Paul McCartney – McCartney II

Etched markings do not quite match the version I have . W-7 F2 / W-4?? No mention of Blair??

Temporary Secretary is the best song Paul has ever written solo and I don't care what anyone thinks. Genius is never appreciated in its time!!!

I picked up this album a couple days ago and from the first playing I absolutely loved it. I'm a big electronic fan and a big Beatles fan, so to hear McCartney's touch played on a synthesizer like this is just great. I knew 'Coming Up' and 'Temporary Secretary' going into it, but beyond that I found more of Paul's genius. From the highs of tracks like 'Bogey Music' and 'Nobody Knows' to tracks like 'Waterfalls' and 'Summer's Day Song', this album is just great.

The first side boasts 'Coming Up' as it's opener, and no wonder as it's a great track. It even made a rather miserable post-Beatles Lennon famously say, "Fuck a pig! It's Paul!" Not much needs to be said about it. Following it is Temporary Secretary, which has had mixed opinions from Macca fans. I personally really like it, although that's probably just because I like electronic music, since that synth line that runs through the whole track sounds like it belongs in an early 90s acid track. I would really like to hear what it sounds like on a Roland TB-303, because I imagine it'd be mad.

Following it is 'On the Way' which is a nice piece of work once again. A bassy track with a filtered Paul, which tends to be the standard for this album. After that is 'Waterfalls' which is a nice little ballad, although I feel it drags on for a little too long. A very sombre track which Paul's overdubbed harmonies work very well with. Closing the side off is 'Nobody Knows', Paul’s signature “Granny music shit” as a certain friend of his called it. It is, like basically everything else on this album, just an overall good song.

Paul obviously felt it would be best to open the second side on a high note, as some of my favourite tracks on the album appear here. First is 'Front Parlour', which once again sounds very ahead of its time. To me, it sounds like the background music of a PlayStation 1 game like Spyro the Dragon or something, and might just be my favourite on the album. It's a lovely little diddy with a melody that I can't help but smile when I hear it. Then it's 'Summer's Day Song', which I think is probably a development of a lullaby Paul sang to his kids. It's a great ballad, possibly better than 'Waterfalls', and most of it is once again an instrumental. I'm very happy Paul had the guts to release an album with instrumental tracks on it, because they sound great and fit perfectly well on the album. I also can't help but notice what sounds like the Mellotron flute playing throughout the track, possibly harkening back to Lennon's 'Strawberry Fields Forever'. The lullaby nature combined with this inclusion I think gives the song a new meaning after Lennon's death just 7 months after the release of the album.

After these first Side 2 tracks, we have 'Frozen Jap', another nice little instrumental and 'Bogey Music', which was inspired by a children's book called 'Fungus the Bogeyman'. Again, I wouldn't be surprised if it was Paul's youngins who influenced this track. It's a big dance number with Paul's vocals drowned in echo, but it still sounds great. 'Darkroom' is the weakest track on the album which I'll likely skip on plays after this. 'One of These Days' is what you'd expect at the end of a McCartney album. A nice ballad with an acoustic guitar and maybe some backing vocals. Not the best ballad on the album, but definitely very nice.

This album is great in my opinion because of how experimental it is and all the sounds there are. It's very much a 'Paul messes around for a while and makes an album out of it' sort of thing, but I really like the sound of it, especially the Lo-Fi element that it has to it, as it was all recorded at his house. It also shows Paul at his fullest with complete creative control. It's right there on the back, "Instruments and Voices by Paul McCartney. Produced, Engineered and Composed by Paul McCartney". This album is Paul at his rawest, and it's great like that.

I got this at a car boot for 4 pounds it sounds brilliant. A very experimental album by Paul but it has got some great songs on it

The best ever album inspired by brain rot. Feels almost like McCartney's own Plastic Ono Band.

Roundout A side: PCTC 258 A - 2U 05
Roundout A side: PCTC 258 B - 2U 21