Paul McCartney
Flowers in the Dirt (Archive Collection)

THE REVIEW

After more than a year since the announcement, the Archive version of "Flowers in the Dirt", an album that closes Paul McCartney's difficult second half of the 1980s, is released.

The lead up to 1989 saw Macca spiral into a creative crisis, somewhat justifiable given the previous two decades spent going at full speed, making it a tough situation to resolve. "Press to Play" from 1986 was a partial flop, although fairly well-regarded by critics, it hadn't shown Paul in great form, although it wasn't entirely to be discarded. The ensuing period was turbulent, with an entire album scrapped ("Return to Pepperland") and many aborted recordings, unfinished songs, and tracks recorded with too many session musicians. It was the return to the primordial rock'n'roll with the "Russian album" of covers that got Paul back on track and, thanks to Elvis Costello's help, put together a good album. I must admit "Flowers in the Dirt" is not among my preferred solo LPs of Paul, hence without the Wings, and I have always found the flaw not in the quality of the songs, most of which are indisputable, but in the polished and somewhat heavy production that characterized the decade. The issue is further exacerbated by the high number of producers involved, including Trevor Horn, which did not help the accessibility of the sound. This new edition is clean and shiny; "My Brave Face", "Put it There", "Figure of Eight", "Distractions", "We Got Married", with the super solo by friend Gilmour, are clear examples of Paul's song-writing class. The two-guitar collaboration with Costello comes out in the second demo disc, interesting with the addition of three unreleased tracks that were left out of Paul and Elvis's works. These versions are very close to the originals but attentive listeners will find them enjoyable. The dark notes concern the book version. MPL made the blunder of forgetting to add the disc with the B-sides (many) of the various singles and the various alternative mixes, which angered the Beatles fans because, given the significant cost, completeness was a must. For Record Store Day, however, a cassette with three more demos from the sessions will be made available, and the missing disc will be published as a download.

We all would have preferred the remaining Wings albums, many were already enjoying the eccentric material of "London Town" and all the live activity dating back to "Wild Life" but we will have to wait. It's unknown how long and the long lead times of MPL lead one to come to terms with hoping that the remaining four Wings LPs are treated the best possible way to not disappoint anyone.