Customer Reviews

Ram

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Paul McCartney took a lot of hits when The Beatles disbanded. One of the albums that took the biggest from his solo career was "Ram" which John Lennon dismissed and Roy Carr from the New Musical Express called "music for rooms with ducks on the wall", i.e., designed for domestic bliss. That ain't the way it is at all. "Ram" is one of McCartney's earliest sonic masterpieces. The songwriting, arrangements and performances are universally strong. From "Too Many People" (allegedly a veiled attack along with "Three Legs" and a random line from "Monkberry Moon Delight" that sounds like Paul's saying "have some of this Lennon" on the other three Beatles)to the amazing country rock of "Heart of the Country" every song could have held their own compared to John's or George's.

"Ram On" is a veiled reference to McCartney himself. Paul Ramon was one of the many pseudonyms McCartney used for himself while a member of The Beatles in his youth. "Eat at Home" celebrates the domestic bliss that Lennon would be celebrated for on his last great album "Double Fantasy". Paul was just a bit ahead of the times here. "Smile Away", "Dear Boy" (another supposed veiled dig at Lennon) both are stand outs as well. The former has a nice funky beat, the latter is McCartney on piano with some stunning backing vocals and a sharp, tricky arrangement.

As to the merits of this remaster, (I'm referring to the 1993 remaster import from Holland), it's good. It's not a huge improvement on the American version but it does have two bonus tracks one of which isn't available anywhere else. "Oh Woman Oh Why" is a minor McCartney rock gem worth investigating for hardcore Beatles/McCartney fans. The other bonus track the A side of the same single "Another Day" is available elsehwere. The definitive version is still the Gold disc mastered by Steve Hoffmann for the DCC release.

...

This was McCartney's second solo outing and was released at the height of The Beatles bitter legal and personal battles. The album is littered with sly messages and digs at his former colleagues, the cover features a picture of 2 beetles copulating, and riled Lennon in particular, who went onto raise the stakes dramatically with his vitriolic attack on McCartney's persona with `How Do You Sleep' on `Imagine'.

Ram finds McCartney at his most infuriating, the material ranges from the sublime to the ridiculous. Works of a true pop genius alongside songs that failed to hold the writers attention long enough for him to finish them. In this sense this album could be seen as blue print for his solo career.

Highlights of a very varied bunch include the album's opener `Too Many People' his riposte to John and Yoko's endless preaching, including some wonderful driving guitar work. `Dear Boy' shows that his skill for melody and vocal harmonies remain undiminished on a song aimed at Linda's first husband. There's the 3-songs-in-1 of `Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey', a US no.1. `Back Seat of My Car' finds Macca under the influence of Glam Rock and then there's `Monkberry Moon Delight' featuring one of his most surreal lyrics
`So I sat in the attic, a piano up my nose, and the wind played a dreadful cantata, sore was I from the crack of an enemy's hose, and the dreadful sound of tomato'
All delivered in a powerful guttural scream, one of his finest vocals. A real hidden masterpiece.

With these you get some ten-a-penny rockers and half formed songs. But despite these flaws, or perhaps because of them, Ram is the quintessential McCartney album. Brimming with creativity, invention and ideas, some complex, some no more than doodles. Ram allows us a rare insight into the creative process that has made McCartney one of our most celebrated and inconsistent songwriters.

This is the most "Beatlesque" of all of Paul's post-Fab Four output. This is also his most "English" album...kind of his "Waterloo Sunset"; songs that seem inspired by living the pastoral British rural life. I don't understand why many dismiss this album as a trifle..perhaps because it only yielded one "greatest hit"--"Uncle Albert"? At any rate, there isn't one weak cut one here, even the one or two-minute "filler" tunes that have an endearingly rough "home demo" sound (reminiscent of "McCartney"). There are cuts like "Back Seat Of My Car", with a melody line and vocal harmony arrangement that would make Brian Wilson weep; the great country-blues "Heart of the Country"; the dead-on Elvis vocal impression on the infectious rocker "Smile Away"...the list goes on and on. This British import reissue also wisely includes the A + B sides of the 45 that was released at the same time and didn't appear on the original album: "Another Day" and "Oh Woman Oh Why". Excellent remastering on this disc also--far superior to the domestic US version.

