Customer Reviews

Paul McCartney: Standing Stone

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

If music were only a form of high-level mathmatical play, or if it were a game with set rules, the violation of which should and would disqualify you from play, then the task of music critics would be easy. But there are no rules, as far as I can tell: there is only taste in the kind of sounds you can make and call music. What music is actually about is emotion--music is about moving your audience, about touching one or a combination of the spectrum of human emotions. And Paul McCartney has been doing that since he finished the melody to When I'm Sixty-four at the age of sixteen.

Now, the form of Standing Stone is a symphonic, or orchestral poem. That means that the music is meant to tell a story, and to me it does. I had been listening to the music in fascination and admiration for at least six months before I read the poem the composer provides to tell the story in another form. The Standing Stone Poem is great fun--you can feel the author relishing the musical qualities of the language as he plays it like an instrument to tell his tale. The tale is about the dawn of everything, including human beings, it is about adventure, peril, triumph, and the joy and serenity that follow bloodless but real victory. The various sections of Standing Stone are chapters in a story told in orchestral and wordless vocal sound until the last section, Celebration, which includes a song with words.

So, I sugggest that formal training in music has nothing to do with the quality of a piece of music. Some musicians got together one day and invented rock 'n roll, and they did not have to present diplomas from Juilliard to do it. The symphonic form or lack thereof has nothing to do with the quality of a piece. Having enough confidence to make up a form to fit the musical composition you want to complete *may* have something to do with its quality.

I am told by one person knowlegable in music theory that McCartney has been breaking "rules" for a very long time. So, what you are dealing with in Standing Stone and in all other McCartney compositions, is McCartney's taste in sounds. I found the piece mesmerizing, rewarding, and very moving. You may too.

Standing Stone is a tremendously focused piece of work, and what it's focused on is the story it has to tell. That story is told in another form in the Standing Stone Poem, an original epic tale marked by a very distinctive tone that combines narrative compression with verbal gusto. One can almost see McCartney up to his elbows in adjectives, throwing them into a bubbling pot on the stove with glee in his eye, and serving the resulting dish to his guests with several flourishes. And this image captures, for me, something of the experience of listening to the music as well. But it is not necessary to read the poem first-- I had been listening to the music in fascination for at least six months before I read the poem. The music itself is action packed and adventure filled, and communicates itself with no wasted gestures. Every note, theme, tempo change, and instrumental color has a purpose, and conveys emotional images which progress from chaos through a magical journey which ends in a resolution which has nothing to do with rest, but with traveling onward in a transformed state. It is a journey through high adventure to a state of wisdom. The theme of the work is how the human capacities for wonder, curiosity, and perseverance can win triumph from the forces of darkness. It is about how victory can be achieved by wits, and courage, and good timing, rather than swords and gore. It is also about what the prize for victory is--about love in peace. McCartney has always been naive in the best sense of the word--neither ignorant nor cynical, but open to experience, willing to be affected. That naivete, combined with his considerable musical ingenuity and exuberance, have produced a series of musical scenes painted with equal delicacy and power, and united by haunting melodies and a strong narrative drive. I have really never heard anything quite like it before, and recommend it to your attention.

Uneven, Yes absolutely

Childish in places, also guilty..

I don't know if McCartney meant the work in part as a musical autobiography of his growth into the classical field. The first time through, I thought he was letting us take his journey with him has he experimented with the different sounds of the orchestra, gradually finding his way and finally merging them into a wonderful finale. It wasn't until after two weeks of ridding around listening to the CD that I was able to read the liner. McCartney says he was showing the evolution of man. The parallel is stunning.

The problem that I find in many of the negative reviews that people are giving to this album is that people have certain expectations when they see the name Paul McCartney on the cover of the CD. What must be understood is that this is music from the same mind, but a different part of that mind. It is obvious that certain parts of music by The Beatles and by Paul McCartney and Wings contain elements that transcend rock and roll and pop genres. If it weren't for these elements nobody would distinguish the music of these groups from other performers and the Beatles wouldn't be considered one of the best, if not the best, band ever.
"Standing Stone" is the result of what comes from filtering this extra element from the music that Sir Paul has written in the past. This results in music that is the art of the Beatles minus the rock and r&b that make most people comfortable with it. This album, in short, is for a lover of pure music, not somebody who relies on a heavy beat or groove. You won't find music to move to or remakes of classics, this is wonderful, original, modern but not completely abstract collection of ideas that McCartney put together with great success. I recommend this album for lovers of ALL music, not lovers of Paul's past music.

This is spectacular coming from Paul. It shows all of his extrodinary talent in a one hour -and-fifteen minute symphony. I think it's absolutly beautiful!!!!!

It all starts in a mass of confusion and becomes a sort of vacuum that draws you in musically and emotionally. I, too, had to let the music sink in for weeks before I could find the words to describe what this CD has become to me...absolutely essential to any music lover's collection. Who cares that it's Paul McCartney who composed the music itself, he's no longer a Beatle or the frontman of Wings...he's expanded beyond all that into something much more intense and beautiful with this offering as proof. I can't wait to hear more of his classical compositions! The poem enhances the music itself and I found myself absolutely thrilled with this purchase. You won't be sorry.

McCartney has been releasing orchestral music for a while now and maybe rock fans should give it a chance or give it a rest. In hindsight, his best compositions ("A Leaf" for example) are simple, but this is clearly the best, so far, of the longer, extended pieces. Take a drive with it in your car with nobody else to listen. Listen through it all the way. It is worth it.

When I first heard a section of this CD on public radio, I stopped what I was doing (very unusual for me). Two days later that one section was still churning around in me and I had to go out and get the CD. I can only say this music affects me deeply - in the gut. I found that I couldn't listen with my mind. Had to listen with my gut. Maybe that's what happens when someone who can't read music writes something serious. It comes from a deep place and isn't filtered through the intellect. Listen with your gut. You might be moved. I was.

McCartney works best in short form...some of his best songs like Admiral Halsey or Band on the Run are the skilled fusion of 2 or more melodies...McCartney and Lennon did this in a A Day in A Life...which is their magnum opus...however, Standing Stone just doesn't go anywhere until the finale...it may have made a good film score, but as a classical piece, it doesn't go anywhere...there are some neat melodic shifts here and there, and I give it 2 stars for the lilting finale...it is definitely a step ahead of the absolutley tedious Oratorio...I think that his next classical project, composed of several shorter works will prove to be the most listenable as they are not long ambitious works....we'll see....

I really love this CD. I listen to it all of the time, and I've never grown tired of it, and I've had it for years. It's got some really really nice music. It's modern classical, not rock, obviously. It is very much like a film score. I highly recommend it.