Paul McCartney Archive Collection McCartney McCartney II

I suspect it must have been refreshing after all these years to make an album without needing anyone’s approval but your own. But I bet equally scary when it was came time to release it. McCartney is quite possibly Paul’s best and most solid albums of his long and very successful solo career. MCCartney, as the titled suggests, is all Paul. Every instrument all performed by Paul himself. The only extra help is provided by his wife Linda with backing vocals.

The album has a very loose, fun, almost back woods homemade vibe throughout. It also has one of his best solo if not one of the best songs he has ever written. “Maybe I’m Amazed” is a classic piano driven McCartney love song. It’s one of those songs you could see easily fitting on a Beatles album along the likes of “Hey Jude” or “Let it Be.” It’s also clearly the song that showed the world Paul still had what it took and could do it on his own.

That doesn’t mean the rest of the album contains throw a ways to fill up the time. McCartney is one of those albums that will surprise you with tunes that you may never hear if you only buy his greatest hits. Paul would dust off many of these forgotten tunes years later in the 90s when he performed on MTV’s Unplugged. Those songs included “That Would be Something,” “Every Night” and “Junk.” Along with “Man We Were Lonely” and of course “Maybe I’m Amazed,” are the highlights to this solid first solo effort.

At the time of the release, George Harrison praised “Maybe I’m Amazed” and “That Would Be Something.” Whereas, John Lennon during an interview with Jann Wenner for Rolling Stone magazine commented on the lack of quality for a man that in the past demanded perfection in the studio. This is actually all true, the recordings do, at times, have a very DUI vibe with them. Especially when you compare the production of the McCartney album to the quality standards of The Beatle albums there’s no comparison. However, that might be part of the charm.

McCartney II should have been a return to the basics that he showcased on McCartney and even his follow up, Ram. Sadly, that wasn’t the case. Besides one catchy tune, the album is really forgettable right up to the awful cover art. The album is basically the exact opposite of the McCartney album. Instead of well conceived and crafted compositions, the album is shockingly synth based (it did come out in 80s). The album, although one can argue on merit for its experimentation, it’s not a very solid album. With that said, it has been a fan favorite especially in the UK. “Coming Up” is the one bright spot on the album. Another track, “Waterfalls,” hit the top ten in the UK but didn’t chart in the US. It’s a song that does grow on you but in a dreary droning sort of way.

Both of these albums have been given the Paul McCartney Archive Collection treatment that you can purchase as a double disc or a hardbound edition that includes a DVD. The McCartney bonus disc is short but includes two early demos of unreleased songs. The piano driven “Suicide” is probably the better of the two but appears to be incomplete. “Women Kind” is a bit more unfocused and a bit goofier. There are also three live tracks from the Glasgow show in 1979 and a version of “Maybe I’m Amazed” from the One Hand Clapping documentary minus the movie’s voice-over. It’s too bad they didn’t chose to offer up alternate takes of some of these classic songs instead of later live tracks. The DVD includes a new nine minute documentary on the making of the album, The Beach featurette showcasing home movie footage from that time period, a music video of “Maybe I’m Amazed” and live concert footage from the 1979’s Concert for the People of Kampuchea, MTV Unplugged and One Hand Clapping.

The McCartney II album’s bonus disc is a healthy collection of outtakes, b-sides, single only tracks from that period and live tracks. "Blue Sway," “Secret Friend,” "Bogey Wobble," "Mr H Atom / You Know I'll Get You Baby" and "All You Horse Riders / Blue Sway." "Check My Machine" comes from a b-side and "Wonderful Christmastime" is a track that never officially appeared on any McCartney album and then there’s a live version of “Coming Up” again from the Glasgow show in 1979. Not being a big fan of the album I was also not that into it but there's a lot here to listen and go through.

If you pick up the hardcover version of McCartney II, you do get an addition bonus 3rd CD that includes 8 full length versions of tracks including “Coming Up” and “Check My Machine.” There’s also a DJ edit of “Waterfalls” and “Summer’s Day Song” without vocals.

Although both albums on the surface seem to be companion pieces. Don’t let the titles of the albums fool you. McCartney was an album made with Paul at the top of his game. The McCartney ablum, although raw in many ways, was a continuation of where he left off with The Beatles. McCartney II at its best is an album heavy on experimentation with on big hit song to save it from being completely forgettable. To put it in perspective, McCartney II came out the same year John Lennon released Double Fantasy. Chew on that thought for a while.

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