Customer Reviews

Paul Is Live

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Paul McCartney possesses an almost singular talent to create and sing good music. Period. I always enjoy picking up a live CD of Paul in concert to just get the feeling of what it was like to be there. People have said that these tracks, recorded at different times in different locations, have been put together so coherently that the overall effect is that this was all recorded at one time. They're right!

Quite a few of these songs are NOT repeats from Paul's 1990 live CD set entitled Tripping The Live Fantastic; and that's another plus for this album.

The CD has some very strong performances by Paul and his band. I particularly liked the way "Drive My Car" starts off the CD. It's a whopper of a song with an awesome positive beat to it and this sets the listener up for wanting more. "Let Me Roll It" follows and is very well done also. I really liked "Live And Let Die;" but "We Can Work It Out," "All My Loving," "Penny Lane" and "Peace In The Neighbourhood" are also very well done. There's hardly a bad spot on the album until the track "Welcome To Soundcheck," which was filler in my opinion. However, this one track is not intended to be the focal point of the album.

There are also two previously unreleased songs recorded during soundchecks and placed at the end of this CD: " Hotel In Benidorm" and "I Wanna Be Your Man." The sound isn't quite as good here but the reverse of the album does point out that these are soundcheck recordings and not finalized versions.

Look for Paul's late wife Linda, Hamish Stuart, Robbie McIntosh and Wix Wickens on vocals, too. The group harmonizes very well.

The sound quality is excellent for a live recording especially when you consider that these songs were recorded in different places on different dates. I was very impressed. Paul and his band send out a certain type of electricity that is unmistakable. Awesome!

The liner notes boast a great collage of photos from the 1993 tour put together by Paul himself. The locations and dates for each recorded song are also provided on the reverse of the album liner notes. A nice plus!

People often say that this is not the best live CD Paul put out; and maybe that's true. Nevertheless, I myself enjoyed it immensely with the exception of the soundcheck tracks. They just didn't quite "do it" for me.

I recommend this for Paul's fans, Beatles' fans (since there are eleven Beatles songs on this CD), fans of classic rock and pop vocals. Thank you, Paul--and please--ROCK ON !!!!

I really don't want to come across as all negative here, because I really liked McCartney's '93 concert. But this live album, coming just three years after "Tripping the Live Fantastic", pales in comparison.

For one thing, only about half the concert is represented here - the half that doesn't duplicate material from "Tripping", which accounts for some of the complaints about its incompleteness. Even so, "Live and Let Die" is duplicated here (the only duplication), but "Another Day" (which was played in concert) is left off the album altogether. For this reason, it's not the "souvenir" of the concert that Paul's other live albums are (the "Hey Jude" singalong was just as cool in '93 as in '90, and "Yesterday" brought down the house as always, but neither is duplicated here).

Also, whereas "Tripping" went heavy with energetic rock-n-roll numbers, this time Paul filled out his setlist with mellower tunes like "Michelle", "Here, There and Everywhere", "Penny Lane", "We Can Work It Out" and "My Love". Don't get me wrong - I was glad to hear all of those tunes, but they're definitely lower-energy than the previous album. Again, there was plenty of rockin' in the concert, but it was mostly duplication from the previous tour, and thus not included in the album.

The material from "Off the Ground", which was Paul's most recent studio release at the time of the tour, is also not as strong as the "Flowers in the Dirt" stuff from "Tripping" (with the exception of "C'mon People").

All of that being said, I like this album. It's great to get live versions of "Drive My Car" and "Magical Mystery Tour", and there's still plenty here to enjoy - McCartney has never skimped on his concerts. It suffers, inevitably, by comparison with "Tripping", but that's hardly a scathing criticism. In fact, playing "Paul is Live" as the 3rd disc of "Tripping" might just be the best way to play it; it's Paul McCartney, live in concert, and how bad can that be?

Paul Is Live follows the course of his previous live effort Tripping The Live Fantastic, but is just a single disk. One problem the album faces is that it was in support of the Off The Ground album which does not match up to Flowers In The Dirt. The songs from the album featured here are okay, but not great. One nice touch is that Mr. McCartney does not duplicate the songs that were on the Tripping album. We get excellent songs like "We Can Work It Out", "Paperback Writer", "Penny Lane", "Let Me Roll It" and "Drive My Car". This is a nice supplement to his other live work as it helps round out the live versions of many of his most famous songs.

