Thanks for your videos. I quite enjoy them. Driving Rain used to be also at the bottom of my McCartney list. I decided to revisit it yesterday after discarding it many years ago. To my surprise, I now love it. Played it loud on my very good stereo system and it sounded really good. I found most of the songs very well written and performed. Paul’s bass playing is superb on this album. Maybe the dreadful album cover had a negative influence on me when I first listened to it when it was released. So glad I gave it another chance cause I really appreciate it now! Many rock critics seem to also like this album. Cheers!
1. Red Rose Speedway 2. Band On The Run 3. Ram 4. Back To The Egg 5. Venus And Mars 6. Memory Almost Full 7. McCartney 8. Wild Life 9. Flowers In The Dirt 10. New
Superb video, Joe. You're certainly the expert when it comes to reviews and rankings. Even though I have 18 of Paul's 24 studio albums on vinyl, I'm not qualified to rank them because I've never played them all. I have played "Kisses On The Bottom" and "New". Not too wild about "Kisses". Too old fashioned and jazzy for me, but I consider "New" a masterpiece. I've played the hell out of it since October and it only gets better with every listen.
1. Band on the Run 2. Ram 3. Flaming Pie 4. Chaos and Creation 5. Tug of War 6. Egypt Station 7. McCartney 8. NEW 9. Memory Almost Full 10. McCartney II
This popped up on my page this morning so I watched it again. Fun video and love your reactions to "Ain't That A Shame." Hoping to see more of the solo albums reviews in the future.
I agree with you on 'Back to the Egg' and 'McCartney II', very underrated albums. My list would be: 1. RAM 2. Memory Almost Full 3. Band on the Run 4. Chaos and Creation in the Backyard 5. Tug of War 6. Back to the Egg 7. Flaming Pie 8. New 9. McCartney II 10. McCartney
Hi, thanks for doing this list! I became aware of a number of albums I had not paid much attention to or have even heard of and I am a huge Beatles' fan. It has made me want to dive into his back catalog, so I am grateful for that. I agree that Back to the Egg is a great record. I remember buying it as a kid when it came out and being excited by it. I guess my favorite is McCartney because I got it at a garage sale when I was 12 in the late 1970s and I had absolutely no idea what I was going to hear. It was the first solo Beatle record I had come across and it was so personal and intimate compared to the Beatles' records, which I was already very familiar with at the time, and it felt like I was having a private conversation with a person removed from the fame and craziness of Beatlemania that made him like a god. That has stuck with me ever since. It was just so different, it was like looking behind the curtain and it seemed like I was doing it alone. And with no internet or older Beatle fans around I had no information about it that could give me a context to put it in or reference it to. Those kind of experiences are rarer these days. After viewing your video I went and listened to Ram for the first time in a long time and it struck me how some of it reminded me a lot of the Beach Boys in the late 1960s, particularly the album Friends as well as the album 20/20. Are you familiar with those records? Check them out some time and see what you think. They are really good and grow on you after a while.
Robert Moses Thanks for your detailed reply, Robert. Glad I could stir up some interest for you. I'm not familiar with the albums you mentioned, but I do hear some Beach Boys- like sound in parts of RAM.
Although I don't have any Paul on vinyl, your ranking along with another video ranking have helped me to prioritize what I should get as my wife got me a turntable for my bday. I agree with your ranking of Driving as least and Ram as best. Everything in the middle varies for me but not by much. I think I will definitely try to find cheap copies of Back to the Egg, McCartney II, Tug of War, Ram, a Flaming Pie (if that can be found), and Wings Greatest (for some reason, I always felt that this compilation sounded like a well sequenced album).
Brilliant video Joe. My eyes was glued to this. Great great video mate. Fantastic order a little similar to what mine would be. They where all in good places except red rose but I know your not a big fan of it. I might have to do my own top 25 mccartney list if that's ok. I'd like to see you do your least to favourite albums for ringo and george aswell. Great video my friend. Take care. P.S. Thanks for the shoutout :)
Hi Joe! Great video, I understand how hard it is to rank so many albums! But I totally agree with you on your top five, and I think, like you mentioned, that it is probably best if "New" is Paul's last album (because it is very good), unless of course he is planning a grand finale!
1. Band on the Run 2. Ram 3. Flaming Pie 4. Tug of War 5. New 6. Chaos and Creation 7. Venus and Mars 8. Memory Almost Full 9. Egypt Station 10. McCartney II How many artists can come up with a top ten like this? Only a few I guess. It also reflects all the musical aspects of Paul. From experimental albums to concept albums, from rock to ballads, from simple to complex songs and from polished productions to home made / self made productions. The albums are also from 5 different decades. Band on the Run is the top album, great lyrics and great songs and a great concept. With All Things Must Pass and Plastic Ono Band the best solo album. Interesting is that all these three albums deal with the break up of the Beatles. Egypt Station is fresh in my list, and maybe after some time it can close in at New. From the other McCartney albums you can say two things: The weaker albums always have a couple of good songs on it and the better albums are just not consistent enough to be absolute top albums.
The last two Paul CDs I purchased recently were New and Off the Ground. I'm glad you favor New so much. Love many of the tracks, with Everybody Out There and Appreciate leading the pack. Off the Ground, well, I really like a couple songs (the third and fifth songs). I also choose Venus and Mars over Band on the Run. But Band is still great!
I Like Paul's 2000 albums, like Memory Almost Full, Chaos and Creation and Driving Rain. This last one is surprisingly for me and I don't know why people don't enjoy it that much.
Ram is My favorite "go to" McCartney album as well. Egypt Station now reminds me of it. Very creative.... well done. I always loved Back To The Egg and feel it got unfairly overlooked in 1979. Band on the Run is great top to bottom … but it was such a huge hit, I don't put it on much anymore. You should check Electric Arguments again... quite good. New , Memory Almost Full, Chaos and Creation (which to me should have been McCartney III) and Flaming Pie.... are all so good. Wild Life is a good album that was unfairly trashed when it came out.
Nice feature. You ever looked at McCartney B-sides and bonus tracks? I've always thought he wasted a lot of good stuff like that - some of his best songs even. Daytime Nighttime Suffering, Flying To My Own, The Loveliest Thing, the list goes on.
+James Griffiths (Vinyl Professor) -- Yeah, lots of gems on his "B Sides" and "Bonus Tracks", I agree. To me that's part of the fun, that so many of them are indeed quite good on their own!
Ram was great and I was glad to see it #1. I would have put McCartney higher, yes it's half junk, but the good half is great and very intimate music. Great video!
another great video. I mostly agree with where you ranked each album although I would put Red Rose Speedway and Electric Arguments higher and McCartney II, Wild Life and Wings at The Speed Of Sound lower
Sorry this is way off topic! It just hit me that Lennon and McCartney wouldn't have reformed The Beatles in the 80's but may well have recorded an album together (maybe similar home recording concept to McCartney 1 and 2). I love what ifs and this seems a reasonable proposition.
Your McCartney list is quite interesting....I will say this of course just my opinion....the last full album I enjoyed from him was Flaming Pie...now saying that,I think every album since then has at least 2-3 good/great tracks on them but he is one person that I thik would be great for putting out EP's every so often...I also think that he should do a sequel to Run Devil Run with a new band of past musicians,heck maybe even get Ringo in on it ad be a album made just for fun.Great vid
really interesting take Ram is a favorite of mine so sonically interesting and you are right it has grown a positive following. Band On The Run is his finest in my opinion the craftsmanship is excellent, disciplined arrangements, magical lyrics and every song is fully realized.... and the , you really need to give Electric Arguments a fresh listen- Lifelong Passion and Dance Till We're High are great songs and my most cynical rock an roll friends love it...so thanks for the review oh and Driving Rain is passionless hard to get through...
Electric arguments for me is a good album... I got the box set that came with the vinyl...and the high quality audio and some extras...so good ..A master piece
Nice ranking Joe:) I agree with you on McCartney II, that's a much better album than the 1st one but i would have placed it in the top 5 for me. Also can you rank all of John's Solo albums, not counting the experimental albums like, Two Virgins or The Wedding Album.
Great video! Really enjoyed watching. I agree with the top few, although I'd change the order of some (and would swap Flaming Pie for London Town). I'm surprised you hate Press To Play so much when you like McCartney II. They both share a similar experimental aspect in my view, with songs like Pretty Little Head and Write Away. The production can be too much at times though...
In addition to two of Paul's three The Fireman albums, you've also omitted _Thrillington,_ (an AOR instrumental version of the _Ram_ album), along with all of his classical albums: _Ecce Cor Meum,_ _Standing Stone,_ _Working Classical,_ and _Liverpool Oratorio._ And that's fine. I'm not saying you should have included them, but just mentioning it for the benefit of viewers who might not be aware of their existence, and to reinforce just how prolific McCartney really is.
Is 'So Bad' from Pipes of Peace the same 'So Bad' as on Broad Street? Different versions of same song? I've heard the flip-side of My Love 45 (a non-Lp) is better than anything on Red Rose Speedway.
Jon Sieruga - Yes, the song is the same song, but two different recordings. Different versions of the same song. If you're referring to "The Mess" (flip side of "My Love"), it is pretty good but I don't love it as much as other fans seem to.
