I got into an accidental discussion with some about the Grammys last week. I watched the first half of the program and offered some thoughts on the winners, losers, and the performances and production numbers. I took a small swipe at Sir Paul McCartney. Apparently I touched a nerve. As a result of that conversation I wound up buying Chaos and Creation in the Backyard to determine whether or not my McCartney jokes were justified.
Chaos is a cohesive listen. I may be giving Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich too much credit but the presence of only one annoying, cheeky song on a McCartney solo record is nothing short of amazing. The word here is lean. There are no futile attempts at grand statement ("Freedom"). He resists the temptation to show us all how hard he is with silly bravado or posturing. Even the silly love songs are mostly absent.
The album opens with "Fine Line" which also happens to be the song from his Grammy performance that cost me 10 dollars. I called the song pedestrian based on that performance. I am now willing to back off that statement… a little.
"Fine Line" is a good example of how Chaos and Creation works. Not much grabs you on first listen. The lyrics are neither embarrassing nor revelatory. The classic rock roots of many of these songs make them unremarkable (or pedestrian). The secrets of these songs are revealed only with repeated listening. Strings do unexpected things and McCartney uses an arsenal of instruments not traditionally used in popular music such as flugelhorn, duduk, autoharp, vibes, harmonium, and glockenspiel. The choice of these unusual instruments bolsters McCartney's gift for melody and gives the songs vitality. He not only chose them but also plays most of them himself.
"Riding to Vanity Fair" might be the coolest thing he has done in 30 years. "Vanity Fair" is the story of a broken friendship. Does "Riding to Vanity Fair" really mean "Writing to Vanity Fair?" Did the relationship in this song end because Sir Paul felt betrayed by a confidant who sold him out to the press? The lyrics are consistent with that interpretation. None of us will know what it is like to live a life where tabloids will pay to know the most mundane and intimate details of our life. "Riding to Vanity Fair" could have easily degenerated into musings from an an ivory tower, a song of self-pity for the wealthy. McCartney avoids that focusing instead on the underlying emotions. The lyrics express feelings of betrayal and sadness. We may never read about our lives on the cover of The National Enquirer but have all experienced the betrayal of having our secrets revealed by someone we trusted. Is "Riding to Vanity Fair" about being betrayed in the press? It does not matter. The emotions of the song will still resonate.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Mark Saleski
i borrowed this cd from a co-worked and really enjoyed it. big surprise.
didn't hate "English Tea", though....can't quite remember which Beatles tune it reminded me of.
2 - Tom
I love it, one of my favorite albums of last year. "English Tea" sounds to me more like McCartney poking fun at himself - "very twee, very me." It doesn't disrupt the flow for me, but I could live without it. I have a sad hope that maybe this is Paul's final album - I don't see how it's possible that he can do anything but fumble after this one. Better to go out on top . . . Of course, this will never happen.
3 - Mary K. Williams
This was good Sir DJ : ) Always good to get a fresh perspective on music. Thanks!
4 - Al Barger
I don't know that Grammys are particularly important to McCartney at this point, but he actually made a thoughtful and worthwhile record, with some air of understated experimentation. And the Vanity Fair song is just that good.
However, I'ma have to go ahead and disagree with you a bit. Specifically, The "English Tea" song is really outstanding. It's my second favorite thing on the album. It's catchy and really gets at a bit of his English personality. Try that in a mix back to back with "When I'm 64" sometime.
5 - Monkey Michel
great review on a great record. whereas some people have to give it a second listen, i think i got it on the first. i'm almost afraid to listen to it too much because it left such a good taste in my mouth the first time. like a good meal. i'm full.
i just wish he would tour with Chaos instead of reheating that beatles tribute show he drags around the world. i think it would be far more interesting to see him play smaller venues and do a show similar to the one he did in Abbey Road studios, playing songs from Chaos with Nigel playing the loops. great stuff. get rid of the Samoan drummer and the guy Rusty (he's too tall), and definitely get rid of the blonde guy (he looks older than Paul). bring Denny back.
6 - Mark Saleski
"English Tea" seems like a musical cousin to "For No One"...lyrically, it's at the other 'happy' end of things.
7 - Curt H.
Paul McCartney is better on his worst day than 99% of the artist that get played{or should i say pay for play}on the radio these days! McCartney will continue to be better until the day he goes to heaven. thanks for your time
8 - Connie Phillips
Great review, DJ Radiohead. I just picked up this CD recently myself, but shamefully have been much too busy to give it a good listen. Thanks to this review, I will be getting it out tonight and will let you know if I agree with your thoughts.
9 - jons
i'm a big mccartney fan, and actuall had some arguments about McCartney, and validating his creed in the music world around the time of the grammys . This album is very good, very mellow althought i could go for more songs where he screams the lyrics out
10 - new reader
I really appreciated your take on the latest McCartney album. The album is very good--and continues to be overlooked by the masses who seem to be brainwashed by what the establishment feeds them today. (How can this continue to be so?) The lyrics are ace, and he's playing almost every instrument on this album. This is artistic music by an artistic musician. We don't have many of those around today, of any age...
11 - Mat Brewster
We may never read about our lives on the cover of The National Enquirer
Well there was that incident involving 12 pounds of linguini, 15 dead hookers and a set of matching Hoover vacuums back in '83. But my lawyer says its best not to talk about that.
