Paul McCartney - The Official "Memory Almost Full" Album Thread (part 2)

http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003583922

May 10, 2007, 5:30 PM ET
Brian Garrity, N.Y. and Paul Sexton, London
Paul McCartney's new album, "Memory Almost Full," will be his first solo release available for download and streaming on PCs and mobile phones. As previously reported, the set is due June 5 via Starbucks' new Hear Music label.

Read the exclusive Billboard Q&A with Paul McCartney in the May 19 issue of Billboard, on newsstands and online tomorrow..

 

But what about when Memory Almost Full becomes "readily acknowledged good stuff"?

 

I doubt it will. It sounds like all of his other recent stuff with a few notable exceptions.

 

One of the problems is opinions change over time . I personally wouldn't
put BOTR or Flowers in my top five McCartney albums at this point . I'll bet most people's top five Mac albums have changed over the years.

 

Sounds like a cue for a top five... any excuse.

...

Nope, tried to compile one but it wouldn't come... I guess Memory Almost Full has me all constipated until it's released.

 

Well, I hope MAF will be in ALL of our top five lists.

 

Ram
London Town
Tug Of War
Venus & Mars
Flaming Pie

 

If it was back in the Beatle days , we would probably love ALL of his albums.
If you could reduce his albums to 5 or six songs each, they all would be pretty great . Because John got a half a dozen or so songs per album, George eventually got one or two and Ringo got one song per disc...the weaker stuff
didn't make the cut.

 

In my most humble opinion, Mr. Bellamy is one of the greatest and most creative and far-out pieces Paul has ever made. Everything is cool on this track. Several voices, effects, different beats, styles, sarcasm, fun etc.

 

I started listening to it again after work. I figured I'd give it a few passes before being too strident in my opinion.

OK, firstly there were a few songs on it I totally glanced right by which were not ballads, like See Your Sunshine & Ever Present Past, which I did listen to in their entirety but for some reason did not remember. They are not bad at all, they're ok. Not great, but OK. Yes, I did like Mr. Bellamy, not great but pretty well done I guess.

Maybe after another listen or two I'll find I like it even better, but I think it's more a matter of being capable music, some good music, a few very good, but...well, one always hopes for Paul to just hit that thing once more (not that we...I...don't already have a lifetime of great music from him to be thankful for).

 

Well...this "tomorrow" never came...tomorrow never knows, you know

 

Memory Almost Full - the origin!

Hey folks: last month I was almost dying trying to remember where I had read something related with the "memory almost full" title idea.
My brain was on fire as I thought it was a recent interview.
Nope.
Actually, it dates back 1997. It's from Record Collector UK mag - June edition.

The bit comes from page 21.

PM:...the kind of thing that happens to me is that I get letters off fans, and they say: "my favourite song in the whole world is "Waterfalls"....Yet it was never releasedas anything...

RECORD COLLECTOR: Er...it made nº 9 in 1980.
PM: Oh my God! This is what happens. I don't even remember releasing the bloody thing! I'm not being blasé, but I have released an awful lot of songs. You know when your computer says you've loaded too much in here, please erase something? My mind's like that. I've still got new stuff coming on top of all this...


So, all in all, I'm not sure if Paul recalled of his own quote and refurbished this into a title for his album, as we've got 2 albums after Flaming Pie. However, it seems that his mind sometimes get overloaded and then he realised he has made so much stuff!

 

My problem with making a top 5 is that I hold several albums in the same esteem for radically different reasons when I'm in different frames of mind. I think about it frequently, because when people find out you're a fan of a musical artist their first question is always "what's your favorite album?"

So I wind up with different tiers (albums I simply cannot rank with one over another) rather than a proper top 5.

After reading it, I regret that I did not find this site in time to participate in the McCartney album by album thread to any extent. It really opened my eyes to a lot of things that I either hadn't thought about or had kind of let slip away into familiarity over the years. I may even pull out my copy of McCartney II and give it another listen.

 

It definitely is a cool track. Am I crazy or do I hear Ringo's voice in there? Particularly on the "steady lads" line.

 

I just had a listen, and this is definitely one of McCartney's best solo efforts. "Mister Bellamy" alone is worth the price of admission.

So what was his inspiration to get off his **** and create good compelling music again? The post-Heather thing? "When I'm 64"s lyrics come back to haunt? LOVE? All of the above?

I believe Paul was inspired by what the Martins did with the LOVE mixes, I think it got his juices flowing again. He's channeling Lennon a bit as well.

Really a good set of tunes. Top 5 imo, maybe top 3. The lyrics all seem to carry some meaning, and these songs are interesting to listen to!

 

I don't know if we'll ever get "great" from Paul again, compared to what we're used to calling "great" as regards McCartney. But MAF is damned good. Better than C & C. better than Flaming Pie, and when regarding expectations, this one hits a home run, imo. Honestly, C & C seemed so reflective and resigned in tone, and MAF feels invigorated and renewed. Very well done!

 

Veech, you call MAF a Top Five, maybe Top Three album, and then say it isn't "great" -- how is that even possible? Go on, you know you want to -- call it great!

