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Post by sayne on Jul 23, 2009 18:40:00 GMT -5
Good point. I need to take my beer and my one or two Radiohead c.d.'s outside to the garden to see if I have a breakthrough there! Don't forget George's Electronic Sounds. ;D
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Post by ursamajor on Jul 23, 2009 20:56:03 GMT -5
JSD said it all for me already (thanks, JSD) but I'll add here that there is nothing "controversial" in my hating DRIVING RAIN. Because generally speaking, most people also don't seem to care for it, so I'm just one among many. How's that controversial? If I'd said I didn't like REVOLVER -- now, that's controversial (and there's nothing "faux" about anything I write when it comes to opinions). It's not that you don't like it, it's that you can't find one good song on it. I still think it's an astounding comment no matter what you say. Yes even though I think Macca II is Paul's worst effort I still acknowledge the good songs on there. You compared the experimentation on it to Electric Arguments. Why didn't you compare it to Rushes or the first Fireman effort ? I do not believe Macca II sounds experimental at all. There is nothing new there, just some really bad music. I wouldn't be suprised if there is some unreleased material from the Macca II sessions that probably should have made the album. I for one think that a shorter Secret Friend and Check My Machine would have strengthened it. The issue is not liking Driving Rain and hating it. Hate it as much as you like but to say there is not one good song on it is just outrageous IMO. I guess we agree to disagree on this one
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Post by ursamajor on Jul 23, 2009 21:02:38 GMT -5
If you think that Driving Rain has not one single good song on it then you are either tone deaf or just trying to get some attention by being faux controversial. Are you for real ? How can you compare Macca II with Electric Arguments. If Macca II is an experimental album then release it under Percy Thrills. But it wasn't. After the fact we get the whole fooling around with synthesizers excuses from Paul. He's lucky there were four good songs on it. Come on ursamajor, you can disagree with Joe entirely but to question the sincerity of his opinions or suggest that he has something wrong to prevent him from enjoying an album is getting personal and is going to lead us into firefights. I strongly disagree with Joe on Driving Rain but I know that he is totally sincere in that belief. Others here have strongly condemned that album. I personally love it and did from the very first listen which is rare for me on a Macca record. Joe once lead(and I think started) the really fun Survivor tourneys on the old Board and he singlehandedly changed my mind on Macca II because I bought it the day it came out, played it, was horrified because I was use to everything else Paul had ever done and this didn't sound like that(at first blush) and never played it again. I had to play it years later in order to intelligently vote in Survivor and I totally got into it one summer's night, listening to it in my backyard with a chest of beer next to me. Sure, I still can't totally get into some of the instrumentals but there are some lovely, even great, songs there that I had missed for 20 plus years. Maybe Joe's mind and others can be changed on Driving Rain. It is more fun to re-discover an album than to not ever like it or grow sick of it! Hey JSD, I wasn't being personal, I guess the tone doesn't sound right on screen. I reckon Driving Rain is Joe's guilty pleasure but he will never admit it. He's probably playing air drums and bass to Rinse the Raindrops as we speak. ;D
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Post by Joe Karlosi on Jul 24, 2009 5:18:42 GMT -5
It's not that you don't like it, it's that you can't find one good song on it. I still think it's an astounding comment no matter what you say. I think a few years ago I attempted to try the album again, and I think there were some songs that worked out better to me than before. Still, it's Paul's worst album hands down for me... even if there were a few scattered tracks which no longer sounded like total disasters. But a few "okay" tunes is not the same thing as being "good" songs. Maybe I'll give this yet another listen to see if things have improved (brrrrrrrrrr -- I shudder at the thought of playing this dismal and dreary grey disc again! ) . But what is a good or bad song is purely a matter of opinion. You make it sound as if "good songs" are a "fact" that I don't acknowledge with DRIVING RAIN. For one thing, I don't own either of the first two. Which even shocks me, as I consider myself a completist when it comes to the solo catalog. But the reason I used ELECTRIC ARGUMENTS was because it's an experimental album that people enjoy. You said that the term "experimental" is only used when it's actually "crap". Of course there's much new there and it is experimental. Tracks like Coming Up, Check My Machine, Secret Friend, Frozen Jap, Front Parlour ... these are all experimental sounds. Paul is playing everything himself on the tracks, and his mechanical voice is featured in Coming Up. Actually, everything that was left off the album was for the better. If you don't like it now, you'd hate it even more with the "un-used" tracks. There are more instrumentals, more experimental ideas like the song called All You Horseriders... All I am trying to point out to you - and I know this will sound offensive, but please understand - is that you don't know what you're talking about when you say "this is not an experimental album", if you haven't listened to the entire project. This was Paul playing with machines, putting his voice through different sounds, just having a lark. I'll also tell you that the instrumentals are LONGER on the outtakes album. Check My Machine and Frozen Jap are both extended, which I actually like better longer, as I enjoy both of these experimental exercises. These were shortened for the official MACCA II record. (Speaking of Secret Friend and Check My Machine ... how can you actually say those are not experimental?).
