The Record Music Magazine

PAUL McCARTNEY - MEMORY ALMOST FULL - UNIVERSAL
Record Rating: *****

Paul McCartney’s catalog has swelled thrice fold since he left the Beatles in 1970, as he’s continuously tackled an eclectic assortment of projects over his career. This includes a successful foray into classical music (2006 saw the release of his fourth full length classical album Ecce Cor Meum), scores (Give My Regards To Broadstreet and Spies Like Us) and even electronic rave music (a pair of dance albums released under the alias the Fireman). He’s always been one step ahead of his contemporaries, and his popularity seems to only scale new heights with each new release.

After delivering two brilliant albums in a row (Driving Rain and Chaos And Creation In The Backyard), his latest release, Memory Almost Full, is another subtle masterpiece from him that nods to his past, while reaffirming his skills as pop’s master craftsman. A collection of 13 laid-back songs, it’s little wonder that the album debuted at #3 on the US charts ~ as first single Dance Tonight proves, he can still make you want to roll down the windows, crank up the stereo, and roll.

A record that’s not embarrassed to be cute and guileless, there’s a bit of unabashed whimsy and unashamed sentimentality (That Was Me and The End Of The End), silliness (Mister Bellamy and Feet In The Clouds), hints of U2-esque rock (Only Mama Knows - on which he unleashes a brand of gruff vocalising which hasn’t been heard in decades) and airy balladry (Gratitude). On the album’s finest moment, the soaring finale You Tell Me (a paean to ex-wife Heather Mills), it becomes clear that McCartney is far from spent as a songwriter ~ as his words flow equally well as poetry as they do song lyrics. In a pop music world ruled by burn bright-flame out familiarity, Memory Almost Full offers ample evidence that the former Beatle is still at the top of his game. Well recommended.

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