Paul McCartney - Memory Almost Full
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Music CD Cover
Artist: Paul McCartneyPerformer: Paul McCartney
Edition: Music CD
Audio: English (Original Language)
CD Release Date: 2007-06-05
Music Label: Hear Music
Product features:
- MCCARTNEY PAUL MEMORY ALMOST FULL
- Dance Tonight
- Ever Present Past
- See Your Sunshine
- Only Mama Knows
- You Tell Me
- Mr. Bellamy
- Gratitude
- Vintage Clothes
- That Was Me
- Feet In The Clouds
- House of Wax
- The End Of The End
- Nod Your Head
Free Music Notes for Memory Almost Full
Free Music Review: Truly, His Best Record in Years.
Hit: 5 Stars
Among McCartney's work from 1980 on, it is generally accepted that the two best records are Tug of War (1982) and Flowers in the Dirt (1989). Memory Almost Full deserves a place beside these two later-period works; it is certainly his best since Flowers in the Dirt.
When Linda McCartney passed away, clearly a part of Paul died with her, and his post-Linda records (Run Devil Run, Driving Rain, and Chaos and Creation) all sounded fragile, brittle, old, lonely. This from an artist who is all about whimsy, playfulness, who had a number one hit with the wry and self-aware "Silly Love Songs." Somber and mortal don't sound well on Paul, cute doesn't age well, Peter Pan should never grow up.
At first I thought this record was going to fall into that cluster of recent records that just didn't work. But some time during my third listen, it all snapped into place. The melodies had worked their way into my brain, and I am happy to announce that Memory Almost Full is a solid return to the musical DNA of his best work. And especially after the moody downbeat experimentation of Chaos and Creation, I say, hallelujah.
This is not to say he's repeating himself, or rehashing old ground. Rather, I think that Paul sounds quintessentially like Paul here, and if you've gone for that over the years, you will find this a welcome revelation.
"Dance Tonight" is an infectious if innocuous ditty of the sort he's been pulling off and tossing off for years; "Ever Present Past," the single, grows on you and works better in the context of the record than as a standalone. It is the first of several songs here in which Paul looks back on his life and legacy; talk about a guy who can't escape his ever present past, eh? "See Your Sunshine" is a winning arrangement, lush with gorgeous backing vocals; it harkens back sonically to Tug of War, I'd say.
"Only Mama Knows" is one of those rockers of his like "Junior's Farm" or "Girls School." Some have said that this record is reminiscent of the Wings stuff, and I think it is-- and what's wrong with that, I'd like to know "You Tell Me" is a gently loping, somewhat haunting ballad built around acoustic guitar. "Mr. Bellamy" most certainly bears at least a passing acquaintance with a Mrs. Vanderbilt. "Gratitude" is a winning vampy tune with an exquisite and chilling ascent on the harmonies of the refrain that make it sheer ear candy.
Then "Vintage Clothes" begins a 5-song medley which looks back at the artist's life (its OK to wear old clothes, but don't live in the past); the song segues into "That Was Me," a nice upbeat number (or "noom-bah," as Paul would say) that sees him owning up to, embracing his past ("That was me on the river, Mersey-beatin', with the band... that was me.") Later in the song he sings, "If fate would decree that all of this would make a lifetime, who am I to disagree? That was me." Another neat segue into the pretty "Head in the Clouds," then the more somber "House of Wax," more great vocal arrangements, and nice lush orchestration, then some tasty minor key guitar work.
The medley ends with "The End of the End" (the title a wink at the final track on Abbey Road?) which is the most maudlin thing on here; Paul talks about what he wants at his funeral. But then he, literally, goes whistling past the graveyard.
Then a coda of a sort, the hard rocking "Nod Your Head."
The singing--and especially the backing vocals--is outstanding throughout, but more than anything else, with only a couple of exceptions, the moroseness is gone and the whimsy is back. The melodies are memorable, burrowing into your brain and setting up camp there, so that as you play the record you're thinking, "Oh yeah, I like this one!" as each tune rolls by. The songs exude the combination of seductive playfulness combined with seeming total effortlessness that marks his best work. And as always, the musicianship is first rate, especially the old fella on bass.
But hell, don't take my word for it--go to Starbucks and give it a listen.
Memory Almost Full Poster
The 13 new songs on Memory Almost Full are performed entirely by Paul McCartney (excluding strings) and produced by Grammy Award-winner David Kahne (The Strokes, Sublime, Bruce Springsteen and more). More Paul McCartney
 Band on the Run |  Ram |  Wingspan: Hits and History |
"Many years from now" must have seemed like an understatement to 16-year-old Paul McCartney, wondering if he'd still be needed or fed at the age of 64. As it turned out, all doubt as to the latter had ceased by his 22nd birthday (though few could have predicted he'd end up washing down those meals with the liquid pride of Seattle). As to the former? Now that McCartney, as of the date of this album's release, has reached that mythic age, his greatest work is 40 years behind him, his solo peak over 30 years gone. Does the world need a new Paul McCartney album? The answer is yes, at least as much as it needs anything else that passes for music these days. With Memory Almost Full, Macca is back. No, it's not Ram or Band on the Run. It might not even be Flowers in the Dirt--in 1989, he had a full band, the support of Linda, and Elvis Costello as a collaborator. Here, he's on his own. Literally: on the majority of the tracks, everything but the strings is multi-instrumentalist Paul. But the surprise is that it's one of his freest, loosest affairs in years, sonically reminiscent of the Tug of War/Pipes of Peace era with nods to Abbey Road in the album-closing medley, McCartney's gravelly tones on "Gratitude," and 2007's version of "Her Majesty," the palate-cleansing "Nod Your Head." It's a surprise because of the album's inescapable sense of retrospection ("Ever Present Past," "Vintage Clothes," "That Was Me") and even a bit of weariness. The next-to-last song is "The End of the End," after all, in which McCartney tells us about what he'd like to happen "on the day that I die." (He wants "songs that were sung/to be hung out like blankets/that lovers have played on/and laid on while listening to songs that were sung," and will likely get his wish.) But it never gets overwhelming, for McCartney mostly resists his tendency to get plodding and maudlin. In fact, Memory Almost Full must be the most sanguine album made during the dissolution of a marriage since...well, ever. "What went out is coming back," he sings in "Vintage Clothes," and from the sound of things, that may not be just wishful thinking. What's past is prologue; if we're lucky, what to come may be McCartney's late renaissance. --Benjamin Lukoff
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