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Album doesn’t set world ablaze
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Also by Michael Merline:
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Somewhere within Paul McCartney lies one of the surviving Beatles, the creator of hit-or-miss Wings, a folk solo-musician and — apparently — The Fireman. It seems “tricky McCartney” has actually been the man lurking behind The Fireman projects since the early ’90s. Along with producer Youth (né Martin Glover), McCartney creates a combination of electronic experimentation and more of McCartney’s expected genre-play on the band’s third album. But Electric Arguments sounds nothing like the various incarnations McCartney listeners have come to know over the years and, because of this, is great at moments, terrible at others and as a whole just a pleasing — but somewhat forgettable — listen.
The duo recorded Electric Arguments over a mere 13 days, and it feels like it — both good and bad. The ideas on this record are scattered and varying, which makes it feel less cohesive but also more exciting as a whole. Moreover, some of these songs could use a bit of polish (especially coming from a producer known for his influential work in electronic music), though McCartney does shine with this project and others when he sticks to the simple-sounding — often misleadingly so — pop-rock that made him famous.
And those are the finest moments on Electric Arguments. It’s not as if The Fireman’s early electronic experiments aren’t worth hearing, but this album is a change of character for the duo, and it works. It’s not just an electronic album — in fact it mostly isn’t — and despite McCartney’s eclectic interests and multi-instrumental skills, his songwriting and voice are both better suited for the bright, colorful moments of Electric Arguments than the more haunting ones.
This is why The Fireman starts this disc with a bang. Early press attention-grabber and album opener “Nothing Too Much Just Out of Sight” mixes shredding blues-rock with McCartney’s guttural growl. It’s at once biting and charming and ends with Tom Waits-styled talk-singing that distances the track even more from McCartney’s lighter (and more well known) projects. While this “single” isn’t completely representative of what follows, it certainly indicates McCartney hasn’t written another “Live and Let Die.”
Next come a folk ditty, “Two Magpies,” and then a contender for the most worthy moment of Electric Arguments, “Sing the Changes.” Both tracks are short and sweet, but “Sing the Changes” plays repetitive lyrics with simple vocal variations over a heaven-reaching melody and backing keens from McCartney. The Brit’s voice has aged beautifully, as is apparent on this project’s dirtier moments, because he can sound strained and smoky when he wants while still out-singing most pop musicians. Not to mention he can certainly write a cooler tune.
Another rocker, “Highway,” follows in good form, as does the warmly pastoral “Light From Your Lighthouse,” and then Electric Arguments shifts in style. Since The Fireman has always been a vehicle for McCartney’s dabbling in a genre somewhat foreign to him, it’s easy to be overly forgiving of the album’s final tracks. And they’re not bad as much as somewhat boring. But to close an album that starts off so memorably with tracks that just aren’t that entertaining seems like a poor production choice, and it really is the biggest flaw of Electric Arguments.
These final songs represent an abrupt shift from the sunny musicality of the album’s first half to the darker ambient sounds of its conclusion. While this dichotomy may be intentional and intelligently conceived, it doesn’t necessarily work. “Lifelong Passion” and “Universal Here, Everlasting Now” both recall Brian Eno, an ever-relevant icon in the world of electronic music, but aren’t as beautiful or illuminating as the art-rocker’s best work. And the trudging, cumbersome “Don’t Stop Running” puts a halt to any momentum Electric Arguments builds up early on. The 10-minute New Age prog-rocker glides along beautifully but gets old long before it wraps up with white noise and sci-fi synths.
Regardless of whether these more traditional The Fireman tracks match the quality of those more akin to the work of traditional Paul McCartney, they still form an interesting and elegant trip into ambient music. Sure, it’s not Brian Eno’s “1/1” or The Beatles’ “My Darling,” but sitting between those two styles serves Electric Arguments well. Whether this album gets more than a few spins will depend on whether or not avid McCartney fans are willing to indulge his less vanilla passions and more mainstream listeners can appreciate the concept of The Fireman as much as the duo’s newer pop offerings.
3 stars out of 5
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IP hash: 17a4ff95
You obviously have no appreciation for ambient dance music, because the last four tracks on this album are absolutely brilliant. The whole point of this project is that no one song sounds like the next, which keeps it from becoming boring. You also failed to even mention the two best songs on this album, Travelling Light and Dance til We’re High. You obviously spent very little time with this album and it shows in your review, which is a shame. This is not only a good album, it’s a great one, and it’s too bad you missed the boat on this one.
IP hash: a853df79
Hippie
IP hash: 61b4f187
“And the trudging, cumbersome “Don’t Stop Running” puts a halt to any momentum Electric Arguments builds up early on. The 10-minute New Age prog-rocker glides along beautifully but gets old long before it wraps up with white noise and sci-fi synths.”
Curious. On my version of the disc, “Don’t Stop Running” starts with white noise and synths before going up tempo - and is only 5 minutes long (followed by a 3 minute gap and then the obligatory bonus track). What version do you have, Michael?
-Vincent Truman
IP hash: 3a49b1de
I bet you he has an illegal pirated version from the world-wide-web. PIRATE, PIRATE, PIRATE.
IP hash: ceb62b97
And for the record Michael, the Beatles’ song you might want to refer to in the last paragraph is called “Oh! Darling”.
Maxime
IP hash: 4f84dbbd
I have listed to the album for 2-days straight now non stop online and find this to be an excellent McCartney album. I know of no one else that can so easily change styles. For me this is his best album of the past 20 years or so. Amazing. I understand that everyone has their opinions but I don’t believe the reviewer listened to the album much. There is something very unique in the overall feel and sound of this album which I believe will make it impossible to get tired of. Great job Paul!! Pure genius.
Michael Green
IP hash: 659ee306
I agree, the reviewer hasn’t listened to this brilliant work properly if at all. I know one reviewer who works for a well known music rag who when he can’t be bothered to listen to an album trawls the internet for the basic info on an album and then writes his review, generally slating the album.
This is a truly fabulous album and don’t be frightened like most people about listening to a McCartney work or even buying it you’re unlikely to be disappointed. There is hardly a bad moment on it and in fact it is bordering on genius. ‘Dance’ is a guaranteed number one at Christmas if they release it. The best thing to do is to buy this album, listen to it 5 or 6 times and then decide yourself. Considering the NME in the UK said that the album ‘never falls beloew outstanding’ and Rolling Stone, Uncut and Clash have raved about it giving it top marks then I’ll go with them not this dork. And then when you’ve bought this and find you like it tell your friends and then try Chaos and Creation and Memory Almost Full.
Note to the editor…….if you recieve a review like this one and you find it is written in green crayon, bin it!
Actual Rating - 9.5/10…..Genius!
IP hash: e2029639
I don’t think this guy actually listened to the album. The last track isn’t 10 minutes long…its contains a few minutes of silence and a hidden track.
Moreover, it took me a few listens to really appreciate what Paul and Youth have created here…I believe the reviewer took a casual listen and then did his review.
Can I have his job? A quick listen, a bad review, and a paycheck…sounds ok to me!!