Sir Paul has stayed fairly busy since the passing of his wife Linda. He released a tribute
cd of classical tunes to the memory of his wife ("A Garland for Linda"),
a collaboration of experimental sound experiments with Super Furry Animals and Youth ("Liverpool
Sound Collage"), and an excellent (mostly) cover album of classic 50's tunes ("Run Devil
Run"). "Driving Rain" marks the first "true" release of new songs that McCartney has
churned out since 1997's remarkable "Flaming Pie". The problem is, many long-time
fans will compare this release to his very solid solid effort from four years ago. I
didn't expect McCartney to top his last true release, but we find the artist dealing
with both the loss of his wife and the rebirth of love with his new fiance Heather.
"Driving Rain" shows McCartney trying too hard in some spots, writing effortless rockers
that are more than inspired on a handful of tracks, and the usual collection of tracks that are pleasant yet
not too memorable. But overall, there are enough great moments to make
this cd worth listening to.
"Lonely Road", the opening track on the cd, is a solid blues-driven song. McCartney
wastes no time in proving that hard and layered guitar sounds will be the norm in this
recording. The lyrics on "Lonely Road" are very telling to what McCartney has
gone through over the last three years: "I tried to get over you. I tried find
something new. But all I could ever do was fill my time, with thoughts of you."
It's basically a song about the challenge in starting a new life after the death
of Linda. I love the hofner bass introduction to this song! Not too often that you
hear an intro like this. The album's second cut and first single, "From a Lover
to a Friend" has received some serious backlash by critics and radio stations.
I have to agree with the criticism of this song. It does contain some nice sounding
piano; very similar in sound to something off The Beatles' "Revolver" album. But
the song in general suffers from trying too hard. McCartney should have kept the
song to himself and Heather for the time being. McCartney's vocals also struggles
to find the challenging high notes on this song. But where "Lover..." fails to
connect, the title song "Driving Rain" should go down as one of better songs that McCartney has
written in the last twenty years. I read a story that he wrote the song while
driving around L.A. in a down pour. The inspiration was enough to create a very
catchy and sing-able tune. The echo guitar effects here sound more like electric
piano, which adds to the up-beat sound. The other interesting quality about "Driving
Rain" is McCartney's ability to mimic the "sound" that he established with the later
Beatle recordings, primarily "The White Album", and his early 70's recordings. Regardless
if this was deliberate or not, the outcome is mostly positive. "It Must Have Been Magic",
"Your Way" and "About You" are the best examples of this approach. The first song contains plenty of
acoustic guitar along with a fairly toned down recording technique. This is a song that
would fit well on 1970's "McCartney". "Your Way" is a simple tune that is probably (again)
dedicated to Heather. Simple fuzzed out guitar and basic drums sounds similar to a home
demo. "About You" is pure power garage rock. Similar in sound to the "Ram" album, the
approach was probably to record a sweaty and gritty guitar driven song in just a few takes.
The addition of hammond organ adds to the appeal here. What McCartney should have done was release "Loving Flame" as the first single
from this album. More of a power ballad, the song works much better as a tribute to Heather (or possibly Linda)
than "Lover..." could ever hope to do; "'Cause when we kiss, nothing feels the same. I could
spend eternity inside your loving flame.". It may be just another silly love song, but he
is known to throw in a few jems in here and there.
I hope that people get the chance to hear this cd and not get scared away from the first
single. Quickly approaching his 60th birthday, McCartney still shows the ability to
experiment and work with new and solid musicians. He's not out there trying to record the
next "Abbey Road" or "Band on the Run" album; he simply writes songs when he feels the
inspiration. He sounds relaxed and doesn't really care what the critics have to say about his
work any longer. For anyone who appreciates his solo music will find enough good moments on
"Driving Rain" to make worth a listen. Don't waste your time looking for the cd in the stores
just yet! It won't be released until November 13th. The power of the internet enabled me
to get this pre-release!
