hoffa_nagila
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Post by hoffa_nagila on Dec 29, 2020 19:45:32 GMT
So, I gave it a spin. Back over the summer, I listened to the Flaming Pie archive. My favorite part was the disc of Paul in the studio demonstrating various instruments and chatting. I wished that he could just go back there and knock out an album all by himself. Little did I know that he was doing just that. III is just what I was hoping for: it's weird, it's fun, it's cool. Some bits are better than others but overall I thought it was a pretty even album from start to finish. When Winter Comes made for a good closer. It was a smart move putting it here instead of sticking it on the Flaming Pie set, among some of the most mediocre demos and outtakes of any volume yet. Other standouts on my first listen were Deep Deep Feeling, Long Tailed Winter Bird, Kiss Of Venus, and Seize The Day. This is the type of stuff I love to hear from McCartney, the type of material that was so scarce on Egypt Station. Hopefully that's out of his system.
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Post by antiram on Dec 29, 2020 22:25:41 GMT
Sorry, I just can't get into the awful thing. I played it out of morbid curiosity, thought it was cringe, and filed it where the sun don't shine. Glad it isn't "physical product"
Insofar as he ever had any credibility for me, it died in the last century. To my ears, he sounds silly; the melodies are fey, the lyrics are mostly facepalmingly bad, his voice is ragged and not in a good way, the little flights of fancy and whimsy no longer ingratiate, they just sound doofy. In other words all the usual criticisms of him since the early 1970's not only still hold true, they have magnified themselves. (I also found his much ballyhooed Egypt Station and New and that gowdawful kiss my bottom one to be positively unlistenable, the kind of thing that impels an angry punch of "skip track" while making one wonder why he even bothers anymore -answer: no reason, followed by switching to fucking anything else...indie, something raw from the 60's, the Backstreet Boys...anything.)
If you played this record for a group of people who would not recognize his voice or who know very little of him, I promise you someone is gonna say "can we listen to something else?" before the thing is half over. It is absolutely something only a Beatle could release, and something only the most insular and devoted Beatard would spend money on. It is the ramblings of a guy woefully out of touch with the world, which was always an increasing problem of his that began to seriously overwhelm his more-limited-than-anyone-will admit talents after Linda (who was there to remind him real people exist) died, although it was always present at least from the 70's. It also represents a guy out of touch with music, including his own to a considerable degree. He lost his currency in the 70's (if not '68) and was flailing about following trends years too late through the 80's. Now, he's baffled. On recent albums, he has ceded his increasingly doggerel-like music to whoever was the hottest producers 5 or 6 years prior. Here, he scrapes together little cliche moves of his, all of which are enfeebled by his deteriorated voice and dearth of ideas. It is an album by an elderly man, but one entirely lacking in insight lyrically or musically that old age usually earns. He isn't Leonard Cohen for sure, and he isn't even a Bob Dylan or even a Paul Simon or Neil Young. The core is vapid and empty, and the musical embellishment is ugly and insubstantial. I suspect it will only get worse from here.
The hype machine surrounding this release is an utter embarrassment bordering on pathetic; even the Stones would blush. It has been in high gear since New, and it reeks of desperation. As well it should.
I will, however, confess bemusement at the ways he fleeces his devoted followers. It has been fun checking out all the hand wringing on YouTube among the "vinyl community" about being "forced" to buy the same album a dozen times even before the deluxe repackages with bonus cuts and suitcase editions appear. There's more than one way to secure a #1 album, at least if you are a Beatle. And this one doesn't involve critics. I hope he fucking costs every one of his fanboys a thousand bucks apiece before Coronoa-chan is gone.
Morbid fascination is my main draw now. After all these years, I gotta see how this grand narrative ends. How pathetic will he become? Or will there be one last dignified scene?
This has to be the most thought I have given him in years. Certainly the most words I have devoted to him. But that's how's I feel...
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daved
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Post by daved on Dec 29, 2020 23:14:33 GMT
You might have hit it on the head when you mentioned Paul Simon. There’s a guy still trying to find new sounds and not living off his past. Stranger To Stranger still gets lots of play time from me.
Just to see if it’s me, I listened again. It really takes a precipitous drop after Deep Deep Feeling.
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Post by essayceedee on Dec 30, 2020 0:30:48 GMT
We all have our irrelevant dinosaurs that we still follow (Neil Young for me), so I don't begrudge the fans their new Sir Macca. Still, I have zero fucks to give about this guy. I like his 70's stuff just fine (well, some of it anyway) but I can't be bothered to listen to anything from the 80's or beyond. It's like intentionally falling down the basement stairs; I know it's going to be painful and I'm not going to enjoy any of it.
