Paul McCartney : Kisses On the Bottom

An artist that is Paul McCartney's age should be commended for continuing to churn out albums the way he has, but albums like 'Kisses On the Bottom' shouldn't be...
Paul McCartney : Kisses On the Bottom
3.1 Hear Music
2012 

Paul McCartney : Kisses On the Bottom An artist that is Paul McCartney’s age should be commended for continuing to churn out albums the way he has, but albums like Kisses On the Bottom shouldn’t be the way he does it.

The standards album is the nail in the coffin of careers that have stumbled into irrelevance.  God-forbid the word “irrelevance” be used in the same sentence with the name of a former Beatle, but sadly, Paul McCartney’s latest album has proven this to be the case.  For perspective, when put another way, Kisses On the Bottom puts Paul in the company of Rod Stewart with his Great American Songbook collection, Harry Connick, Jr., and Michael Bublé.  There may not necessarily be anything wrong with the last three artists mentioned, but let’s be honest here, Paul McCartney should only ever be in a category all his own.  He has undone that for himself by releasing this album.

Rod Stewart pigeonholed himself so badly during the eight year period that he released The Great American Songbook collection that in the middle of it he had to put out an album whose title gives away his not-so-hidden secret: Still the Same… Great Rock Classics of Our Time.  It was almost as though he was saying to the public, “Hey guys, I’m still the same Rod Stewart you’ve known and loved all these years despite this stunt I’m currently involved in to sell albums.”  At least Clive Davis wasn’t involved in the Kisses On the Bottom process.

The songs present on this album are timeless, that’s a given.  But this whole process just reeks the way that Scott Weiland’s 2011 Christmas album The Most Wonderful Time of the Year did (if you were ‘lucky’ enough to stumble upon it – QRO live review).

If by this point readers of this review still aren’t convinced of how out-of-his element Sir Paul is on this project, just listen to his voice.  It’s the most subdued it’s ever been.  That right there is a travesty.  Period.  He sounds like a crooner in a jazz club.

One of the songs on the album is entitled “Bye Bye Blackbird”.  That couldn’t be a more fitting theme because based on this album, long gone are the days of ‘classic’ McCartney.  Granted, his solo work may not have been at the level of his work while in The Beatles, but it was vastly better than this.

McCartney only wrote two songs on this album, “My Valentine” and “Only Our Hearts”.  Not much can be said about them other than the fact that they fit right into this collection.  That’s not meant as a compliment.

When considering Paul McCartney’s music catalogue, if you’re looking for the stuff of legend, stay far away from this album.  However, if you’re inviting your boss over for a dinner party and he doesn’t know good music from his own reflection in a mirror, buy the heck out of Kisses On the Bottom.  It’ll help your boss feel like you’re kissing his bottom, and maybe you’ll get a promotion out of it.

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