Paul McCartney: Chaos and Creation in the Backyard

By Scott Hudson

Pardon us if we are finding it a bit difficult in generating loads of excitement over Paul McCartney’s latest release, Chaos and Creation in the Backyard. After all, the past 23 years of Sir Paul’s 35-year solo career have left little to get excited about. In the halcyon days of the ‘70s and early ‘80s, McCartney owned the charts with seminal albums such as Band on the Run, Venus and Mars, and Tug of War...and scores of smash singles. Since then he’s done precious little to bolster his legacy as composer extraordinaire. The albums Just Press Play (1986), Off the Ground (1993), Flaming Pie (1997) and Driving Rain (2001) are not only uninspired and

forgettable, but merely serve as a trail of crumbs leading to an icon seemingly incapable of stopping the bleeding. The release of Chaos and Creation in the Backyard may just provide the tourniquet necessary to at long last quell his critics.

Band on the Run is most often cited as McCartney’s finest post-Beatle effort; his strongest album from start to finish.

And while Chaos is no threat to topple Band on the Run from its lofty perch, it too should certainly rank as one of Sir Paul’s most consistent and enthralling records since. On the recommendation of longtime Beatles producer Sir George Martin, McCartney enlisted producer Nigel Godrich (Radiohead, Beck) to call the shots. It was Godrich who urged McCartney to nix the use of his touring band for the album and handle the instrumentation duties himself. The attempt was to get back to basics, creating a vibe similar to that of his early solo records McCartney, Ram and 1980's McCartney II. With the exception of a few cameos from Jason Falkner and McCartney's guitarists Rusty Anderson and Brian Ray, Macca does it all and does it very well.

Overall, Chaos is a fairly quiet, subdued affair. So if one is expecting a resurrection of rock staples like "Band on the Run", "Jet" or "Junior's Farm", it won't be found here. But all is not lost. In Chaos, we have some of McCartney's most focused and inspirational

songwriting in decades, even if the mood the album is often pensive and somber. Here, the music lives and breathes… it moves, even transports the listener to another place and the lyrics are, at times, as playful as they are heartfelt and

personal. In Godrich, McCartney found a producer not intent upon leaving an indelible, overindulgent Spector-esque stamp upon the music; instead, his production and the string arrangements in particular are fairly understated, wishing only to create an atmospheric backdrop for the music to thrive.

The toned-down qualities are not readily apparent, especially if the listener bases their conclusion on the record’s opening track, “Fine Line”. This song is old-school McCartney with catchy ascending/descending piano phrases that lend itself to immediate infectiousness. With the possible exception of “Promise to You Girl”, this is as close to rockin’ as you’re going to get.

Speaking of old-school McCartney, very few are able to pen acoustic ballads like Sir Paul, and the lovely “Jenny Wren” is

certainly no exception. “Jenny Wren” recalls White Album- era Beatles, residing somewhere between “Blackbird” and “Mother Nature’s Son” with its cleanly picked lines and interesting, although strange-sounding “duduk” solo. “A

Certain Softness” is a Latin-tinged, nylon-stringed composition of the “And I Love Her” variety that feature Jason Falkner’s tasty chordal arrangements providing a smoky, lounge feel. “English Tea” is cross between “Penny Lane” and “Martha My Dear”. It’s the kind of straight forward Paul-pop that drove Lennon crazy but for Macca was most effective. The sophisticated side of McCartney’s songwriting takes center stage on gems like “Too Much Rain”, “At the Mercy”, “This Never Happened Before.” “Riding to Vanity Fair” is quite possibly one of the most hauntingly, ominous tunes he’s ever committed to tape. The album closes with “Anyway”, an ambitious composition that blatantly borrows from the main theme of Curtis Mayfield’s “People Get Ready”, but nonetheless delivers an effective knockout punch.

As strong an album as Chaos and Creation in the Backyard is, ultimately it is the voice of Paul McCartney that drives the record - a voice that after 40 plus years remains as buoyant and emotive as ever, untouched and untainted by time. Chaos is not just a good album by an artist who has slowly been losing his luster. It is, in fact, a great album by a legend who at long last, has finally reclaimed his muse.