Astounded that Thriving Pain didn't come in at number one Joe. I'm with you on Red Rose Speedway though. That album has it's fans, but I never much cared for it. Not sure what it is about it. I pull it out every so often to give it another shot, play the thing and then five minutes later can't recall a single song from it. It's a strange, unfocused no there there album for me. Give Electric Arguments another chance. I love that record and consider it a proper Paul album more than a Fireman side project thing given that it contains real songs and music where the earlier two are just techno, electronica gibberish. Great video though. I'm still amazed at how much I love New and how classic and great it is. Not even a year old as you said and yet it feels like I've known those songs for years.
COMPLETELY AGREE WITH RAM AT No. 1! In fact, I beleive "RAM" is right up there with Sgt. Peppers' and Abbey Road, not only in terms of how revolutionary it is (I think it's actually the pioneer of the "Indie rock" concept), but in the quality of the music and the melodies per se. Your review and understanding of the album is spot on, particularly on the absolute misunterstanding of its grandieuse when it was issued. There´s also the underlooked great quality of Linda McCartney's chorus' and harmonies therein contained. Thank you for sharing your well educated opinion!
I was really interested in your comment about McCartney 'changing' (for the worse?) after Linda's death. Do you elaborate on this on another video? I totally agree anyway - broadly speaking I've enjoyed his music a lot less since her death. When I was growing up, Paul and Linda were like my other mum and dad.
+James Griffiths (Vinyl Professor) -- Hmmm.. did I say that? (lol). I now have come to the point where I feel Paul's music, at least, has gotten better since around 2005. I did notice Paul being appearing rather uncomfortable (naturally) after losing Linda, and he never seemed right with Heather (who he ultimately divorced of course). But I think he's in a good place with Nancy now, and the fresh and exhilarating songs on NEW (2013) reflect that, I think.
Good list. I would put Electric Arguments in top ten, some really great songs on that album. I might switch a couple of spots here and there, but generally agree with list. McCartney (his first solo and one of first albums i ever owned) would be higher for me, memories from my youth. Nice job!
I don't think Ram would make my top ten, but it certainly is quite listenable for me. My top choices would include Venus and Mars, Band on the Run (I like Venus more, like you), Tug of War and Back to the Egg.
1. Ram; 2. Wild Life; 3. Band On The Run; 4. Venus and Mars; 5. Back To The Egg; 6. Red Rose Speedway; 7. McCartney; 8. London Town; 9. Tug Of War; 10. Flaming Pie; 11. Off the Ground
My list: ( Top ten. ) As you say, :It's not an exact science and some of these could easily be switched. 1. Band On The Run 2. Ram 3. McCartney 4. Venus And Mars 5. New 6.Egypt Station ( This may change as I need to listen more. ) 7.Flaming Pie 8.Memory Almost Full 9.Wings Wild Life 10. Tug Of War
You have to do it again This. Cos I have my list but always change 😥😥😥 at least I have this cos I love your rewiews..I would like to do my one video list, but I don't have your talent to make this videos
1970 -1990 1 Band on the Run 2 Ram 3 Venus and Mars 4 London Town 5 Tug of war 6 Red rose speedway 7 Wings at the speed of sound 8 McCartney 9 Pipes of peace 10 Wild life 11 Flowers in the dirt 12 Back to the egg 13 McCartney 2 14 Give my regards 15 Press to play
Well, thank you for the list. I guess I stand alone with Press to Play being one of the greatest pop/rock albums of the 20th century. Where it struck you wrong it struck me right. Wild Life is another favorite of mine for Some people never know alone. Ram is my second favorite of his. I burned out on Band on the run a little, but I still love Mamonia and 1985. New has really got me hooked. All in all, a great list, just wish you'd give Press to play less hate. I think it's a million times better than Off the ground and Flaming pie (The songs we were singing is great though.). Thank you
+Michael Blaydes - I get that you like PRESS TO PLAY -- but I don't. I would be interested in seeing your personal list of "Least To Best".. nobody is going to agree all of the time. FLAMING PIE is considered one of his best albums by fans and critics, for example.
+MeanMr Mayo Here is a list of fifteen. 15. McCartney 2 Recently decided I like this one after all, despite thirty years. of hate. Favorite track: Coming up. 14. Wings at the speed of sound. Favorite track: Paul's anthem Silly love songs.
+MeanMr Mayo 13. McCartney Favorite track: Every night/Junk (tie) 12.Chaos and creation 11.Memory almost full. Favorite trac: Only mama knows. 10. Give my regards. Favorite track: No more lonely nights. Great David Gilmour stuff. I actually think both the Beatles and Wings covers are an improvement because of the maturity levels of the musicians involved. 9.Band on the run. Favorite track: 1985. This album used to be in my top 3 or 4, now I think it's a little over rated. I recognize it for it's importance for both Paul and Rock industry overall nonetheless, and still love it. 8. Tug of war. A flawed masterpiece; important as a reflection on his soul after John was killed. Favorite track: (hands down one of my favorites period) Take it away. 7. Back to the egg. Favorite track: Arrow through me. 6. Venus and Mars. A very under rated album full of gems. Favorite Track(s) :(tie) Venus and Mars (one of my favorite Paul lyrics "Red lights green lights, Strawberry wine"; Rockshow has the funniest lyrics.; You gave me the answer (only Paul could pull this song off); Magneto and Titanium man (jams). 5.Flowers in the dirt. This one is a very personal choice for me and is very special. I agree it's flawed (though for very different reasons than what you have said; but that's part ofvwhy I love it too as so is life itself. I saw the concert here in Dallas (I was 19); and it all happened when I dropped out of high school and beganvto discover my independence. Favorite track: (tie) Distractions (McCartney and George Martin magic) and We got married (Great build up and David Gilmour sounds great again. I used to play and sing this by myself on guitar for people, but I folked it up).
+MeanMr Mayo Now for the final four. 4. New. I can't believe after all these years he can do something that rivals the best not only of his career, but of the entire industry. An instant classic. Favorite track:(hands down) Queenie Eye. This song, like the album as a whole, defines one of my favorite things about Paul. Wheras John as a lyricist was mostly in your face, Paul's words can be seen in layers. On the surface they appear to be simple silly love songs (or whatever), but if you contemplate most of them there are layers of meaning to be discovered. While he has been known to be blunt as well, most of his career is defined by clever insight into spiritual/psychological/philosophical symbolism with very clever messages about life. This is what seperates him from most lyricists; but, unfortunately is why he is often overlooked for his words. 3.Wild life This was the only Beatles solo album my mom had so I grew up to it. Until very recently It was a little low on my list, but now I think of it as Wings greatest album. Favorite track: Some people never know. The ending may be the closest thing tocGod a human can play. A closee runner up would be I am your singer for it's sweetness. I even like Mumbo and Bip bop because they sound like they are just having the time of their lives with the whole thing. These last two songs, however are NOT examples of Paul's aforementioned lyrical genious. He was clearly going for rhythem and nonesense, but it works. Again, only Paul can pull shit like this off. 2.Ram This album is as close to Beatle-like that any solo Beatles album can get. He and Lennon were both on a roll during this time; inspired by competitiveness to write some f the greatest music of the time. Plastic ono band defined punk rock at it's purist, but yet showed John's other sensitivities. Ram showed Paul all over the map of genious creativity. Words cannot describe what this album does for me. Favorite track:(tie) Too many people; Long haired lady. Too many people has the perfect energy, lyrics, and maybe the best guitar solos on a McCrtney song (including The Beatles), rivaled by Gilmour on No more lonely nights. The song is great for pumping me up when I feel defeated over something. Especially when I think of my ex-wife or ex-girlfriends. Long haired lady is a very over-looked epic masterpiece that is about much more than what seems on the surface. The "love is long" chants confirm that he is talking about muc much more than a hot chic. A whole book chapter essay could be written on it. Phenomenal and awe-inspiring. 1. Press to play. Favorite track: The whole first side is a series of short stories, and all could be put together to form a whole to take you on a journey. I have actually written online an essay about it, but I can give a condensed form here. Stranglehold is a song to his listener. He wants to convey to us why he will never stop being the m.c. (like on Sgt. Peppers); he says he can wait. He wants to entertain and touch iur hearts and soul with love and dedication. Good times coming; he takes us back to where his inspiration lies. The journey begins. Though a very techno driven soundscape, he taps into the roots of memories within us. The past is bittersweet, both then and now. The key, though is that, as he says, "I'm loving it now". We must take as experience the lessons we learn from our past experiences and apply it NOW. Then there's Talk more talk; which is really now a prophesy. It predates the internet. Chat rooms or message boards... again he was ahead of his time. Conversation sprinkled round. Communication is the missing link of life, where man or woman must exist with each other and must find room "to be at one with you"; with each other to share, grow and develop experience in order to be civil men and women. "The words of a feather are worn in a hat" is about Mercury, who represents communication. Footprints is my very favorite. Another soundscape, now he wants to have a little talk with us about letting be the past mistakes; the miseries of loss of loved ones. Here he is clearly referring to losing his mother, which a part of him still mourned like it was only "Yesterday". In the end, though, there is a sign of hope. A magpie (bird) looks for food; the old hand throws crumb because it appears he may have found a friend. Loneliness has nothing to do with knowing people, it is a state of mind. This song taps into that. Where no-one treads, where footprints never go. Snow represents death...For Paul it is a whole blanket within his heart. But, when it all comes down to it, only live remains. Aside from being some of the best melody ever written (rivals Gershwin(, this songs message reaches far and away with Pauls favorite message of all: Love. More can be said about this Masterpiece, but I'm sure you are sick of it, Joe. It sucks, right? I just hope others may read this, those that follow your reviews, and will consider that maybe it's more than Paul trying to be hip-80's; I like to give him a little more credit than that. He is, after all, the great Paul McCartney for a reason. There is a reason why he has set paths in his over fifty-year career; and it's alot more than his desire to cash in on a time period or genre. He actually is one of the reasons WHY the eighties sounded as it did. If anything, maybe he attempted, with Press to play, what potential the sound of the times could produce. I think he succeeded, and then some. There's my top 15 albums by one of my favorite personalities in modern history. Peace outvand let it be...Michael