Anyway, for those about to ROCKDOWN, I salute you!!
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bradman
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Post by bradman on Dec 30, 2020 2:09:45 GMT
Antirams' review really nails it.
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Post by mintyjackhole on Dec 30, 2020 2:58:17 GMT
I listened to Deep Deep Feeling and was pleasantly surprised. Not enough to listen again, but it is a genuinely sweet song and the aging voice etc... works in that context. A friend sent me a link to a YouTube video of an official cover of Lavatory Lil, and it sounded like Oasis album filler.
But McCartney never has been my thing. I think the last time I tried was Flaming Pie, but the Steve Miller songs killed what little enthusiasm I could muster.
On the other hand,, my wife is a big Paul Simon fan, and through her I've come to really love both Stranger to Stranger and So Beautiful or So What. And I hate saying so because Simon is such an asshole, but credit where it is due.
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daved
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Post by daved on Dec 30, 2020 15:01:41 GMT
I still think the whole sheet music thing was embarrassing. Who gives a fuck about cover versions of songs NO ONE HAS HEARD YET?
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Sounds.. ago
Amy Grant
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Post by Sounds.. ago on Dec 30, 2020 15:48:52 GMT
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daved
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Post by daved on Dec 30, 2020 16:00:51 GMT
Paul looks nice in pink.
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Post by Norman ‘Whiplash’ Mailer on Dec 30, 2020 20:07:52 GMT
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Post by Boozin' Susan on Dec 30, 2020 20:26:56 GMT
Even though Martha and Eddie are long dead, it’s nice to see that Paul still patronizes Dog-E-Den Pet Groomers.
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hoffa_nagila
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Post by hoffa_nagila on Dec 30, 2020 20:59:24 GMT
Next he should try pigtails.
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Post by antiram on Dec 30, 2020 21:19:11 GMT
While I don't doubt the devotion of the simp who was lifetime banned from McCartney's forum (presumably remaining banned long after Paulie shuffles off to the great skiffle band in the sky), he kind of epitomizes a lot of fanboy sentiment surrounding our saggy, white-haired, pony-tail (I don't know wtf something like that is called)-wearing superhero: They fucking can't stand the sight of him as an old man. Rock history is full of unflattering candid camera shots; the only difference is a 22-year-old with messed up hair and shirtless looks a lot cuter or cooler (depending on your orientation) than a 78-year-old does. Which is not a knock at 78-year-olds. McCartney is a public figure and appears reasonably comfortable being one. And he's an old man. This is what old men look like, and this is what McCartney looks like. Insofar as he looks like a complete doofus, it has more to do with who he is than how old he is. But that's the guy. Every one of them seems to want to encapsulate him in his younger self and keep him in a cell where he constantly makes youthful-sounding music and can be protected from riff-raff like people with cameras. And actually, one of the good things about being a pop star (the guy is no 'rock star') is that he gets got his immortality and forever-beauty as long as there are nerds to buy/rent/listen to/steal Beatles junk. Even Wings junk. The old Paul will be the first to be forgotten; there's nothing memorable about him. Young Paul will live at least a generation more. Until then, the fanboys have this increasingly doddering old guy to contend with. They always sound like overprotective mothers when they whine about the horrible treatment the old man gets. Suck it up buttercups. He's a big boy now, he can handle himself. You don't hear about David Crosby fans cringing at the sight of their hero, do you?
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Post by GeddyLeePierce on Dec 31, 2020 7:37:44 GMT
Good Christ, this place is half full of Macca freaks. The new album is atrocious and so was Egypt Station. His shitiness became most apparent on Revolver (Good Day Sunshine, Got To Get You Into My Life??!) and never let up after that, although some of the Wings stuff is miraculously okay. Otherwise, just so much insipid show tune dreck.
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hoffa_nagila
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Post by hoffa_nagila on Dec 31, 2020 8:35:36 GMT
Good Christ, this place is half full of Macca freaks. The new album is atrocious and so was Egypt Station. His shitiness became most apparent on Revolver (Good Day Sunshine, Got To Get You Into My Life??!) and never let up after that, although some of the Wings stuff is miraculously okay. Otherwise, just so much insipid show tune dreck. If you don't own it on at least 5 different formats then your opinion is invalid.
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