Before I go on as I usually do, I must remind everyone and myself that we all have different opinions of music. There is no facts in that aspect. So, when I type my rebuttal, please take that in mind, because I know I have the habit of offending people pretty easily and thats not my intentions. Thanks.
Well said Todd, I'd like to offer up the same caveat aswell.... though I've never found your posts offensive I do sometimes cringe at my own when I read them back and fear that I am coming across as over-opinionated, which is never my intention. So long as we all respect one another's right to differ (and I think we mostly do on this forum) then it's very healthy to read firm and contrasting points of view.
Right, with that out of the way...
Pipes Of Peace: I've re-listened to the album and, on the whole, it still gets a big thumbs up from me. I always listen to it in context as a gloriously commercial/accessible radio friendly pop album and feel it is
Tug Of War part two... not just because of the obvious war/peace duality, but because the best tracks on here are every bit as strong as the impeccably high standard set by the 1982 album. In fact Paul's collaborations with Michael Jackson (
Say Say Say and
The Man) eclipse the rather hammier team up with Stevie Wonder on
Ebony And Ivory (for me one of the few weaker spots on Tug Of War).
I like the title track. Why is it that when John (the repetitive, monotonous "Give Peace A Chance") or George (the thinly warbled "Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth)") sing about peace they are invested with praise and credibility, yet when Paul turns out a melodically superior, better structured song (
Pipes Of Peace) it often gets dismissed as lightweight, frothy fare? I don't think it is!!!
There is filler on this album for sure (unlike Tug Of War) I can happily take or leave
The Other Me (hate Paul's vocal and too much of a homey DIY feel to it for my liking) and
Hey Hey,
Tug Of Peace and all three bonus tracks are all eminently forgettable. I don't know if I ever even count
The Frog Chorus as Paul anyway... does he actually sing or play on it? did he only produce it? seems to be mostly a kids' chorus, in much the same way as "Wonderwall Music" was produced by George without featuring the man himself (I think?).
Through Our Love and
Sweetest Little Show are OK but no great shakes I suppose, though I think they hold up fairly well overall.
Three highlights for me though are
Keep Under Cover (wonderful shifting, soaring/soothing vocals from Paul and a smoothly flowing momentum throughout - LOVE that frenetic violin too!)
Average Person (a strong tune and a well constructed song) and (don't sneer)
So Bad. For me that track keeps the right side of sickly; few but Paul could pull off those lyrics and that falsetto vocal with such aplomb, I really think he nails the simple beauty of being deeply in love. I can see it would be soppy and embarrassing in the hands of a lesser artist but Paul has enough sincerity and credibility to make it work. He rarely falls into syrupy sentimentality (though this does happen occasionally -
My Love is truly horrendous, but then again I refuse to accept there is a single decent track anywhere on the grotesque
Red Rose Speedway, one of the most abysmal albums Paul ever gave us as far as I'm concerned).
As for
McCartney - too down home farm flavoured for my liking... there's "DIY" and then there's "Amateur" and it strays too close to the latter for me. I love
Junk and one or two others are OK (
Maybe I'm Amazed is a decent track but maybe I should tell you I AM amazed at how overpraised it is...almost up there with
Yesterday as Paul's most overrated number, I just don't get all the fuss...it would be one of the average songs if it had been on
Ram).
Ok, as if I haven't dropped enough bombshells and lit enough blue touchpapers for one post, I may aswell finish with a few lines about
Press To Play. And I'm not wasting more than a few lines on it: garbage. Unforgivably for a talent of McCartney's stature it is bland and embarrassingly boring in the extreme. Not a single track engages me at all. They're forgotten the minute they're over. One of his worst I'm afraid...and I persevered with it for four complete play-throughs over three days. Terrible.
Right, I'm off to hide!!