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Rating:
THE REVIEW
Just that horrendous cover would be enough to keep your money safely in your pocket. After listening to it, you're even happy to have converted the CD's cost into a night out at the pizzeria. From a compositional point of view, we could place Memory Almost Full halfway between Press to Play and Driving Rain. It makes you long for the Wings albums.
"Dance Tonight" I want to hope it was written in 5 minutes during a night out with friends. "Hey Paul, let's sing something all together! But I don't have the guitar, you'll have to settle for the old mandolin inherited from my late dear great-grandmother!"
"Ever Present Past" will forever pay duty to that chorus so "catchy" that it undermines the excellent verses and variations. "Mr. Bellamy" and "Vintage Clothes" promise but do not deliver. The only ones that give a sense of completeness are "Mama Only Knows" and "See Your Sunshine" (the latter would dominate the radio and ringtone charts if sung by a band like Simply Red). The rest is pure melodic indolence.
"End Of The End" is more cloying than the average of his saccharine ballads.
The worst aspect remains the production. We're not dealing with an experienced 64-year-old professional entering a recording studio. It feels like the remake of Pinocchio in the Land of Toys. "Cool, there are synthesizers! Awesome, let's add reverb to the voice! Shall we use some other tasteless gimmick? Especially to extend the songs I haven't finished writing because I had to watch cartoons on TV!" The songs are modest, but Godrich would have made "House of Wax" a pleasant track at least. And maybe would have allowed far fewer "first takes!" for the vocal performances. I may have too old-fashioned and serious a view of music, but this seems like an album put together by amateurs in disarray.
Final consideration on the "Dance Tonight" video. One of McCartney's best and Gondry's worst. But it's the director who has accustomed us to too high standards. The idea is cute, the sets are delightful, and chasing Natalie Portman's face the whole time waiting for a close-up distracts from the song's lackluster quality. Brilliant!
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Summary by Bot
This review criticizes Paul McCartney's Memory Almost Full for its poor production, lackluster songwriting, and overall amateurish feel. While some tracks show hints of potential, the album largely disappoints and fails to live up to Wings-era standards. The 'Dance Tonight' video is noted as visually interesting but does not save the underwhelming music.Tracklist Lyrics Videos
Paul McCartney
English singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, co-lead vocalist and bassist of the Beatles, later leader of Wings and a prolific solo artist with a decades-long career and numerous acclaimed albums and live shows.65 Reviews
Other reviews
By giampy1985
The splendid sequence 'Only Mama Knows' - 'You Tell Me' - 'Mr. Bellamy' remains to tell us what this Memory Almost Full could have been with a few years of preparation and more attentive production.
The compositions of Memory Almost Full often do not captivate... few songs stick in your mind, and even fewer will withstand prolonged listening.
By Lelio58
Paul, it’s not essential for someone like you to record music even if you’re not inspired.
I expected much more. Perhaps they’re the leftovers from Chaos and Creation?
By vitols4
Paul is like the largest raw diamond in the world, which without an excellent craftsman jeweler, is worth little and says even less.
I do not recommend buying this album to anyone I want to convince of your greatness.
By enbar77
"Memory Almost Full is not the trail of Driving Rain. If it were, it couldn’t even be listened to through an echo effect."
"House of Wax - The best piece of the album... Exceptional!"
