Tag: Paul McCartney

Biggest disappointments of 2020

powerpopaholic

Just let me start by saying this isn’t a “worst albums” list but a collection of mediocre albums that I will likely not listen to again. I tend to pick on established stars who should’ve known better. Let the hate mail flow…

 

Billy Bremner

Billy Bremner “Rockfiles: A Tribute to Rockpile”
Bremner paying tribute to his old band Rockpile (with Nick Lowe and Dave Edmunds) sounds like a decent idea, but he can’t pull it off. Musically it sounds like a lame cover band, and Bremner’s vocals just aren’t up to snuff — it’ll have you reaching for the original almost instantly.

 

Kevin Godley

Kevin Godley “Muscle Memory”
Godley was an integral part of 10cc, one of the most innovative rock bands of the ’70s. Unlike his counterpart, Graham Gouldman who’s done a great job this year with a new album, Godley’s work is as non-melodic and experimentally boring as can be. Godley’s vocal is still impressive, and it makes the experience listenable. Barely. “Periscope” is the only tolerable tune here.

 

Elvis Costello

Elvis Costello “Hey Clockface”
Many critics fall over to the “master craftsman” who mixes styles and moods “brilliantly.” This scattershot mess feels like a series of loose demos. He goes for weird moody Arabic instrumentals, ballads he croaks out (his vocals are shot), and tin-pan alley pop that seems better suited to Randy Newman or Leon Redbone. The song “Radio is Everything” has him doing narrative poetry. Maybe he thinks he’s Bob Dylan now? His one “angry old man” song “No Flag” is pure cacophony compared to his last album Look Now.

 

Paul McCartney

Paul McCartney “III”
Sir Paul figures he could just indulge himself, playing lots of loose jams and sketches. But unlike McCartney which was a home-tooled response to The Beatles, and McCartney II which was an attempt to incorporate new music trends, “III” feels like he’s noodling around and bored. The septuagenarian multi-millionaire pop star still has legendary talent, as “Seize the Day” proves he can still fart out good music whenever he wants to. But after all that promotional build-up, he’s just taking it easy here. Ho hum.

 

The top 25 best power pop of 2020 is coming soon…

Paul McCartney “New”

powerpopaholic 2 Comments

Rarely do I review such mainstream stuff, but when it comes to Sir Paul I couldn’t help myself. I just wanted to know if he could still pull out some of that old Beatle magic. I wasn’t keen on his standards LP Kisses on the Bottom, so I was expecting something closer to my tastes.

With the stigma of ageism gone from rock n’ roll, the 71 year old Beatle works with four different producers (Mark Ronson, Ethan Johns, Paul Epworth and Giles Martin) in an effort to sound “new” but still tinted with sweet nostalgia. The title track certainly does this, a sing-along crowd pleaser with a Beach Boys coda. Paul’s melodic gift still holds up with nice bass guitar lines of “Alligator” and “On My Way To Work” which recalls his time with Wings. “Early Days” is a predictable look back and the ballad “Looking At Her” is another signature Macca love song.

One caveat is that his voice is really starting to show its age, like fellow septuagenarian Brian Wilson he needs a little help from his (studio technician) friends.  And for every polished gem like “Queenie Eye,” you get filler like “Appreciate” with its forced hip hop beat or the overly glossy production on “Save Us.” This isn’t going to stop fans from rushing out to grab this, and it’s nice to know that the old dog is trying some new tricks. The good stuff easily outnumbers the lame stuff, and my favorite here “Turned Out,” proves beyond a doubt that Paul is back. So enjoy him while he’s still here making music.

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