Paul McCartney - Give My Regards to Broad Street

Well, you've got to give Paul McCartney credit for having the courage of his convictions--and the heroism to occasionally fall spectacularly flat on his face pursuing them. The parallel here is Magical Mystery Tour, the half-baked 1967 Beatles TV film that was largely McCartney's conceit. Seventeen years later McCartney figured his solo star power could carry a film vehicle, and so concocted this odd caper tale about the race to find the stolen master tapes to Mac's latest solo album; suffice it to say few critics were assigned to the case. If faint praise is in order, the album is a less painful experience than the film. Still, one has to wonder what drove Mac to rerecord a slate of his best Beatles tunes--along with some of his most tepid solo songs--for this misbegotten star turn. Still, ill conceived though they may be, the performances are stellar throughout, featuring an all-star band that includes old mate Ringo and turns by guitarists Dave Edmunds, Dave Gilmour, and Chris Spedding, as well as contributions by George Martin, Steve Lukather, Jeff Porcaro, Eric Stewart, and John Paul Jones. Arguably McCartney's greatest "What was he thinking?!" project. -Jerry McCulley Amazon.com

the best of all Beatles songs redone and remastered and better than ever

If you liked the Beatles' Revolver album, this album is for you. McCartney is the master composer and musician and he puts together a great album. May 11, 2008

a solid 3 stars

There are four new tracks on the album. 'Goodnight princess' is a jazzy instrumental that Paul does not appear on, which is melodic but unmemorable. 'No more lonely nights' is an excellent 1980's Macca ballad. Fantastic tune and great guitar work. The other two are rock and roll songs. Completely unspectacular. 'Not such a bad boy' has a godd electric riff and solo, with a good Paul vocal. However, Linda sings back up vocals and is completely out of tune, specifically on the 'no more' lines. 'No values' is rubbish and has little tune. The rest are covers of Beatles songs and some recent Macca solo albums. They are all good and Eleanor Rigby is transformed into an excellent orchestral piece. However, I really see no improvement in the other Beatles numbers, even though they are good. 'So bad' was always a lovely song and is so here, but the backing vocals on the 'had' section which are not held, but repeated, almost stocatto like, ruins the effect. 'Silly love songs' really is the only track to improve massively on the original. Nice strong bass part and I (think) Steve Lukather from Toto is singing backup on the 'how can I tell you about...' section, which is a further improvement on Denny Laine's delivery.
A nice album well worth getting, but ignore the bonus tracks, they are a complete waste of time. December 30, 2007

Not one of his best but definitely worth a listen

I've been a McCartney fan since I was 11... it was 1980 and I have very fond memories of that summer listening to McCartney II almost constantly. Anyway by 1984 I was way too into Ozzy and Black Sabbath to bother with a McCartney album so I just discovered this when I purchased it a few weeks ago. I've always heard what a horrible album this is but after listening to it a few times I don't understand why people have such a hatred for it. It may be that older fans don't like the idea of McCartney releasing Beatles tunes on one of his solo albums. I'm certainly a Beatles fan but being that I was born in 1969 don't have that same Betlemania view of the fabs. Anyway, back to my review... I think it's a good album that I would certainly recommend to any fan. Buy it, you won't regret it. January 27, 2006

Very well Orchestrated

Give my regards to Broad Street is actually a soundtrack for the movie with the same name.
McCartney uses several Beatles songs and solo songs on this album.
He puts new life into songs like, Yesterday, Here , There and Everywhere and For No One.
McCartney uses an orchestra, and much of the music is done very nicely on Violins, Cellos, and other insturments.
One song on this CD that really sounds good to me is Wanderlust.To me McCartney has always been at his best when he sounds British.
Even though this is a soundtrack dont let that scare you, you will be glad you bought it.........enjoy December 11, 2005

Paul At His Creative Peak

The movie isn't so good. It's easy to see that Paul was going for something that would attain a cult status ... but the movie actually doesn't have enough music or enough pacing to make that team (Rocky Horror Pic Show might be short of dreadful, but you can dance to it and it moves at a dizzying pace). But the star of this vehicle is the music ... and it is terrific. Paul re-imagines some of The Beatles stuff and seamlessly blends his own stuff in. I don't agree with one reviewer who called the solo efforts 'tepid'. In fact, these songs showcase Paul at his creative and melodic peak. 'So Bad' is a stand-out, as is his medly. The absolute best is the disco-fied version of 'No More Lonely Nights' that thrums through the end credits ... it evokes Paul with Wings in the 70s, but adds that oh-so-special 80s take on the music. The movie is worth watching to hear the music. But all things being equal, just buy this terrific soundtrack and make your own movie in your mind. March 15, 2005

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