McCartney II (studio album) by Paul McCartney

From lleon79 08/19/2023 16:07

This album SLAPS. I enjoyed it so much.
Probably one of my favorite McCartney albums.

From indieshins 05/17/2023 08:40

Listened to this one again after getting through Paul's '70s album. It's grown on me. A weird album that Paul wasn't even going to release - just a way to get back to making music after the break up of Wings and a short stint in jail in Japan for marijuana possession, and something for him to play for his own enjoyment and for friends and family. But someone convinced him to release it officially. So it's the sound of one of the greatest songwriters of all time tinkering and playing around with sounds. Sometimes that results in a mediocre song, like Bogey Music or Nobody Knows, but I enjoy most of the songs here. Coming Up is obviously great, Temporary Secretary is really divisive but I personally love it, Waterfalls, Summer's Day Song and One of These Days are three of his most beautiful and unique songs, and Dark Room is a sinister bit of synth pop. I even like the two instrumentals, which isn't a very popular opinion, I know. I'm becoming a massive Macca nerd now, thanks to listening to his work in order and listening to the corresponding episode of Take It Away: The Paul McCartney Podcast. This is a great one, especially from someone coming out of a stint with his second hugely successful band - certainly one of the weirdest albums from someone of his stature. But that's the thing - Paul is weird, and I think a lot of people don't know that. I didn't, for quite a while.

From Jboy56 04/07/2022 14:34

Partially experimenting with synths and things, this feels unfinished, almost like a demo?,

From indieshins 01/08/2022 06:09

I've only heard it twice, so this could go up or down in rating. At the moment, I think it's a noble experiment after some pretty bland material in the 70s (as well as some awesome stuff like RAM and Band on the Run), but there's some meh songs on here. Still, there's also some great stuff. Waterfalls in particular is a beautiful and haunting track. I also like the opener and closer, the latter allegedly being about Lennon, which makes it all the more poignant as John would be murdered less than six months after the album's release.

That was... unh... disappointing

I always avoided this album like the plague, as its sessions produced one of my least favorite songs of all time: Wonderful Christmas Time. However, recently this album has become something of a guilty pleasure of mine. Coming Up is just a great piece of Funk Rock, and the album has its dope moments like Temporary Secretary and Frozen Jap. I'll throw this one on while no one's looking every once in a while.

From llibnanoon 11/24/2020 18:52

Strangely cool! Rating (75.45)

From neilgee 04/30/2020 19:52

I've just listened to this album for the first time some forty years after seeing it all over the record shops as a twenty year old. At the time Paul was a little irrelevant to my post punk/reggae world and there was no Youtube where you could hear albums you didn't necessarily want to buy, yet I had a curiousity about it and wondered what it was like all the same. So four decades too late I get to say that in my opinion the album is okay overall but I'm shocked at the inclusion of the two vacuous instrumentals on the album, I mean I am really shocked, they are truly awful! I suppose that's what happens when everybody around you is telling you you are a musical genius, you think you can turn your hand to any kind of music, but clearly McCartney made an arse of himself on those two tracks anyway.

Best Tracks: Check My Machine, Summer's Day Song

Lo-fi home record experimental McCartney. Overall better than McCartney1 ten years before.

The obvious standout tracks are four: the pop of Coming up, the electronica of Temporary secretary, the outstandingly beautiful Waterfalls and the warm One of these days.