Paul McCartney - Back in the U.S. Live 2002
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Free Music Notes for Back in the U.S. Live 2002
Free Music Review: Oh....My....God....
Hit: 5 Stars
Not only should we get down on our knees and pray that Paul McCartney continues touring, we should all do the same in hopes that we are as cool, youthful, and rocking when we are 60 years old like Sir Paul is. It's incredible. He's more than twice my age and I don't think I could even have that kind of enthusiasm he has. It definitley shows on this 2 disc live set. While people moan and complain about no talking on this CD, or some song selections, you need to really listen to what is going on here. That this is a legenday master who sounds a hundred times better than he has any right too, and that his guitar playing and excitement is more than triple that of any young 'uns out there today. Not a whole lot of talk during songs?, no there isn't, and that is somewhat disappointing, but it definitley doesn't condemn the CD from being any less than extraordinary. There are some newer selections here from his "Driving Rain" CD, being the title track and "Lonely Road". While the songs are up-tempo and catchy, it would of been better to of forfeit those songs and toss in a few more classics. "Your Loving Flame", a nod to new wife Heather Mills, is quite a lovely song. Paul sings it with such heart and conviction. There are two other tributes here. One is for John Lennon on the song "Here Today", and the other for George Harrison on Harrison's 'Abbey Road' contribution, "Something". It was an emotional highlight of the disc. Things definitley start off strong with such up tempo numbers as "Hello Goodbye", "Jet", "All My Loving", and "Coming Up". Paul even does "Getting Better", which he says is the first times he's done the song in concert since recording it. He also does the awesome "Let Me Roll It". I've never heard it done live before. Thanks for including it Paul!. Things slow down in the middle of the first disc. Paul turns to his guitar on such gems as "Blackbird", "Every Night", "Mother Nature's Son", "Vanilla Sky", and "The Fool On The Hill". The second disc is even better than the first. This second one is filled with nothing but non stop hits. It does the ears good to hear Paul rocking out on such classics as "Live And Let Die", "Can't Buy Me Love", and "I Saw Her Standing There". One can't help but sing along to the always enjoyed "Hey Jude", "Let It Be", and "Yesterday". What would a Paul McCartney concert or live CD be without the inclusion of those songs?!. Paul's September 11 song "Freedom" is here as well. It might not be the grand composition we would have all hoped it would be for such a subject from Paul, but it's a good tune nonetheless. The disc ends with "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", along with, quite fittingly, "The End", from 'Abbey Road'. This is a wondrous CD filled with nothing but magic. It is easily his best live CD he has put out in his long career. Sir Paul, keep on doing what you do. We are grateful for it.Free Music Review: An Incredible, Energetic And Thrilling Live Album.
Hit: 5 Stars
Paul McCartney's 2002 U.S. tour was supposed to be a promotion for his album "Driving Rain", but it also had a deeper, more symbolic. The year before, America had been the victim of terrorism on September 11th. Like the rest of the country, Paul, who, despite having his native origins in the U.K., was deeply shaken by the events of that day, and felt he needed to give something back to those who suffered that day.
What did Paul use? The healing power of music. "Back In The U.S.", Paul's live album of his 2002 tour, is the most alive and energetic Paul has sounded his previous live double album, 1990's "Tripping The Live Fantatsic". The seemingly ageless McCartney, along with an excellent supporting band, sounds as youthful and vibrant as ever, bulldozing through classics like "Jet", "Band On The Run", "Back In The USSR" and "Live And Let Die" with the vigor of a 25 year old, pulling them off flawlessly.
The more somber numbers in the show, such as "Eleanor Rigby", "Here, There And Everywhere", "Maybe I'm Amazed", the post-9 /11 anthem "Freedom", and the hearttugging renditions of "Let It Be" and "Hey Jude" (the latter of which shows just how great of a communicator Paul is with his fans), also bristle with excitement. He even throws in a few song rarely performed or never performed before, such as "Blackbird", "Every Night", "Mother Nature's Son", and a rather fun version of "C Moon". There are also two incredibly moving moments where Paul plays tribute to his fallen comrades John and George, first by perfoming his reflective Lennon tribute "Here Today", then performing a sweet, touching version of "Something" on a ukulele (Harrison's favorite instrument) given to him by George. The only real disappointments are the songs from "Driving Rain" ("Freedom" is the only newer recording that goes over well), but the rest of the album is so amazing you can easily overlook them.
The liner notes feature excellent tour recollections by Paul as well as the band and a great assortment of photos and snippets from various reviewes. The sound quality for the album is fantastic. Most album downplat audience reacion, but this one puts the audience's reaction right in the forefront, so you feel like you're actually there. A lot of people complain that a lot of the onstage banter was deleted, and while it is disappointing, I really dodn't mind. Hey, we bought this for the music, right?
I'm still on the fence as to whether I prefer "Back In The U.S." or "Tripping The Live Fantastic". Both hold an incredible amount of emotional value, and both are excellent editions to any record collections. What can I say is that I highly recommend "Back In The U.S.", since it is a masterpiece.
Free Music Review: Phenomenal
Hit: 5 Stars
Back in the US is Exhibit A as to why Paul McCartney is the greatest rock musician of all time. The man is 60 years old. His voice is still magificent. He hits all the high notes and never sings off key. You can hear the energy in all the performances, whether it be a Wings song, Beatles song, or a new song from Driving Rain. Best of all, the songs all sound very close to the way they were originally recorded. Unlike Bruce Springsteen who has been known to re-work Born to Run, McCartney doesn't do any slowed down acoustic versions of Can't Buy Me Love. ... He certainly delivers here. This is a two disc set which starts out rocking hard with a very impressive Hello Goodbye and Jet. Of all the 35 songs, the Jet performance stands out as the best. The band is top notch and Paul rips through the song with the energy of a 22 year old. As Paul flies through the hits, next thing you know you are into the acoustic section.
