Paul McCartney's first studio release since the death of his ex-bandmate John Lennon, has been welcomed by mainly mixed reviews.  Everyone seems to sing its praises, yet I don't understand what is so special about it.  The album is made up of some older songs from 1980, which he'd written while his old band Wings were still together, and some newer material he's written since Wings' demise.  The classic songs written while in Wings was almost on a level of music he's written in The Beatles, but as the 1970s wore on, Wings' direction seemed to follow the trends of the times and had sacrifices their sonic individuality (like on 1978's London Town), and tried to replace it with the desperate need to assimilate musically with the day's fashion. 

It's easy to pick out the Wings' music from his newer material.  Somebody Who Cares would've fit perfectly on London Town, with it's Easy Listening variety with a big acoustic guitar sound, and lush backing harmonies, and the same goes for the title track Tug Of War, although the latter sounds a bit more sparse.  McCartney, was perhaps feeling a loss of direction for his newer material and so he teamed up for the first time in his career with a mainstream musician for help with a couple of tracks.  McCartney's been a longtime fan of Stevie Wonder's and had even written a message in Brielle on the back of his 1973 album Red Rose Speedway. 

The first of these collaboration, What's That You're Doing?, a song which probably sounded ultra funky back in 1982, but today sounds like drone incidental music you may hear in the background while watching a rerun of The Cosby Show.  The second song, Ebony & Ivory was a huge hit for the two musicians, another Easy Listening song, which people ate up as the ultimate PR for racial harmony.  Today, the song sounds as if it had lost anything special it may have once had. 

Paul had also turned to legendary Beatles producer and drummer Ringo Starr to join him on these newer tracks.  Paul's song Here Today, a reminiscent homage to Lennon's memory doesn't seem to offer any insight or sentiment, either one would have been expected and welcomed.  The songs that were sonically more raucous were the highlights, like Ballroom Dancing and another minor hit Take It Away.  Paul also teamed up with one of his influences, Carl Perkins on Paul's Get It, a relatively shining moment on Tug of War.  Dress Me Up As A Robber, another old Wings tune, sounds like it could have sit somewhere nicely on his Band on the Run album, but with this slick production it loses any edge it may have had originally. 

Unfortunately, this showcases the downhill progression his music would take for the next few years in the 1980s.  Lennon's very existence would drive McCartney to make great music, and with his friend dead, it only makes sense that McCartney too would seem rudderless.   


Certified Lean ‘ N Mean - 500 words on the nose!


Paul McCartney
Tug Of War
Released: April 26, 1982
Length: 41:12
Rating: 2½ stars
The Songs:
1. Tug of War
2. Take It Away
3. Somebody Who Cares
4. What's That You're Doing?
5. Here Today
6. Ballroom Dancing
7. The Pound is Sinking
8. Wanderlust
9. Get It
10. Be What Yo See (link)
11. Dress Me Up As a Robber
12. Ebony and Ivory
 

 
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Recommended: No