Chaos and Creation in the Back Yard

Erika (June 8, 2007)

As Paul himself said in the Anthology, he improves with time, like a fine wine really. This is a very good album and proves that Macca\'s still got it. This album seems a lot more emotional that any other (though I don\'t have most any album between \"Off the Ground\" and this one, I could be wrong.) If you notice, Paul\'s albums where he\'s going through a hard time don\'t seem very emotional - \"McCartney\" while the Beatles were breaking up, \"Tug Of War\" after John died (\"Here Today\" is very emotional but that\'s the only song). Anyway, Paul\'s really letting his feelings out here with \"Too Much Rain,\" \"How Kind of You,\" \"Riding to Vanity Fair,\" and \"Jenny Wren\" - and very well too! However, my favorite songs on this album are \"Fine Line\" and \"Promise to You Girl\" - proving that Macca still rocks, even at age 63!

Bruce Beatlefan (May 6, 2006)

It is with great joy that I can announce that Sir Paul McCartney remains the master songwriter. Chaos and Creation in the Back Yard is a thoroughly enjoyable listen, and McCartney\'s purest collection of songs (by that I do not mean greatest) since 1971\'s Ram. There is no dross here, no half-completed ideas, no gimmicky medleys or reprises; every song is fully developed and presented in its finest possible light. There isn\'t the slightest taint in this CD of Paul trying to win over his detractors by adopting styles which are alien to him, or trying to be Michael Jackson or Devo or either Elvis (Presley or Costello); each song sounds unabashedly like Paul McCartney (in fact, \"English Tea\" is practically a frontal assault of \'this is who I am, like it or lump it). Given McCartney\'s track record of the past 30 years, that is an amazing liberation which is refreshing and long overdue. I think we can thank events of the past ten years for this new freedom: the Beatle\'s Anthology project, his marriage to Heather, and the overwhelming success of the 2002 US tour. Whatever the cause, we are finally seeing a Paul McCartney who perhaps no longer writes songs like \"Hey Jude\" or \"Jet\" (only a fool would hold that against him), but who still crafts enjoyable songs with a newfound level of dignity and grace.

Lafe Purcell (April 12, 2006)

Well, just a quick rejoinder (since it appears this isn\'t so much a site for personal critiques as it is for partisan attacks against those who don\'t absolutely exalt Paul McCartney and his muse).

First off, I\'m glad I\'m not a moron since I didn\'t refer to McCartney as Macca. Of course, I\'m surprised that this is all it takes to be a moron nowadays - evidently, the standards for this sort of thing have shifted since what it used to take was egotistically thinking your opinions were better than anyone else\'s.

Second, I don\'t think Sherlock Holmes would be needed to deduce that McCartney\'s music with the Beatles was Beatlesque. By the same token, I doubt that anyone but a moron (under the old standards for this, of course), would miss that McCartney made a conscious and successful effort during most of his solo career to develop a style that was distinct from his Beatles catalogue. Many (if not all) of his biggest solo hits, along with the majority of his better album tracks were anything but Beatlesque. They were something more - they were McCartneyesque.

Finally, I guess it must be okay to cringe at one or two - or even a dozen or so - of McCartney\'s compositions. Not every oyster produces a pearl, nor every album a classic. Besides, if McCartney himself has said he\'s recorded a few clunkers, then I suppose it\'s alright for others to say so as well - after all, I think I\'d rather take my lead from the artist rather than some rabid fan.

Ben Martin (February 6, 2006)

This album is beautiful, as is most of McCartney\'s work. I wish people would stop holding every album the man releases up against the beatles entire library. No kidding some of it sounds beatlesque... McCartney was responsible for much of that band\'s sound. Anyway. Jenny Wren and Friends to go (tracks 3 and 5) are especially pleasing. There\'s really not a bad song on the disc. I don\'t know how people would \"cringe\" at anything on the album. I also hate people who call Paul McCartney Macca. You\'re a moron.

Carlos Cobas (December 10, 2005)

An unusual Paul; an indispensable album. Simple but heightened, as the music it should be.

Lafe Purcell (September 23, 2005)

One man's meat is another's poison. I frankly cringed at tracks 10 and 12 - as well as track 8. Apart from that, I thought this was a nice album - although it took me around 4 listens to finally come to that conclusion. Looked at critically, it seems consciously "Beatle-esque" at times (Jenny Wren and Promise To You Girl), which certainly isn't bad. At other points, the album hearkens back to a much earlier McCartney. All in all, I agree with the critics who consider this one of the better of McCartney's solo albums - it's a shame the album's never going to be promoted as fully as it could or should be.

McLennon Forever (September 13, 2005)

There must be a time in every musicians life when they are no longer so ambitious as to really make something truly great. In Macca's case, he's already done it with the beatles. So when I sat down to listen to this album, I was in no way looking for music "as good as" the beatles. You can't compare the two because the Lennon/Mccartney duo will never ever exist again. Instead, I was looking forward to a pleasant, easy to listen to and vaguely familiar as should come from an aging (63 year old) rocker. This is exactly what I found on this album. I especially enjoyed McCartney's return to playing most of the instrument's. It really does give the album an organic feel much like Flaming Pie (which I feel is still better).

So if you are a fan of Macca, then definitely get this album. It'll grow on you. But be warned to listen to it as an extension of his music rather than a comparison to the best he ever did. Stand out tracks are 5, 7, 10 and 12.