I attended one of the shows during this 1993 tour and was amazed at how strong Paul's voice was. He sounded better than he did on the TTLF album from the 89-90 tour. I was disappointed when I listened to the cd because the recordings didn't quite do the show justice. The instruments sound rather muffled and too loud over the vocals. And what was up with that flangy, echo effect on Paul's voice during the entire cd? I don't recall hearing that come out of the PA's when I went to the show. The new songs from the OTG album sound great live, even though it was sad when the audience sat down only during these songs... Will not disappoint Beatles fans, but as for Wings fans, material is lacking. Paul did close the Memphis show with Band on the Run, which sounded great and should have been added to the album in place of the weak soundchecks. Those were nice but a waste to fill up the album.

Anyone who honestly thought that Paul McCartney's 1993 live album "Paul Is Live" would be on par with his previous live endeavour, 1990's 2 disc "Tripping The Live Fantastic", most have had their heads lodged pretty far up in the clouds (among other places). There was a series of emotional nuances present on "Tripping The Live Fantastic" that made that album so perfect that couldn't be duplicated here. "Tripping The Live Fantastic" was the first time Paul had been in front of an audience for a considerable period of time, so there was a deep personal connection that would natuarally be captured only once.

That being said, "Paul Is Live" does make a solid companion to "Tripping The Live Fantastic". With the exception of "Live And Let Die", not a single song from either disc of "Tripping The Live Fantastic", so you're already in for a completely different album. Which is great, since little heard gems like "Drive My Car" (which makes for a great concert opener), "Let Me Roll It", All My Loving", "We Can Work It Out", "Michelle", "Here, There And Everywhere", "My Love", "Lady Madonna", "Penny Lane" and "Paperback Writer". All of these performances along with others are expertly performed.

There are some flaws. The songs from "Off The Ground", the album this tour was done in support for, are nowhere near as good in concert as the songs from "Flowers In The Dirt" were on "Tripping The Live Fantastic". Also, the soundcheck songs on the end are ultimately useless (although I do enjoy "I Wanna Be Your Man" and "A Fine Day") and could've done away with. What could've replaced them. Well, as one reviewer pointed out, "Another Day" would've been a great addition. Also, while they were already included on "Tripping The Live Fantastic", "Yesterday", "Hey Jude", "Get Back" and "Band On The Run" (among others) are also concert powerhouses, and the album does feel somewhat incomplete without them.

That being said, this is still a solid collection of Paul in concert. The sound quality is excellent, you get tour dates on the track listings as well as where they were recorded, and the photos in the liner notes are really nicely put together. Overall, a great live album.

I gave this CD five stars because it's a CD by Paul McCartney and it has most of my favorite songs in it. But for the contents, it's a four. Because in Drive my Car, you can't hear that same energy in Paul as you hear in the DVD "Live in Red Square". The guitarists (with the exception of Paul) also seem like old geezers who are losing their buzz. I think many of the songs have too much keyboard effects in it and not enough homemade guitar sound. My favorite song of all "Here, There, and Everywhere was only sub-par. In the Back in the US version, it had oooing harmonies throughout the whole song, making it seem more deep and soulful, but in Paul is Live, only a few parts are sung harmoniously. I big good thing about Paul is Live is that it has the song "Michelle" included, which is a big thing. I still recommend all Beatles and Paul McCartney fans to get this CD, but I'm just saying, don't expect TOO much.

'Paul Is Live' is packed with a total of 24 live tracks taken from his spring,1993 U.S. tour.Cuts were recorded in towns like Kansas City,Boulder,New York,Atlanta and San Antonio.Best thing about 'Paul Is Live' is whoever assembled this 73 minute disc release made it sound like it came from just ONE gig.Great job!Also,Paul did plenty of Beatle tunes,like the opener "Drive My Car","All My Loving","We Can Work It Out","Michelle","My Love",my favorite of entire CD "Magical Mystery Tour","Lady Madonna","Paperback Writer","Penny Lane" and a soundcheck of "I Wanna Be Your Man".Good call,Paul.Or shouldn't that be Sir Paul?Of course,some great solo material is here too,such as "Biker Like An Icon","Good Morning Tonight" and "Live And Let Die"(so much better than the Guns&Rose's version).An absolute must-have.I don't want to hear anyone else whinning about the sound quality here,because as far as I'm concerned,the sound couldn't be better.Highly recommended.

