Paul McCartney

Working on the exhaustive Beatles Anthology took up much of McCartney's energies in the early '90s, resulting in a contemplative state of mind that informs this 1997 solo LP. But even when he's on a pure nostalgia trip ("The Song We Were Singing"), it's wisely tempered with restraint, as is the sensitive production of Jeff Lynne and George Martin. There are certainly risks -- weather he's invoking Lennon's surrealism on "Flaming Pie" or riffing through latent mid-life crisis in "The World Tonight" -- but its simple gems and elegant production make the LP rank among his late-career best.

The Beatles' "anthology" projects clearly left Paul McCartney in a reflective frame of mind.
Too often in the past, that would mean a douse in a nostalgia bath, but on Flaming Pie,
McCartney's look back is a genuine search – as though he were uncertain about what he
might find there. The confusion becomes him, complicating his typically all-too-settled
point of view and lending Pie a needed edge. The best example is "The World To... More >