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I suppose legendary recording artists like Sir Paul McCartney have all painted themselves into a corner in a way, having to live up to their own legacy and produce new material that are required to resemble their past glories. That would explain why McCartney felt the need to release his latest album titled Electric Arguments under a different alias, “The Fireman”. As “The Fireman”, McCartney is essentially free to explore other musical realms and not be confined to the “three minute pop song”. Partnering up with producer Youth (U2, the Orb) like he did on previous Fireman albums, McCartney’s goal here is not to produce a mega-selling hit album. And that’s a good thing in my book. Sir Macca sounds looser and more excited than he has in years. In fact, it’s a bit of a shame he didn’t release it as a legitimate McCartney album because it’s probably the best I’ve heard from him since… Flowers in the Dirt. It’s definitely a huge step up from his last effort, Memory Almost Full. Without having to worry about chart positions or sales numbers, Sir Macca and Youth have put together a refreshing batch of songs. It’s interesting to note that the previous Fireman releases were explorations in instrumental electronica but this release brings things closer into pop territory with McCartney singing catchy hooks.

The album opens up with a strong, bluesy rocker titled “Nothing Too Much Just out of Sight”. I love the Led-Zepp like guitar riff and the odd time signature. Things change up quickly with a “RAM”-era sounding “Two Magpies” featuring sweet acoustics and Macca singing falsetto. The album continues on, shifting gears continuously, from straightforward pop (“Sing the Changes”, “Sun is Shining”) to trance/dance (“Lovers in a Dream”) to Floyd-ish psychedelia (“Lifelong Passion”). The last two tracks (“Universal Here, Everlasting Now”, “Don’t Stop Running”) are more trippy/space-y like the previous Fireman releases. I’m just amazed that McCartney and Youth were able to write and record the whole album in just thirteen days. And this is with Sir Macca playing all the instruments!! I can’t imagine any other singer/songwriter/musician working THAT fast.

Electric Arguments is a solid effort all around. It’s so great to see after all these years, Paul McCartney still got some surprises up his sleeve.

retroGrade: B+

personal favorites include: “Sing the Changes”, “Highway”, “Dance ‘Til We’re High”, “Lovers in a Dream”, “Don’t Stop Running”

Electric Arguments
by The Fireman
Original Release Date: November 25, 2008
Label: ATO RECORDS / ONE LITTLE INDIAN

Tracklist:
1 Nothing Too Much Just out of Sight 4:55
2 Two Magpies 2:12
3 Sing the Changes 3:43
4 Travelling Light 5:05
5 Highway 4:16
6 Light from Your Lighthouse 2:31
7 Sun Is Shining 5:11
8 Dance ‘Til We’re High 3:37
9 Lifelong Passion 4:48
10 Is This Love? 5:51
11 Lovers in a Dream 5:21
12 Universal Here, Everlasting Now 5:05
13 Don’t Stop Running 10:30

Produced By Paul McCartney and Youth
All tracks written by Paul McCartney

check out the Fireman – Recording sessions video clip on youtube.

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Related posts:

1. Paul McCartney – Hey Tokyo – 1993
2. CD Review – Good Evening New York City marred by auto-tune
3. Paul McCartney – Citi Field – set list – Billy Joel
4. McCartney on Howard Stern
5. The Fireman – Electric Arguments – to be released

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music, reviews by retroDan