Forgotten gems : “Flowers In The Dirt” by Paul McCartney

McCartney had been struggling for years to keep up with the fans expectations of his output since the early eighties. It seemed he had been on a steady course into, well not exactly obscurity, but indifference at least. But Macka had other ideas on the plate. He had been demoing a bit with Elvis Costello in 88, and as is often the case with McCartney, he rejuvinates with inputs from the outside.

Luckily, he sticks to what he does best in a way. The eighties feel is on its way out and a return to old school instrumentation and expression is in. It generally has a light and somewhat poppy feel to it, but it is still safely within the McCartney vocabulary. He really sounds playful and full of new ideas.

My Brave Face is a straight up pop rocker with lots of multivoicing. Rough ride is more funky and the most eighties sounding of the lot. You Want Her Too, with Costello is a weird little track with a circuslike intro and contrasting responsed singing by the two singers. Elvis’ rough singing is a good balance to Paul’s pure sounding voice. Then a few lower key tunes follow which are also solid, followed by my personal favorite “Put It There”. It is one of those McCartney tunes that is so cute and melodic and quite nostalgic. It has a line straight back to the white album.

On side 2 (on the vinyl) the first to tracks are melodic rockers both issued as singles. They are not exactly middle of the road rock, as they have their own particular sound scapes and particular instrumentation. Paul is pop but not mainstream pop. This one in particular has a folksy tint to it I cannot exactly point out, but it works. You gotta admire the man for his incredible talent of creating memorable tunes.

In Don’t Be Careless Love he starts out thinking he is Freddie Mercury, which means he stretches as well as he can to the upper register, only just dragging it home. He is no spring chicken anymore, heading towards his fifth decade in music. Still very melodic and clearly beatl’esqu... and I particularly like the nice little ending.. That Day Is Done is a Mull Of Kintyre sort of folksy rocker with hints at Long And Winding Road. It adds well to the overall diversity of the album without sticking out among the total. How Many People is a reggae rocker, that is actually also pretty good, but it is not its reggaeness but its basic melody structure. I think Macka just made it “jamaican”, for diversity’s sake. Motor Of Love is my least favorite, it is one of those overblown, pop songs too obviously stealing from Cars’ Drive and 10cc’s I’m Not In Love. It is a piece of junk to be honest.

But except for a few misses this is a very solid album with good diversity, tons of good melodies and nice little touches here and there. It is not a masterpiece but certainly worth a try if you are in for some classic beatlesesque pop rock.