The acoustic section is a real treat. There's Blackbird, the wonderful nugget Every Night from his first solo album, and an absolutely gorgeous version of Mother Nature's Son from the White Album. The eukelele version of Something is sweet - he sings the song better than George did.
The second disk provides a number of Wings songs such as Band on the Run, My Love, Live and Let Die, and a surprisingly good C Moon - which is much better live than the old recorded version.
The party ends with a string of songs - Let it Be, Hey Jude, Long and Winding Road, Yesterday, etc. that reside in the pantheon of rock and popular music history. Wow!
Complaints? The version of You Never Give Me Your Money/Carry that Weight isn't good. It sounds like he's doing a lounge lizard act in a hotel bar. And while it sounds good, why mix Sgt Pepper and The End? He should've kept to the original Golden Slumbers/Carry that Weight/The End medley.
The only other complaint is Coming Up. The original live version from 1980 is outstanding, but the version on this disc with the fake synthesizer horns doesn't sound nearly as good. Would it have killed Paul to get a horn section for the tour?
As a live performer, Paul McCartney shows on this disc that he's one of the best, if not the best. After listening to Back in the US, what is obvious to all is Paul still clearly enjoys playing all his songs - even if he's been singing some of them for almost 40 years. It is indeed astounding that he seems to be having a better time performing them than the fans are watching and listening to him.
Bottom line: A must pick up.
Free Music Review: Great, yes. Essential, no.
Hit: 5 Stars
What separates Back In The U.S. from Paul McCartney's previous live releases? There are a couple of things. First of all, the sound quality is noticably better than it was on 1990's Tripping The Live Fantastic. Of course, he performs some songs that are unique to this live album (in addition to the usuals: "Let It Be," "Let Me Roll It," "Hey Jude," and "Coming Up"...that's my only real gripe here..."Coming Up" is not THAT great a song to merit its inclusion on each and every live album, Paul!) But, what makes the biggest difference is the energy that Paul and his younger band put out. You can really feel it through the music (something that was somewhat missing from Tripping). Anyway, onto the songs...First of all, it's great how his band brings new life to the old Beatles songs like "All My Loving," "I Saw Her Standing There," & "Can't Buy Me Love" (not that they needed any). This tour was also the first time that Paul performed "Getting Better" live. The acoustic set is great...Paul does "Here Today" and a cute ukelele version of "Something" as tributes John Lennon & George Harrison, respectively. The funny bit of the album is Paul's piano rendition of "Carry That Weight/You Never Give Me Your Money" where he forgets the words and makes something goofy up. "Band On The Run" & "Eleanor Rigby" have a certain special kind of energy to them not heard on any other versions. "Hey Jude" is magical, as usual...Paul's interaction with the audience on this song is always fun to hear. It's also cool that Paul has devised a new medley: "Sgt. Pepper's reprise/The End" to replace the somewhat dated original Abbey Road medley.
On the negative side of things, I find it disturbing that Paul didn't include any of his material from between 1983 and 2000. It especially would have been nice to hear something from 1997's Flaming Pie, since he didn't tour after that album. The one thing that Tripping has over Back In The U.S. is the fact that this one doesn't have any extended guitar solos (save for the awesome 3-guitar assault at the end of "The End"). It's also disppointing that Paul's between-song comments to the audience have been cut out, losing some of the real concert feel. Really, though...all that is just nit-picking. :-)
Free Music Review: A triumphant return to the USA after several years away!
Hit: 5 Stars
This two CD set is a special treat: I was unable to attend Paul's concert with his band on this tour so the two CDs here are a great consolation prize! Listening to this all made me feel like I was really there! Paul's rapport with the audience is excellent. How's about the way he works the audience with "Hey Jude," for just one example? Wow! The atmosphere is truly electric and the band members play together so very well. Dynamic!
There must have been microphones very carefully placed close to Paul (or on Paul, if he moved about during the show) since the quality of the sound is excellent. The sound of fans screaming adds to the intensity of the concert. The only disappointment: Paul's (or any band member's) talking during any songs has been edited out of this. No band member introductions!
There's no concern on this CD set with chronological order; bands and groups rarely play through a performance that way as we all know. Overall the two CDs offer a broad selection of songs to enliven just about anyone! There's "Freedom," a new song Paul wrote after September 11 as well as the classic Beatles songs such as "Eleanor Rigby" and "The Long And Winding Road." There are also many songs from Paul's days as an artist working with Wings. You get "Jet," for example, as well as "Band On The Run." All the songs are great! I suppose "I Saw Her Standing There" is my personal favorite since it is such an upbeat and exciting expression of love at first sight! The two CD set ends well with "Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" as Paul sings "we're sorry but we have to go." Here's wishing it had never ended! SMILE
The liner notes are spectacular! There are recollections of the tour written by Paul and Rusty Anderson, Paul `Wix' Wickens, Brian Ray and Abe Laboriel Jr., members of the band. There are great color photos as well as black and white pictures of Paul and his band performing, too. I especially liked the aerial picture of the band's trucks moving down the highway during the tour! There are pictures of ecstatic fans and the band members. Song credits are also provided.
If you like Paul's work then this two CD set is a must have. This is a wonderful song set from Paul's concert tour through the US in 2002. We are very fortunate to have Paul McCartney amongst us and this CD set provides great entertainment over and over again! GRIN