My list: 1. Ram / 2. Band on the Run / 3. Venus and Mars / 4. Flaming Pie / 5. Tug of War / 6. Wings Over America / 7. McCartney / 8. Flowers in the Dirt/ 9. Memory Almost Full / 10. Chaos and Creation... /11. Back To the Egg/ 12. London Town/ 13. New / 14. At the Speed of Sound/ 15. Pipes of Peace / 16. Red Rose Speedway / 17. Run Devil Run/ 18. Electric Arguments / 19. McCartney II / 20. Press To Play / 21. Off the Ground / 22. Wild Life / 23. Broad Street / 24. Choba b CCCP / 25. Tripping the Live Fantastic / 26. Kisses on the Bottom / 27. Driving Rain / ... I'll also rank these releases... 28. Twin Freaks / 29. Rushes (Fireman) / 30. Paul Is Live / 31. Wide Prairie (Linda) / 32. Strawberries Oceans Ships Forest (Fireman)/ 33. Liverpool Sound Collage / 34. Back in the US / 35. Thrillington / 36.Good Evening NYC
Great review, there are some songs on Choba B CCCP that are good such as Don't Get Around Much Anymore, Midnight Special and the best version you'll ever hear of Twenty Flight Rock. Chaos And Creation In The Backyard, that was made around the time he was going through his divorce with Heather 'Psycho' Mills, so you could really hear it in that album the melancholy. I think we have the same #5 if I'd made a list, Flaming Pie was a great album when it came out, one of those that I could listen to start to finish and not be like 'god, when does this song end?'. Venus And Mars and Band On The Run sort of take the same slot for me, both equal each other. I'm glad Back To The Egg made the Top 10, that album was a gas to learn on bass and guitar. Not sure how Pipes Of Peace could be better than Press To Play, I really hated Pipes Of Peace, that would be like my number 25, below Wings Wild Life, its quite evident that Pipes Of Peace was all the rejected Tug Of War tracks, very weak stuff with the exception of So Bad and Through Our Love. Thriving Pain, haha, Driving Rain would be my number 23 if I was honest, apart from the songs Lonely Road, Your Loving Flame and Rinse The Raindrops, possible From A Lover To A Friend, the rest of the album didn't do it for me. Overall, a great list.
Mis álbumes favoritos y sus canciones favoritas (en ningún orden en particular) Venus and Mars: Venus and Mars, Reprise, Rock Show, Listen to What The Man Said, Junior's Farm At The Speed of the Sound: Let Them In, The Note You Never Wrote, Silly Love Songs Band on the Run: Band on the Run, Jet, Mrs. Vanderbilt, Bluebird, 1985 Flaming Pie: Somedays, Little Willow, Used to Be Bad McCartney: Every Night, Junk, Singalong Junk, Lovely Linda
Good list -well thought. I'm the same age as you (graduated High school in 1980). You are obvious more of a paul mccartney fan than i, but I was a huge beatles fan (still am) and early Mccartney Wings fan. In reality, there's probably 2-3 albums I would listen to completely: Band on the Run, RAM, and Venus & Mars. I basically stopped listening to Mccartney after London Town / Back to the Egg - I gave up on Mccartney then.
To add more, I know you mention "Maybe I'm amazed" as your all time favorite post-Beatles Mccartney song (and many regard it as such), but, being an amateur musician, Live and Let Die would probably be my favorite as there's a lot of hidden musical highlights in that song.
I think NEW and MAF are a couple great late period albums from Macca as well, I think both were worthy of being #1 albums. I don't give C&C as much love as you but otherwise we're really close. killer collection Mayo!
Clearly he loves McCartney; just a little critival is all. I actually agree with his opinion regarding Paul covering the oldies. I don"t like it when Paul does anymore than when John did it in the 70's. I do, however think The Beatles were a great cover band (my fave example is Bad boy). At any rate, though I don't agree with Joe's opinion every time, it can't be more evident that he loves Paul. And he is wise to do so.
Neat list! - Haven't listen all of Driving Rain but "Lonely Road" seems like the only passable track - Press To Play I'd rank right down the middle... 5/10 - Pipes of Peace I find better than Press To Play... but not by much, sadly and definitely no match for Tug of War... My vinyl copy is weird... I'm not sure if it's the norm but Side 1 has a Columbia label but Side 2 has the chair and the pipes. - NEW I'd also rank lower... but it's not my least favorite either... the rockers sound better than the ballads, ironically enough! - RAM I'd probably have in my top 5 or 10... but you have my favorite album in the #2 spot! :D
McCartney album at number 12? Wild life number 14? I’d say his best years were 1970-79, particularly for albums, even though I have enjoyed some since - particularly his flaming pie album, I just find him too smoochy and dare I say it old fashioned since the 1980’s, too much rhyming love with dove or glove lol his 1970’s output was still melodic but with an edge he seems to have lost since.
Kudos to you for your tenacity, with your volume of input. And happy holidays to you, brother. But don't you think it would give more credibility to your review to not have music running in the background that you are opposed to ? You kind of come off ungrateful, especially at 13:20.
No, and now that I have looked at what you're even talking about, I don't feel badly about it at all. Nobody else mentioned it but you. I think that Paul's the one who sounds like an ass in his rendition of "Ain't That A Shame". This is a video that talks about both the "best" and the "least"... it's not only 'the best'. So I got to show an example of what I felt was lesser Paul in the background. This is not all about sugar-coating and loving everything unconditionally, just because it's Paul.
Question..... why did you even play the Russian Album while you did this review? And he does a great job with "Aint that a Shame" on Tripping The Live Fantastic. On the Russian album it is terrible... I agree that album was bad... but Twenty Flight Rock was good. But to me that is the worst album. Press to Play is 24 (but I like Footprints) and Driving Rain 23 ...But the song Driving Rain is fun, I like Back in the Sunshine, and Rinse the Raindrops... the rest is bad
Band on the Run is by far his best album. I will have to listen to New a few more times before I say you are wrong...but it did not grab me. Neither did Memory Almost Full. And I don't dislike Driving Rain at all. Most of the rest of your list is pretty close to mine.
MY TOP 10: 1 Chaos and Creation in the Backyard 2 Band on the Run 3 Venus and Mars 4 Back to the Egg 5 RAM 6 Run Devil Run 7 Memory Almost Full 8 McCartney 9 NEW 10 Flaming Pie; from Brasil!!!
Ram has always been my fav album since the 70's too bad there were singles that weren't on albums like Another Day and Hi hi hi even Mull of Kintyre which were some of my favs.
Cool video Joe. I agree with most of your listings although I am a "Press To Play" fan myself. "Pretty Little Head" is too innovative and interesting to ignore. I agree with your placement of "Flowers In The Dirt" although I do like that record myself. Then again, "Flowers..." and "Off The Ground" at times though are just too adult contemporary for me to really get into which can be said of a lot of music of that period unfortunately. I like "McCartney II" quite a bit and it would be in my top ten if I ever compiled a listing. Paul is going batshit crazy with "Ain't That A Shame". Never liked ANY of the solo Beatles takes on rock and roll oldies personality. In fact I'll take that a step further I never liked any sixties era artists oldies themed LPs. My take on it is, if you want to hear The Beatles run through the catalog of fifties hits, pick up "Live At The BBC". All of The Beatles were still in prime voice and delivered high energy and fantastic performances of the songs they chose to cover on the BBC. Looking forward to McCartney's upcoming release: "Straight Up Gangsta' Trippin'"
jldraw "Pretty Little Head" IS interesting, and it's one of the songs I can stomach off PRESS TO PLAY (even though I criticized the album for Paul trying to get into the '80s sound). I thought Paul did well on oldies with RUN DEVIL RUN, but overall I don't need much of his Russian Oldies LP, nor Lennon's ROCK AND ROLL.
MeanMr Mayo Yeah "Pretty Little Head" has always been a firm favorite of mine. I remember watching the music video back in '86 and thinking the actress in it was really attractive. I didn't know at the time but her name was Gabrielle Anwar and she actually went on to do a fairly successful romantic comedy with Michael J. Fox in the early nineties (the name I'm blanking on at the moment) and recently was the female lead in a very successful television show called "Burn Notice". Of course all of this goes completely unnoticed by McCartney who clearly has no idea who was cast in the video when he does his commentary for it on "The McCartney Years" (I think he refers to her as "The Pretty Little Head" which I always felt quite hilarious - sure she loved hearing that!) I guess at some point you reach a level of stardom where you don't even pay attention anymore.
