Caesar rock (Paul McCartney) (LP 268)

Paul McCartney Egypt Station (CD - Capitol, 2018) ***

Genre: Beatle style pop 

Places I remember: HMV east Croyden  

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Confidante




Gear costume: I Don't Know, Caesar Rock (where Macca returns to his best Ram voice) 

Active compensatory factors: Because it's so new , and my thoughts are still developing, I'm going to bullet point my response to this one - Macca's new album that has been out for about a week.

• It's not as lived in as late period Joni Mitchell, but his older age vocal style is something that takes a little getting used to. Interestingly, I didn't notice it during his live concert last year in Auckland.
• Lyrics to some of the songs are a little off putting: fer instance Happy With You's allusion to his old smoking jazz cigarettes and getting stoned habits is blunt and unnecessary.
• The latest attempts to write a Give Peace A Chance song of the people (People Want Peace, Despite Repeated Warnings) are exactly like all his others* - icky. *Notable exception - Give Ireland Back To The Irish that is full blooded and super catchy!
• I Don't Know and Confidante are peaks - each builds nicely and the lyrics are on point and heartfelt. Caesar Rock is a peak late on.
• His piano playing is a strength he returns to for a few songs.
• Yuh You isn't as embarrassing as I was expecting, just not that great - Macca aims to be au courant from time to time, when in fact his best songs these days hark back to Wings' best moments (and there were heaps of those).
• Come On To Me IS cringe worthy - both a terrible lyric and a bad look with Macca asking some dodgy questions. Not sure what Nancy will make of this one.
• Side Two (from track 9 onwards) feels weaker - in that some songs get lost in the lead up to another medley of half finished songs (always a fun activity for Macca). That's me saying the album is too long.
• The falsetto used for Hand In Hand isn't terrific but musically it's a lovely song. Then we have a second falsetto during Dominoes - I'm not a fan of falsetto vocals.
• Back In Brazil is catchy and a bit of light relief. But still inconsequential.
• I really wanted to love this album - instead it has some songs I like but, at this moment in time, when all is said and done, in the long run, on the whole, at the end of the day, I won't be playing it as much as I do Ram, or Band on the Run, or McCartney, Red Rose Speedway, Driving Rain, Chaos and Creation in the Backyard, or even Wildlife. 

Where do they all belong? Our Paulie gets kudos for still caring enough to tour and release new albums deep into his seventies. He doesn't need to - he has nothing to prove, so he obviously still loves to do both things. Good on ya , Paul!