If you're trying to decide which edition of _Ram_ to buy, you are strongly advised to stick with the much cheaper domestic version. EMI's 1993 "remastered" editions of the McCartney catalog (with the white covers) have to rank as one of the greatest scams ever foisted on the unsuspecting public. Listening to these discs, it's painfully obvious that they didn't bother doing new transfers from the analog tapes, and just had somebody play with the eq a little bit. Don't believe me? Do your own comparison... you'll want your money back. Unfortuantely, unless you can track down DCC's gold discs, the only albums in the McCartney catalog that have been remastered in the true sense of the word are the 2-disc reissue of _Band on the Run_ and the _Wingspan_ anthology.

Now, carping aside, this is a pretty groovy album. Has its ups and downs, like much of Mac's post-beatle work, but definitely worth a listen.

This is another one of those McCartney albums that was trashed by the critics when it first came out. Time has been very kind to it though and it really is a strong effort. One of the reasons for the bad reviews of any Paul album is because of his Beatle past. In some ways he will be haunted by it forever. This album came out shortly after the Beatles' breakup so the comparison was inevitable. If McCartney had never been a Beatle his sales would have suffered but perhaps his solo work would have been more accepted by the critics. Ironically, this is probably his most Beatle sounding album. Ram has some of the funniest and most ridiculous lyrics I have ever heard, but for me that is only a minor drawback. On very few albums can I say I like every track, but on this I do and with the addition of two bonus tracks, this makes Ram even stronger. Ram is loaded with catchy riffs and melodies and some truly wonderful vocals. Paul puts on his best Elvis imitation as he goes a little deeper in the throat and at times just blows me away. His voice is so expressive and he has the ability to change his style of singing from song to song. I have to hand it to Linda too; because she does give us some first rate harmony on several tracks. Ram is probably one of the top five best McCartney albums.

I've never understood why this album is so underrated. This is my favorite post Beatles album done by Paul- including Band On The Run.

I think what stands out most is probably the vocals, you get to see his entire range and how in control he is of the sound and mood of the song. especially! Monkberry Moon Delight- AMAZING.

This album almost sounds like what would've happened if they broke up right after the White Album instead of Abbey Road. Some VERY funky tunes and LOTS of melody. There is some pretty raunchy guitar and vocals in there as well, again, being referred to as a "fluff" album is criminal.

Highlights:
Too Many People- some really nice guitar in there, thought to be a jab at John and Yoko. despite that! it carries you along quite nicely.

Ram On- Ram On refers to his stage name back in the Hamburg days. I think thats a ukelele? interesting instrumentation. a nice tropical feeling and the what sounds like a trumpet in the middle is actually just Paul playing with his vocals.


Uncle Albert- what can i say that hasnt already been said? the first bit is slow and progresses into a lovely melody and beat, very versatile. my favorite bit is the "live a little be a gypsy get around".

smile away- very catchy and funny, I always get the visual of him walking down a street and smiling whilst barefoot. great guitar again, starts out nice and raunchy, with a nice solo in the middle. after you hear this song once you'll have the chorus stuck in your head for days, and it wont help but make you smile away :D

Monkberry Moon Delight- AMAZING display of vocal talent, and extremely abstract lyrics. I can't even imagine how he must have fried his throat on that one. GREAT song, my favorite on the album. very very raw, beats Oh Darling! out of the water as far as that goes. and the timing on the chorus is enough to make you want to dance to it. very very funky song.

back seat of my car- harmonies that would make brian wilson cry. SO beach boys inspired and yet uniquely Paul.

This is a great album, and if you are a Beatle fan looking for their post work, which can be patchy- this is one for you.