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Post by ursamajor on Jul 24, 2009 7:24:02 GMT -5
[quote author=joekarlosi board=paul thread=1162 post=11795 time=1248430722 But what is a good or bad song is purely a matter of opinion. You make it sound as if "good songs" are a "fact" that I don't acknowledge with DRIVING RAIN. [/quote] Well that is exactly what I'm saying. And I think that you are wrong to say that. You've never actually said what's so bad about this album except that it has a dull cover. Just broad sweeping statements that there is not one decent song on it. I would be interested to know in your opinion why a song like Lonely Road or Loving Flame can be worse than Front Parlour or Frozen Jap ? Aha but is Electric Arguments that experimental compared to the first two Fireman albums ? I'll tell you right now, it's alot more conventional. Almost every song has a conventional song structure so you can't use the experimental angle for Electric Arguments. Check My Machine and Secret Friend were not on Macca II. Drivel like Front Parlour, Frozen Jap etc were though. You are resorting to calling Macca II an experimental album when it wasn't. In other words, it was an excuse to release 4 decent songs out of 11, imo. Touche !! But I can tell you right now that you have no idea what you're talking about either when you say Driving Rain has not one good song on it You can call them what you like but Check My Machine has a simple, catchy, funky bass line with a falsetto vocal that's been altered. The vocal approach is experimental but the music is not. The same applies to Secret Friend but it's a moot point because neither were on Macca II. How about giving me some reasons why Temporary Secretary, Nobody Knows, Front Parlour, Summer's Day Song, Frozen Jap, Bogey Music and Dark Room are better than anything on Driving Rain ?
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Post by Joe Karlosi on Jul 24, 2009 8:19:43 GMT -5
You've never actually said what's so bad about this album except that it has a dull cover. Just broad sweeping statements that there is not one decent song on it. I would be interested to know in your opinion why a song like Lonely Road or Loving Flame can be worse than Front Parlour or Frozen Jap ? Well, first - I have said more than just that DR has a dull cover! My saying that I personally don't enjoy any of the songs off it is pretty extensive besides just critiquing the album cover. My opinion on why these songs are 'better or worse' than each other is simply my own ears, my own personal subjective taste. It's not something which can be "proven". You seem to be of the view that it's a "fact" when a song is good or not, and I don't agree with that at all. I think Your Loving Flame sucks. I especially hate that pedestrian phoned-in line that goes: "What am I to do If I dont have you Ill be feeling blue Just sitting here without youBut I will concede that, the last time I tried DRIVING RAIN, I thought Lonely Road wasn't so bad. If I had to pick a song off DR that I'd call okay, it might be that one. As I said, I'll give the album another listen, and I'll be open minded.* Okay, so EA is more conventional and less experimental than the first two Fireman projects; but I still think it's a more offbeat album and qualifies as "experimental". Paul himself has said this is him trying to be different and unusual, and he's said that's why he's gone under the psuedonym of The Fireman. I'm sure he would have made MACCA II a "Fireman Album" if he was using the alias way back then. He said during interviews for MACCA II that "I figured I'll make something that doesn't sound anything like me". You're definitely right; but as they're now part of the normal and official CD release, that's why I count them. It's because you "don't get it", and that's fine. You're looking for more traditional stuff. But it's just Paul mucking about with machines and gadgets, having some fun. Totally experimental - and I like them for what they're supposed to be. I enjoy them as instrumentals far more than, say, the Beatles' Flying. Particularly Frozen Jap... it's wonderful! Well, at least you've now added "imo" after stating "4 decent songs out of 11". But yes, we'll have to agree to disagree on whether or not MACCA II is "experimental". I think it's very obvious that was the case, and the thing even originated as personal home recordings with Paul tinkering about the house for his own amusement, on a rented machine. Again, you refuse to ackowledge that complete double-disc of MACCA II with all the outrageous tracks on it ... which proves more than ever that the songs recorded were completely Paul having a larf. He was not attempting to write and record another Yesterday. As I said above - because they just sound more appealing to me, and I understand what Paul was going for, and I have fun with them. *EDITED TO ADD: I am supposed to go out in an hour, but I have some time to kill. I'll put DRIVING RAIN in the CD player right now.
