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1. This is my ranking of Paul McCartney’s albums from worst to best. Not included are live albums, compilations, classical works, his experimental “Fireman” CDs and his collections of cover songs like RUN DEVIL RUN. There is a five-way tie for # 1 — I just couldn’t decide. And only numbers 18 and 19 truly stink. lol

   19. PRESS TO PLAY (1986) — Wow, this album is a bore. The song “Press” is good and there’s a half-hearted Peter Gabriel influence in one song, but otherwise I wish McCartney hadn’t bothered. What kills me is that immediately after this album he began recording a new album with Phil Ramone which was never was released. The songs from it I have heard are VASTLY stronger than most everything on PRESS TO PLAY.

   18. WILD LIFE (1971) — McCartney’s group Wings got off to an atrocious start with this one, which has possibly the most moronic side one of any album you can find. Things improve a bit in the second half, but not enough. The “Springtime For Hitler” moment occurs right off the bat with the opener “Mumbo.” If you have the courage, I dare you to listen to this awful, awful track all the way through. Once again some of Paul’s material from around this time is much better.

   17. RED ROSE SPEEDWAY (1973)– For McCartney fans the low placement of this popular album might be a shock. I love the middle part of this (”Single Pigeon” especially), but the first third and the big medley at the end are not terribly appealing to me. Even the big ballad “My Love” has not held up well after repeated listenings.

   16. PIPES OF PEACE (1983) — This was a follow-up to McCartney’s brilliant TUG OF WAR. Many of the songs here were cut from TUG and it shows. It’s an agreeable enough album, but lacks distinction. The biggest hit was “Say Say Say” sung with Michael Jackson. It sounds like he and Paul are pretending to be Wham! I also like “The Other Me” and “Average Person”; an OK album.

   15. FLOWERS IN THE DIRT (1989) — I consider this Paul’s comeback album after his mid-80s slump, so I surprised myself at its relatively low showing on this list. There are lots of strong songs here including four nifty collaborations with Elvis Costello, but I suppose there’s just a bit too many dull spots to warrant a higher spot. But overall, extremely good.

   14. WINGS AT THE SPEED OF SOUND (1976) — A real mixed bag for me. The Wings members are all given a song or two to sing, but they are some of the weaker songs here with the exception of “The Note You Never Wrote” sung by Denny Laine. Also McCartney’s “Warm and Beautiful” tries too hard to be warm and beautiful and ends up sounding forced. But there are some dandy tunes here too. The super-catchy “Silly Love Songs,” the odd combination of moodiness with fife and drum on the hit “Let ‘Em In,” the passionate “Beware My Love” and the charming “San Ferry Anne.”

   13. LONDON TOWN (197 — This is an album that, although I’ve never completely warmed up to it, is still full of very nice tunes. (”With a Little Luck” was the big hit.) I particularly like “I’m Carrying,” “Famous Groupies,” the title song,and “Backwards Traveller” (which is far too short in my opinion.) It’s a great nautical sounding song that should have been developed further.

   11. (tie) MCCARTNEY (1970) & MCCARTNEY II (1980) — Two self-made at-home albums, the first very organic the second one with interesting use of a synthesizer. Lots of hits and misses here, but definitely some stand-out songs: “Every Night,” “Maybe I’m Amazed,” “Teddy Boy” from the 1970 album, “Coming Up,” “Temporary Secretary,” “Summer Day’s Song” from the 1980.

   10. FLAMING PIE (1997) — This album suffers from a couple of long and dull improvised thrashing-about sessions with Steve Miller and with Ringo Starr. There are also some just-OK songs, but the good stuff here is very, very good. “The World Tonight,” “Somedays,” “Beautiful Night” and, my favorite, “Souvenir.” I wish I could count some of the glorious tracks available only on the six CD singles, but I’m strictly judging these albums alone as how they were when originally released.

   9. BACK TO THE EGG (1979) — I bought most of Paul’s older albums all in one swoop when I first got interested in him, and this one got a bit lost in the shuffle at the time. But it has held up as one of the best Wings albums. There is a very strong meaty sound to it and most of the melodies are extremely vibrant. Favorites include “Getting Closer,” “Spin It On,” “So Glad To See You Here,” “To You,” and Denny Laine’s “Again and Again and Again.”