Hi Thanks for your reviews... I have to say generally I think you got most things right (opinion, right?) but for me personally I dont think Ram is his best. It seems to me like something is missing on it. Although it is infuriating to always have 'everyones expected' Number 1, I think Band on the Run is it. To me, 'Venus' was not as well produced. Also I am not sure "Driving Rain" is is worst, though there has to be a worst. Otherwise, I really agree with your opinion about "Back to the Egg" and "Flowers in the dirt".
everybody loves ram i think its a great album but i dont see it as being that much superior to his other early 70s albums like wild life and red rose speedway, i couldnt even begin to decide my top 25 take weeks lol
Joe, why do you think he never officially released "Didn't We Meet Somewhere Before?" He just threw it away! I think it goes too long, shave off about a minute and you'd have a great pop song.
Jon Sieruga - You've stumped me with a Paul song I haven't heard yet. If it's on the Archives re-issue, just shows you how easy it is to miss something!
Nice list. I agree on some (Ram, Back to the egg, Tug of war and Flaming Pie)and disagree on some (Venus and mars (boring stadium rock accept for title track, rockshow and listen to what the man said) Run devil run (one of his best sung albums) Wild life (too mellow and boring) and Press to play (bad production but good songs on cd version). My top 10 is 10. Chaos and creation in the backyard 9. McCartney 8. Memory Almost Full 7. Flowers in the dirt 6. Flaming Pie 5. New 4. Back to the egg 3. Tug of war 2. Band on the run 1. Ram
ok, now, if you put Back to the Egg in the top 7 I think you've flipped your gourd. i'd put Venus and Mars a little lower honestly/ I haven't heard a complete album after the Press disaster in 1986. Press was the final nail in the coffin and Broadstreet was the first nail in the coffin. I think that Flowers in the Dirt's My Brave Face and You know Hope of Deliverance on Off the Ground was good. I did see the concert tour in 93 )I saw Paul sing Kansas City in Kansas City etc.( Off the Ground I did buy the LP after 86 other than that I've only listened to Wingspan LP. I bet Flaming Pie and New are good. Really Back to the Egg was weird shit from 1979. McCartney 2 made me want to buy an 8 track over dub machine for Xmas. Paul's later solo albums got less airplay and everybody had Paul's early 70's stuff. Hey Ram On, hard to believe that the other Beatles were most critical of Ram On. Ringo called it wierd, John & Yoko took offence with Too Many People, George thought 3 Legs was slap at the Beatles etc. Even Paul thought it was nothing serious at the time. But Ram On is the coolest I agree. Carry On Mean Mr. mayo say hello to Polytheme Pam.
Red Rose Speedway is like number one for me I can't believe it ranked lower than Give My Retards to Broadstreet which was a terrible movie. Red Rose Speedway has Paul's best melodies ever like: Single Pidgeon, Little Lamb Dragonfly, Lazy Dynamite etc. I like Red Rose better than Band On the Run actually even though Paul's two hottest albums were probably Band on the Run and Speed of Sound.
I adore Ram but honestly can't stand Venus and Mars. Sounds like the return of granny shit to me. Don't get the appeal so far just heard the first 7 albums working through them and I'd rank it 1. RAM 2. Band On The Run 3 and 4. Wildlife / McCartney (I think side 1 of Wildlife is a great time and reminds me of T. REX and McCartney is half an album and the rest is doodles so they tied to me) 5. Speed Of Sound (I love three of the songs on it so much) 6. Venus and Mars 7. Red Rose Speedway I'm worried how I'll go progressing
Nice review! I'm not very Interested In solo Beatles! I have a few of Paul's albums, I haven't played some of them yet! I'm Just not Interested! I like making a ranking list to my way and not like others! I think It's annoying when I look up ranking Beatles albums and 90% of them ranking Beatles For Sale, With The Beatles, and Please Please Me at the bottom! Can you rank The Beatles albums, 13 albums! Please!!!
***** Beatles? Yawwwnnn.... they are tired! :) But seriously, I suppose down the line I can rank the albums. It just seems like those 13 albums are so over-analyzed.
If you don't count "Yellow Submarine" as an official Beatles LP, then "Beatles For Sale" in my opinion arguably belongs on the bottom. Call it lack of quality material (and who can blame them given their hectic schedule in '64), poor sequencing (which is what I personally subscribe to) or just the fact a lot of the music doesn't share a lot in common with their "beat music" phase (which arguably they were beginning to come out of at the time) and it just seems to rank near the bottom with a lot of people. PS: Beatles VI rocks!
MeanMr Mayo I like SOME but not all of the US Albums. My favorites would probably include the aforementioned "Beatles VI", "Yesterday & Today" and the US version of "Rubber Soul" (although I do prefer the UK pressing overall). Even "Beatles '65" for me ranks higher than "Beatles For Sale" because the Capitol album benefits greatly from the inclusion of "I Feel Fine", "She's A Woman" and "I'll Be Back" all of which are stronger than a lot of the songs on "Beatles For Sale" in my opinion.
Beatles For Sale Is so underrated! People only rank It low because A Hard Day's Night before It had all originals and then Beatles For Sale came back with covers! Beatles For Sale's originals are outstanding, and sound like a new Beatles band: I'm A Loser, I Don't Want To Spoil The Party, I'll Follow The Sun! The covers are pretty good: Honey Don't, Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby, and Rock And Roll Music! But I have a feeling then If I Feel Fine and She's A Woman were Included on Beatles For Sale, that album wouldn't be considered bad!
Pipes of Peace is bottom of the list for me, the first album I didn't buy at the time and I never have. Barely a redeeming feature. Driving Rain had at least a couple of more interesting and challenging songs. Wildlife certainly deserves a good spot - with its charm and raw quality. Tried and failed to like NEW, but Chaos and MAF are great late career pieces. I still prefer to spin Wings rather than solo Paul albums and I guess they's make up most of my top ten....
heres is my opinon 25 kisses on the botton 24 give my regaurds to broad street 24 mccartney 2 23 back to the egg 22 mccartney 1 21 chayos and creaton in the backyard 20 london town 19 tug of war 18 pipes of peas 17 ram 16 wings at the speed of sound 15 flowers in the dirt 14 prest to play 13 memnory almost full 12 the rusan album 11 wild life the first wings album 10 red rose speed way 9 wings gretest 8 band on the run 7 nenus and mars 6 wings over america 1 new
Great list MMM! Agree with you on almost every spot, although i would put off the ground in the top 3 and flowers in the dirt in top 5! This song should not be forgotten for example: m.ua-cam.com/video/FZEhvmW5s5k/v-deo.html , keep up the good work,
Thanks for your videos. I quite enjoy them. Driving Rain used to be also at the bottom of my McCartney list. I decided to revisit it yesterday after discarding it many years ago. To my surprise, I now love it. Played it loud on my very good stereo system and it sounded really good. I found most of the songs very well written and performed. Paul’s bass playing is superb on this album. Maybe the dreadful album cover had a negative influence on me when I first listened to it when it was released. So glad I gave it another chance cause I really appreciate it now! Many rock critics seem to also like this album. Cheers!
1. Red Rose Speedway
2. Band On The Run
3. Ram
4. Back To The Egg
5. Venus And Mars
6. Memory Almost Full
7. McCartney
8. Wild Life
9. Flowers In The Dirt
10. New
Ethan Flynn Red Rose Speedway is criminally underrated
Best top 10 I’ve seen in a while
I love your passion for the Beatles. Great channel.
D.B. Dickerson - Thanks.
Your reactions and expressions over Paul singing in the background is hilarious.
Just discovered your channel and I thoroughly enjoy it. ❤️🐞s
Matthew Stromer - Thanks for watching.
Superb video, Joe. You're certainly the expert when it comes to reviews and rankings. Even though I have 18 of Paul's 24 studio albums on vinyl, I'm not qualified to rank them because I've never played them all. I have played "Kisses On The Bottom" and "New". Not too wild about "Kisses". Too old fashioned and jazzy for me, but I consider "New" a masterpiece. I've played the hell out of it since October and it only gets better with every listen.
1. Band on the Run 2. Ram 3. Flaming Pie 4. Chaos and Creation 5. Tug of War 6. Egypt Station 7. McCartney 8. NEW 9. Memory Almost Full 10. McCartney II
I was just listening "Tug of War" yesterday in the car after some time and I thought how good it was! Glad to see it quite high on your list.
This popped up on my page this morning so I watched it again. Fun video and love your reactions to "Ain't That A Shame."
Hoping to see more of the solo albums reviews in the future.
+Matthew Smith - I hope so too.. slow going these days. Plus, suddenly I'm into movies again instead of music.
Those are the things that keep life interesting. Which reminds me I want to look up the vampire movie video you did a year or two back.
+Matthew Smith -- I just watched "Twins Of Evil" on Blu-ray... very good Hammer film.
