Tag Archives: Paul McCartney

The Beatles: Get Back. Television Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

What is offered for commercial gain is not the full story, and quite often the full story never sees the cold light of day.

We have all seen what we believed was a cog in The Beatles story, culminating in a London roof top performance in which the ‘Fab Four’ showcased several songs that were to become part of the legend and myth of the group’s legacy; and yet what was presented, as with all edits, conflicts of interests, and trickeries of presentation, was barely even the surface of what was scratched, and as the crowds gathered, as bowler hatted men, as young girls and bemused, disgruntled police officers gathered in their masses, the idea of getting back was sold to the world.

Paul McCartney, McCartney III. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

The pedestal to which one of the Godfathers of British Pop has always been levered up to a point where he has become, not through his own design, a musical idol that is untouchable, a human being to whom the narrative has often been inscribed by others that he cannot do wrong, that all he put before the audience works. It is upon this grand pedestal that Paul McCartney has been put, the humble drive and beautiful spark of musicianship and humanity has almost, like the other members of The Beatles, been encased in gold, not allowed to corrode, to show fragility or the odd blemish in the studio.

Paul McCartney, Egypt Station. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

It is a peculiar sense of events in which the world of Paul McCartney, one of the absolute legends of popular music, can be seen as a divisive figure, the music being torn one way, lovingly respected the other; both sides claiming victory, both sides swaying the argument that Time has either been kind, or has started to wane down the years, like a clock that was always on show on a mantlepiece, always keeping the owners alert to the day’s events.

Pirates Of The Caribbean: Salazar’s Revenge, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T.,Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Johnny Depp, Javier Bardem, Geoffrey Rush, Brenton Thwaites, Kaya Scoderlario, Kevin McNally, Golsifteh Farahani, David Wenham, Stephen Graham, Martin Klebba, Angus Barnett, Adam Browne, Giles New, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, Paul McCartney, Bruce Spence.

 

Every tale has an ending, the circle completed and the finale one that can be passed down as being just as riveting or exciting as the original, the one that started the quest in the first place; if not then dead men and bored but faithful audiences tell no tales, for nobody likes a sequel to be a failure.

Paul McCartney, Gig Review. Barclaycard Arena, Birmingham.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

The love you take is equal to the love you make” sang McCartney’s sampled voice, mixed with some beats by the support DJ. It brought to an end the pre-show photo montage, which was accompanied by some fairly entertaining remixes of classic tracks.

Eschewing standard practice of the star following the rest of the band, Paul McCartney shuffled onto the empty stage alone, holding his signature Hofner bass…to a massive roar of the crowd, naturally. This humble manner was evident throughout the show. His in-between song banter is stilted and almost bashful; the polar opposite to his arguably over-rehearsed, P.R. style interview technique. McCartney realises that in the live situation, he doesn’t have to indulge in long introductions or throw rock star shapes. Rather, his astounding back catalogue does the talking and is actually the real star of the show.

Michael Jackson, Thriller. 30th Anniversary Retrospective.

From child music sensation to world mega star, Michael Jackson epitomises the idea of seeing a musical legend growing up before your eyes and until his untimely passing seeming to be a legend that was indestructible.

Thriller, thirty years down the line still holds onto the record of being the best-selling album of all time and whilst perhaps not being in the same vein as its predecessor Off The Wall, it can be seen as the album that changed Michael Jackson from a boy to a man. The songs on the album still retained the core elements and critical awareness that producer Quincy Jones established in his working arrangement with the former child star on Off The Wall but with one key ingredient thrown into the mix that took Michael away the boy of the 1970’s to the sophisticated and international entertainer that would wow audiences till his death. Namely the song in which the album took its name from, Thriller!

Liverpool Sound And Vision: The Saturday Suppement. An Interview With Eddie John Fortune.

Eddie John Fortune is one of the new wave of Liverpool actors whose voice is being heard and his reputation enhanced by productions such as Elastic Bridge and Love Me Do (in which he portrayed the city’s legendry Brian Epstein.) He is in rehearsals for the new Keifer Williams play Tongues, directed by his dear friend Joe Shipman, and which will be coming to the theatre next year and in which he will act alongside one of his co-stars from Love Me Do, the impressive Charlie Griffiths. If that wasn’t enough for one man to be getting on with, he is developing his own stand-up comedy character Gwillam Dorey which is about a gay Welshman with a fatal attraction towards Glenn Close.

Paul McCartney, McCartney II. Re-Release. Album Review.

Following on the back of the Wings re-issue Band on the Run; one of the latest Paul McCartney albums to get the 21st century treatment is the former Beatle and Wings favourite McCartney II.

Although audiences had come to identify the former Beatles man as the source of inspiration behind Wings during the 70’s, it is as a solo artist that Paul began his comeback charge in the new decade. Slightly understated in its approach there is a gem on every piece of music that’s laid down for older fans of the Beatles and an exciting vibrancy for newer fans to grasp which made Paul a star all over again.

Paul McCartney, Gig Review. Liverpool Echo Arena.

Paul McCartney at the Echo Arena. Photograph by Ian D. Hall

Originally published by L.S. Media. December 21st 2011.

L.S. Media Rating *****

There is nothing like a homecoming. It’s a chance for the family to welcome back a member of their own and lavish attention on them for the endeavours they have been through and give them credit for their success.

Paul McCartney, Kisses On The Bottom. Album Review.

Originally published by L.S. Media. February 7th 2012.

L.S. Media Rating ****

There’s nothing quite like a forgotten old gem to make you sit and take notice. When you tag that onto the Liverpool legend giving a new life to the tune, your perspective suddenly changes.  You can end up digging through other timeless and wonderful songs that have sadly been neglected by a society that has moved on and away from its own soul. This is the result of Paul McCartney and the new take of old songs in Kisses on the Bottom.