Paul McCartney - Chaos And Creation In The Backyard (2005)

Today is Sir McCartney's 70th birthday and since I didn't get an invite to the party, I thought I'd give a listen to one of his better solo albums. To be honest, I didn't like his all out '50s-style rock 'n' roll albums like Run Devil Run and prefer his silly love songs, so this CD is right in my wheelhouse. Paul wisely brought in Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich and the result is a cohesive collection of solid pop songs with McCartney playing most of the instruments himself. Hooks abound and many of the songs sound like his late '60s stuff with The Beatles. I'm probably in the minority here, but I think this is his best overall album since Tug of War.

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: #6 (Oct 1, 2005)

Tracks: I usually skip A Certain Softness, but that is the only track out of 13 (14 if you count the hidden track). The obvious singles were Fine Line and Jenny Wren, but the sleeper cut for me is This Never Happened Before which sounds like one of Paul's best '70s soft-rock ballads.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: I bought this after reading only one stellar review and it traveled with me on many trips between BC and UH back in '05. My wife and I saw Paul on the 'US' Tour in November of that year. I was expecting a great show and Sir Paul exceeded those expectations. 37(!) song setlist follows; songs from this CD marked with an asterisk.

• Magical Mystery Tour
• Flaming Pie
• Jet
• I'll Get You
• Drive My Car
• Till There Was You
• Let Me Roll It/Foxey Lady
• Got to Get You Into My Life
• Fine Line*
• Maybe I'm Amazed
• The Long and Winding Road
• In Spite of All the Danger
• I Will
• Jenny Wren*
• For No One
• Fixing a Hole
• English Tea*
• I'll Follow the Sun
• Follow Me*
• Midnight Special
• Blackbird
• Eleanor Rigby
• Too Many People/She Came in Through the Bathroom Window
• Good Day Sunshine (after this song, Paul brought out the crew of the recent space shuttle Discovery mission)
• Band On The Run
• Penny Lane
• I've Got a Feeling
• Back in the U.S.S.R.
• Hey Jude
• Live And Let Die
• Yesterday
• Get Back
• Helter Skelter
• Please Please Me
• Let It Be
• Sgt. Pepper's/The End

Previously revisited for the blog:
Unplugged: The Official Bootleg (1991)
All The Best! (1987)
Tug of War (1982)