Customer Reviews

Driving Rain

5 star:		(139)
4 star:		(90)
3 star:		(41)
2 star:		(28)
1 star:		(36)

 

 

...maybe then people we would be able to listen to an album open minded. But, Paul is Paul, John Lennon's partner, founder of Wings, a friggin BEATLE for God's sake...it's hard not to expect too much.

Yet, this album is good enough anyway. If Paul had produced his last two albums incognito, (I am thinking about "Flaming Pie" and "Driving Rain" here) and suddenly died, reviewers the world over would be lamenting the forshortened career of an under apreciated artist. But this is Paul McCartney, and everything is judged by Penny Lane and Revolver. Not gonna happen. Can't...this isn't the 60's and none of us are removing the sleepy dew of the 50's from our eyes.

So, on its own, this is a great album.

Like Jagger, Paul attempts to cover a number of musical genres here, but Paul's effort feels a little less forced. contrary to most expectations, this album isn't 64 minutes of Paul bemoaning Linda's death. "Lonely Road" clearly gets that job done, and rather ably at that.

There is a darkness to this album, lacking the silliness of "Press to Play" or the rawness of "Flaming Pie," but maybe that's its strength. Paul plays with a small 4 or 5 piece group for most of this album, staying away from his proclivity for massive over production.

Overall this is a hip, modern sounding album - with a refreshingly minimalist feel. It's also very good.

Ladies and gentlemen, meet James Paul McCartney. Following his nine-year recording stint with the Band Of The Century, he pursued a solo career that yielded two classic albums (Band On The Run and Tug Of War) and three pretty damn good ones (McCartney, Ram, and Venus & Mars). And the rest? For the most part, each new arrival featured two or three tasty avocados on a bed of soggy bean sprouts. Perhaps McCartney was simply trying too hard to fill his own shoes.

The good news on Driving Rain is Paul has finally given up. No endless months of fine-tuning and overdubs. No fancy cover either - just a fuzzy Polaroid with a dashed off, handwritten title. If he feels like celebrating, he lets himself soar - as in the last-minute addition of a supercharged "Freedom" from the Concert For New York. If he wants to jam, he digs in at length. If he's feeling romantic, he lets us know (yeah, now there's a surprise). The entire album has an offhand, thrown together feel to it - like something Macca and a neighborhood band knocked off in their garage last week. Paul hasn't sounded this loose since 1965. It suits him well.

Remember Sgt. Pepper's floating, melodic bass lines? They're back for an encore on Driving Rain, and the title song announces their return in the album's opening seconds. Beatlesque flourishes are here, there, and everywhere - from the White Album-ish "Heather" with its oh-so-British piano and vocal phrasings, to "About You" and "Back In The Sunshine Again," either of which could pass for Abbey Road outtakes. Paul's new backing band is young, talented, and unpretentious. They make even the jams and instrumentals work.

Simply put, Driving Rain is Paul McCartney's best and most consistent effort since 1982's Tug Of War. Whatever demons Macca has been battling since Winging it on his own, remember you read it here first: they've lost, Paul's won. He is more than live. He's finally free. And to celebrate he's unleashed his first monster album in nearly two decades.

It's hard to believe this guy is sixty years old. He can still rock and roll with the best of them! There are a lot of wonderful treats on "Driving Rain," not the least of which is seeing his new sprightliness and cheer following the upswing of his lovelife. The very first track, "Lonely Road," stoutly declares that he's not ready to "walk that lonely road again," and while in someone else's hands we might think that it referred to simply, well, being alone, in McCartney's able hands it carries both overt and subtle references to the 1998 death of Linda, to whom he'd been married for twenty-nine years (an astonishing length of time by any standards, but especially by the standards of rock and roll). With this song, McCartney declares his willingness to go on with his own life.

"From a Lover to a Friend" carries McCartney's signature piano work to new heights and has echoes of so many old McCartney tunes. It's a treat musically, and showcases McCartney's usual ear for delicately revealing lyrics. It's difficult to tell if he's talking to both Linda and Heather here, but that's what seems to be going on. Most revealing, not to mention a fine tune.

On "Tiny Bubble," McCartney almost seems at the beginning of the song to be channeling a Barry White/Stevie Wonder/Funkadelic kind of groove, complete with Hammond organ. Then "Your Way" could easily pass for a Grateful Dead effort in terms of its harmonies and laid-back ease. McCartney is all over the map here and it's exhilarating!

Heather Mills has done something good for Paul McCartney--we'll never know exactly all the details, but good for her for being the inspiration for the lovely "Heather," a gorgeous blend of calmness and joy that is mostly all about piano with just a subtle drum rhythm in the background. It's truly a pretty song, something it's hard to say about most songs these days. Then on "Your Loving Flame," piano comes to the fore again, this time with an almost prayerful intensity. The song is thoughtful, complex, and bears lyrics of an almost naked intensity. Here is a Paul McCartney in the throes of young love, no matter what his age, and it's a splendid thing to hear.

