Until yesterday, the most recent McCartney album I had was 1982's Tug of War and it was a gift last year from my kids. No Kisses on the Bottom. No Memory Almost Full. No Chaos and Creation in the Backyard. No Driving Rain. No Flaming Pie. No nothing. So, why did I get New? Maybe subconsciously, David Bowie's last album restored my faith in old musical heroes. I had written off Bowie, McCartney, Elton John and Neil Young, to name a few. Now I have hope that these guys are still capable of releasing an album that's relevant and vital. And New is relevant and vital.
     I've been anticipating this album for awhile. Back before Kisses on the Bottom came out, I read an interview with McCartney. He talked about how he had become friends with Dave Grohl and was inspired to make a rock album. I was cautiously optimistic. Then all the talk about New centered around Paul using four different producers. Then they put out the title track in advance of the album's release and I wasn't to excited by it. I guess I was expecting something along the line of the song he did with the surviving Nirvana guys. Then last week, the reviews started coming out and they were all 4 1/2 and 5 stars. So yesterday I pulled the trigger and got it.
     New is a fantastic mix of classic McCartney and contemporary production. I don't want to turn this post into an examination of the different producers, but I really like the songs that Paul Epworth produced; "Save Us", "Queenie Eye" and "Road". I also enjoyed most of the Giles Martin songs, especially "Appreciate". "Appreciate" reminded me of the sound on Kasabian's first album, which I love. "Everybody Out There" evokes Wings, particularly "Mrs Vandebilt" from Band on the Run. "I Can Bet" is another standout track that features some very clever lyrics on McCartney's part. Even the title track has grown on me since the first time I heard it. And this is a great hand clap album. There are really only a couple songs that drag the album down, somewhat; "Hosanna" and "Early Days". "Early Days" was probably the most jarring, because it's five songs in. I was enjoying a revitalized McCartney, then he starts singing a dirge about the Beatles' days. We all know he was a Beatle. Their history has been told ad nauseum, even by Paul himself. I can sort of see why Ringo has a song about being a Beatle on every album, but Paul doesn't need to. "Early days" does have a poignant line, however.

Now everybody seems to have their own opinion.
Who did this and who did that.
But as for me, I don't see how they can remember
When they weren't where it was at.

Fair point, but the Beatles have single-handedly defined popular music for half a century, so we're going to have opinions about who did this and who did that. You don't have to have played sports to have opinions about sports. One of the fun things about music is having opinions on things like Beatles vs. Stones or Lennon vs. McCartney. Maybe that's not what he meant by that, but that's how I take it.
     Anyhow, New is a terrific album and I highly recommend it. No one knows how many more of these McCartney has left in him, so enjoy it. Peace.