Great remastering...2 bonus tracks...original cover art...great songs...but the booklet leaves a little to be desired. No lyrics or liner notes. Surely it could have been a bit more 'interesting', especially for an artist like McCartney. But, that aside, this is certainly an album that belongs in any fan's collection. If you are going to get "Ram", then this is the version that you should buy, on the basis of the remastering and bonus tracks.

This is a thoroughly enjoyable album which benefits from hindsight. We now know that the Beatles were an entity greater than the sum of its parts; something that should have
been obvious. The fact that that "Abbey Road," and "Pepper"
are clearly superior doesn't diminish "Ram" at all. Buy it and enjoy.

McCartney finally hit his first highlight with "Ram", full of diversity and irresistible and blissful pop excess. From the ethereal beginning of "Too Many people" to the teenage lament of "Back Seat Of My Car", he just bounces with delight. "Ram On" spirits a delightfully wispy ditty and "Smile Away" is a romping jokester of a song. It's interesting that with all these good songs, only one single was released, but it is a staple. "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" is a classic single with enough bridges and chord changes to delight any music student or pop aficionado. Adding "Another Day" (a homage to women and Linda) and "Oh Woman, Oh Why" (ditto, again), completes this period of McCartney, but Remastering the entire album is a marvel and makes it sound like the first listen from over thirty years ago.

This album, like any of the immediate post-Beatle solo albums, is a must have for Beatle completists; it's much meatier than Paul's first solo offering, "McCartney", which relied heavily on instrumentals and leftovers from the Beatle days; here, Paul understands the fact that he's on his own, and looks forward to his own sterling career as a solo performer.
In "Ram On", he sings to himself "give your heart to somebody soon"("Ram on" is a punning reference to his old stage name of Paul Ramone in Hamburg); while in "3 Legs", he throws a couple of digs to his old bandmates("Your dog's got three legs, but it can't run/My dog's got one leg, and it has fun", or something or other), same with "Dear Boy"; the two big singles that accompanied this album in its original release, "Uncle Albert/Admrial Halsey" and "Another Day", are included on this disc, the latter as a bonus track alongside the unfocused "Oh Woman, Oh Why"; "Heart Of The Country" is very pretty and shows off Paul's newfound domestic bliss, while "Back Seat Of My Car" is rightly described as the most understated song of Paul's career. With a little work, it could have broke Paul through to the buying public the way that the "Band On The Run" title track did a few years later.
The only other song worthy of attention is "Monkberry Moon Delight", Paul's ode to moonshine whiskey(I think; I don't really know sixties/seventies slang that well); either way, this song...Wow! What can I say?
First off, I heard some pretty bad things about this song beforehand; namely that it was a cheap, one-off similar to "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey"(which actually has its moments, I think), oh but nothing could be further from the truth; "Uncle Albert" is an innocuous song that blends styles and tempos, this one barrels straight at you and threatens to knock you off your seat! From the pounding opening chords on Paul's "boldly outspoken" piano(which continues through the entire song!), to the earthy backup vocals(which owe a bit of homage to Ray Charles' old backing group, the Raelettes) on the refrain of "don't get left behind", this is one of the best songs in Paul's repertoire.
It also contains some of the best imagery of Mr.McCartney's songwriting career! Paul stands there "with a knot in his stomach" as he "gazes at that terrible sight" as the wind plays a "dreadful cantata"; chilling...and he really raises the bar by screaming into another register in the verse before the first chorus(right after that "terrible sight" and just before he starts "sucking Monkberry Moon Delight").
The only beef I have is Paul's ill-chosen falsetto, which is usually put to good use, but here sounds out of range and thin. He ruins a GREAT send-up that way; four and a half minutes in, he starts doing some pretty funky vocal contortions that leads into what could have been a contender with John's "Hey Bulldog" for manic, back-and-forth fadeout chatter-"Try some of this, honey", Paul encourages; "What is it?", a gutteral voice asks. Then Paul ruins it with a return to high-pitched screaming..."MONKberry moon delight!"
Still, this song is one of Paul's most obscure shining moments, and makes this album a keeper for anyone even moderately interested in the Beatles.