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Post by Joe Karlosi on Jul 24, 2009 8:53:08 GMT -5
Okay, I just open-mindedly attempted to listen to DRIVING RAIN again. I was only able to get to the first 6 tracks before wanting to stick needles inside my eardrums. I'm going to have to undertake this dreadful album in spurts, because it's still a horror. Here are some obervations:
Lonely Road - tolerable, but nothing good. From a Lover to a Friend - typical bull from Paul, and rather zzzzzzzzz. She's Given Up Talking - Crap. Driving Rain - embarrassingly bad. Never recovers from those kiddie "1-2-3-4-5" "lyrics". I Do - God-awful. Tiny Bubble - Just ordinary 'awful'.
This is still far and away Macca's WORST album for me. It's not the music which is so bad, but the lyrics are appallingly pedestrian and sound like a kindergartener could have written them. This is the epitome of Paul's "June/Moon/Spoon" approach. One gets the impression when slithering through this amateurish muck that McCartney has run completely dry when it comes to ideas for words. And every damn thing is "love", again. A dismal, ugly, desperate record.
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Post by John S. Damm on Jul 24, 2009 9:10:53 GMT -5
Okay, I just open-mindedly attempted to listen to DRIVING RAIN again. I was only able to get to the first 6 tracks before wanting to stick needles inside my eardrums. I'm going to have to undertake this dreadful album in spurts, because it's still a horror. Here are some obervations: Lonely Road - tolerable, but nothing good. From a Lover to a Friend - typical bull from Paul, and rather zzzzzzzzz. She's Given Up Talking - Crap. Driving Rain - embarrassingly bad. Never recovers from those kiddie "1-2-3-4-5" "lyrics". I Do - God-awful. Tiny Bubble - Just ordinary 'awful'. This is still far and away Macca's WORST album for me. It's not the music which is so bad, but the lyrics are appallingly pedestrian and sound like a kindergartener could have written them. This is the epitome of Paul's "June/Moon/Spoon" approach. One gets the impression when slithering through this amateurish muck that McCartney has run completely dry when it comes to ideas for words. And every damn thing is "love", again. A dismal, ugly, desperate record. Hey, that is the kindest review yet of DR by Mr. Karlosi so progress is being made! ;D Not to sound a note of despair, but I recently sat down and played Driving Rain, even pulling out the booklet to follow along with the lyrics, and I started to form in my mind some pangs of criticism about an album that I have always held as a masterwork. Yikes, I thought, quickly putting the lyric book back into the slipcase where it will stay evermore. Doesn't anyone else see "I Do" as a Macca lost gem like I do? This won't support my cause any but I hear that song all the time on those canned music programs grocery stores and department stores pay for.
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Post by John S. Damm on Jul 24, 2009 9:24:42 GMT -5
Come on ursamajor, you can disagree with Joe entirely but to question the sincerity of his opinions or suggest that he has something wrong to prevent him from enjoying an album is getting personal and is going to lead us into firefights. I strongly disagree with Joe on Driving Rain but I know that he is totally sincere in that belief. Others here have strongly condemned that album. I personally love it and did from the very first listen which is rare for me on a Macca record. Joe once lead(and I think started) the really fun Survivor tourneys on the old Board and he singlehandedly changed my mind on Macca II because I bought it the day it came out, played it, was horrified because I was use to everything else Paul had ever done and this didn't sound like that(at first blush) and never played it again. I had to play it years later in order to intelligently vote in Survivor and I totally got into it one summer's night, listening to it in my backyard with a chest of beer next to me. Sure, I still can't totally get into some of the instrumentals but there are some lovely, even great, songs there that I had missed for 20 plus years. Maybe Joe's mind and others can be changed on Driving Rain. It is more fun to re-discover an album than to not ever like it or grow sick of it! Hey JSD, I wasn't being personal, I guess the tone doesn't sound right on screen. I reckon Driving Rain is Joe's guilty pleasure but he will never admit it. He's probably playing air drums and bass to Rinse the Raindrops as we speak. ;D I love "Rinse The Raindrops" although some editing might have made it even cooler. We have all lamented at one time or another that things look colder and harsher on a screen than if we were face to face talking around a campfire(but not "Mumbo Stomping" as even I know it has it's time and place) or in a room. There is something in the air, I have decided, that is fueling tension all over the world including on Message Boards. The economies stink, there is widespread war, and here in the U.S. where I am at, we were mostly all kind of "We Are The World" for a few months but it has become really bitchy over here and I must admit that we are all on edge. We thus need places like this for good discussion and some fun diversion.
