But on the whole it met my low expectations, and it reminded me very much of the tossed-off vibe of the original McCartney album. Which meant that at times I was pleasantly surprised by some nice musical moments, some interesting guitar playing, snatches of musical inspiration here and there. I don’t know that I’ve ever come to an album with lower expectations than I did for McCartney III. I’d call it disappointing if it wasn’t pretty much what I expected from McCartney at this point in his artistic career. It plays to all of McCartney’s weaknesses without the benefit of any of his strengths. It has the lamest melodies of any McCartney album ever, from a man who has written more amazing melodies than anyone. It has the occasional promising idea for a song that fails to engage because the spark of a brilliant idea for a song was never properly nurtured into a flame. It is an album bogged down with endless repetition of musical phrases that weren’t even that interesting the first time you heard them (think “Momma Miss America” or “Valentine’s Day” from the original McCartney album). And his latest album, McCartney III, makes the point about as well as any of his albums I can think of. Which is why I am so disappointed that he is used that unimaginable amount of talent to so little effect over the last 50 years of his solo career. I don’t believe anyone who has walked the earth has ever been given as much pure musical talent as Paul McCartney, and I am being 100% sincere. Perhaps at the outset of this review I should make it very clear that my disdain for much of McCartney’s solo work – especially over the past twenty years – is not because I don’t think he’s talented, and certainly not because I hate the guy. The brand new indie-exclusive ‘3333 Edition’ of McCartney III, pressed by Third Man Pressing, is limited to 3,333 copies worldwide on yellow-and-black splatter vinyl composed from a “regrind” of McCartney & McCartney II records.Well, at least I don’t think McCartney II is Paul McCartney’s worst solo album anymore. Just as McCartney’s 1970 release marked Paul’s return to basics in the wake of the biggest band break-up in musical history, and the 1980 avant-garde masterpiece McCartney II rose from the ashes of Wings, McCartney III finds Paul back on his own, turning unexpected circumstances into a personal snapshot of a timeless artist at a unique point in history. And Paul's array of vintage instruments he played on the new album have an even more storied history, including Bill Black of Elvis Presley's original trio's double bass alongside Paul's own iconic Hofner violin bass, and a mellotron from Abbey Road Studios used on Beatles recordings, to name but a few. McCartney III spans a vast and intimate range of modes and moods, from soul searching to wistful, from playful to raucous and all points between - captured with some of the same gear from Paul’s Rude Studio used as far back as 1971 Wings sessions.

Recorded in Sussex, McCartney III is mostly built from live takes of Paul on vocals and guitar or piano, overdubbing his bass playing, drumming, etc. Before long an eclectic collection of spontaneous songs would become McCartney III: a stripped back, self-produced and, quite literally, solo work marking the opening of a new decade, in the tradition of 1970’s McCartney and 1980’s McCartney II.

Paul hadn’t planned to release an album in 2020, but in the isolation of “Rockdown,” he soon found himself fleshing out some existing musical sketches and creating even more new ones. The is item is no longer available to preorder, please visit your store on day of releaseĥ0 years following the release of his self-titled first solo album McCartney, featuring Paul playing every instrument and writing and recording every song, Paul McCartney released McCartney III on December 18th 2020.

Paul mccartney mccartney iii