Tug of War

by

Paul McCartney

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This is one of those album's that gets played over and over in my CD player. The reason is great songs and great production. Here's a song by song account:

1. Tug of War - great melody, lots of different parts, and great production by George Martin, great way to start the album. 5 stars

2. Take it Away - Another great song. Irrisistably catchy and upbeat. One to sing along with at the top or your lungs. 5 stars

3. Somebody Who Cares - Very nice melody, but Paul's already been there. 4 stars

4. What's that You're Doing - I never really got into this song. Probably Paul at his funkiest, but it still isn't one of my favorites. 2 stars

5. Here Today - Gorgeous, I definetely think this is the most effective of the Lennon tribute songs. This is one of the two or three best songs on the album. 5 stars

6. Ballroom Dancing - Entertaining. Kind of jazzy, daft lyrics. 3 stars

7. The Pound is Sinking - Fabulous, three different sections in this song. One of the best. 5 stars

8. Wanderlust - Without a doubt my favorite song on the album. Fantastic melody, great piano and horns. 5 stars

9. Get It - Fun, not the best song, but a tad rockabilly and nice to listen to. 3 stars

10. Be What You See - Not really a full song, but I really like it for what it is. 4 stars

11. Dress Me up as a Robber - Maybe the only real "rocker" on the CD. It really grew on me. 4 stars

12. Ebony and Ivory - It's not really as bad as everyone says it is. It think we've all just heard it too many times. 4 stars

Definetely recommended. Paul fan or otherwise.

I have to admit that I was one of those fans who first discovered Paul McCartney in the seventies and then was totally blown away when I found out he had been in another band before Wings. I could not believe that one man could be responsible for all this great music. I first bought all his solo albums and then got into the Beatles and as time went on began to feel a twinge of disappointment at the solo records. The problem for me was that Paul put so much of his soul and feeling into his Beatles music that his often souless solo work paled in comparison. I'm no McCartney basher mind you, I loved Ram and Venus and Mars and thought (and still do) that Wings over America was one of the best live albums of the seventies. But the longer the Seventies went on the more vapid and impersonal his work became (London Town, Back to the Egg and McCartney II)so that by early 1982 I had written the guy off. Then came this album, it's not great by any stretch but it does have two great songs. Here Today and Wanderlust. Here Today, his paean to his ex partner, John Lennon is so stirring that his voice almost cracks. It was a risky move to write a song about his partner but he pulled it off and for the first time in over a decade we get a song from Paul that tells us how he feels. A good thing coming from a writer who spent too much of the seventies writing cutesy pie songs that only 14 year olds could love. Wanderlust is a lovely song with stirring backing vocals that shows Paul could still be clever without being coy. These two songs, for me, show that McCartney was still a talent to be reckoned with. At times his solo work has been infuriating simply for the prescence of songs like Here Today and Wanderlust. It makes one want so much more from McCartney but he seems to go out of his way to depersonalize his songs and pander to the market. The rest of the album is so so but man those two songs are worthy of that other band he was in before Wings.