As it should be

Paul McCartney-”Unplugged (The Official Bootleg.)" Unfortunately it was never released in the US so you will have to buy it as an import. It's worth it, I promise. It is not a bootleg, that’s just a tongue in cheek title. It was recorded during an MTV unplugged appearance, and released by Parlophone. The entire album is what unplugged is supposed to be, all acoustic instruments! The album preserves the witty between song banter, re-tuning of instruments, moving of microphones, etc. It’s easy to hear that everyone involved is having a great time, including the band. The audience is very respectful, yet excited. One of the most natural and engaging live albums that I have ever heard. The sound quality is extremely high. There is a minimum of compression and great sound staging depth. As Paul turns around to direct comments to the band or steps away from the mic the tonality of his voice changes. Also when he messes up the lyrics of an old Beatles song the frustration in his voice is apparent, as he apologizes to the audience. Geoff Emerick did a great job in the engineering and mixing department. The material is a mixture of old rockabilly, Beatles material, and early McCartney solo work. This album is priceless.

A quick review

Originally Written: Tuesday, October 11, 2005

So my friend Clint wants to know what I think of Paul McCartney's "Chaos and Creation in the Backyard. Here goes. "How Kind Of You" or a distressed guinea pig Paul Mccartney has shut in a small cardboard box? You decide, I'm not playing it again. You've probably guessed that I don't like Paul Mccartney very much. It's due to being assaulted by things like the last gasp of a boiling lobster, or "Jenny Wren" as it is known on the back of CD. To be honest, it's been a long time since I've heard an album quite this bad. I do this for a living, and you won't believe the shit you get sent as the 'Next Big Thing'. Take track four, "At The Mercy" for example - if I'd wanted a recording of a troupe of clowns honking away in their clown car going around and around the circus ring with no hope of ever stopping I'd have asked for it. Take it away and put it out of its misery. Please.

It is difficult to stop yourself from throwing a brick at your CD player when tosh like a track like "Friends To Go" comes out of it on a regular basis. We should ban things like "Too Much Rain" from ever being played on public radio. Oh? We have? Well, I'm starting a campaign to ban it from being played in private too. Oh my god. I've clearly missed the whole point of this album - until you listen to "Riding To Vanity Fair" you've no idea that the sound of nails being slowly drawn down a blackboard by the Marquis De Sade is what Paul Mccartney was trying to create all along.

In fact, I wish Paul Mccartney had never been born.

Just kidding, put the gun away Clint. That was randomly generated by this site. What did I really think of McCartney's "Chaos and Creation in the Backyard?" Well in short I liked it quite a bit. The problem with most McCartney albums is that he is such a talented song writer completely surrounded by yes men that he rarely stretches his creative muscle much anymore. No one has the guts to tell him that something utterly sucks, after all he is Sir Paul McCartney for God sakes. He can come up with a brilliant melody and some clever chord changes over lunch and by the time the checks arrived he's written some passable lyrics on a ketchup stained napkin. When he gets back to the studio the yes men fall all over each other to be the first to tell him how great it is. I guess that being a former Beatle has that effect on people. The new album is different. The producer insisted on the banishment of McCartney's gang of yes men from the studio, and it shows. McCartney plays many of the instruments himself giving the whole album a personal, almost intimate feel. The album has a melancholy to it that really is very refreshing. It also sounds more organic and less slick than his recent works which makes you pay more attention to the songs, not the production.