Run Devil Run (1999)

 
1. Blue Jean Bop 2. She Said Yeah 3. All Shook Up 4. Run Devil Run 5. No Other Baby 6. Lonesome Town 7. Try Not to Cry 8. Movie Magg 9. Brown Eyed Handsome Man 10.What it Is 11.Coquette 12.I Got Stung 13.Honey Hush 14.Shake a Hand 15.Party

 

Shortly after the release of McCartney's Flaming Pie album, he tragically lost his wife, Linda, to cancer. All deaths are tragic, but this one seemed especially painful since the two truly seemed to deeply love one and other, and she was truly a huge influence to his work. So it was a bit of a shock that his very next release wasn't something deep or introspective, but rather a loose, frolicking, celebration of life itself in its own strange way. Paul decided to team up with some musician friends and make a good, old-fashioned fun rock 'n' roll album.

In many ways, this is a bit similar to his CHOBA B CCCP album that he released a decade earlier. Like that record, this one is mostly a tribute and recreation of some great old rock 'n' roll songs that Paul was influenced by when growing up. The main difference between the two albums is that the previous record seemed to try to match the style and settings of those old recordings, whereas this record seems to take more of new, fresher approach to the material. This album doesn't feel like your listening, necessarily, to a record full of oldies, yet it sounds like a record of young musicians (which they were not) trying their hardest to make something distinctive and noteworthy. The fact that there are, in fact, a few new original songs scattered in the mix illustrates this perfectly. Unless you know all of the old songs by heart, you really can't tell what here is brand new and what was pulled from the vaults.

Another peculiar thing is McCartney's choice for musicians. Ironically he's joined, among others, by guitarist David Gilmour of Pink Floyd and Ian Paice of Deep Purple - not really people that you would think would be a good fit for this type of music, yet the musicians work wonderfully together. Like CHOBA B CCCP, this is a great party album. It sounds best when played at maximum volume, and when you have a large group of friends, and no one wants to stand still. Even though he had gone down this road a bit before, no one certainly minded that he was revisiting this avenue once again.

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