McCartney looks back, the Stones look ageless – both sound timeless as ever
The Rolling Stones look incredible in their latest video. Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood don’t look a day beyond 1972 as they kick off a party brimming with gorgeous youngsters. That’s artificial intelligence for you. It’s a shameless arrogance that works because in the stars classic, timeless, flamboyant Stones. Mark it.
Now compare this to Paul McCartney’s latest. An invisible hand writes the lyrics The days we left behind in ink on paper. He plays the guitar by the fireplace as a post-war photo enters the frame. Liverpool. Childhood. Virgin Mary. My old friend John. It’s Macca at his most emotional, another mastery of melodic emotions. Mark it.
Long after the most famous rivalry in rock’n’roll has ceased to matter, consistency remains the most surprising characteristic of any brand; In modern parlance, in the old days no one was rude enough to use it.
There is more in common now. The Beatle only plays bass on a single track on the upcoming Stones album, as he did on their last album, and both legends recruited lucky Millennial hitmaker Andrew Watt to produce their new albums.
But there is a striking contrast in message and intent to McCartney’s. Boys of the Dungeon Path and Stones’ Foreign LanguagesAs the world’s greatest rock ‘n’ roll band continues to insist that age is an illusion, rock’s greatest living songwriter begs to differ.
As well as a rich poetic punchline, Dungeon Lane is a poignant geographical reference: a rough quarter of the Liverpool docks where the young McCartney once wandered. The first words he said on the album were “I was passing by your house.”
Below are headlines from the 84-year-old Scouser’s memory rather than wandering around: Lost Horizon mark the main theme. Lower South It is an acoustic conversation about hitchhiking with his school friend George. Home Page A knee-jerk duet with Ringo. Seller Aziz It is a touching image of his parents during World War II.
McCartney’s voice is weakening, but he turns it to his advantage in the comfort of the recording studio. The sway and hum carry priceless emotional impact as they layer their ever-inventive harmonies. The fact that he chooses to play most of the instruments himself cuts even deeper into the mark of a unique craftsman.
By the way, Jagger never sang better in his 82 years Foreign Languages. The Thoroughbred attack feels like it’s coming straight from the Stones. Some Girls or Tattoo You: disgusting shout for blues-rock opener Rough and Twisted; Impossible falsetto for R&B organ channel Jealous Lover.
Refusing to ‘act their age’ is a huge part of the Stones’ legacy, effectively setting the concept on fire for their generation and all those who follow. Richards and Wood are the living embodiment of rock in sound and culture. Good luck figuring out who’s who as you duck and weave from the pounding riff to the cat howls I Never Want to Lose You, Hit me in the head and other titles that young people may have written.
Experience is also important. Talk of conspiracy, corruption, and tyranny is nothing new for Satanic majesty, but the old-time perspective outweighs a few of the more important pieces. “Divine intervention is out of the question” is the sardonic refrain of a ramshackle boogie in a dystopian America.
A second journey Hollow Cymbala Bakersfield country romp with real blood flowing. “Miss Liberty doesn’t look that good,” Jagger quips as he suffers from a random arrest that lands him on the doorstep of an unnamed president. The fact that he belittled 14 of them further strengthens his disdain.
The Stones’ divine chemistry is as solid as ever. Even with more than 14 tracks, you can’t help but feel a contractual bond. Cue the squealing slammer, the sardonic disco, Keef’s end-of-the-bottle ballad, and the guests you can’t quite make out in the mix (Robert Smith, Steve Winwood, Chad Smith, the late Charlie Watts). Tick, tick, tick, tick. The only crook, Amy Winehouse’s cover, is also the only real misstep.
If this were still a rivalry, the Beatle’s edge would remain the same as ever: a willingness to experiment. Dungeon Road The most immersive audio experience ever. McCartney, the only one left to please, digs deeper and deeper for eccentric textures and structures he places like train tracks conjured out of thin air as the tune progresses.
His reckless style on acoustic and electric guitars has been a revelation on his latest albums. If he feels like it, he’ll play a countermelody on the tape recorder and weave a fully orchestrated Glenn Miller pastiche around the edges of a minor-key folk drama.
Its plot lines are also less bound by convention. A lust-crazed voyeur wanders inside their heads While You’re Lying There and the psychedelic mushroom explorer Mountaintopthen manages to get back to the kitchen sink My Mother Is Passing.
The legends’ only real rivalry, of course, is with their own past. Despite these enormous challenges, both albums are successful. But comparing the Stones and McCartney’s numerous records to their own impeachable catalog misses what’s really at stake here: the larger story of which they form a living part.
As in every long friendship, the present moment Boys of the Dungeon Path And Foreign Languages it is infinitely expanded by everything that came before. Clichés are self-awareness, jokes have context, flaws are part of the furniture, and most importantly, love is the only reasonable reason to move on.
Trust old man McCartney to say that pithy part out loud: “Every moment we share brings us closer together.” On the other hand, the Rolling Stones’ thesis is no less interesting: “Do you want to dance until the roof collapses?” Mark it.
Paul McCartney Boys of the Dungeon Path is out now. The Rolling Stones Foreign Languages It lands on July 10th.
