The Beatles' Solo Careers Poll - Voting and General Discussion Thread

I've never gotten the fascination that many critics have for the "confessional," as if that's what songwriters are supposed to do.

I don't understand why Shakey finds it so difficult to believe that people may actually like McCartney's music and have their reasons for doing so, but hey!

It's more yr arguing against other ppl's opinions in bad faith that's obnoxious

I think McCartney is probably no more odd than the average person tbh (and neither is Alan Partridge, if it makes any sense to judge a fictional character in that way), it's just that most people are deeply odd when you get to know them, Partridge and McCartney reveal more of their oddness than the average person, Partridge because he has no filter or self-awareness, and McCartney because he's successful enough to turn every random idea he has into a song that gets put on a widely released album (and is maybe also lacking in self-awareness to an extent)

I've never gotten the fascination that many critics have for the "confessional," as if that's what songwriters are supposed to do.

― morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, May 17, 2018 9:17 PM (one minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Indeed, many of The Beatles' earlier tracks like 'Thank You Girl', 'From Me to You', 'I Wanna Hold Your Hand', 'She Loves You' etc. weren't about anyone in particular. It was just Lennon-McCartney trying (and succeeding) to write a catchy tune with a relatable lyric.

I absolutely dont subscribe to the confessional = better formula! And it tends to really irritate me when ppl do.

With Macca its not that he's not confessional its that his songs are often so literally empty, expressing either the most trite sentiments (love is great!) Or total nonsense. Sometimes both! And sometimes that combo is charming and disarming, other times its just stupid and lazy. That this is the m.o. he's chosen is somewhat revealing, was all i was saying.

I think it's a limited view of McCartney's catalogue, though. Yes, it's true that McCartney has put out some tracks over the years that are completely fucking dumb, but just as often he'll pull a 'Distractions' or a 'Put It There' out of the bag.

I don't recall people having a problem with McCartney's "nonsense" on 'She Came In Through The Bathroom Window', but I do remember people having a problem with the relatively direct 'Maxwell's Silver Hammer' ...

Partridge and McCartney reveal more of their oddness than the average person

Has Partridge been smoking dope for 50-odd years too?

i listened to Ram last night. parts of it are great. parts of it grate. like i was enjoying "Monkberry Moon Delight" for the first minute or so but the longer it goes on (and the more out of tune he gets) im like, okay Paul, i get it. there are lots of patches on this record where things are going greatly but something inevitably rubs me the wrong way, like as soon as "Long Haired Lady" starts the album takes a dive into absolute dopiness. album's overrated, like a lot of Paul's stuff.

Turns out love is reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaally long

"Uncle Albert" should have gotten McCartney sent to The Hague.

Nah that one's great

Paul goes on a silly naval adventure! V british

See? Consensus!

the pitchforkcore, the heart music, plastic and the ono band

"Uncle Albert" should have gotten McCartney sent to The Hague.

― morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, May 17, 2018 3:11 PM (two minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

ok this puts all of your mccartney opinions into question

yeah even I'm gonna vote for Uncle Albert

prob at #57 or so, but hey

seriously why are we even doing this discussion again, we've had this *exact* one, revolving around turrican's definitive marble-chiseled takes, in the last few months. like I get that solo beatles poll is an obvious place to try and rank the beatles versus each other but it could be a lot of other less shopworn things, like celebrating less-loved tracks (instead of shutting people down for doing so), or finding connections/comparisons to non-beatle music of the same period, or identifying themes across these huge discographies, or virtually ANYTHING but john vs. paul which I'm sure was actually a cautioned-against thread topic in usenet FAQs.

silly paul is bad, i'm with alfred

RAM is awesome, proper rating = awesome album

listening through all these tracks what strikes me the most is how (and I know this sounds a bit silly) beatlesque it all is. but really, their individual styles were already defined when they were playing together, more or less the solo stuff sounds like their "solo" stuff with the beatles.

and so, (and I don't mean to rank the fabs, just describe them) I also find my thoughts of their solo stuff aligns with how I feel about the beatles: John has the best voice, his songs resonate with me in a way Paul's do not, he's deeply emotional, spoiled, egotistical, beautiful, unique. Paul is the better musician, melodies seem to come so natural to him, love his mellow stuff, but also the sentimental tunes (even if they lack the passion of John's). George is a great guitar player, has some good songs, esp the more spiritual stuff. Always surprised when I hear a truly great George composition cause in general I don't rate his writing, where did Something come from? Ringo is a great drummer and I also want to be under the sea in an octupussies garden but I don't really want to hear more than one of his songs per album.

and so I think the idea of creating post breakup beatles albums from their solo material makes a lot of sense. and I think back on that blog I read that had these album reconstructions with an alternate chronology and faux pr stuff to go along with it, I wonder where it is.