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nine
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Post by nine on Jul 24, 2009 10:09:02 GMT -5
Hey JSD, I wasn't being personal, I guess the tone doesn't sound right on screen. I reckon Driving Rain is Joe's guilty pleasure but he will never admit it. He's probably playing air drums and bass to Rinse the Raindrops as we speak. ;D I love "Rinse The Raindrops" although some editing might have made it even cooler. We have all lamented at one time or another that things look colder and harsher on a screen than if we were face to face talking around a campfire(but not "Mumbo Stomping" as even I know it has it's time and place) or in a room. There is something in the air, I have decided, that is fueling tension all over the world including on Message Boards. The economies stink, there is widespread war, and here in the U.S. where I am at, we were mostly all kind of "We Are The World" for a few months but it has become really bitchy over here and I must admit that we are all on edge. We thus need places like this for good discussion and some fun diversion. Most of the world is starving. We've got it good. Maybe not as good as the Jones' but better than the rest.
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Post by secretfriend on Jul 24, 2009 14:23:18 GMT -5
One thing that can't be underestimated when factoring in if you like an album or not is what you were going through personally when it came out. For me McCartney II was a really, really good period in my life. I was generally happy (in a great relationship) and I played that album constantly (same for Tug of War). On the other hand, while, "Flowers in the Dirt" is a really good album, I was in a bad period in my life back in '89. It still brings up bad memories to hear any songs from that album today. While I think Driving Rain is maybe Paul's weakest effort (and worst album cover), another problem is that it's tied to 9/11, so there are painful memories there. Back to Macca II. Lennon loved the studio version of Coming Up, so he's at least a fan of that song. I love the Twin Freaks remixes from Macca II. It was really cool when they played those before his concerts in 2005.
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Post by John S. Damm on Jul 24, 2009 15:50:59 GMT -5
One thing that can't be underestimated when factoring in if you like an album or not is what you were going through personally when it came out. For me McCartney II was a really, really good period in my life. I was generally happy (in a great relationship) and I played that album constantly (same for Tug of War). On the other hand, while, "Flowers in the Dirt" is a really good album, I was in a bad period in my life back in '89. It still brings up bad memories to hear any songs from that album today. While I think Driving Rain is maybe Paul's weakest effort (and worst album cover), another problem is that it's tied to 9/11, so there are painful memories there. Back to Macca II. Lennon loved the studio version of Coming Up, so he's at least a fan of that song. I love the Twin Freaks remixes from Macca II. It was really cool when they played those before his concerts in 2005. Nice post! I often wonder if my love of Driving Rain is exactly because of 9/11 as it provided a much needed diversion until bonus track "Freedom" knocked me back into the present. Bob Dylan's "Love And Theft" came out on Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001, but that album was going to be a classic no matter when it came out and I played that a lot too. You are right though about our personal lives tempering our attitudes about an album. "Press To Play" came out at the very beginning of my second year of law school which was kind of intense with more rigorous courses and at the same looking for the all important second year summer clerkship that can determine the rest of one's life(as it did mine) so I was pretty stressed out then. I don't dislike "Press To Play" but to this day when I put it on I get anxious, always thinking, "Wow, do I really have time to play this album as I have a million other things I should be doing right now!" Twenty-three years later and I still feel anxious just for this album! ;D
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Post by Joe Karlosi on Jul 24, 2009 16:48:16 GMT -5
There is some truth to when albums are released, and whatever was going on in your life at the time. For me, PRESS TO PLAY came out at one of the worst possible times of my life, and the mediocre album reflected it. A horrid album for horrid times. But I was also having the same rough road over a year later in '87 when George's CLOUD NINE arrived, and that was an instant classic, and a breath of happy fresh air, sooooo...