I agree with you on 'Back to the Egg' and 'McCartney II', very underrated albums. My list would be:
1. RAM
2. Memory Almost Full
3. Band on the Run
4. Chaos and Creation in the Backyard
5. Tug of War
6. Back to the Egg
7. Flaming Pie
8. New
9. McCartney II
10. McCartney
Hi,
thanks for doing this list! I became aware of a number of albums I had not paid much attention to or have even heard of and I am a huge Beatles' fan. It has made me want to dive into his back catalog, so I am grateful for that. I agree that Back to the Egg is a great record. I remember buying it as a kid when it came out and being excited by it. I guess my favorite is McCartney because I got it at a garage sale when I was 12 in the late 1970s and I had absolutely no idea what I was going to hear. It was the first solo Beatle record I had come across and it was so personal and intimate compared to the Beatles' records, which I was already very familiar with at the time, and it felt like I was having a private conversation with a person removed from the fame and craziness of Beatlemania that made him like a god. That has stuck with me ever since. It was just so different, it was like looking behind the curtain and it seemed like I was doing it alone. And with no internet or older Beatle fans around I had no information about it that could give me a context to put it in or reference it to. Those kind of experiences are rarer these days. After viewing your video I went and listened to Ram for the first time in a long time and it struck me how some of it reminded me a lot of the Beach Boys in the late 1960s, particularly the album Friends as well as the album 20/20. Are you familiar with those records? Check them out some time and see what you think. They are really good and grow on you after a while.
Robert Moses Thanks for your detailed reply, Robert. Glad I could stir up some interest for you. I'm not familiar with the albums you mentioned, but I do hear some Beach Boys- like sound in parts of RAM.
Although I don't have any Paul on vinyl, your ranking along with another video ranking have helped me to prioritize what I should get as my wife got me a turntable for my bday. I agree with your ranking of Driving as least and Ram as best. Everything in the middle varies for me but not by much. I think I will definitely try to find cheap copies of Back to the Egg, McCartney II, Tug of War, Ram, a Flaming Pie (if that can be found), and Wings Greatest (for some reason, I always felt that this compilation sounded like a well sequenced album).
My Top 5 Paul albums
1."Chaos & Creation In The Backyard"
2. "Flaming Pie"
3. "Band On The Run"
4 "Tug Of War"
5. "RAM"
Brilliant video Joe. My eyes was glued to this. Great great video mate. Fantastic order a little similar to what mine would be. They where all in good places except red rose but I know your not a big fan of it. I might have to do my own top 25 mccartney list if that's ok. I'd like to see you do your least to favourite albums for ringo and george aswell. Great video my friend. Take care.
P.S. Thanks for the shoutout :)
rockboy680 Yes, I will also do videos for the other Beatles. And of course I would love to see your "Top 25 McCartney's" as well!
Hi Joe! Great video, I understand how hard it is to rank so many albums! But I totally agree with you on your top five, and I think, like you mentioned, that it is probably best if "New" is Paul's last album (because it is very good), unless of course he is planning a grand finale!
1. Band on the Run
2. Ram
3. Flaming Pie
4. Tug of War
5. New
6. Chaos and Creation
7. Venus and Mars
8. Memory Almost Full
9. Egypt Station
10. McCartney II
How many artists can come up with a top ten like this? Only a few I guess. It also reflects all the musical aspects of Paul. From experimental albums to concept albums, from rock to ballads, from simple to complex songs and from polished productions to home made / self made productions. The albums are also from 5 different decades.
Band on the Run is the top album, great lyrics and great songs and a great concept. With All Things Must Pass and Plastic Ono Band the best solo album. Interesting is that all these three albums deal with the break up of the Beatles.
Egypt Station is fresh in my list, and maybe after some time it can close in at New. From the other McCartney albums you can say two things: The weaker albums always have a couple of good songs on it and the better albums are just not consistent enough to be absolute top albums.
The last two Paul CDs I purchased recently were New and Off the Ground. I'm glad you favor New so much. Love many of the tracks, with Everybody Out There and Appreciate leading the pack. Off the Ground, well, I really like a couple songs (the third and fifth songs). I also choose Venus and Mars over Band on the Run. But Band is still great!
I Like Paul's 2000 albums, like Memory Almost Full, Chaos and Creation and Driving Rain. This last one is surprisingly for me and I don't know why people don't enjoy it that much.
Ram is My favorite "go to" McCartney album as well.
Egypt Station now reminds me of it. Very creative.... well done.
I always loved Back To The Egg and feel it got unfairly overlooked in 1979.
Band on the Run is great top to bottom … but it was such a huge hit, I don't put it on much anymore.
You should check Electric Arguments again... quite good.
New , Memory Almost Full, Chaos and Creation (which to me should have been McCartney III)
and Flaming Pie.... are all so good.
Wild Life is a good album that was unfairly trashed when it came out.
This is a great list. Maybe would put Flowers in the Dirt higher but your top 4 are spot on.
Keep on rocking, Mr. Mayo
Tino
Tino Stabile - Thanks for watching and commenting.
Nice feature. You ever looked at McCartney B-sides and bonus tracks? I've always thought he wasted a lot of good stuff like that - some of his best songs even. Daytime Nighttime Suffering, Flying To My Own, The Loveliest Thing, the list goes on.
+James Griffiths (Vinyl Professor) -- Yeah, lots of gems on his "B Sides" and "Bonus Tracks", I agree. To me that's part of the fun, that so many of them are indeed quite good on their own!
Ram was great and I was glad to see it #1. I would have put McCartney higher, yes it's half junk, but the good half is great and very intimate music. Great video!
Great job! I agree Off the Ground is underrated. It is staggering that Paul's solo career is now more than four times longer than the Beatles!
franco renaldi Yes, Paul has a lot of work there -- and of course even live albums and classical and other ones I did not even feature in this video.
another great video. I mostly agree with where you ranked each album although I would put Red Rose Speedway and Electric Arguments higher and McCartney II, Wild Life and Wings at The Speed Of Sound lower
Good video! I love Paul McCartney:)
Dreamer - Thanks for watching.
Sorry this is way off topic! It just hit me that Lennon and McCartney wouldn't have reformed The Beatles in the 80's but may well have recorded an album together (maybe similar home recording concept to McCartney 1 and 2). I love what ifs and this seems a reasonable proposition.
Your McCartney list is quite interesting....I will say this of course just my opinion....the last full album I enjoyed from him was Flaming Pie...now saying that,I think every album since then has at least 2-3 good/great tracks on them but he is one person that I thik would be great for putting out EP's every so often...I also think that he should do a sequel to Run Devil Run with a new band of past musicians,heck maybe even get Ringo in on it ad be a album made just for fun.Great vid
psykodj67 Thanks for your comment.
youre welcome...I love your vids always informative
I was 15 when the original mccartney album came out which I bought and played over and over. #1 in my books, #2 Band on the run, #3 Ram,
really interesting take Ram is a favorite of mine so sonically interesting and you are right it has grown a positive following. Band On The Run is his finest in my opinion the craftsmanship is excellent, disciplined arrangements, magical lyrics and every song is fully realized.... and the , you really need to give Electric Arguments a fresh listen- Lifelong Passion and Dance Till We're High are great songs and my most cynical rock an roll friends love it...so thanks for the review oh and Driving Rain is passionless hard to get through...
Electric arguments for me is a good album... I got the box set that came with the vinyl...and the high quality audio and some extras...so good ..A master piece
Nice ranking Joe:)
I agree with you on McCartney II, that's a much better album than the 1st one but i would have placed it in the top 5 for me. Also can you rank all of John's Solo albums, not counting the experimental albums like, Two Virgins or The Wedding Album.
Great video! Really enjoyed watching. I agree with the top few, although I'd change the order of some (and would swap Flaming Pie for London Town).
I'm surprised you hate Press To Play so much when you like McCartney II. They both share a similar experimental aspect in my view, with songs like Pretty Little Head and Write Away. The production can be too much at times though...
+Alex Hopkins Nettle -- The reason I like McCartney II is that I just feel the songs are more enjoyable.
In addition to two of Paul's three The Fireman albums, you've also omitted _Thrillington,_ (an AOR instrumental version of the _Ram_ album), along with all of his classical albums: _Ecce Cor Meum,_ _Standing Stone,_ _Working Classical,_ and _Liverpool Oratorio._
And that's fine. I'm not saying you should have included them, but just mentioning it for the benefit of viewers who might not be aware of their existence, and to reinforce just how prolific McCartney really is.
Is 'So Bad' from Pipes of Peace the same 'So Bad' as on Broad Street? Different versions of same song? I've heard the flip-side of My Love 45 (a non-Lp) is better than anything on Red Rose Speedway.
Jon Sieruga - Yes, the song is the same song, but two different recordings. Different versions of the same song. If you're referring to "The Mess" (flip side of "My Love"), it is pretty good but I don't love it as much as other fans seem to.
'Lover To A Friend' from Driving Rain is one of the best Paul songs ever.
Love that Ram is number 1!! Nice list....of course I differ on some of the order but generally agree with most of it. Very hard task.
Astounded that Thriving Pain didn't come in at number one Joe.
I'm with you on Red Rose Speedway though. That album has it's fans, but I never much cared for it. Not sure what it is about it. I pull it out every so often to give it another shot, play the thing and then five minutes later can't recall a single song from it. It's a strange, unfocused no there there album for me.
Give Electric Arguments another chance. I love that record and consider it a proper Paul album more than a Fireman side project thing given that it contains real songs and music where the earlier two are just techno, electronica gibberish.
Great video though. I'm still amazed at how much I love New and how classic and great it is. Not even a year old as you said and yet it feels like I've known those songs for years.
COMPLETELY AGREE WITH RAM AT No. 1! In fact, I beleive "RAM" is right up there with Sgt. Peppers' and Abbey Road, not only in terms of how revolutionary it is (I think it's actually the pioneer of the "Indie rock" concept), but in the quality of the music and the melodies per se. Your review and understanding of the album is spot on, particularly on the absolute misunterstanding of its grandieuse when it was issued. There´s also the underlooked great quality of Linda McCartney's chorus' and harmonies therein contained. Thank you for sharing your well educated opinion!
