Paul McCartney Album: “Back in the U.S. Live 2002”

I had the extreme fortune to see Paul McCartney live in concert at Tacoma this past October. After an incredible three-plus hours of musical greatness, I walked away telling people that this was the best concert I had ever seen. It was with extreme pleasure that this tour was captured for posterity on a 2-CD set.

A product of the "post-Beatles generation", but with an ever-growing appreciation of their music, I never would have thought it likely to ever see their music played live, much less by one of the Beatles themselves. Then Mr. McCartney graciously goes on this tour, drawing deep and long from the Beatles catalog, as well as from his rich store of songs from his solo and Wings careers.

This CD set captures the concert virtually in its entirety and, in terms of the setlist, in order as Mr. McCartney played in concert. He sounded great on this tour, and that is conveyed very well in this recording, as is the stellar musicianship of his backing band. The sound quality is, for a live show, tremendously sharp and vibrant, thus making it even more possible for those of us who witnessed it in person to close your eyes and vividly re-live those memories and emotions.

One of the treats of this tour is that Mr. McCartney played several songs solo intermittently throughout the show. It was at these times where he was perhaps at his most poignant, and really tugged at your emotions. This was evidenced in his back-to-back tributes to John Lennon ("Here Today") and George Harrison ("Something", played delightfully on the ukulele), but also in songs like "Blackbird" and "Yesterday".

In the full band setting, the music was well-executed and full of outstanding moments. The "Live and Let Die" sequence was just one of those phenomenal moments, though listeners to this CD miss the stunning pyrotechnics that accompanied this number. The band should also be commended for carrying off the McCartney/Beatles catalog with tremendous aplomb, while at the same time staying enough in the background to allow the audience to focus on Mr. McCartney.

Mr. McCartney was also very well-served in limiting the new material on this tour, as evidenced here. He performed three or four new songs early in the show that were, frankly, mediocre compared to the rest of his setlist. He also performed "Freedom" later in the show, which was the best of the new crop and one that fit in well with that part of the concert.

Those of us who saw the later shows on this tour do not get the live versions of "Michelle" and "Let 'Em In", which he performed in place of "Vanilla Sky" and "C Moon" that are featured here. This is an extremely mild criticism, but one that is by no means detrimental to the overall package.

Another strong point of this CD is that his banter between songs is cut out. While it does remove some funny moments and the explanations behind some songs (not to mention the lead-ins to the Lennon and Harrison tributes), it keeps the CD well-paced. It also keeps it "generic" enough so that it is not fully obvious as to where the songs were actually recorded, thus maintaining at least the illusion that at least one song was recorded at the show you attended. But, far too often, the banter is left in, and it can be amazingly disruptive and inane (I cite the Billy Joel Millenium Concert CD as the prime example). Mr. McCartney left the music to speak for himself.

In my opinion, this is one of the best live CD's in the rock genre that you will find on the market. It gets an unwavering five-star rating from this reviewer, and I recommend it wholeheartedly to Beatles fans, McCartney fans, or simply fans of great music.

Thank you, Mr. McCartney, for the wonderful memories, and for preserving them for all to enjoy.

This live CD is a stunner . Fine sound and a great showcase for a versatile band . There will always be songs you wish had been included but these will do just fine . I don't think the world needs another live version of Hey Jude , but you can't help singing along regardless .

Paul is in good voice . This collection is nearly as good as Van Morrison's IT'S TOO LATE TO STOP NOW or Tim Buckley's DREAM LETTER live albums .

Very good indeed .

For more live Paul with a mellower vibe , try the MTV UNPLUGGED cd . He plays a few Beatles tunes not on this live set .

This is probably the best CD set of Paul's concerts. Wings Over America and Tripping the Live Fantastic are very good, but if you are going to own just one, Back in the U.S. is the one to get.

The CD set spans a great period of time, covering many different types of McCartney songs - with the Beatles, Wings, and a solo artist. There is a great set of accoustic songs on this collection like Blackbird, We Can Work It Out, Carry That Weight among others. The best is Every Night. These versions are not over-orchestrated. Here Today sounds different than the version on the album Tug of War because there are not the violins. But after a listen or two, one hears the raw emotion of the song.

Overall, this CD set focuses more on McCartney's voice and less on the production and other instruments compared to some of the other concert albums. Getting Better is a real treat, it would have been great if it had been followed by Fixing a Hole, but such is not the case.

Anyone who likes good rock and roll music should own this CD.

I think the thing that really distinguishes this tour - and hence the CD, is that McCartney has rediscovered something of himself as a musician. Fans will recognise it as something that seemed to have its roots around the Anthology, & Flaming Pie time, and carried on with Run Devil Run, and seems to be gathering strength (regardless of your opinion of the Driving Rain album.) What it means for this CD is that you really get the impression Paul is loving the music - 2 examples: listeners will really notice Paul's effort to deliver purer vocal melody on this CD - a significant contrast to Tripping the Live Fantastic, and secondly, a more subtle one - just listen to the middle bar of the lead break in Back in the USSR. That little grove they do there is the hallmark of a really hot band that are playing with one musical heart - and its typical of the kind of intangible quality this album has. Theres passion, energy - but most of all there is 'musicality': All the subtlties and spontenaety of a talented musician in form. The production is very nice, the absence of between song patter no loss (the songs follow each other at a nicely urgent pace): I do think that in places , producer David Khane has left a strange digital dryness in the sound - (which is perhaps his hallmark because it was there in Driving Rain album too.) You could also argue all day about the song list, then which concert performance should have been used (eg Ive heard a Tampa Florida Hey Jude which I thought was better) But for gods sake, McCartney is in an impossible lose-lose situation on that one. The fact is, this is EASILY the definitive McCartney live album; a terrific thing to have - I dont care where it was recorded. Just enjoy it.

No CD is going to be perfect and this one is no exception! But it IS live...covering decades of an incredibly talented career.

It seems like people expect live CD's to follow a certain format. So "Back in the US" doesn't meet the status quo. The variations on the older songs are refreshing. Boring? NOT !!! No comfort zone there! And although the Driving Rain CD isn't live it appears to receive a lot of criticism. Perhaps this is because it projects a totally different sound, dimension and perspective. As with other art forms it may take a long time for both of these CD's to be appreciated for what they really possess...a range and diversity seldom seen in any one performer.

The vocals are fantastic in the opening song "Hello Goodbye" and so sorry if he hits a few bad notes during the concert! Perfect is boring and McCartney's live efforts can never be placed in that category. While the band had a rest Paul did it all with his acoustic guitar while singing "Blackbird, Mother Nature's Son and the tributes to George and John.

The concert was meant to be different and the surrealistic beginning set the tone for the surrealistic experience of being in the presence of a legend (if you were fortunate enough to be there). What songs would people have Paul play considering the wealth of material to choose from? The set list was a great blend of old, new, different and yes, sentimental songs. So what? Not enough good feelings in this world and that is something that we can all thank Paul for...so yes, this CD is excellent value for more than one reason. And like John Lennon once said when the Beatles broke up...it's only a rock band, not the end of the world (close enough). Just enjoy! It's not the Beatles or Wings, it's Paul doing what Paul does best...reinventing himself without sacrificing his musical origins. Besides, I defy anyone to go to a Stones concert and hear ANY note on key! Yet people love them!

Five stars to Paul.