Paul McCartney - Kisses On The Bottom (24/02/2012)
Not many can say that they changed the face of popular music. There’s one man, however, who undoubtedly can. Not only that, he also bears the titles of “most successful songwriter of all time” and “Sir”, amongst others. So when you’ve achieved all there is to achieve in the music industry, what is there to do next? Why, whatever the hell you want, of course. And this is exactly what Sir Paul McCartney has done.
Kisses On The Bottom is the sixteenth solo studio album by the former Beatle. For this album, McCartney has taken a backseat to songwriting and decided to rather record his own versions of some of his favourite standards. “For years I’ve been wanting to do some of the old songs that my parents’ generation used to sing at New Year,” says McCartney. Not really what you’d expect from a man who has built a career on rock ‘n roll. But then McCartney has never been afraid to explore other genres. Just last year he scored a ballet. In fact, it was his fifth album of classical music.
At the ripe old age of 69, his voice is as good as it was 50 years ago. It sounds somewhat different, though. Arguably, he had the best voice out of all the Beatles, but that doesn’t necessarily put him in the same class as Frank Sinatra or Nat King Cole. His vocals on this record aren’t delivered with as much confidence as the vocals on previous albums. In fact, he sounds as comfortable singing these songs as Tony Bennett would be singing ‘Helter Skelter’ in-the-style-of-Paul-McCartney.
McCartney is backed by Diana Krall and her band and is also joined by Eric Clapton and Stevie Wonder on guitar and harmonica, respectively, on the only two original songs on the album. The sounds of Clapton’s guitar and Wonder’s harmonica are as distinctive as that of Paul McCartney’s voice. In fact, these two songs are the best on the album, which just goes to show that Paul McCartney still knows how to write a song, no matter the genre. This album is great dinner party music. Something you’d put on in the background while you sip your red wine and chatter with old friends. It may not be the album that McCartney will be remembered for but it’s certainly worth a spin for fans of the man who has given so much to music over the last half century.
Brett Schewitz
Kisses On The Bottom is the sixteenth solo studio album by the former Beatle. For this album, McCartney has taken a backseat to songwriting and decided to rather record his own versions of some of his favourite standards. “For years I’ve been wanting to do some of the old songs that my parents’ generation used to sing at New Year,” says McCartney. Not really what you’d expect from a man who has built a career on rock ‘n roll. But then McCartney has never been afraid to explore other genres. Just last year he scored a ballet. In fact, it was his fifth album of classical music.
At the ripe old age of 69, his voice is as good as it was 50 years ago. It sounds somewhat different, though. Arguably, he had the best voice out of all the Beatles, but that doesn’t necessarily put him in the same class as Frank Sinatra or Nat King Cole. His vocals on this record aren’t delivered with as much confidence as the vocals on previous albums. In fact, he sounds as comfortable singing these songs as Tony Bennett would be singing ‘Helter Skelter’ in-the-style-of-Paul-McCartney.
McCartney is backed by Diana Krall and her band and is also joined by Eric Clapton and Stevie Wonder on guitar and harmonica, respectively, on the only two original songs on the album. The sounds of Clapton’s guitar and Wonder’s harmonica are as distinctive as that of Paul McCartney’s voice. In fact, these two songs are the best on the album, which just goes to show that Paul McCartney still knows how to write a song, no matter the genre. This album is great dinner party music. Something you’d put on in the background while you sip your red wine and chatter with old friends. It may not be the album that McCartney will be remembered for but it’s certainly worth a spin for fans of the man who has given so much to music over the last half century.
Brett Schewitz