There's more chaos and creation on the main Paul McCartney pageeeeeeeeeeeeeeio Slugs and Stuff in the Backyard Overall Album Score: 9.5 out of 10 It’s so great that a lot of our favorite rock stars from the 60s (the ones who actually made it), most of whom were pretty much crap in the 80s and mediocre in the 90s are really churning out some awesome stuff in the 00s. … Paul McCartney, who, contrary to popular opinion, was a member of the Beatles, is totally included in that! NOT ONLY IS THE NEW ROLLING STONES ALBUM ****nice**** and these Bob Dylan guys and David Bowie peoples and … and … pretty much everybody … about an infinity times better than they were in 1980, but PAUL MCCARTNEY TOO!!!!! … And, he’s always been one of my favorites… It’s hardly worth arguing that ex-Beatle Paul McCartney was one of the finest songwriters of the 20th Century, because he was responsible for some of the most enduring tunes throughout the 60s and 70s. (OH NO, I WROTE THIS REVIEW FOR MY SCHOOL PAPER AND I'M TOO LAZY TO CHANGE THE WURDINGGGGGGG TO MY NORMAL STUPID-SPEAK THAT IS USUALLY PRESENT IN MY REVIEWS) However, for such a renowned songwriter, his material through the 80s and 90s was rather weak. Fortunately, the 63-year-old was able to dig into his bag of melodic tricks and put forth an entire 13-track album that is chock-full of excellent tunes. Not one song falls short. This album can effectively be considered a sum-up of his career. Some of the songs directly recall but never copies Beatles songs. “Jenny Wren” is similar to “Blackbird” from the “White Album,” “English Tea” is fondly reminiscent of “Yesterday,” “Promise to You Girl” utilizes those unmistakable Beatles vocal harmonies. Tracks such as “Fine Line” and “This Never Happened Before” recalls “Band on the Run”-era Wings. “A Certain Softness” would have fit comfortably on his solo 1971 album “Ram.” Not only does McCartney revisit his past in the album, but he also acknowledges the present. Tracks such as the dream-pop songs “Promise to You Girl” and “Follow Me” still contain strong melodies, but they nod current indie-pop trends. The greatest surprise about the album, however, was the solid studio production, which is more polished and mature than most of his post-Beatles albums. Perhaps that’s because Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich was recruited for production duties. Keeping that in mind, however, McCartney remains as charming and personable he ever was. He’s even up to his old multi-instrumentalist tricks. Just like he did on his eponymous debut solo album “McCartney” in 1970, he plays nearly every instrument. It’s hardly worth arguing that McCartney had a great career. It’s great that he finally returned to writing solid melodies like he used to, and taking the time to produce it right. Macca has done well. Overall Album Score: 9.5 out of 10 (I’m not kidding, either! This is one MIGHTILY solid album. VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY enjoyable.) Average Song Score: 9.5 (Every one of these stinking songs has a good melody and refined production levels. This is some QUITE appealing stuff.) Album Tilt: 9.5 (ABSOLUTELY nothing to complain about. No weak spots, there is a good variety of styles here, some of these sound like inferior but still-awesome versions of Beatles songs.) Artist Rating: 9.5 (Well, Paul’s not trying to break new ground here, but he’s not clueless or coasting like so many of his previous albums were like … That’s the underlying brilliance of this thing.) Track Reviews Fine Line 10/10 Whoah… WHOAAAHHH… This song is catchy! …… That’s weird. Melodies are usually worthless on popular albums that people buy! … I wonder why this particular song has a catchy melody???? …… BECAUSE IT’S WRITTEN BY PAUL ‘frickin’ MCCARTNEY, THAT’S WHY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! … And not only does this song have a melody that rivals some of his best songs of the 70s, but the production is *strong* and interesting and … yes. As the British (and Don Ignacio) would say: Thiiissss sooonnnggg isss bluuuudyyy guuuuddddd. How Kind Of You 9/10 This song sounds so weird for a Paul McCartney song! It is kind of dark (though with an extreme dose of hopefulness and optimism) and with *layered* instrumentation … with some echoey piano and … the melody continues to prove the fact that Paul McCartney is among the top five greatest composers of the rock’n’roll era … Whoah … Jenny Wren 9.5/10 Tasty! TASTY!!!!!!!!!!!! … Holy crap! I **totally** forgot that Paul McCartney was one of the more prominent member of the Beatles!!!!! *That’s* why this song sounds like a lost Beatles song!!!!!!!!!! … THE