Paul McCartney - "NEW" Album Review

          

 

            For the past two weeks, I have been promoting small, local musicians (Allies, The Ceremonies) aiming to hit it big. However, this week, I am doing something different. I present to you my review of a recent album made by one of the most iconic, well-respected musicians, Sir Paul McCartney. I don’t think I need to explain who the man is and what he has done because if you don’t know him, you are have been living under a rock. The 71-year-old legend released his twenty-fourth studio album, “New” last week. Paul worked with four producers, Paul Epworth, Mark Ronson, Ethan Johns, and Giles Martin on the record. In addition, Paul claims the inspiration behind the record is both recent events in his life and memories of his pre-Beatle days.

The album kicks off with the song, “Save Me”, an aggressive, hard rock influence with distorted guitars. Next, “On The Way To Work”, a Beatles-like tune, contains lyrics similar to Paul’s lyrics on the Sgt. Pepper album track, “A Day in the Life”, in which both songs contain Paul’s narrative as a town commuter. “Queenie Eye”, which has a glam-rock influence, is the most energetic moment on the record. I can see die-hard fans of this record and audience members at one of Paul’s future shows doing a huge sing-along to this. The music video for the song features several famous celebrities such as Johnny Depp, Sean Penn, Meryl Streep, and Jude Law. “Early Days” is an acoustic track that reflects McCartney’s nostalgia over his early Beatle days when he was becoming an accomplished musician and songwriter. The titled track, a catchy tune, generates sounds similar to those on the Beatle albums Revolver and Sgt. Pepper, and “Appreciate” has unique vocals and an appealing groove. The only major setback to the album is “Looking at Her”, which involves Paul’s use of electronics falling flat. Also, I think “Everybody Out There”, which does contain almost as much energy as “Queenie Eye”, is more of a tune that should be played live only, and not recorded in the studio. Finally, the last song “Road” is a fair indie rock-influenced track that I feel missed its shot on being more of an “epic” conclusion to the album. However, Paul makes up for his missed opportunity by presenting a hidden track, a beautiful and emotional piano ballad, on the last track. 

            Even though it took me two listens to really appreciate it, “New” is an enjoyable record. The first half of the album was an excellent effort; the end of the album was good enough despite a few setbacks. I applaud Paul for his effort for creating new, consistent material after completing such a long list of material on his discography and all the success he has achieved. He may be over age 70, but his motivation and energy is still there in the studio and on stage.

Written by: John Dirscherl

Works cited:

Hermes, Will. "Paul McCartney, 'New'" Reviews. Rolling Stone, 15 Oct. 2013. Web. 26 Oct. 2013. <http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/new-20131015>.

"Music Review: Paul McCartney - 'New'" Seattlepi.com. Hearst Seattle Media, LLC, 18 Oct. 2013. Web. 26 Oct. 2013. <http://www.seattlepi.com/lifestyle/blogcritics/article/Music-Review-   Paul-McCartney-New-4909401.php.>