   8. CHAOS AND CREATION IN THE BACK YARD (2005) — McCartney’s most recent CD is beautifully crafted. Even on some of his best albums there are tracks I tend to skip through quickly, but this entire album plays like a gem. After the epic DRIVING RAIN, this is rather modest. But I am so pleased that he still has a wealth of melody in him.

   7. RAM (1971) — This is a goofy and eccentric album and I love it. The bizarre “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey” really hooked me into McCartney’s solo work. The whole first half is splendid from the forceful “Too Many People” to the grubby garage-rock of “Smile Away.” The second half is extremely fine too. Great fun!

   6. MEMORY ALMOST FULL (2007) — Absolutely magnificent album that hits the bullseye. The sound is strong and meaty, closer to “Driving Rain” than “Chaos and Creation.” To paraphrase Ethan Mordden’s quote about Mozart, “McCartney is insanely gifted with songwriting genius.” The highlight is a five song autobiographical suite beginning with “Vintage Clothes” and ending with “The End of the End” in which Paul envisions his own (peaceful) death. The fourth song of the suite, “House of Wax” is one of the most intense, powerful tracks McCartney has ever produced.
   The rest of the album is terrific as well. There’s the catchy hit “Dance Tonight,” the bonkers “Nod Your Head,” the soulful “Gratitude” and the brilliant “Only Mama Knows,” which begins with a string quartet before launching into some of the most blistering hard rock Paul has ever done. At the end, the strings return — a nice touch. I was almost tempted to place this in a 6 way tie for #1, but I’d rather let this album “marinate” a little longer.

   1. (five-way tie) in chronological order:
   BAND ON THE RUN (1973)
   VENUS AND MARS (1975)
   TUG OF WAR (1982)
   OFF THE GROUND (1993)
   DRIVING RAIN (2001)

   These are my top 5 — rather neatly there is at least one from every decade (I did not plan that.) BAND ON THE RUN finally showed that Wings could really get it together. The songs are superb and clever. (I love how the title song is reprised at the end of the brilliant “1985.” Interestingly, the US version added Paul’s single “Helen Wheels” to the album, which unfortunately hurts the flow. But that’s a minor quibble. This is a great album.

   VENUS AND MARS is my special favorite of the 1970s albums. I love the sound of it for one thing, but more importantly it’s loaded with the sort of McCartney tunes I love. The title song appears in two different guises to herald the beginnings of each half (with a neat pun on the word “stars.” It’s hard to pick favorites from an album I love entirely, but I’ll make mention of “Love In Song,” “You Gave Me the Answer,” (LOVE that one tremendously!) “Magneto and Titanium Man,” “Call Me Back Again,” “Listen To What the Man Said,” and band member Jimmy McCullough’s “Medicine Jar.”

   TUG OF WAR is fantastic. This was Paul’s first album since John Lennon’s killing (”Here Today” is a tribute to John) and perhaps that brought something special out in him. I am always moved by the title song which has a stirring grandiose quality. “Ballroom Dancing” wasn’t a single, but seemed to be played the most often on the radio. The big hit was “Ebony and Ivory,” the duet with Stevie Wonder. One thing all of these Top 5 albums have in common is that the songs flow like a movie. There is a real feeling of structure.

   OFF THE GROUND was not only a big comeback in quality, but exhibited a punchy, on-target approach lacking in too many of his previous albums. There were more Elvis Costello collaborations here — perhaps Paul needs inspiring people like Lennon and Costello to bring out the best in him. My favorites here include the title song, “I Owe It All To You,” “Golden Earth Girl,” “The Lovers That Never Were” and “C’mon People.”

   DRIVING RAIN is a triumph. It is McCartney’s longest studio album at over 70 minutes. One thing that leapt out at me was the raw, immediate sound. Very visceral. And no bits of ho-hum despite the length. This is a super-charged, incredible CD. I remember first listening to this in November 2001. The first song “Lonely Road” I thought was extremely good. I wondered if the rest of the album would measure up. At the third track “She’s Given Up Talking” I was in music heaven –this was brilliant! — an album with a modern sound along with Paul’s untainted song craftsmanship. The whole album kept me transfixed. Other favorites are the title track, “Magic,” “Heather,” “Rinse the Raindrops,” “About You” and “Freedom,” Paul’s magnificent rallying song after the 9/11 act of terror.

   Comment by boilcrisis8 | January 4, 2008

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