BEATLES, MAN!!!!! … MANNN!!!!!!!!!! BEATLES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! … I’m sorry. But this song is verrrrrrry pleasant and verrrry tuneful and … if you enjoyed that one song called “Blackbird,” there’s probably no reason to not enjoy this other than it’s slightly lesser. Just Paul McCartney singing one of those fabulous McCartney tunes with a guitar and … some type of woodwind instrument. (This is probably the most hated track from the album ... blah to all of you haters!) At the Mercy 9.5/10 Holy crap … this feels like I’m listening to a Beatles album … (Well, a not-quite-as-fantabulous-as-Sgt. Pepper-but-good-one-nonetheless Beatles album.) These songs are a new idea and a new good melody after another! … This is slower piano-based song that sounds just as good as the other songs in here. Mmmm! Friends to Go 9/10 Yay! A happy song! … Yay! Another great melody! … Yay! It has a nice build-up! … Um … Really sort of pales in comparison with other songs, but … this is still very happy and very entertaining. What else do you need??? English Tea 10/10 …Hey! … Isn’t Paul McCartney the one responsible for doing that “Yesterday” song? … Hey! This is in the same vein as “Yesterday!” It’s classical-oriented, it has a melody nearly as catchy as “Yesterday,” and … dudes … Paul McCartney should seriously consider being my uncle. I want him to be my uncle. Too Much Rain 9.5/10 MOTHER LOVING $*#&$(*#&$& *$(#*$(#&%*$(*# AND (*$&#*^*%(*($(#&$*&$*&*&*&*&!!!!!!!!!! *$#&*#$&(@*#&$*#&%&!!!!!!!! Why the crap was Paul McCartney sucking so much in the 80s and (a bit in the) 90s when he’s BEING FRIKIN AWESOME IN THE 00s????? Is it the fact that you’re officially old and you don’t care about being hip with the kids? … Because YOU’RE BEING AWESOME, PAUL!!!!!!!!!! … Seriously, I think now’s a good time to revise those crappy albums you did in the 80s and (some of them in the) 90s. This is a mid-tempoed, regular old Paul McCartney song that just reeks of catchy, interesting melody. I adore these melodies … A Certain Softness 10/10 …Not only is this song completely different than the other songs (it’s an upbeat, sort of lounge-jazz song), but IT’S CATCHHHHYYYYYY!!! It has a catchy theme, and it melds perfectly into a chorus, an instrumental interlude … GIGIGOIGRIOIRROI!!!!! I love this guy! Riding to Vanity Fair 9/10 This is a slow, almost progressive sounding song … (well, I guess we could call it dream-pop … which is kind of awesome, because that means McCartney is also excelling at the new-type songs, too). But, to tell you the truth, this song drags on a bit much and, though the instrumentation is lavish and awesome, is a bit boring. This is one of the weakest songs on here … BUT IT STILL GETS A 9!!!!! Follow Me 9.5/10 …Okay… where are we going? With yet another utterly fantastic melody, McCartney is on his way to pitching a no-hitter … and … wow. This is just a regular-old awesome happy McCartney pop song. … This is the kind of stuff that makes this world a nicer place … Promise to You Girl 9/10 …Interesting… This song starts out as a slower-ballad type thing (with a brief segment of Beatles-ian melody-harmony vocals, all McCartney) and the middle of this is a driving piano-pop song … and then the Beatles-ian melody harmony starts up again … Yet another good melody, the song’s unfocused quality is a bit of a detractor, but … I don’t even come close to disliking this. There’s way too much good stuff here. And … McCartney’s just being goofy … This Never Happened Before 10/10 YAAAAYYYY!!!! … This song recalls more of a Wings song than a Beatles song … and this is pretty much indistinguishable from that (apart from the lack of Linda in the background, possibly). The melody just sounds classic and the song has a touching feeling to it …… YUMMYYYYY!!!! Anyway 9.5/10 This piano pop song starts out kind of boring … but by the end of it, the violins pick up and it becomes sweeping! A nice song to close the album with and ... stuff. Sort of a sweeping, fitting conclusion. …If you hang around for a little while, there’s a very peculiar and … dissonant … medley of tunes (some of which appeared in the album … I’m not sure of some others … I’d have to have listened to this thing dozens of times to know for certain.) You know, Paul’s been known to do the whole medley thing, but the rock and roll instrumental thing in a (sort of) hidden track was the nicest way to go about it. Anyway, that thing at the end was very nice and … very modern, actually. Find out Don Ignacio's gardening secrets here.

All reviews are copyrighted by the author, Michael Lawrence. He knows what it *really* means to hang-glide.