A Great First Solo Album
William Slater III | Chicago, IL USA | 02/15/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)
"40 Years after its release, McCartney's first solo effort still holds up as an example of his great musicianship. And in my humble opinion, Maybe I'm Amazed, is one of the greatest love songs of all time. On a personal note, I was 14 the first time I heard this LP, and each time I listen to it, it takes me back to Summer of 1970, to a more innocent time when so much of the world lay ahead to be discovered. Anyway, this album was a great start to McCartney's solo career apart from the Beatles, and shows why he has been the most consistently successful solo Beatle in his post-Beatle career."
Home Recording Heaven
**SkipKent** | Boston, MA | 05/11/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)
"As a home-recording junkie myself, I LOVE this album for it's intimate look at what a great songwriter (one of the greatest) does when he's noodling around at home with just some basic recording equipment to work with. The brilliant and the mundane reside perfectly together in this album of musical Polaroid snapshots. You can hear the songs where he laid down a simple drum track first and then jammed on top of it, come-what-may, and others which were crafted carefully from the beginning. As others have noted, the love shown here for his wife Linda permeates the whole thing. That this love lasted until her untimely death is well worthy of reflection and admiration.
I can easily see how folks who aren't recording geeks themselves might be turned off at the frivolity and lack of polish in parts of this album. Not everyone who loves Picasso is going to be interested in a glance at his sketchbook.
And yet...I look at the reviews here and see that many people were touched deeply by this album who clearly are looking at it purely from a listener's perspective. Was there a bit of genius in the making of this album? Yes! A bit of audacity? Yes again!
This is Paul, after all. ;) Enjoy!"