THE ART OF McCARTNEY
by VARIOUS ARTISTS

McCartney's band does McCartney without McCartney

By Rick Hines, June 20, 2019

Very disappointing, considering all involved. It sounded like a good idea on paper, no doubt, to have McCartney's own band support a bunch of singers doing McCartney's songs.

The effect, however, is rather dull. Part of the fun of hearing other artists cover songs is hearing how they incorporate their own talents and ideas into a song and make it their own (and the extent to which they do it). In this case, as you might expect, having McCartney's band play everything results in very McCartney-esqe cover versions. Nothing strays very far from the original, with the result that the main feeling after playing this is a strong desire to hear the superior originals (with McCartney's actual bass firmly in place).

I purchased this for the Bob Dylan and Cure/Robert Smith songs. They are among the tracks that fare best, as they rely more on their own bands/musicians and less on McCartney's band. Bob rips up Things We Said Today, making it sound like a lament from beyond time; whether that's good or bad probably depends on how you like Dylan's current voice/croak. The Cure does a decent job with Hello Goodbye, but Robert Smith tackles C Moon, one of McCartney's more odd tunes, with typically idiosyncratic results (though it does go on a bit too long).

Overall, nobody does a bad job here, but the lack of any place for creative originality really hampers the set to the point even the better cuts are lost in all the flotsam. Save your money and buy a real McCartney/Wings greatest hits album.