Jose Antonio Duclaud - Thanks. And actually, I have yet to do an official RAM review on my channel - though some viewers keep urging me to.
I certainly suggest you do so.
I would be interested to know we're Mean Mr. Mustard would place those live albums in this list
I was really interested in your comment about McCartney 'changing' (for the worse?) after Linda's death. Do you elaborate on this on another video? I totally agree anyway - broadly speaking I've enjoyed his music a lot less since her death. When I was growing up, Paul and Linda were like my other mum and dad.
+James Griffiths (Vinyl Professor) -- Hmmm.. did I say that? (lol). I now have come to the point where I feel Paul's music, at least, has gotten better since around 2005. I did notice Paul being appearing rather uncomfortable (naturally) after losing Linda, and he never seemed right with Heather (who he ultimately divorced of course). But I think he's in a good place with Nancy now, and the fresh and exhilarating songs on NEW (2013) reflect that, I think.
Good list. I would put Electric Arguments in top ten, some really great songs on that album. I might switch a couple of spots here and there, but generally agree with list. McCartney (his first solo and one of first albums i ever owned) would be higher for me, memories from my youth. Nice job!
“Run Devil Run” would be in my top 5.
I don't think Ram would make my top ten, but it certainly is quite listenable for me. My top choices would include Venus and Mars, Band on the Run (I like Venus more, like you), Tug of War and Back to the Egg.
it's funny the looks you give when Paul is singing 'Ain't That a Shame". lol
Hi MeanMr Mayo. My Top 5 Paul albums are 1) Tug of War, 2) Chaos & Creation, 3) Flaming Pie, 4) Venus & Mars, 5) Ram.
Thanks for your choices!
1. Ram; 2. Wild Life; 3. Band On The Run; 4. Venus and Mars; 5. Back To The Egg; 6. Red Rose Speedway; 7. McCartney; 8. London Town; 9. Tug Of War; 10. Flaming Pie; 11. Off the Ground
My list: ( Top ten. ) As you say, :It's not an exact science and some of these could easily be switched.
1. Band On The Run
2. Ram
3. McCartney
4. Venus And Mars
5. New
6.Egypt Station ( This may change as I need to listen more. )
7.Flaming Pie
8.Memory Almost Full
9.Wings Wild Life
10. Tug Of War
Don't get around much anymore is a good cover..I love it .and "summer time" as well
I dig your list. I agree McCartney II is way underrated. Same with Wild Life.
Broadstreet is at the bottom of my list right next to McCartney II, speed of sound, wildlife and first solo are in my top 5. Ram #1
Glad you made this. I would place Red rose speed way higher and broad street much lower. Beatle remakes does not make a Good McCartney album.
You have to do a review of ram joe.
You have to do it again This. Cos I have my list but always change 😥😥😥 at least I have this cos I love your rewiews..I would like to do my one video list, but I don't have your talent to make this videos
1970 -1990 1 Band on the Run 2 Ram 3 Venus and Mars 4 London Town 5 Tug of war 6 Red rose speedway 7 Wings at the speed of sound 8 McCartney 9 Pipes of peace 10 Wild life 11 Flowers in the dirt 12 Back to the egg 13 McCartney 2 14 Give my regards 15 Press to play
My top 5
1. Ram
2. Chaos and creation in the backyard
3. Band on the run
4. Venus and Mars
5. London Town
Well, thank you for the list. I guess I stand alone with Press to Play being one of the greatest pop/rock albums of the 20th century. Where it struck you wrong it struck me right. Wild Life is another favorite of mine for Some people never know alone. Ram is my second favorite of his. I burned out on Band on the run a little, but I still love Mamonia and 1985. New has really got me hooked. All in all, a great list, just wish you'd give Press to play less hate. I think it's a million times better than Off the ground and Flaming pie (The songs we were singing is great though.). Thank you
+Michael Blaydes - I get that you like PRESS TO PLAY -- but I don't. I would be interested in seeing your personal list of "Least To Best".. nobody is going to agree all of the time. FLAMING PIE is considered one of his best albums by fans and critics, for example.
+MeanMr Mayo Here is a list of fifteen.
15. McCartney 2
Recently decided I like this one after all, despite thirty years. of hate. Favorite track: Coming up.
14. Wings at the speed of sound.
Favorite track: Paul's anthem Silly love songs.
+MeanMr Mayo
13. McCartney
Favorite track: Every night/Junk (tie)
12.Chaos and creation
11.Memory almost full. Favorite trac: Only mama knows.
10. Give my regards.
Favorite track: No more lonely nights. Great David Gilmour stuff. I actually think both the Beatles and Wings covers are an improvement because of the maturity levels of the musicians involved.
9.Band on the run.
Favorite track: 1985. This album used to be in my top 3 or 4, now I think it's a little over rated. I recognize it for it's importance for both Paul and Rock industry overall nonetheless, and still love it.
8. Tug of war. A flawed masterpiece; important as a reflection on his soul after John was killed.
Favorite track: (hands down one of my favorites period) Take it away.
7. Back to the egg.
Favorite track: Arrow through me.
6. Venus and Mars. A very under rated album full of gems.
Favorite Track(s) :(tie) Venus and Mars (one of my favorite Paul lyrics "Red lights green lights, Strawberry wine"; Rockshow has the funniest lyrics.; You gave me the answer (only Paul could pull this song off); Magneto and Titanium man (jams).
5.Flowers in the dirt. This one is a very personal choice for me and is very special. I agree it's flawed (though for very different reasons than what you have said; but that's part ofvwhy I love it too as so is life itself. I saw the concert here in Dallas (I was 19); and it all happened when I dropped out of high school and beganvto discover my independence.
Favorite track: (tie) Distractions (McCartney and George Martin magic) and We got married (Great build up and David Gilmour sounds great again. I used to play and sing this by myself on guitar for people, but I folked it up).
+MeanMr Mayo Now for the final four.
4. New. I can't believe after all these years he can do something that rivals the best not only of his career, but of the entire industry. An instant classic.
Favorite track:(hands down) Queenie Eye. This song, like the album as a whole, defines one of my favorite things about Paul. Wheras John as a lyricist was mostly in your face, Paul's words can be seen in layers. On the surface they appear to be simple silly love songs (or whatever), but if you contemplate most of them there are layers of meaning to be discovered. While he has been known to be blunt as well, most of his career is defined by clever insight into spiritual/psychological/philosophical symbolism with very clever messages about life. This is what seperates him from most lyricists; but, unfortunately is why he is often overlooked for his words.
3.Wild life This was the only Beatles solo album my mom had so I grew up to it. Until very recently It was a little low on my list, but now I think of it as Wings greatest album.
Favorite track: Some people never know. The ending may be the closest thing tocGod a human can play. A closee runner up would be I am your singer for it's sweetness. I even like Mumbo and Bip bop because they sound like they are just having the time of their lives with the whole thing. These last two songs, however are NOT examples of Paul's aforementioned lyrical genious. He was clearly going for rhythem and nonesense, but it works. Again, only Paul can pull shit like this off.
2.Ram This album is as close to Beatle-like that any solo Beatles album can get. He and Lennon were both on a roll during this time; inspired by competitiveness to write some f the greatest music of the time. Plastic ono band defined punk rock at it's purist, but yet showed John's other sensitivities. Ram showed Paul all over the map of genious creativity. Words cannot describe what this album does for me.
Favorite track:(tie) Too many people; Long haired lady. Too many people has the perfect energy, lyrics, and maybe the best guitar solos on a McCrtney song (including The Beatles), rivaled by Gilmour on No more lonely nights. The song is great for pumping me up when I feel defeated over something. Especially when I think of my ex-wife or ex-girlfriends. Long haired lady is a very over-looked epic masterpiece that is about much more than what seems on the surface. The "love is long" chants confirm that he is talking about muc much more than a hot chic. A whole book chapter essay could be written on it. Phenomenal and awe-inspiring.
1. Press to play.
Favorite track: The whole first side is a series of short stories, and all could be put together to form a whole to take you on a journey. I have actually written online an essay about it, but I can give a condensed form here.
Stranglehold is a song to his listener. He wants to convey to us why he will never stop being the m.c. (like on Sgt. Peppers); he says he can wait. He wants to entertain and touch iur hearts and soul with love and dedication.
Good times coming; he takes us back to where his inspiration lies. The journey begins. Though a very techno driven soundscape, he taps into the roots of memories within us. The past is bittersweet, both then and now. The key, though is that, as he says, "I'm loving it now". We must take as experience the lessons we learn from our past experiences and apply it NOW.
Then there's Talk more talk; which is really now a prophesy. It predates the internet. Chat rooms or message boards... again he was ahead of his time. Conversation sprinkled round. Communication is the missing link of life, where man or woman must exist with each other and must find room "to be at one with you"; with each other to share, grow and develop experience in order to be civil men and women. "The words of a feather are worn in a hat" is about Mercury, who represents communication.
