The Beatles were always going to be a hard act to follow. The commonly accepted wisdom is that the songwriting partnership of Lennon & McCartney was the key to the Beatles success, and out of those two Lennon was the key figure. However, it’s interesting to look at their respective post-breakup albums to see how that theory holds up.
George dug deeper into mysticism, Ringo invited his celebrity chums into the studio for a jolly singalong, Lennon (who hated what he called Paul’s Granny music) released a bitter howl of betrayal aimed at his former partner, and Paul took two introspective solo albums and two more with Wings before he hit his stride with this one.
The original lineup of Wings had drifted away leaving just Paul, Linda and Denny Laine to work on this, with Paul pretty much in charge of the process. For various reasons they decided to record in a ramshackle studio in Lagos, contending with numerous problems including being mugged at knife point, risking a cholera outbreak, Paul passing out with breathing difficulties from a bronchial spasm and facing disputes with local musicians including the legendary Fela Kuti.
The end result is excellent though, and stands comparison with anything that Paul produced with the Beatles. The opening two tracks were released as singles and are genuine bangers, and the rest of the album has a good range of styles and themes from boozy drinking songs to a heartfelt message to John in a 50s style on Let Me Roll It that may have helped heal the rift between them. The album closer 1985 (which probably felt impossibly futuristic at the time) is another great track and still feels fresh with its use of synths.
Dammit, this deserves 5 stars!
Macca-tastic!
https://album.link/gb/i/1443413822
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