I have nothing against live albums. Sometimes an artist's best work is in live performance. Paul McCartney made two very good live albums, Wings Over America and Tripping The Live Fantastic. I own both of those, but I can't find a reason to purchase Paul Is Live. Why?

First, while this is a very professional, workmanlike, more-than-acceptable performance, I can't quite shake off the feeling -- listening to the offhand way Paul sings some of these -- that Paul put little inspiration or passion in performing this set. Perspiration, yes. Passion, no. It's a job to be done, and he does it. The crowd goes wild. Mission accomplished.

But still, I can't think of a single track here that I wouldn't rather hear from the original studio CD recording. In fact, now that I've heard Paul Is Live once, I feel no urge to ever hear it again. That's not true of Paul's other two live albums that I named. Wings Over America, for example, begins with Venus and Mars/Rock Show/Jet that blazes with raw intensity not found on the original albums. I can't say they are better performances compared to the original studio versions, but equally enjoyable.

Second, the sound mix on Paul Is Live is not as appealing as it could be. The presentation is more like what you would hear from a good seat near the mixing board at an outdoor concert. In that sense, it might be a more realistic presentation of what a live concert actually sounds like. Usually, I like live recordings that are mixed with a perspective that's a little less distant.

My advice, based on the many McCartney albums I own and enjoy, is to pass on this one. At least hear it first to make sure it is worth it to you. I give three stars because there is nothing bad here. But nothing inspiring either.

I saw Paul in 1993 in Boulder and it was one of the best concerts I have ever seen - if not THE best. When I saw this disc a few months later and saw that he had recorded a good number of the tracks at that concert, I knew I had to buy it.

It is not a fantastic CD, but I don't think it is "one for the garbage can" like another reviewer here stated. It shows that Paul still has passion and energy and a real respect for his work and his audience. The acoustic segment based on his "Unplugged" special is especially fun, and how could you not love this version of Live and Let Die (of course, it makes it better if you actually saw the fireworks : ) )

It may be the last tour recording we ever get from Paul - I don't see him going back on tour without Linda - so that makes it even more special.

Listening to this collection of capable performances from his 1993 New World Tour, one can't help but wonder if the Beach Boys' Mike Love had given Paul some advice on the merits of overloading a show with "oldies but goldies". It's nice to have some refreshingly modern versions of some Beatles (and Wings) classics sung by Paul in the '90s. That's why I have _Tripping the Live Fantastic_.

The 1989-90 Flowers in the Dirt Tour was Paul's grand opportunity to announce he was back and to warmly embrace his musical past (compare with the Beach Boys in the early '70s). With its winning mixture of 60's, 70's, and 80's hits, _Tripping_ successfully ushered McCartney into the 90's.

A mere three years later, we're presented with this, Paul's THIRD live album of the decade. With two relatively strong recent studio albums under his belt (_Flowers in the Dirt_ and _Off the Ground_), it should not have been hard to come up with a great live album of RECENT material. Instead, we get so-so reworkings of Paul's 60's and 70's hits (what happend to the 80's, Paul?) with nothing from _Flowers_ represented and a mere five tracks from _Off the Ground_ (compare with the Beach Boys in the mid-70's to the present). Of the _Off the Ground_ tracks, Paul even managed to choose the three worst songs from that album (WHY did you have to subject us to a second version of "Biker Like an Icon", Paul? Why?)

Even his choices of "classic" material are largely uninspired. "My Love" and "Live and Let Die" had already appeared on two other McCartney live albums and the performances of "Let Me Roll It", "All My Loving", "Michelle", and "Lady Madonna" are completely unmemorable.

Not that there aren't any highlights. "Magical Mystery Tour" and "Penny Lane" are delivered with energy while "Hope of Deliverence" and "C'Mon People" are actually two of the stronger tracks on _Off the Ground_.

At least the Rolling Stones have made attempts to pull some rarely-played gems from their catalog on their recent tours. Paul McCartney, like the Beach Boys, seems to have decided to lean almost exclusively on those classics which made him great. With the enormous size of his songbook, that's just too bad.