Footprints is my very favorite. Another soundscape, now he wants to have a little talk with us about letting be the past mistakes; the miseries of loss of loved ones. Here he is clearly referring to losing his mother, which a part of him still mourned like it was only "Yesterday". In the end, though, there is a sign of hope. A magpie (bird) looks for food; the old hand throws crumb because it appears he may have found a friend. Loneliness has nothing to do with knowing people, it is a state of mind. This song taps into that. Where no-one treads, where footprints never go. Snow represents death...For Paul it is a whole blanket within his heart.
But, when it all comes down to it, only live remains. Aside from being some of the best melody ever written (rivals Gershwin(, this songs message reaches far and away with Pauls favorite message of all: Love.
More can be said about this Masterpiece, but I'm sure you are sick of it, Joe. It sucks, right? I just hope others may read this, those that follow your reviews, and will consider that maybe it's more than Paul trying to be hip-80's; I like to give him a little more credit than that. He is, after all, the great Paul McCartney for a reason. There is a reason why he has set paths in his over fifty-year career; and it's alot more than his desire to cash in on a time period or genre. He actually is one of the reasons WHY the eighties sounded as it did. If anything, maybe he attempted, with Press to play, what potential the sound of the times could produce. I think he succeeded, and then some.
There's my top 15 albums by one of my favorite personalities in modern history. Peace outvand let it be...Michael
That was a Very interesting list -- thanks for doing it!
My list: 1. Ram / 2. Band on the Run / 3. Venus and Mars / 4. Flaming Pie / 5. Tug of War / 6. Wings Over America / 7. McCartney / 8. Flowers in the Dirt/ 9. Memory Almost Full / 10. Chaos and Creation... /11. Back To the Egg/ 12. London Town/ 13. New / 14. At the Speed of Sound/ 15. Pipes of Peace / 16. Red Rose Speedway / 17. Run Devil Run/ 18. Electric Arguments / 19. McCartney II / 20. Press To Play / 21. Off the Ground / 22. Wild Life / 23. Broad Street / 24. Choba b CCCP / 25. Tripping the Live Fantastic / 26. Kisses on the Bottom / 27. Driving Rain / ... I'll also rank these releases... 28. Twin Freaks / 29. Rushes (Fireman) / 30. Paul Is Live / 31. Wide Prairie (Linda) / 32. Strawberries Oceans Ships Forest (Fireman)/ 33. Liverpool Sound Collage / 34. Back in the US / 35. Thrillington / 36.Good Evening NYC
I Love during rain album 😇😇😇 and press to play ❤️
I really like the first side of pipes of peace and the man, but for the rest of the songs I agree with your opinion
+Dom da Moose -- Thanks for the comment!
Great review, there are some songs on Choba B CCCP that are good such as Don't Get Around Much Anymore, Midnight Special and the best version you'll ever hear of Twenty Flight Rock. Chaos And Creation In The Backyard, that was made around the time he was going through his divorce with Heather 'Psycho' Mills, so you could really hear it in that album the melancholy. I think we have the same #5 if I'd made a list, Flaming Pie was a great album when it came out, one of those that I could listen to start to finish and not be like 'god, when does this song end?'. Venus And Mars and Band On The Run sort of take the same slot for me, both equal each other. I'm glad Back To The Egg made the Top 10, that album was a gas to learn on bass and guitar. Not sure how Pipes Of Peace could be better than Press To Play, I really hated Pipes Of Peace, that would be like my number 25, below Wings Wild Life, its quite evident that Pipes Of Peace was all the rejected Tug Of War tracks, very weak stuff with the exception of So Bad and Through Our Love. Thriving Pain, haha, Driving Rain would be my number 23 if I was honest, apart from the songs Lonely Road, Your Loving Flame and Rinse The Raindrops, possible From A Lover To A Friend, the rest of the album didn't do it for me. Overall, a great list.
Paulina Angel Thanks - and I appreciate your detailed response.
MeanMr Mayo dude if u dont like Снова в СССР then why did u play it? I'm not trying to start a fight or be offensive
Venus and Mars was incredible.
Mis álbumes favoritos y sus canciones favoritas (en ningún orden en particular)
Venus and Mars: Venus and Mars, Reprise, Rock Show, Listen to What The Man Said, Junior's Farm
At The Speed of the Sound: Let Them In, The Note You Never Wrote, Silly Love Songs
Band on the Run: Band on the Run, Jet, Mrs. Vanderbilt, Bluebird, 1985
Flaming Pie: Somedays, Little Willow, Used to Be Bad
McCartney: Every Night, Junk, Singalong Junk, Lovely Linda
*Junior's Farm!!!
i like it keep it up
I would be interested in a more in-depth review of "Off the Ground" by you.
Good list -well thought. I'm the same age as you (graduated High school in 1980). You are obvious more of a paul mccartney fan than i, but I was a huge beatles fan (still am) and early Mccartney Wings fan. In reality, there's probably 2-3 albums I would listen to completely: Band on the Run, RAM, and Venus & Mars. I basically stopped listening to Mccartney after London Town / Back to the Egg - I gave up on Mccartney then.
Wings at the Speed of Sound was a let down coming from Band on the Run and Venus and Mars. I could go on and on, but you get the gist.
To add more, I know you mention "Maybe I'm amazed" as your all time favorite post-Beatles Mccartney song (and many regard it as such), but, being an amateur musician, Live and Let Die would probably be my favorite as there's a lot of hidden musical highlights in that song.
I think NEW and MAF are a couple great late period albums from Macca as well, I think both were worthy of being #1 albums. I don't give C&C as much love as you but otherwise we're really close. killer collection Mayo!
I hated the Kisses album by Paul. Thought the standards were done so much better by Ringo with his Sentimental Journey.
why you have a paul`s t shirt. if you don't like any albums from him, or just a couples songs.. I don't understand
+carlosjaramccartneycobainyork - ???
Clearly he loves McCartney; just a little critival is all. I actually agree with his opinion regarding Paul covering the oldies. I don"t like it when Paul does anymore than when John did it in the 70's. I do, however think The Beatles were a great cover band (my fave example is Bad boy). At any rate, though I don't agree with Joe's opinion every time, it can't be more evident that he loves Paul. And he is wise to do so.
Neat list!
- Haven't listen all of Driving Rain but "Lonely Road" seems like the only passable track
- Press To Play I'd rank right down the middle... 5/10
- Pipes of Peace I find better than Press To Play... but not by much, sadly and definitely no match for Tug of War... My vinyl copy is weird... I'm not sure if it's the norm but Side 1 has a Columbia label but Side 2 has the chair and the pipes.
- NEW I'd also rank lower... but it's not my least favorite either... the rockers sound better than the ballads, ironically enough!
- RAM I'd probably have in my top 5 or 10... but you have my favorite album in the #2 spot! :D
Brian Sangster Jr I appreciate your rankings -- thanks!
McCartney album at number 12? Wild life number 14? I’d say his best years were 1970-79, particularly for albums, even though I have enjoyed some since - particularly his flaming pie album, I just find him too smoochy and dare I say it old fashioned since the 1980’s, too much rhyming love with dove or glove lol his 1970’s output was still melodic but with an edge he seems to have lost since.
Yes. That’s spot on
I love McCartney II I would rate that number 1. I agree with Venus and Mars and Band on the Run I love the 12 string guitar and synthesisers.
Kudos to you for your tenacity, with your volume of input. And happy holidays to you, brother. But don't you think it would give more credibility to your review to not have music running in the background that you are opposed to ? You kind of come off ungrateful, especially at 13:20.
No, and now that I have looked at what you're even talking about, I don't feel badly about it at all. Nobody else mentioned it but you. I think that Paul's the one who sounds like an ass in his rendition of "Ain't That A Shame". This is a video that talks about both the "best" and the "least"... it's not only 'the best'. So I got to show an example of what I felt was lesser Paul in the background. This is not all about sugar-coating and loving everything unconditionally, just because it's Paul.
I think you chose poorly for the background music....and it sure was worth mocking by you!!!!
Question..... why did you even play the Russian Album while you did this review?
And he does a great job with "Aint that a Shame" on Tripping The Live Fantastic. On the Russian album it is terrible... I agree that album was bad... but Twenty Flight Rock was good.
But to me that is the worst album. Press to Play is 24 (but I like Footprints) and Driving Rain 23 ...But the song Driving Rain is fun, I like Back in the Sunshine, and Rinse the Raindrops... the rest is bad
RAM is no doubt my favorite of his.
Band on the Run is by far his best album. I will have to listen to New a few more times before I say you are wrong...but it did not grab me. Neither did Memory Almost Full. And I don't dislike Driving Rain at all. Most of the rest of your list is pretty close to mine.
MY TOP 10: 1 Chaos and Creation in the Backyard 2 Band on the Run 3 Venus and Mars 4 Back to the Egg 5 RAM 6 Run Devil Run 7 Memory Almost Full 8 McCartney 9 NEW 10 Flaming Pie; from Brasil!!!
Ram has always been my fav album since the 70's too bad there were singles that weren't on albums like Another Day and Hi hi hi even Mull of Kintyre which were some of my favs.
Driving Rain is top 10 for me. Press to play is Top 5.
Cool video Joe. I agree with most of your listings although I am a "Press To Play" fan myself. "Pretty Little Head" is too innovative and interesting to ignore. I agree with your placement of "Flowers In The Dirt" although I do like that record myself. Then again, "Flowers..." and "Off The Ground" at times though are just too adult contemporary for me to really get into which can be said of a lot of music of that period unfortunately. I like "McCartney II" quite a bit and it would be in my top ten if I ever compiled a listing.