Totally agree Doc

Xp

"uncle albert" is GREAT in a lot of the same ways "band on the run" is great - not really "about" very much but the quantity and density of musical ideas makes them such a treasure bundle. BOTR in particular, as a Classic Rock staple, has gotten worn down by overfamiliarity, but when i was first getting into these songs at age, hrm, 11 to 13 maybe, it was just amazing to me. the "if I ever get out of here" segment of BOTR and the "hands across the water" segment of albert could just as easily not be there and we'd never have known, but they add so much force and intrigue and spirit to them, fucking brilliant.

totally agree

I'd argue that McCartney is at his best when doing medleys/pastiches as per Abbey Road

Niels alternate reality comp albums are linked on this very thread

Xp

ram is so frustrating because here's paul near the peak of his abilities, in great voice, obviously still full of awesome ideas for tunes, so many brilliant bits here and there -- and yet almost none of these songs feel fully realized to me. even the ones i like! so many of them feel like paul wrote them as if he half-expected one of the other beatles to come into the studio and throw in a few lines to finish the song, "we can work it out" style. most of ram sounds to me like "yesterday" if paul had never bothered to change the lyrics from "scrambled eggs."

I think John actually got the farthest away from his Beatleisms in his work. "Imagine" and "Mother" dont really resemble anything he did w the Beatles, certainly not sonically.

Xp

Silly Paul is great! But "Uncle Albert" is pathetic silliness. If he'd released "Eat at Home" (that guitar!) or "Monkberry Moon Delight," I would've driven his car.

I love “Band On The Run” until the “band on the run” part.

most of ram sounds to me like "yesterday" if paul had never bothered to change the lyrics from "scrambled eggs."
haha, that's great

xp agree shakey, the eerie minimalism of mother is not beatlesque

I do think Imagine (apart from the sonics) could've been on Let it Be

and i'll be ctrl+fing those albums, thanks

can we go back to debating Extra Texture, to my ears among the worst of Beatle solo albums (and Harrison's worst)

oh yes btw I know this is not eligible but all the same (think it was posted on one of the mccartney threads)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4EcRPlaXoQ

Extra Texture does sound p bad but at least George's voice sounds better than on Dark Hoarse where its just embarassing

now it's the songs that embarrass

He's admitted that this was his coke/alcohol nadir, but ET is so lethargic that I wonder if he confused the coke for ludes.

Terrible saxophones on that too iirc

which he used to be good at arranging! (and would be again)

RAM is awesome, proper rating = awesome album

otm

Yeah its weird

Does anyone know who plays the electric gtr leads on stuff like Many Rivers to Cross and #9 Dream? That weepy wah-wah slide gtr sound sound like John trying to get some George substitute.

Xp

might be this guy, credited with "guitar"

https://www.discogs.com/artist/270581-Jesse-Ed-Davis

Man that guy was everywhere in the 70s. No Other!

If the top part of my ballot stays in its current form, four of my first six McCartney tracks will be recent ones.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLOTD7wrbtQ

pretty sure "Hold On" will be my top John Lennon track

here is that 10+ year John and Ringo rhythm section at work

most of ram sounds to me like "yesterday" if paul had never bothered to change the lyrics from "scrambled eggs."

change "ram" to "paul's solo career" and i think this still holds. so it turns out i'd have been totally pleased with "scrambled eggs" on a beatles album but at the same time it's hard not to wonder what might have been.... all these incredibly hooky, ingenious songs but very very few with anything to really connect to most listeners' lives or imaginations. apparently a lot of people identify with the idea of being in a band on the run, okay.... and the love songs (whether genericized or specific or "woe woe WOE woe") tend to do well, but god what if "jet" was actually about something and not just a stream of syllables loosely inspired by a sheepdog? or if "junior's farm" wasn't just a string of nonsense for nonsense's sake? they'd surely be among the best and most loved classic rock hits of the 70s. i think i might end up ranking "hi hi hi" over all the other 'rockers' even though it's a little less tight than "jet," just because he seems focused on something. man do i wish ringo was playing on it though.

(certainly denny laine and the interchangeable wings drummers were nothing on having george harrison and ringo starr in your band in terms of musical contributions and elevating a song with the right little touches or unexpected rhythmic moves or whatever. even just someone to sometimes be able to tell him that just for this one particular song, having the guitar be louder than the bass might be the right choice...)

"Junior's Farm" fascinates me. Still devoted to stand-alone singles, Paul releases a nonsensical rocker that hits #3 on momentum alone, whereupon it vanishes from history (I'm a fan of country-leaning B-side "Sally G").