Paul McCartney Run Devil Run (Capitol) / Paul McCartney Working Classical (EMI Classics)

Paul McCartney

Run Devil Run (Capitol)

Paul McCartney

Working Classical (EMI Classics)

To a man, every Paul McCartney fan thought the same thing, whether they spoke it aloud or not: Following the death of his beloved wife Linda, the ex-Beatle's next album would be one filled with mournful ballads and sweet remembrances. Ol' Macca threw everyone a curveball, however, choosing instead to work out his pain with an album of early rockers, similar in nature to John Lennon's Rock & Roll or McCartney's own "Russian album," only this time with a dollop of original material. Fortunately, Run Devil Run is not just a rehash of those two raw, offhand efforts; rather, this collection has the McCartney sound, a fuller exploration of the music within the songs, and the song selection is not a rote list of classics, "All Shook Up" aside. Mind you, rockabilly maniacs will know all the originals by heart, but for the more casual fan, the Larry Williams and Gene Vincent chestnuts here will be far from been there, heard that. McCartney did get the chance, simultaneously, to work out some feelings and show his dedication to Linda with Working Classical, his third attempt at capturing the attentions of the original long-hair set. An uneasy combination of orchestral treatments of his favorite ditties to his wife and longer, more evocative symphonic pieces, Working Classical is the very definition of a mixed bag. The short stuff like "My Love" and "Maybe I'm Amazed" is no more successful here than on the umpteen Beatles-done-classical albums that have come from various sources since the mid-Sixties. On the other hand, while the longer, new pieces like "A Leaf" and "Spiral" would likely have been dismissed as inconsequential had he been born in the time of the first two B's (Bach and Beethoven), they hold up well in comparison to modern soundtrack composers like John Williams, with more than a hint of similarity to mentor George Martin's fine work on Yellow Submarine -- the reissue of which happened to be the third project McCartney had in his basket during the making of these two.

(Run Devil Run)

(Working Classical)