Being a close follower of his life and work for more than 25 years, this is the album I never dared to hope he could still be able to come up with. When I put the album on last night, it took me six, seven songs to jump up and whisper to myself: this is impossible, this is the best he's done, since.... Abbey Road. This one reminds me why I started to love him when I was a kid listening to the first Beatles' albums. It's a fantastic album!

Let's be frank here. Although his later albums still had some wonderful music on it, sometimes you would have asked yourself whether Macca had completely lost touch of reality (Give my regards to Broad Street), sometimes he was too kitschy to bear (So bad, or that bit on Off the Ground with the lady and animals on their "mossy nest" uurrgh), often I thought, he was producing rather forced or pale efforts to recapture the magic inspirations of the sixties (C'mon people, Young boy). Only in the ballads of the grown family man and his adventurous FIREMAN trips, one found consolation. (Well, A LEAF was fab too.) But DRIVING RAIN sounds as if he was thirty years younger, full of energy, full of joy, hope and FULL OF INSPIRATION. The spark is there, the fire is there, the ballads sound heartfelt, the band is rocking and fresh. Paul McCartney has entered a new phase in his life and you can hear it. I can only congratulate him and us as well. He has proven it yet again -- that he still is one of if maybe not THE best living songwriter and performer. What a joy to have him still writing and playing for us. Thanks Paul, as a Radio Dj once said: when you get a Paul McCartney record, it's as if your birthday and Xmas would fall on one day. -- An effortless triumph.

This album's songs came to Paul from the same places they have always come. If you own at least one Beatles' record, you'll enjoy this one just as much. Like a good book it keeps you captivated with tight mood swings. It truly cooks. What an accomplishment by such a gifted artist. Tired of all the (...) that's being hailed as great then when you take a listen and you're like Huh? He's got (...) to make such a record. I'm sure Paul feels really strong about these song's and everyone else that worked with him on it. He worked with a new young band and sung and played bass just like he did with the Beatles'. Live with no bass overdubs. Look what's on the charts now and weep. Then go out and buy "Driving Rain". True arsistic intent is hard to find.

When I first listened to this record, I was disappointed. I liked most of Flaming Pie and Run Devil Run the first time I listened to them. The only songs I liked immediately here were "From a Lover to a Friend" and "Freedom". But then I listened a couple more times and "Lonely Road", "Driving Rain", "Your Way", and "Magic" became favorites. I listened some more and now I really like "Rinse the Raindrops". After some more listens, who knows? Maybe the others will grow on me too. Only two tracks I can't stand are "She's Given Up Talking" and "Riding into Jaipur". Do yourself a favor and listen to the whole thing a couple times.

Driving Rain is Paul McCartney's first album of new material since 1997's Flaming Pie. In between he released an album of covers Run Devil Run that was recorded shortly after the loss of his wife and soul mate, Linda. That album was the most emotional of his career. While Driving Rain isn't quite as emotional, it still has a certain weight to it. There are some of his classic, light and breezy tunes "Tiny Bubble" and the laconic "Spinning On An Axis". Much like "Lovely Linda" from his first solo album, "Heather" is an ode to the new love of his life Heather Mills. The album's best tracks are laced with an emotional weight. "Lonely Road" has a frenzied edge, "From A Lover To A Friend" has is filled with anxiety and "There Must Have Been Magic" is filled with longing rememberances of the past. "Your Way" has a country flavor and "Rinse The Raindrops" is a ten plus minute workout that shows off some nice cohesion from the spry four piece band Mr. McCartney assembled for the album. Throughout the record, Mr. McCartney plays some of the best bass lines he's played in years and he reminds us that he is, in fact, a true legend.

About a minute and a half into the song "About You," the music stops as Paul belts out the line, "When did you teach me to fly thru the air." It's a completely exhilerating moment and symbolizes what the album Driving Rain is all about: dealing with loss (obviously Linda), but recovering, standing up, and getting, in his words, "Back In The Sunshine Again." In my opinion, Driving Rain has more emotion and depth than any solo McCartney album ever. You can feel Paul's pain and anguish in his voice in the bluesy "Lonely Road." The lyrics to "From A Lover To A Friend" are a little vague at some points, but the hook and Macca's delivery are so powerful and emotional that it makes some of the lines irrelevant anyway. Beyond these first two songs, the album becomes less about dealing with loss and more about celebrating life, especially Linda's in the touching, yet universal in meaning tribute song "Magic," with rememberances of when they met and later the memories of their life together "burning so bright." Other favorites for me include the country-flavored "Your Way," "Heather," "Your Loving Flame," "Riding Into Jaipur," and "Rinse The Raindrops," which shows that Paul can still rock with anyone. "Freedom" displays Paul's tough and defiant side. Many years ago the Beatles told people to "free your mind," and in this new anthem Paul is standing up for that right! Driving Rain is fantastic, and Paul McCartney is at the top of his game. Buy this album, put it in the disc player, and go for a drive--a ride in the driving rain! It's a beautiful thing.

