Ranked Albums – Haunted Jukebox

For years I’ve listened to a single artist’s or band’s discography (often in its entirety) an album a week on my morning commute. I’ve gone my way through the back catalogues of everyone from Led Zeppelin and solo Paul Simon to Alison Moyet and Neil Young (at least through the 1970s.) For whatever reason, it never occurred to me that I should write about these audio journeys until now. Since I just finished listening to the first decade of Paul McCartney’s post-Beatles career, on his 84^thbirthday, here’s how I would rate his studio albums from the 1970-79. At some point, I’ll also do this with his output from McCartney II to the just-released The Boys of Dungeon Lane.

I considered going best-to-worst, but it’s better to get the lesser stuff (actually, much less of it than boomer critics at the time suggested) out of the way.

9 – Red Rose Speedway (Paul McCartney & Wings, 1973)

When the excessively syrupy and lame ballad “My Love” is your best choice for a single, you know you’re in trouble (“whoa, whoa-whoa, whoa”, indeed.) At 18, I first delved into Paul’s solo career with his 1987 hits comp All The Best! and the best thing about it was that it placed this track at the very end of it, thus making it easier to skip. The rest of RRS is not bad, necessarily, just relentlessly unmemorable (although the instrumental track is pleasant.) He’s supposed to be a melodic genius, but precious little here sticks.

8 – Wild Life (Wings, 1972)

Initially, Paul’s “Let’s start a new band with my wife and some dudes” proved more novel in theory than in practice. This is the only McCartney studio pop album devoid of any top 40 hits until the 1990s. While his originals don’t live up to the adorably ramshackle cover of “Love is Strange”, they’re pleasant tunes that could’ve benefited from some trimming (“Dear Friend”) and others that barely justify their brief durations.

7 – Back To The Egg (Wings, 1979)

Similarly, a lack of both focus and a killer hit single tarnishes the final Wings album. Side two meanders on and on, dribbling to a close with his umpteenth “When I’m 64” knockoff (“Baby’s Request”). Fortunately, side one’s compactness and energy both suggest he’s at least aware of punk/new wave even if the results veer (encouragingly!) closer to Fleetwood Mac (“Old Siam, Sir”) and Steely Dan (“Arrow Through Me”).

6 – McCartney (Paul McCartney, 1970)

His “let’s-get-this-one-out-before Let It Be” home-recorded solo debut famously has three good-to-great songs (“Maybe I’m Amazed”, “Every Night” and Beatles leftover “Junk”) and numerous little sketches not meant to be anything more than that. The whole DIY approach has aged well compared to a lot of rock and roll bloat from that period but if asked, I couldn’t hum any of the other tracks except for “Man We Was Lonely”.

5 – London Town (Wings, 1978)

The most diverse Wings album? Not much here resembles the competent (if tepid) middle-of-the-road hit, “With A Little Luck”. While making room for such odd bedfellows as “Strange Groupies” (which could’ve been sung by hobbits) or the rockabilly “Name and Address”, it somehow coheres (unlike Back To The Egg), even if it should’ve been a tight ten tracks instead of fourteen. Finale “Morse Moose and the Grey Goose” is one of his most peculiar mini-epics and also his most thrilling.

4 – Wings At The Speed Of Sound (Wings, 1976)

This has a bad reputation for including written (and sung) contributions from all five Wings members. While Linda’s “Cook of the House” is admittedly fluff, it’s charming fluff and some of the others (Denny Laine’s “The Note You Never Wrote”) could’ve come from Macca himself. Happily, Paul’s own tunes are top-notch: the deathless, hypnotic “Silly Love Songs”, the so-straight-faced-it’s-probably-subversive “Let ‘Em In” and the almost majestic “Beware My Love”.

3 – Venus and Mars (Wings, 1975)

Making the most convincing case for Paul-as-rocker (“Rock Show”, “Letting Go”, the exquisite “Call Me Back Again”) of the entire Wings era, it’s nearly as strong as its predecessor (see below), with the lovely “Love in Song” this period’s least silliest love song. To be a fan is to appreciate both the effortless hook of “Listen to The Man Said” and the utter daftness of “Magneto and Titanium Man” and Paul can ably pull both off when he’s this focused.

2 – Band On The Run (Paul McCartney and Wings, 1973)

His most widely loved solo album, I once thought it was overrated, not much to admire beyond the singles and propulsive closer “Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five”. “Let Me Roll It” showing up as an effective needle drop in Licorice Pizza changed my mind somewhat, then came the proto “Hey Ho’s!” of “Mrs. Vanderbilt”; now, I like all of it except for the meandering “Mamunia”. Rather than fussing over his craft, Paul seems to be trusting his instincts here and it makes a big difference.

1 – Ram (Paul and Linda McCartney, 1971)

A less controversial take than it might’ve been decades ago, but I think Ram is the best Beatles solo album, period (and it’s co-credited to one of their wives, no less!) Not to disparage the previous entry or even John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band or All Things Must Pass, first hearing Ram in the mid-90s was akin to finding a lost Beatles album, not so much in sound as in sensibility. Think of it as an all-Paul version of The White Album, his stoner humor translating into a mostly non-linked suite of often eccentric (“Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey”) and occasionally insane (“Monkberry Moon Delight”!) but always impeccably crafted, infectious miniatures. I can sense its division (chances are it will either irritate or engage with little middle ground) but when a new generation of listeners discovered and fell for it in the early 21^st century, I felt vindicated.

Additionally, McCartney released a slew of non-album singles through the decade. Here’s how I’d rate them best to worst (with notable B-sides also listed):