As for DRIVING RAIN, I was fine in 2001. So I can't blame that dreck on the times! ;D
Anyone else feel like 1999 - 2009 is like one big solid year where nothing changes anyway?
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Post by secretfriend on Jul 25, 2009 0:10:29 GMT -5
Anyone else feel like 1999 - 2009 is like one big solid year where nothing changes anyway? |
Indeed I do. The past 10 years have flown by! It seems like just yesterday that "Run Devil Run" came out.
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Post by Cosmos on Jul 25, 2009 10:27:24 GMT -5
slithering through this amateurish muck. This line absolutely made my day! A classic "saynism" by Joe Karlosi...who'd a thunk? Thanks buddy. I MUST attempt to use it in casual conversation... ;D
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nine
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Post by nine on Jul 25, 2009 19:32:56 GMT -5
It always amazes me that my fave Macca songs aren't everybody else's. How could you not love Wild Life and McCartney II? How could you like Through Our Love, Your Loving Flame, C'Mon People, However ABsurd and all that pompous nonsense? LOL! I love that last group of songs you slam! I bet you would also add "Motor of Love" to the latter as I love that one too. While we are at it, how about "Wine Dark Open Sea," another JSD favorite? ;D I actually don't mind Motor Of Love. Wind Dark Open Sea is nice but for me it lacks something, probably decent lyrics. I have trouble with all that "open up your heart" business....
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Post by ursamajor on Jul 25, 2009 19:35:35 GMT -5
Okay, I just open-mindedly attempted to listen to DRIVING RAIN again. I was only able to get to the first 6 tracks before wanting to stick needles inside my eardrums. I'm going to have to undertake this dreadful album in spurts, because it's still a horror. Here are some obervations: Lonely Road - tolerable, but nothing good. From a Lover to a Friend - typical bull from Paul, and rather zzzzzzzzz. She's Given Up Talking - Crap. Driving Rain - embarrassingly bad. Never recovers from those kiddie "1-2-3-4-5" "lyrics". I Do - God-awful. Tiny Bubble - Just ordinary 'awful'. This is still far and away Macca's WORST album for me. It's not the music which is so bad, but the lyrics are appallingly pedestrian and sound like a kindergartener could have written them. This is the epitome of Paul's "June/Moon/Spoon" approach. One gets the impression when slithering through this amateurish muck that McCartney has run completely dry when it comes to ideas for words. And every damn thing is "love", again. A dismal, ugly, desperate record. OK I get it now, you don't like it. I'm glad you at least gave it another shot
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nine
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Post by nine on Jul 25, 2009 19:40:45 GMT -5
No way is Driving Rain Paul's worst album, you have got to be kidding me. Paul's worst album by far has to be McCartney II. When they call it experimental it means it's crap. Worst song is a tie between Temporary Secretary, Nobody Knows, Front Parlour, Summer's Day Song, Bogey Music and Dark Room. Ewwwww !!! Coming Up - Brilliant. John loved this too. Temporary Secretary - cool On The Way - love it Waterfalls - this and Temp Sec were covered on a Macca covers album whose title I no longer recall and they show what great songs these are. Nobody Knows - love that line about Samson and Delilah. Fron Parlour - excellent Summer's Day Song - lovely Frozen Jap - great Bogey Music - fun Dark Room - one of Paul's coolest songs One Of These Days - good but suffers from a light weight lyric Bonus tracks... Secret Friend... Macca quotes his uncle here "where are we, here are we" Check My Machine - still sounds fresh. This album refuses to date. LOVE IT! Would Macca III be too much to wish for?
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Post by Joe Karlosi on Jul 26, 2009 6:43:09 GMT -5
OK I get it now, you don't like it. I'm glad you at least gave it another shot Wow... I must say, I didn't expect this kind of casual response from you! But I still have to go through the rest of the album (not that I'm looking forward to it, but you never know - something might stand out for me now).