 

Have you not heard?
He's been making great records for years!

 

Here's my Macca Top Five:

1. Band on the Run
2. Memory Almost Full
3. Chaos & Creation
4. Flaming Pie
5. Ram

How can I be so reckless as to put MAF in my Top Five so quickly? It's pretty simple, really -- the new album has qualities that don't NEED to "age"; it has strengths that are immediately apparent, and don't need to reveal themselves over time. And these strengths and qualities are partially or seriously lacking in many of his other solo albums. I feel comfortable giving Memory Almost Full a Top Five slot because:

1. The lyrics for EVERY song (except "Nod Your Head," which I am choosing to ignore!) are either (a) excellent, (b) reflective, (c) well-crafted, or (d) at the very least, entertaining and well-suited to the tune. This alone disqualifies most of his albums, which generally all have at least ONE horrid set of lyrics.

2. The full range of Paul's talents as a songwriter are on display: wistful ballads, catchy pop, guitar rock, piano rock, experimental pop, etc. All are executed skillfully and with apparent ease.

3. The playing is impeccable, the songs are concise and well-arranged (again, disqualifying many of his albums), and Paul's singing is engaging and sincere. Whether he's shredding his vocal cords or crooning gently, he's giving it his all, with none of the "lazy Macca" vocals dotting his solo career.

What more can you say? Memory Almost Full has all the musical verve and scope of Ram, but none of the lyrical pitfalls. It has all the care and craft of Chaos, but it's more varied and adventurous. It has all the maturity of Flaming Pie, but is even more reflective and focused. I'm addicted to this record, with a careless disregard for "common sense" that I have only experienced when discovering one of the solo Beatle classics -- for me, Band On The Run, Plastic Ono Band, and All Things Must Pass. Some may end up agreeing with me, and some may utterly disagree, but God, I hope MY feelings don't wane with time...

 

heh.. Still too fresh, I think it's too early to call it great. How well will it stand the test of time? In a year or two maybe I'll call it great. Right now it's in my list of top five -- and probably top three -- favorite Paul McCartney solo albums.

 

that's the rumour..

 

I think MAF sounds quite good, and it could end up in my Top 5, and easily will make it into the Top 7 or 10.

One way I look at an album is how often I skip over tracks when listening, and how many tracks I will tend to skip. So on something like "Flaming Pie", I will often skip over "Used to Be Bad" and "Really Love You", on "Tug of War" I will often skip over "What's That You're Doing" and "Dress Me Up as a Robber", and even on "Chaos..." I will often skip over "Fine Line", "Follow Me", and "A Certain Softness."

While I don't think anything on MAF is as strong as Paul's top-tier solo compositions ("Maybe I'm Amazed", "Here Today", "Somedays", "Band on the Run", "Back Seat of My Car", etc.), there really isn't a song on MAF that I feel like skipping over.

MAF is not without flaws. I could do without the vocal effect near the end of "Feet in the Clouds", which doesn't sound like a vocoder, but more like that effect that became more popular when that Cher track became a hit single back in the late 90's. That sounds way too much like Paul trying to sound "modern" but sounding more like something that would have been "new" several years ago. And that slight hip-hop thing going on during portions of "Mr. Bellamy" sounds a bit lame, even though I quite like the track as a whole.

Quite interesting to me is the fact that this is the fourth studio album in a row where the supposed "single" or "singles" are among the weaker cuts from the album. "Try Not to Cry" and "No Other Baby" were not the strongest cuts in my opinion from "Run Devil Run." "From A Lover to a Friend" wasn't bad, but there were a few other "Driving Rain" tracks that were stronger, even than "Lonely Road" or "Your Loving Flame." On "Chaos...", I found "Fine Line" to be one of the more mediocre, run of the mill tracks (that particular single choice reminded me of when Jeff Lynne or somebody chose "Alright" as the single from the ELO "Zoom" album, and that was by far the weakest track on the album). Now with MAF, "Dance Tonight" and "Ever Present Past" are still good tracks, but among the weaker tracks. I could probably pick 6 to 8 other tracks on the album that I would choose as singles.

 

Anyone have lyrics to "That Was Me" yet?

Here's what I can tell so far..

That was me,
royal iris
on the river,
Mersey beatin'
with the band...

That was me!

That was me
sweatin' cobwebs
under contract
in the cellar
on TV..

That was me!

That was me
a capella
at the altar
in the middle
of the picture,

That was me!

That was me
at the party
sweatin' cobwebs
in the cellar
on TV..

That was me!

And when I think that all this stuff
Can make a life
It's pretty hard to take it in...

That was me!!

What fun lyrics!

Did Macca play bass on this track? If so, it's very adventurous for him, a feisty descending bass line.. I'm seriously digging this song and this whole album.

 

That Was Me

(first verse and chorus, missing from lyric above)

That was me
At the scout camp
Spade and bucket
By the sea
That was me

That was me
Playing conquers
At the bus stop
On a blanket
In the Bluebells
That was me

The same leader stands here now
And when I think that all this stuff
can make a life, it's pretty hard to take it in
That was me