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Soul mining
Paul McCartney delivers a gem
BY ELIOT WILDER

Say what you will about Paul McCartney — at least he’s still trying. Unfortunately, the distance between ambition and achievement has too often remained unbridged. His experiments in techno (Liverpool Sound Collage) and classical (Standing Stone) aren’t that engaging, or even that good. And he rarely has much to say; his lyrics frequently suffer from muddle-headed sentiment.

Even though his musical instincts have never been in doubt, his focus has always been a bit off; his last proper studio album of new songs, 2001’s Driving Rain, was all over the map. There were affecting songs inspired by the loss of Linda — "Magic" in particular — but mostly it seemed Paul was throwing ideas against a wall in the hope that one might stick. Few did. After all these years, he still needs a Lennon. And with Chaos and Creation in the Backyard (Capitol), he’s stumbled upon a sharp foil for his icky-poo tendencies: Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich. McCartney, who’s at the Garden this Monday and Tuesday, has said that Godrich was quite outspoken and that there was tension in the studio. "We didn’t exactly comes to blows," he told Uncut, "but it did get close at times."

That tension makes Chaos his most satisfying solo effort in ages. Don’t expect a dark, McCartney-goes-Radiohead experiment — Chaos is bright and airy but never too polished. It reminds me of the "White Album," on which he could be tough ("Helter Skelter"), whimsical ("Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da"), and tender ("I Will") without ever sounding forced. His solo catalogue is weighed down with material that strains to recapture his light Beatles touch. Of his more recent work, only 1997’s Flaming Pie — on which McCartney, as he does on Chaos, provides most of the instrumentation — delivers. And it wasn’t all that great.

But Chaos is. The songs and sentiments are complex in subtle ways. The tracks are tuneful but not easy, and most lack a definitive refrain. On "Riding to Vanity Fair," he’s buoyed by a watery melody and gentle strings that belie a bitter tale of a splintered friendship. It’s as moving as "Eleanor Rigby," perhaps more so because Paul has now lived a life with its own blessings and tragedies. "Jenny Wren," with its plucked acoustics and graceful melody, is drawn from the same well as "Blackbird"; it’s the story of a friable young woman wrecked by love. Even on "English Tea," which is in the tradition of Pauly music-hall numbers like "Honey Pie," there’s a welcome sense of self-awareness: "Would you care to sit with me/For a cup of English tea/Very twee/Very me."

Paul’s singing and playing have never been better, and repeated listens reveal rich pleasures. "Too Much Rain" penetrates despair only to come up smiling; the jaunty "Follow Me," with its message of love (always Paul’s message), is uplifting without being mawkish. Who’d have guessed that as he pushes toward 64 (next June 18) McCartney would be crafting another masterpiece instead of just losing his hair and mending a fuse?

Paul McCartney | TD Banknorth Garden, Boston | Sept 26 + 27 | 617.931.2000


Issue Date: September 23 - 29, 2005
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