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Review of Paul McCartney's 'Flaming Pie'

© Nick Bendel

Paul McCartney, post-Beatles, has been something of an enigma. Both as a solo performer and with Wings, Macca has shown a knack for writing both good and bad songs. On the whole he has usually demonstrated the talent that has seen him hailed as one of the greatest singer/songwriters of all time. On the other hand, though, his previous album Off the Ground was somewhat disappointing. So which Paul McCartney was responsible for his 1997 record Flaming Pie?

Music fans will be delighted to know that it was the good one. It is always upsetting when someone talented - in any field - produces work which does not meet previous high standards. Thus the creativity and intelligence of Flaming Pie is doubly welcome and is certainly one of the best albums he has done since leaving the Beatles.

It should also be pointed out (and here is the customary bad Beatles pun) that McCartney had a little help from his friends. Jeff Lynne collaborates on eight of the 14 songs, while Steve Miller, Ringo Starr, the late Linda McCartney and 19-year-old son James are also present.

Still it is Macca who is the star. For those wondering what resemblance Flaming Pie bears to his past work, especially the Beatles stuff, think of it as a natural evolution. And for those people who hate it when contemporary artists are tagged with "sounds like Lennon/McCartney" perhaps they can excuse it just this once, for that is what the album sounds like and that is the kind of standard it reaches.

Whether he's rocking on songs like "The World Tonight" (think "Get Back"), bouncing along on "Flaming Pie" ("Lady Madonna"), jamming on "Really Love You" ("Helter Skelter") or just moving on "Beautiful Night" ("Hey Jude"), Macca is just as good as he has ever been.

Coincidentally there is a distinctly nostalgic feel to the record, as McCartney himself intended. The songwriting process of "The Song We Were Singing" is typical of this. "I was remembering the Sixties, sitting around late at night, dossing, smoking pipes, drinking wine," McCartney explained. "It's that time in your life when you got a chance for all that."

Certainly after almost forty years of making music no one would excuse Macca the opportunity to reminisce, especially when he shares it with all of us. Flaming Pie shows that not only has he not lost his musical ability, but it seems to be growing.

RATING: 8.5/10