McCartney (CD - 1970)

Paul McCartney retreated from the spotlight of the Beatles by recording his first solo album at his home studio, performing nearly all of the instruments himself. Appropriately, McCartney has an endearingly ragged, homemade quality that makes even its filler -- and there is quite a bit of filler -- rather ingratiating. Only a handful of songs rank as full-fledged McCartney classics, but those songs -- the light folk-pop of "That Would Be Something," the sweet, gentle "Every Night," the ramshackle Beatles leftover "Teddy Boy," and the staggering "Maybe I'm Amazed" (not coincidentally the only rocker on the album) -- are full of all the easy melodic charm that is McCartney's trademark. The rest of the album is charmingly slight, especially if it is read as a way to bring Paul back to earth after the heights of the Beatles. At the time the throwaway nature of much of the material was a shock, but it has become charming in retrospect. Unfortunately, in retrospect it also appears as a harbinger of the nagging mediocrity that would plague McCartney's entire solo career. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

There were few '70s rock albums as widely anticipated as this, McCartney's first solo recording. In the wake of the Beatles' well-publicized acrimony, Paul must have felt like tweaking people's expectations because McCARTNEY turned out to be the most unconventional, resolutely non-commercial recording of his career. Don't be misled by the presence of the megahit "Maybe I'm Amazed." While that piano-based song of self-discovery and romantic devotion is a superb, moving composition, it's the anomaly here. Most of McCARTNEY is taken up by breezy song ideas and sonic experimentation.

McCartney recorded this in his home studio, and plays nearly all of the instruments himself. There are strange song fragments, percussion-centered instrumentals, and some spontaneous-sounding toss-offs, but interspersed among these are bona fide McCartney gems, including the light, meditative "That Would Be Something" and the melancholic ballad "Junk." McCARTNEY is the sound of a man trying to cast off the chains of his reputation by indulging in some lighthearted experimentation. In the process he created a record that charms and endures. minimize