With plenty of high profile hits and even a divorce behind him, Paul McCartney can literally do anything he wants.
Let’s say he wanted to swing in through your living room window dressed as an octopus. Nobody would call him a mentalist. It’s because he’s flipping Paul McCartney from The Beatles. You have to be polite to him; he’s not a Sir for nothing.
It’s well known that when The Beatles were locked away in a Liverpool studio many moons ago, they were under the influence of the mindbending drug LSD. So will Paul decide to swallow a couple of ecstasy pills so he can make more druggie inspired music? Who knows, but we expect him to don bright neon clothing and dance around like a twat with a couple of glowsticks. You see, he’s going to bring the party to YOU with an album full of electronic treats.
Paul McCartney hasn’t been in the spotlight for his musical ability recently. Firstly he had to deal with his second wife Heather Mills, who accused him of all sorts of wrongdoings. Once she was disposed of, Paul got all kissy kissy with a millionaire called Nancy Shevell. The two have been spotted together regularly and have probably caused all sorts of embarrassment for their children as they are forced to watch their parents eat each other’s face off.
Lately it was all about Paul McCartney and Israel. Not taking to peace and freedom that well, terrorists threatened to blow him up and force everyone to burn their Stella McCartney designer burkas. Triumphantly, the nasty Middle Eastern men didn’t attempt to disrupt the gig and, instead, they got their asses kicked off an old man. Take that you pesky terrorists! We have the weapon of music.
Now Paul’s back to release more records that will probably be crap, but bizarrely lauded because he used to be in The Beatles. Instead of writing more terrible love songs about coconuts or coyotes, or producing cringe-worthy classical music, Paul is instead going to rave it up big style. It’ll be the perfect record to get wasted to as all your mates come round to have one of those Skins parties where everyone wears clothes from Topshop, gets pissed off a can of cider and ends up shagging everyone else by the end of the night.
So what will be the end product of Paul McCartney’s dance direction sound like? How about a bit of early house music sounding house music? Or does he want to mash up our ears and record an entire album of 200bpm gabba colliding with some jungle influences for shits and giggles?
Either way, we are genuinely interested in seeing what he comes out with. No seriously, after this album we look forward to his ghetto rap album where Paul McCartney collaborates with Snoopy Dog, Kanye West and Lil Wayne. There can’t be that many other genres he hasn’t had a stab at.
But wait! The pesky Scouser is trying to throw you by releasing this record under a pseudonym. Going under the guise of The Fireman, Paul must be pretty sure this record will be hot stuff when it’s released. Ouch, our hands will be burnt after touching the CD, and our speakers may just melt from the heat emitted from the album. It should really carry a health warning.
Now, we always thought a lot of care and thought went into a song from an ex-Beatle. But as the BBC reports, it seems that he found the process quite an easy one:
“Each song was written by Sir Paul and recorded in the space of one day.”
As we said, it won’t matter if the end product is gash. They’ll be plenty of people telling him it’s the best thing since Brian Eno and early works of Aphex Twin.
Or maybe we’re jealous that our album of rubbing elastic bands against cups hasn’t been snapped up yet.
Shooty* says
Yeah, yeah, yeah, get to the good stuff: How much is Hecklerspray going to offer that Brummy photographer for the Britney Spears sex tape?
Nimus says
Maybe you are jealous. Maybe you are mean, for no particular reason. Maybe you don’t like his music, but many other people do. Maybe it’s not all about the Beatles, because plenty of young people who weren’t even born in the 60s listen to him. Maybe he just makes you feel small and insignificant. Maybe you are.
Tref says
What is it about the Internet culture that every writer has to be a wanker? Like him or not, Paul is a talented guy and he is trying to do something creative. You, on the other hand, report about creative people, so do your job. Your not Hunter S Thompson, nobody cares about you. Just report on shitte.
Carol Cleveland says
You know, I live for the day when I will read a review of McCartney music that makes no reference to his divorce/ daughter’s line of work/wife’s popularity with the press, or anything that doesn’t have something to do with *the music.* I long for the day, but don’t expect to live it soon.
Reviewers: could we hear about the *music*, not McCartney’s personal life, and when you do get around to reviewing the music, could you use an adjective or so here and there, rather than relying solely on references to bands that I’ve never heard of?
That is basically the reviewer’s job–to tell us whether to buy a piece of music or an album. The personal biography of the composer or performer is of no interest to history if the music will be forgotten in a year. Or a week.
So, it’s hard to see what the justification was for this piece at all. It’s a snobbish, ignorant smear of Paul McCartney the person, with nothing to say about the music at all.
And FYI: this is the third album of dance/techno music McCartney has released as the Fireman. The Fireman is the nom de plume he uses for this kind of music, so it is not a plot thought up for this release.
Evan says
There have already been at least two Fireman albums, starting with 1994’s ‘strawberries oceans ships forests’ (featured a still-living Linda Mac as well as 2 other Beatles BTW) and 1998’s ‘Rushes’. Both are very pricey collector items now. Both are pretty much exactly as described above, trippish rave-ish electro-trancey-macca-muxtapes. Oh, I bet you didn’t even know about the 2004 big band album, ‘Thrillington’. . .
Penny says
So, what have you done that makes you so great? You McCartney bashers make me sick.
Carol says
Well, thanks, Evan, I think …
I think I follow most of your adjectives excepting “rave-ish” and the noun “muxatapes.” Some of us have never been to a rave, which *I think* is a dance experience for young people with drugs, especially ecstasy?
“Muxatapes” has me stumped completely.
And do you mean 2004 for Thrillington? Surely the original release was much earlier?
Thanks for the adjectives. I appreciate them.
starrgirl says
Interesting review. I don’t know what his marital history or his daughter’s design work has to with his talent as a musician except that it gives a smart-alec reviewer a lot of fodder for making snide and irrelevant remarks. A musician who wants to compose and create for a lifetime, as Sir Paul has done and continues to do, has to put himself out there and let the chips fall where they may. Bravo to Paul for not resting on his laurels and staying current. His work will be around for a lot longer than that of heckler Matthew.