Paul is going batshit crazy with "Ain't That A Shame". Never liked ANY of the solo Beatles takes on rock and roll oldies personality. In fact I'll take that a step further I never liked any sixties era artists oldies themed LPs. My take on it is, if you want to hear The Beatles run through the catalog of fifties hits, pick up "Live At The BBC". All of The Beatles were still in prime voice and delivered high energy and fantastic performances of the songs they chose to cover on the BBC. Looking forward to McCartney's upcoming release: "Straight Up Gangsta' Trippin'"
jldraw "Pretty Little Head" IS interesting, and it's one of the songs I can stomach off PRESS TO PLAY (even though I criticized the album for Paul trying to get into the '80s sound). I thought Paul did well on oldies with RUN DEVIL RUN, but overall I don't need much of his Russian Oldies LP, nor Lennon's ROCK AND ROLL.
MeanMr Mayo
Yeah "Pretty Little Head" has always been a firm favorite of mine. I remember watching the music video back in '86 and thinking the actress in it was really attractive. I didn't know at the time but her name was Gabrielle Anwar and she actually went on to do a fairly successful romantic comedy with Michael J. Fox in the early nineties (the name I'm blanking on at the moment) and recently was the female lead in a very successful television show called "Burn Notice".
Of course all of this goes completely unnoticed by McCartney who clearly has no idea who was cast in the video when he does his commentary for it on "The McCartney Years" (I think he refers to her as "The Pretty Little Head" which I always felt quite hilarious - sure she loved hearing that!) I guess at some point you reach a level of stardom where you don't even pay attention anymore.
Venus and Mars.
Hi Thanks for your reviews... I have to say generally I think you got most things right (opinion, right?) but for me personally I dont think Ram is his best. It seems to me like something is missing on it. Although it is infuriating to always have 'everyones expected' Number 1, I think Band on the Run is it. To me, 'Venus' was not as well produced. Also I am not sure "Driving Rain" is is worst, though there has to be a worst. Otherwise, I really agree with your opinion about "Back to the Egg" and "Flowers in the dirt".
+Glen Smith -- Thanks for weighing in!
run devil run is great
That's 22:10 of my life I'll never get back.
+James Ward -- Why did you watch then? You knew what to expect. Bizarre...
I guess....hey, I respect your opinion. Didn't mean to slam you, I just disagreed so much with your rankings.
Oh, that's fine. I wish you would have said so. What are your biggest disagreements?
everybody loves ram i think its a great album but i dont see it as being that much superior to his other early 70s albums like wild life and red rose speedway, i couldnt even begin to decide my top 25 take weeks lol
Flowers in the dirt? Really? One of the best albums that to be in the top 10 at least, imo.
Joe, why do you think he never officially released "Didn't We Meet Somewhere Before?" He just threw it away! I think it goes too long, shave off about a minute and you'd have a great pop song.
Jon Sieruga - You've stumped me with a Paul song I haven't heard yet. If it's on the Archives re-issue, just shows you how easy it is to miss something!
Nice list. I agree on some (Ram, Back to the egg, Tug of war and Flaming Pie)and disagree on some (Venus and mars (boring stadium rock accept for title track, rockshow and listen to what the man said) Run devil run (one of his best sung albums) Wild life (too mellow and boring) and Press to play (bad production but good songs on cd version).
My top 10 is
10. Chaos and creation in the backyard
9. McCartney
8. Memory Almost Full
7. Flowers in the dirt
6. Flaming Pie
5. New
4. Back to the egg
3. Tug of war
2. Band on the run
1. Ram
ram and ii are my favorite s.
ok, now, if you put Back to the Egg in the top 7 I think you've flipped your gourd. i'd put Venus and Mars a little lower honestly/ I haven't heard a complete album after the Press disaster in 1986. Press was the final nail in the coffin and Broadstreet was the first nail in the coffin. I think that Flowers in the Dirt's My Brave Face and You know Hope of Deliverance on Off the Ground was good. I did see the concert tour in 93 )I saw Paul sing Kansas City in Kansas City etc.( Off the Ground I did buy the LP after 86 other than that I've only listened to Wingspan LP. I bet Flaming Pie and New are good. Really Back to the Egg was weird shit from 1979. McCartney 2 made me want to buy an 8 track over dub machine for Xmas. Paul's later solo albums got less airplay and everybody had Paul's early 70's stuff. Hey Ram On, hard to believe that the other Beatles were most critical of Ram On. Ringo called it wierd, John & Yoko took offence with Too Many People, George thought 3 Legs was slap at the Beatles etc. Even Paul thought it was nothing serious at the time. But Ram On is the coolest I agree. Carry On Mean Mr. mayo say hello to Polytheme Pam.
Red Rose Speedway is like number one for me I can't believe it ranked lower than Give My Retards to Broadstreet which was a terrible movie. Red Rose Speedway has Paul's best melodies ever like: Single Pidgeon, Little Lamb Dragonfly, Lazy Dynamite etc. I like Red Rose better than Band On the Run actually even though Paul's two hottest albums were probably Band on the Run and Speed of Sound.
I adore Ram but honestly can't stand Venus and Mars. Sounds like the return of granny shit to me. Don't get the appeal so far just heard the first 7 albums working through them and I'd rank it
1. RAM
2. Band On The Run
3 and 4. Wildlife / McCartney (I think side 1 of Wildlife is a great time and reminds me of T. REX and McCartney is half an album and the rest is doodles so they tied to me)
5. Speed Of Sound (I love three of the songs on it so much)
6. Venus and Mars
7. Red Rose Speedway
I'm worried how I'll go progressing
There's so-called "granny" stuff even on the other albums as well.
DRIVIN RAIN not THAT bad?! From a love to a friend, she givin up talking, and plus two,three more,...whats up?!
Nice review!
I'm not very Interested In solo Beatles! I have a few of Paul's albums, I haven't played some of them yet! I'm Just not Interested!
I like making a ranking list to my way and not like others! I think It's annoying when I look up ranking Beatles albums and 90% of them ranking Beatles For Sale, With The Beatles, and Please Please Me at the bottom!
Can you rank The Beatles albums, 13 albums! Please!!!
***** Beatles? Yawwwnnn.... they are tired! :) But seriously, I suppose down the line I can rank the albums. It just seems like those 13 albums are so over-analyzed.
If you don't count "Yellow Submarine" as an official Beatles LP, then "Beatles For Sale" in my opinion arguably belongs on the bottom. Call it lack of quality material (and who can blame them given their hectic schedule in '64), poor sequencing (which is what I personally subscribe to) or just the fact a lot of the music doesn't share a lot in common with their "beat music" phase (which arguably they were beginning to come out of at the time) and it just seems to rank near the bottom with a lot of people.
PS: Beatles VI rocks!
The US Albums Rule! But I mean, SOMETHING has to go on the bottom of the list, right? The trouble with ranking the albums is they're all good.
MeanMr Mayo
I like SOME but not all of the US Albums. My favorites would probably include the aforementioned "Beatles VI", "Yesterday & Today" and the US version of "Rubber Soul" (although I do prefer the UK pressing overall). Even "Beatles '65" for me ranks higher than "Beatles For Sale" because the Capitol album benefits greatly from the inclusion of "I Feel Fine", "She's A Woman" and "I'll Be Back" all of which are stronger than a lot of the songs on "Beatles For Sale" in my opinion.
Beatles For Sale Is so underrated! People only rank It low because A Hard Day's Night before It had all originals and then Beatles For Sale came back with covers! Beatles For Sale's originals are outstanding, and sound like a new Beatles band: I'm A Loser, I Don't Want To Spoil The Party, I'll Follow The Sun! The covers are pretty good: Honey Don't, Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby, and Rock And Roll Music!
But I have a feeling then If I Feel Fine and She's A Woman were Included on Beatles For Sale, that album wouldn't be considered bad!
13:22 LOL
ZB6982 w
I think NEW could compare and is as good as band on the run
Eden Faliveno I'm beginning to think so too.
Pipes of Peace is bottom of the list for me, the first album I didn't buy at the time and I never have. Barely a redeeming feature. Driving Rain had at least a couple of more interesting and challenging songs. Wildlife certainly deserves a good spot - with its charm and raw quality. Tried and failed to like NEW, but Chaos and MAF are great late career pieces. I still prefer to spin Wings rather than solo Paul albums and I guess they's make up most of my top ten....
Driving Pain . Ha ha brilliant!
Villaboy - Actually, I called it "Thriving Pain" ! :)
good there will be a few mccartney cds i wont buy now
heres is my opinon
25 kisses on the botton
24 give my regaurds to broad street
24 mccartney 2
23 back to the egg
22 mccartney 1
21 chayos and creaton in the backyard
20 london town
19 tug of war
18 pipes of peas
17 ram
16 wings at the speed of sound
15 flowers in the dirt
14 prest to play
13 memnory almost full
12 the rusan album
11 wild life the first wings album
10 red rose speed way
9 wings gretest
8 band on the run
7 nenus and mars
6 wings over america
1 new
Joseph Beaton oh christ...
Great list MMM! Agree with you on almost every spot, although i would put off the ground in the top 3 and flowers in the dirt in top 5! This song should not be forgotten for example: m.ua-cam.com/video/FZEhvmW5s5k/v-deo.html , keep up the good work,