whoa, dat bad ol puddy tat mad at me!
Listen, it has always been my belief that 'greatest hits' albums are supposed to represent "the best of the best," out of their wealth of material. I didn't say any of their four solo efforts didn't contain good songs, but I'm just saying that what's represented as their best don't never come close to being Beatle-Caliber. I know all about group dynamics and such, but c'mon - Paul basically told George what to play, and George played it. Paul wasn't interested in what George might come up with on his own, Paul wanted his songs played a certain way, and that was that. Paul probably did the same thing with the members of Wings, but to a much larger extent. So Paul was the driving force on virtually all his songs, what does a 'band dynamic' have to do with that?
Also, if I think their stuff from their 'greatest hits' is merely okay, why would I think I'd find better songs on their 'album cuts,' songs that weren't deemed good enough to be singles or played on the radio? Even Beatles songs that weren't singles were still sometimes played on the radio - same with other artists. I honestly gauge an artist's worth by what's represented on a collection - i'm not saying that's right, but its what I do. And so do a lot of people.
When I was younger, I used to think that an album by Paul McCartney/Wings had to be as good as a Beatles album, just that it was absent the other three guys. I learned I was wrong to think that, and it had nothing to do with them being a band - but maybe it had a little to do with Ying and Yang between Paul and John - the competition thing. But, when you think about it, wouldn't that competition thing still exist, even though they're recording separately in the 70's? John's music lacked a "crispness;" Paul's music lacked a "I-don't-know-what" - lack of respectability? That sounds harsh, but songs like "My Love," while pretty and melodic, is almost a parody of what he did as a Beatle.
And look, I don't keep inventory of the members who come and go around here, so my revisiting an older thread has more to do with not repeating what the board has already gone through than it is of keeping track of active people.
Remember that my opinions are just opinions - I'm not stating facts, I'm just an ordinary joe who loves the Beatles and wishes that kind of magic had transferred into four parts when they disbanded. It didn't. That's my opinion, and I'm sticking to it.
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Topic: I'm trying to explore Macca's solo years... help! (Read 7637 times)