I must say that I enjoyed much of this CD. I have to summarize as saying it has some of his most raw moments that rival things on the white album. I do think the sore throat he admitted to suffering from prior to starting these recordings hindered his vocals and a bit more care should have been put in doing them. With nothing to prove I applaud him for continuing to make new music and as we have now lost 2 of the Beatles, these may be the near to or last recordings of any Beatle. That thought alone makes me approach this CD with gratitude and yes, respect.

A run down of the songs:
1. Lonely Road - A good opener, solid bass lines, a dark mood and a Paul who means what he is singing here. It sizzles.
2. From A Lover To A Friend - Pleasant, not my favorite as there is a slight maudlin quality to the melody and the voice wobbles a bit, but it is not a bad listen.
3. She's Given Up Talking - This doesn't do much for me but the bridge is cute and it grows on you.
4. Driving Rain - I liked it. The flack made about the lyrics doesn't hold with me. Remember, the Beatles did All Together Now with a similar simplicity of lyrics and everyone thought it was great. The tune is fresh and I liked the delivery, a fun song.
5. I Do - A charmer. Melodically, simple yet memorable, a solid song. Paul does select to up the vocal an octave after the first chorus with mixed results but this could be straight out of 1965. Very nice.
6. Tiny Bubble - Has it's moments, it has an understated funky approach but I tended to skip the track upon later hearings
7. Magic - I loved this song. Again, songful, classic McCartney singing about the moment he met Linda. Nice lyrics to match good material and a good performance.
8. Your Way - Another catchy, almost countryish tune that harkens back to simpler times. Enjoyable.
9. Spinning On An Axis - Nice tune, not at the top for me but it has some good moments.
10. About You - The Rocker on the CD! It explodes from the speakers and Paul effectively raises his voice to the wondrous falsetto he use to pull off. This to me had a White Album feel to it with rocking guitars, explosive vocals and the lyrics pack punch.
11. Heather - Gorgeous. Lovely piano, builds upon a simple but infectious rhythm and melodic figure. By the time the vocals come in, you realize this one has been recorded with care and could have appeared on any number of Beatle albums. One of my personal favorites.
12. Back In The Sunshine Again - Rough edged blusey number, vocals give out a bit at the end, but it is certainly not cute and that makes it refreshing.
13. Your Loving Flame - Wow, if this is not as good as Maybe I'm Amazed then I don't know what else the man can do. Stirring melody and emotional release. Put this and flip side it with About You 20 years ago and it's number one. The radio simply WILL NOT play anything new by Paul these days and it is a loss.
14. Riding Into Jaipur - Quirky, ode to George type experimental track that is a delight.
15. Rinse The Raindrops - This is the one track I wish was either kept off or reduced in length. Some nice effects with strings at the end, some interesting changes but overall a long disappointment for me. One of the reasons I can't give this 5 stars. Some seem to like it however.
16. Freedom - Solid closer that grows on you with its simplicity. A great message simple but direct and Paul is doing it live and in great voice.

So, if you like Paul and the Beatles, get this one. I think Flaming Pie was more refined and solid from top to bottom, but this man is still producing and I am happy for that!

First of all, don't let the negative reviews here cause you to miss out on Paul's best new album in many years. Some here have said this isn't as strong as "Flaming Pie" but I have to disagree. I prefer to think Paul's new-found creative streak started with that album, and he builds on that fresh spark even more convincingly with this new one, with better quality of songwriting from the first track to the last- this is a more consistent effort than FP. With great tracks like "Driving Rain", "Tiny Bubble", "Heather", "About You", "Your Way" (just to name five) one wonders how does the man still do it? After all these years, it's pretty amazing to still hear Paul writing songs of the caliber found here. I think two reasons: 1. Since Linda's passing, and, more recently, George Harrison's long battle with cancer, Paul has been inspired by the mortality of us all and decided- whether consciously or subconsciously- that it was time to get with the program and create something more inspired than what we've been used to hearing from him for the better part of his solo years. 2- The process of bringing these songs fresh and unheard by the band to the studio, where they learned them more or less on-the-spot, the same way the Beatles worked, combined with the production and eye-to-eye collaboration between Paul and David Kahne.
At any rate, Paul sounds here like he was hungry to create some vital sounds again, and, in my (and many others') opinion, he has succeeded in a big way. Another reviewer here compared this effort with Paul's 1986 "Press to Play" in which Paul made music for himself. I agree with that assessment except "Press to Play" was a tip of the iceberg of what would eventually come with Driving Rain, Paul's best work since "Band on the Run".