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Post by Joe Karlosi on Jul 26, 2009 6:54:15 GMT -5
I actually don't mind Motor Of Love. Wind Dark Open Sea is nice but for me it lacks something, probably decent lyrics. I have trouble with all that "open up your heart" business.... Oy, I can't stand Motor Of Love! As a matter of fact, I dislike most of FLOWERS IN THE DIRT, except for the following tracks, which I do enjoy: My Brave Face, Rough Ride, Put It There, Figure Of Eight, This One. While I've included My Brave Face in this list, it's not really one of the best for me... I much prefer This One, which I feel is Macca's "greatest hit that never was". It should have been bigger, and would have if it had been recorded in the '70s. I still hear that C'Mon People gets slammed a lot 'round these parts, but I love that song. It's usually the lyrics that get the bashing, and while they're not great words I have never minded them. For me, C'Mon People is very much a grand song, and it's mainly the music I like, the melody, the way Paul sings it, the different things and tricks/highs and lows he does with his voice. I think C'Mon People is the perfect climaxing crescendo for OFF THE GROUND, and it's a grand arrangement in a sort of Hey Jude way. Which brings me to defending OFF THE GROUND as a very good album again. In retrospect, it's the last time Linda was still healthy, so it's the last time Paul was truly "himself". Coincidentally, I just re-played this CD yesterday and I think all of the songs are good on it with me, with the exception of The Lovers That Never Were; that's the only song I have yet to warm up to. And speaking of "great singles that should have been hits", I'd also name Hope Of Deliverance.. a great single. Ditto for the great The World Tonight, off FLAMING PIE. I think This One, Hope Of Deliverance, and The World Tonight got gypped, and would have been hits had they been released in the '70s or early '80s.
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Post by John S. Damm on Jul 26, 2009 10:58:49 GMT -5
I feel that "Motor Of Love"is one of the most stirring love songs ever written by Paul. I've noticed that Paul will often place these very dramatic, stirring love songs towards the end of his albums, where they get lost:
!. Pipes Of Peace: Through Our Love; 2. Flowers In The Dirt: Motor of Love; 3. Off The Ground: Wine Dark Open Sea.
There are probably others but these were the trio I view as the "Forgotten McCartney Love Classics."
The lyrics to"Motor Of Love" are just so stirring to me:
"I can`t get over your love No matter how hard life seems, there`s a light in my dreams Thanks to you.
My Friends keep asking me why there`s such a smile on my face, there`s a home at my place, Thanks to you.
I don`t want anything from you, turn on your motor of love.
Motor of love, motor of love, Heavenly Father look down from above, I can`t get over your powerful Motor of love.
I can`t get over your Love no matter how lost I feel, I know my Love is real, Thanks to you.
You simply reached out your Hand and touched me deep in my Soul, I came in out of the Cold, Thanks to you.
I won`t steal anything from you, You give me more than enough.
Motor of Love, Motor of Love, Heavenly Father look down from above, I can`t get over your powerful Motor of Love.
There was a time when I was down and counted out, well I remember I felt so bad I nearly threw away, Nearly threw away the keys, no, no, no, no.
Motor of Love, Motor of Love, Heavenly Father look down from above, Motor of Love, Motor of Love, Heavenly Father look down from above, I can`t get over your powerfulMotor of Love."
The climax is the:
"There was a time when I was down and counted out, well I remember I felt so bad I nearly threw away, Nearly threw away the keys, no, no, no, no."
Is Paul remembering the hard times back in 1970 or is he referring to the more recent hard times of the critical drubbing of Pipes Of Peace saved only by Michael Jackson's involvement; the whole Broadstreet debacle where Paul instantly became an "oldy but goldy" by opening the Beatles' musical floodgate(a true Pandora's Box) that all but drowned out Paul's own viable, commercially successful solo career; and the failure of the Flock to embrace Press To Play.
I would love to hear "Motor Of Love" live but I would have a better chance of hearing "Mumbo" live than this one.
I do agree that "This One" was a great song that deserved a higher chart showing but I am happy that it did get a ton of radio airplay in my little town so it was all over the airwaves at least where I lived.
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Post by ReturnToPepperland on Aug 7, 2009 14:19:03 GMT -5
It always amazes me that my fave Macca songs aren't everybody else's. How could you not love Wild Life and McCartney II? How could you like Through Our Love, Your Loving Flame, C'Mon People, However ABsurd and all that pompous nonsense? Hmmm.... I think The Other Me - even with its Cockney rhyming slang - is very cool indeed. I like Morse Moose too. I like Dragon Fly and Only One More Kiss. I like Mull Of Kintyre and Sally G. I hate Ebony and Ivory, I love Temporary Secretary. Love Footprints, hate Once Upon A long Ago. I love Closer and Old Siam Sir and Figure Of Eight and Ever Present Past and Mama's Little Girl. ...... ............ ................... I heard Ebony and Ivory as an instrumental recently by Paul Mauriat (Love Is Blue) and it stands up as a great melody. Its the lyrics that throw people off.
