An agile early work by the most important rock star in history.
The artwork of the Liverpool street sign of Dungeon Lane, representative of the neighborhood in which Paul McCartney and John Lennon hung out before they became world famous, sets the nostalgic concept of the new McCartney album: a “Sentimental Journey”to quote Ringo Starr’s debut LP, released here “Home To Us” drums and – for the first time with another Beatle (and after some trouble behind the scenes) – sings in a duet. But the almost fragile sound of the single was misleading: apart from the finale “Momma Gets By”a thematic sequel “Lady Madonna”the album plays in the mid to up tempo range.
In the hook hitting “As You Lie There” and the potency rocker “Come Inside” the 83-year-old even elicits screams from his voice, which has become a little brittle “Helter Skelter”-times. Or was producer Andrew Watt cheating? And even if? Before AIs torment us with Maccandroids, it’s a wonder that there is still an album with the master’s participation – and he even recorded most of the instruments himself.
Some songs like “Ripples On A Pond” may have a throwaway character, but strong pieces like the folk number suit them “Salesman Saint” opposite. And with pretty crazy moments like the outro of “We Two” and the sudden hard rock outburst in the rocky “Mountain Top” reminds the Fab One that it was he who was responsible for the most radical moves in the Beatles catalog. To take up the central word of the first two songs: Forever. Paul McCartney forever.
