Electric ArgumentsReviews: Electric Arguments
Binding: Audio CD EAN: 0880882164027 Label: ATO RECORDS / RED Manufacturer: ATO RECORDS / RED MPN: 21640 Number Of Discs: 1 Publisher: ATO RECORDS / RED Release Date: November 25, 2008 Studio: ATO RECORDS / RED Rating:  - Didn't like itI almost always like what Paul McCartney does. Paul can tap-dance on a buffalo chip, and I'll enjoy it. But, to me, this set of songs was just awful. There were a couple songs that I didn't hate very much, but I mostly hated them a lot. I'm not a professional critic, so I can't articulate my reasons for my position very well. Basically, it just seemed sloppy, with little thought behind it, and an enormous amount of padding to lengthen the songs. This is very odd for me. As I said, I almost always like what McCartney does. But for some reason, I didn't connect with this in any good way at all. Rating:  - Continued great musicPaul McCartney can do it all, and he does so on this album, playing all of the instruments and singing the vocals. It is a wide ranging album of new sounds, great vocals, and a slight departure from his last few albums. I recommend tracks 1,3,5,7,8, and 13. Enjoy. Rating: - Gemini FusionI'm the first to admit McCartney is often difficult to defend. Just when he produces something amazing (and I would consider every album he's put out since "Flaming Pie" amazing), he says or does something dopey that undermines his creative efforts. He is a true Gemini, persistently torn by oppositional tendencies. It's not an exaggeration for me to state that I think he is the greatest composer and musician (or at least bassist) of any musical form of the past 50 years. Even though much of his solo and Wings-era work embarrassingly strains to retain the middlebrow sensibility that made the Beatles so commercially successful (which of course was only one component of their appeal), there is a certain genius even in his most seemingly conventional songs (I'm thinking "Let 'em In," or "My Love," songs I love in spite of their reputations). But, because he possesses (or used to possess) a finely tuned ear for what appeals commercially, he's been terribly stigmatized as a lightweight (thanks in no small part to unbearable, pseudo-elitist and pompous critics like Robert Christgau...what a jerk...) to the extent that the "other half" of McCartney is constantly ignored or at least overlooked, often by McCartney himself. That's why it's such a relief to finally see the critics and the public at least begin to acknowledge McCartney's "other side," and that he is fully capable of producing a work that is so thoroughly resistant to convention. There was always a weirdness to McCartney's mid- to late Beatles work that doesn't get enough attention, and he delves into those long thought lost peculiarities here with a vitality that is peerless. McCartney's two sides are fused here, really. "Sing the Changes" and "Dance til We're High," for instance, are beautifully textured works of ambient nuance that simultaneously, with very their McCartney-esque melodic hooks, could and should be massive hits. Of course, considerable credit should be afforded Youth. Their chemistry is such that I hope the collaboration expands into still-greater territories. Rating:  - experimental and coolpaul mccartney and youth(ex-killing joke bassist) are collectively know as the fireman. their first two albums were very ambient sounding and eno-esque. the vocals bring a new element to the fireman's music. the first cut is heavy, reminds me of helter skelter(the slower alternate version on anthology 3) or early wings like mumbo or the mess (from wild life and band on the run respectively). only complaint is the packaging. almost broke cd trying to pull it out of case Rating: - Paul Still Has ItWhat a nice surprise this album is! Sure I've been a Beatle fan all my life so I think I "owe" it to Paul to at least check out his albums-and I end up buying them! This project was a little different and I approached it reluctantly..I'm glad I did have a listen to the tracks because they're some of the best things Paul has done for quite a while. There's a freshness and vitality that belies his (slightly) advancing years.let's face it-he just lives and breathes music-and the spontaneous approach of this album works beautifully. Buy it-and play it loud! Electric Arguments ReviewsMore reviews:Buy Electric Arguments Sale Reviews Deals
Electric Arguments
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