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Post by ReturnToPepperland on Aug 7, 2009 14:33:59 GMT -5
Driving Rain may not be Paul's best compilation of tunes, but I think Your Way rates as one of his better post Beatles songs. And the essentially instrumental Heather is good too. I like the alternate version of From A Lover to A Friend. It is really a good tune, just not single material. Freedom is also one of my favorites from that album.
Driving Rain and Lonely Road don't do anything for me, though they are not terrible. Magic about his meeting Linda is not bad. Also, Rinse the Raindrops is not bad in parts. Your Loving Flame is kind of bland. There is a better version done live at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in early 2002. Other than that, I can't recomend too much.
The ones that really weren't necessary are She's Given Up Talking and Spinning on an Axis.
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Post by sayne on Aug 7, 2009 16:39:40 GMT -5
. . . I think Your Way rates as one of his better post Beatles songs. . . Bravo! One of my ALL-TIME FAVORITES. Period.
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Post by mikev on Aug 7, 2009 17:49:46 GMT -5
Your Way sounds like early Wings or a Flaming Pie outtake.
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nine
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Post by nine on Aug 7, 2009 23:57:33 GMT -5
Your Way sounds like early Wings or a Flaming Pie outtake. Paul has had a few songs in recent years that sound like early Wings, Your Way being one of them. I also reckon Great Day and Little Willow hark back to Wild Life/Red Rose Speedway era too....
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Post by vectisfabber on Aug 8, 2009 6:02:02 GMT -5
Your Way is the only track on Driving Rain which might cause me to put the CD in the player.
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Post by Panther on Aug 9, 2009 11:46:45 GMT -5
I've not heard most of Paul's albums, so I'm not really qualified to answer this question. I will say that being exceptionally gifted in some areas can be a curse. In the case of someone like Prince, he is simply too gifted in all areas of music composition, arrangement, and songwriting to be a good judge or editor of his own material, with the result that he is seen as an overly prolific talented curio by the masses instead of as the latter 20th century Duke Ellington, as he more properly is. Likewise, Paul is too gifted in melodic composition (and he is/was a damn fine singer). This, combined with his people-pleasing need (which seems to be bred in him), has resulted in a hell of a lot of mediocrity, with regular flashes of the brilliance that is his to command. There is no Paul album I've heard which is consistently great; the closest would be McCartney (1970), which nevertheless has 5 instrumentals. Other good records are often marred by excessive production or limited by inane lyrics. Paul seems to have endless snippets of tunes, melodic fragments, and jingles which would be appropriate for a McDonald's commercial. The problem for him is the discipline of working with those as sacred sources of great compositions, as some artists less talented than he might see them.
I have to say that I once borrowed a copy of Flaming Pie (1997), and I wasn't able to sit through it even once.
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Post by Joe Karlosi on Aug 10, 2009 6:26:22 GMT -5
There is no Paul album I've heard which is consistently great; the closest would be McCartney (1970), which nevertheless has 5 instrumentals. I have to say that I once borrowed a copy of Flaming Pie (1997), and I wasn't able to sit through it even once. I must say, that's mind-boggling to me, but to each his own! I mean, to actually consider McCARTNEY "closest to consistently great" (with all its odd and half-baked tracks)* but to condemn FLAMING PIE (which even has many Beatles-worthy great songs on it like "Little Willow", "Somedays", and "Calico Skies")... *(I enjoy McCARTNEY for sure, but I just think this is a wild choice for the most consistent album).
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Post by OldFred on Aug 10, 2009 18:52:49 GMT -5
Of the tracks on 'Driving Rain', my favorite is 'Heather', which I've always felt should have opened the album. I think it's a good instrumental, and it's a shame Paul didn't keep it an instrumental. If it wasn't for it's now unfortunate title, it might have been a nice number for Paul to perform live, like he did the instrumental version of 'Junk' for the 'Unplugged' special.
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