McCARTNEY IN 3D!!!
This time the wait was shorter than usual and worth. After only two years from Egypt Station, McCartney is back. Well, in truth he never went away. McCartney III proves again why Paul McCartney is the genius of our contemporary era. Avoiding to conceive this album with an eye to commercial success, Paul amazes again, without maybe.
McCartney III is a unique album in Paul's canon and will be rewarded in years, not only by his hardcore fans. Privileging spontaneity to refinement, the album flows perfectly from start to finish. Having abandoned New's electronic trickery and Egypt Station pop grandiosity, Paul goes to the other end of the spectrum and delivers one of the rawest, most straightforward and honest albums of his post-Beatles career. Hats off, Sir.
1. LONG TAILED WINTER BIRD Be prepared for the most unexpected opening track in McCartney's solo career. Based on an acoustic guitar bluesy riff, it's a quasi-instrumental song, featuring only some heavily processed vocal breaks. Paul trashes his drums and adds some Höfner bass touches here and there; some big synthesizer reinforces the main riff.
2. FIND MY WAY A very catchy song, one of the few "poppy" tracks featured in the album. Starting with Mellotron and electric guitars, "Find My Way" is very melodic and consists of two parts, the verse and the middle eight, where McCartney sings in a higher register some very poignant lyrics, clearly inspired by the pandemic scares. After a false ending, the song goes on with a coda based on some very clever and original intertwining guitar lines. A beauty.
3. PRETTY BOYS A folksy song that starts with an arpeggiated acoustic guitar and adds a simple instrumentation to it, with electric guitar, bass and drums. A wordless chorus adds catchiness to a nice track, vaguely reminiscent of "That Would Be Something". Paul sings in its current low register... and does it very well.
4. WOMEN AND WIVES One of the highlights of the album. You cannot find such a track in McCartney's post-Beatles canon. We can describe it as a "sermon in a drunken voice", with Paul using the old bluesmen deep and slightly out of tune quality. "Women and Wives" is a piano ballad, very slow, and it's arranged with only Bill Black's standup bass and a simple drum accompaniment: the opposite of lush ballads like "Only Love Remains". Some straightforward but very meaningful lyrics.
5. LAVATORY LIL A tongue-in-cheek blues-rock. Centered on a pentatonic electric guitar riff, "Lavatory Lil" features a strong McCartney vocal, recorded in one take: another proof that Paul is still capable of delivering great performances. This time he does try too hard and does not use the hoarse approach of recent tracks like "Who Cares". Paul's solo vocals are accompanied by some response choruses. Lyrics are aiming at someone... who knows who "she" is...
6. DEEP DEEP FEELING A true pièce de résistance of McCartney III. Clockin' in at over 8 minutes, it's pure experimental McCartney. Based on a very original drum pattern, it starts very naked with only vocals on the top of it. A couple of acid jazz-like piano chords come in later. Paul is featured on a blues guitar solo, with long sustained notes. Then the track adds acoustic guitars in arpeggio and electric piano riff: the mood recalls "How Kind of You" from Chaos and Creation in the Backyard. Described by McCartney as "claustrophobic", "Deep Deep Feeling" is another unprecedented sonic journey. The false ending trick is here again: Paul closes the song singing and accompanying himself on acoustic guitar.
7. SLIDIN' The heaviest track of McCartney III and also one of the heaviest in all of McCartney canon. The guitar riff is big and loud and Paul wisely put his vocals in the background. The production here is grandiose, although the instrumentation is basic: only guitars, bass and drums. The guitar solos are amazing.
8. THE KISS OF VENUS An acoustic ditty sung by McCartney in his current falsetto. I'm not a big fan of this, but let's admit the man can reach these high notes... at 78! Based on a very hummable melody, "The Kiss of Venus" also features an instrumental interlude with a Renaissance-like harpsichord, in the style of "Piggies".
9. SEIZE THE DAY One of the most accessible songs on McCartney III, although with a lot of twist and turns. Drums are very dry and feature some of the typical McCartney's fills: technically basic but very effective. The chorus, underlined by electric guitars, is the catchiest moment of the album. The lyrics seem again very poignant. An incredibly clever harmonic change closes the song.
10. DEEP DOWN Another lengthy track, "Deep Down" smells of McCartney's Rude Studio demos from the Seventies. It has a jam quality and is based on Fender Rhodes electric piano accompanied by a drum machine. Vocal line is quite minimal, but Paul's melodic touch is all in the guitar lick, instantly hummable. The track has a quite sad atmosphere. Synthesizer flashes add another vintage quality.
11. WINTER BIRD - WHEN WINTER COMES McCartney III ends on a lighter note. Introduced by the very same riff of "Long Tailed Winter Bird", here's one of the highlights of the album, "When Winter Comes". Originating from the 3 September 1992 session that produced also "Calico Skies" and "Great Day" (with George Martin producing and Geoff Emerick engineering), this is an all acoustic song in a pastoral vein. The melody is infectious and simple: a Buddy Holly-like "little" track. How sweet and marvelous ending it is.
© Copyright Luca Perasi (2020)