Paul McCartney

Off The Ground

A Pleasing Discovery

Review Score:

(10/10)
I'd passed up this album for a long time, primarily because it got so much bad press. Nobody seemed to like it! Now that I've heard it, this seems rather baffling. It really is a gem of an album. I think it came out at a time when Paul was taking some guff for statements he made in a Beatles biography that claimed credit over John for much of ground-breaking creativity of the Fab Four, which probably got some folks foaming at the mouth. (Even if the statements are true!)

Whatever the case, I found this a marvelous and mature piece of work. The first song that really caught my attention was "Biker Like an Icon" (that is, after the obvious radio hit "Hope of Deliverance.") This was also a surprise to me since I'd read an interview that specifically castigated this song. The interviewer asked, "How can you go from writing lyrics like 'Eleanor Rigby' to 'Biker Like an Icon?'" Only after I'd actually heard the song did I think back and realize how polite McCartney was in his reply. (He said something like, "I'm not sure. Sometimes it surprises me what people will or will not like.") The whole song I feel is as clever lyrically as any other McCartney song. He was definitely playing on the sound of these words on the tongue, and the idea and images it inspires are quite fun.

But that's just the beginning! Yes, "Looking for Changes" is quite political (trying to inspire better treatment for furry things), but no more so than his early 70s song, "Give Ireland back to the Irish." I personally don't agree with the sentiment, but if nothing else, it's interesting to see what he can do musically with such a charged political message.

I also loved "Peace in the Neighborhood," "Golden Earth Girl," (can't get the lyric of "fish in a sunbeam" out of my head!) "Get out of the Way," "Winedark Open Sea," and the opening number, "Off the Ground."

But the rousing finish with "C'mon People" left me in awe. He really has lost NOTHING since his Beatles and Wings days. Did this song ever reach the radio? If so, I never heard it. Just goes to show again that the youth of the world decide what we hear on the 'ole FM. ...

Live long and prosper, Paul. Mostly, I thank heaven that this magnificent artist continues to share his gift long after most other pop artists have gone the way of the wind.

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