12 - Bill McNamara WillMc Productions
I read somewhere that this album is one of McCartneys best due to the fact that someone was there to tell him no. As well he seems to be mad when he's doing it.
I agree with that. English Tea is the most Beatle like song that he has done in a long time. (It reminds me of Martha my Dear)Even It's a Fine Line kind of sounds like Lady Madonna.
Paul does best when he has some kind of stress in the studio. Somebody to say "That sucks" Or how good the song is. Or how to improve it.
A producer that is not in awe of Paul McCartney. That is the reason this album is so good.
13 - Mitch Cumstein
Include me as another that rather enjoys English Tea - it reminds me of Penny Lane much like Jenny Wren reminds me of Blackbird. I read Vanity Fair almost didn't make the album (Nigel thought it sucked), but they messed with the tempo and it turned into a moody gem.
14 - M
Paul sounds vulnerable here for the first time in a long time. You can still hear him mourning Linda in some of these songs...'the long dark night' he talks about in "How Kind of You," etc. And you're right---"How Kind of You" is a killer track, and the minor chords make this song a gem. Take "English Tea" for what it seems to be...Paul making fun of himself. He's done that in the past, I believe---in "Silly Love Songs" for example---and time after time the critics fail don't see the irony in it. (And yeah, "Silly Love Songs" still kicks a##...it's a great tune with a killer bass line and awesome vocals/harmonies.) You failed to mention the brilliance of "Too Much Rain" and "At the Mercy"...these tracks are brilliant.
15 - Gordon Hauptfleisch
The CD keeps growing on me after getting it a couple weeks ago, and after getting used to it being more a contemplative delight more than a raucous one (maybe "Fine Line" threw me off). I also agree about "Freedom": I appreciate the sentiment and intention more than the execution and repetition.
16 - M
I appreciated "Freedom" at the time but it's certainly not one of his most endearing (or enduring) works. But the song, in his concert I attended right after 9/11, went down big with the crowd. So if it was a 'pick-me-up' after 9/11, it served its purpose.
17 - DJRadiohead
Thanks, everyone for checking out the review and checking in with some really good comments.
Let me start with "English Tea." Folks, I have to come clean. I thought the song was so obviously bad on its face that it never even occured to me there would be a defender, let alone several. After hearing some of your 'defenses' of it I can say I understand what you mean. I still think it is rubbish and the album would have been stronger without it but I appreciate your points of view on it.
18 - DJRadiohead
Picking up on something else said in the comments... I think Godrich's contribution to this album is vital. I think he did help Paul cut some crap from his bag of tricks. I think he challenged him to keep coming up with better stuff. There are not a lot of producers who would have felt comfortable doing that. Godrich did and the album is so much the better for it. It was also his idea for Sir Paul to play so many of the instruments himself. McCartney had planned on having a band, Godrich advised against it. Again, a good idea.
19 - DJRadiohead
Al, I think the Grammys might be more important to McCartney than they should be and more important than you might think.
McCartney has a real inferiority complex brought about by the canonization of John Lennon. He has gotten slagged off in the press plenty while Saint John is forgiven for some spotty solo work. I think he wanted the validation. I really do. I don't think he needs it. I don't think most people think he needs it. I think he did want it.
Thanks for reading/commenting.
20 - DJRadiohead
Brewster, you never disappoint. One of these days, once the statute of limitations has expired, you and I will have to swap manly stories of our time on the run.
21 - Mac Fan
English Tea a bad song ??? English Tea is a great song...one of the songs that makes one think of Sir Paul in the Beatle days. It makes me think of " Your Mother Should Know".
I think Chaos and Creation is the best Macca album since " Flowers in The Dirt"
Paul is a class act, I know of no one that could make an album like this,writing the songs/singing them and playing all of the instruments. It should have been called McCartney III.
22 - hart
A thoughtful & well [re]adjusted review.
English tea, the 'delightful' noel cowardesque piece of chamber pop in the middle of the album is sir pauls middle finger to those who tell him to be cooler please.
mccartneys thumbs aloft winking rocker persona [like an embarrasing uncle rocking at a family party] won't resonate the same way with the audience looking back in say 200 years time - his music will.
Have you re-listened to his last solo effort - Coming up [1980] - I'd like to see what you think about that album - it has one cringing contribution 'bogey music' that i refuse to listen to but everything else is pure synth 1980 electronica.
Lennon liked it but commented "he sounds depressed!"
hart.
23 - GordonS.
"English tea, the 'delightful' noel cowardesque piece of chamber pop in the middle of the album is sir pauls middle finger to those who tell him to be cooler please."
Well put!
24 - Gary Myers
Great Album that needs a few listens, Fine Line throws you off a bit and sounds like a leftover from Run Devil Run, I agree about English Tea it for me ruins the flow of the album Vanity Fair & To much rain are superb.
25 - Gary Myers
Another artist who has just released a similar album is Neil Diamond's 12 songs produced by Rick Rubin, like Mccartney Diamond has produced alot of sugary stuff for years, this album is stripped down and like Chaos is critically accliamed. It would be nice to see Rick Rubin work with Mccartney, it shows how much influence a producer can have to an album, like Trevor Horn's on Flowers in the Dirt