Disco de Paul McCartney: “Press to Play [Remaster]”

When I first heard this album in 1986 my first reaction was 'What is McCartney doing'?! But the more I listened to it, the more I realized the creative genius that PTP is all about. As it was released, in 1986, the original 10 songs on PTP are some of the most musically satisfying songs I have ever heard (with one exception). And though Paul usually excels more on the musical side, these songs include some of his strongest lyrics. STRANGLEHOLD is a classic rocker and the perfect way to start out the album. GOOD TIMES COMING/FEEL THE SUN is a catchy melody that brings back memories of warm sunny days and the warm fuzzy feelings that come with them. TALK MORE TALK is driven by a creative drum machine track and includes comments from his young son James. Who else but McCartney could successfully pull off a song about talk/conversaton? FOOTPRINTS is a stirringly emotional song about a man who has lost his true love and laments his loss privately. ONLY LOVE REMAINS is a classic McCartney love song. PRESS is a catchy rocker that should have been a bigger hit than it was. PRETTY LITTLE HEAD is a musical classic, very Bealtlesque in its creativity. MOVE OVER BUSKER tells a funny story and includes references to Nell Gwynne, Mae West, and Errol Flynn. Great guitar work and strong lyrics. One of my favorites. ANGRY is the only exception on the album. Although it includes Pete Townsend on guitar and Phil Collins on drums, the song lacks any kind of a signiture. There is a B-side version that Paul added horns to and it sounds great, it would have made the album a perfect 10. I think with Pete and Phil on the song Paul was afraid he would overproduce it and in the process he underproduced it. HOWEVER ABSURD is lyrically Pauls most Lennon like song. I love lines like 'It's a funny thing, half serious, With our hands on our ears./Living dreams with mouths ajar, Wide awake, we go to sleep'. and 'Something special between us, When we made love the game was over./I couldn't say the words, Words wouldn't get my feelings through, So I keep talking to you...'. Classic. It always reminded me of 'I am the Walrus'. I can't get enough of this album. In fact, I once listened to nothing else for 3 months. When I was in the car I listened to the tape, in the house I had the album on. If I was stranded on a desert island and could only have one album, this would be it. The extra tracks ruin the flow and continuity of the album and do not really belong, although it is nice to have CD versions of ONCE UPON A LONG AGO and SPIES LIKE US. IT'S NOT TRUE and TOUGH ON A TIGHTROPE have B-side mixes that are much better than the ones on this disk. I would listen to the extra tracks seperately from tracks 1-10. You may have to listen to it a few times, but once it hooks you, you won't be sorry you spent the time to discover this gem.

I find it upsetting that Paul McCartney's "Press to Play" never took off like it should of in the U.S. I also find some of its bum reviews suprising. Maybe I'm too much of a McCartney nut, but "Press to Play" remains one of my most recent favorites of Paul's. With the help of Hugh Padgham, Paul brings back the feeling of the years of "Red Rose Speedway" with "Stranglehold" and "Only Love Remains." Also, his love for Brian Wilson shows in songs like "Good Times Coming/Feel the Sun" and "Only Love Remains" (compare it to the Beach Boys' "God Only Knows"). After years of being called a wimp by those who always preferred the angry words of John Lennon, McCartney retreats with "Angry" and "Move Over Busker." He even dabbles into some stereo-headphone fun with "Talk More Talk" and "Pretty Little Head." Why this album has been pushed aside and ignored by most of the McCartney fans is beyond me. It remains his funnest album since "Ram."

"Press To Play" is a unique album. It is definately not his most 'non-commercial' release (thats McCartney II) nor is it his worst (fill in your own answer here). It is an album that has the feel of being 'experimental' but is actually product from an artist trying to fit into the 80's synth craze. In fact, it's not that the album is very good or very bad, it's simply an album that is just exists and thats about it.

On this album, we find Paul in the frame of mind where he is trying new things with old ideas. This album is VERY much the product of the producer (Hugh Padgham), and that is the reason why I feel it is so different from all of his other releases.

The production on the album is quite fantastic. In fact, I believe it's one of the best 'produced/mixed' albums that McCartney has released. Every instrument/vocal was carefully recorded and mixed, and therefore becomes the albums main saving grace. Though the synths are heavy throughout, they don't seem to be out of place on any of the tracks. They perfectly compliment the songs and album flow. But, if McCartney would have had a different producer, the finished product definately would have been (in my opinion) 10 times more 'commercial' than the finished product.

One thing I did notice is with Hugh Padgham producing this album, it gave the overall sound a very 'Genesis' feel. Obviously the inclusion of the distinct drumming of Phil Collins didn't help much there. But if you listen to "Invisible Touch" released the year after, these albums are VERY similar. Hugh Padgham may have had 'too much' influence on this recording.

What makes this album hard to swallow for most casual listeners is that there is definately a lack of 'melody' on this album that we have come to expect from Paul. Each track has it's own sound and feel, and each are a complete departure from what McCartney usually releases (commercially). It's not that the songs are bad, it's just that they are so different from what we're used to from Paul.

If you are interested in the 'musical' side of Paul, definately check this out. Otherwise, be cautious about making this purchase.

*Standout tracks -- Stranglehold, Only Love Remains, Angry, Pretty Little Head.

All The Best, -AndyMan-

Don't buy this album if you want Beatle music. If you like McCartney's creative side, which may be abstract, then get it. Listen to it 10 times and you'll find beauty in very un-obvious places. After all, he did work with a man named Lennon and a Mr. Harrison who could be VERY experimental in nature. The diagrams of the way he set up the tracks is priceless. And hey, Pete Townsend is on the album. Look outside the box!

Remembering back to when this record came out in 1986, as a diehard McCartney fan i was very much taken aback by the sound of it... in retrospect it was very 1986 which is not really a positive thing. Like a lot of established stars at this time, they put their songs into the hands of producers who had a great effect on the atmosphere of the finished records, somewhat to the detriment of the songs with lots of synthesizers and echo and drum machines. Albums that pop into my mind similarly are Elvis Costello's Goodbye Cruel World, Squeeze's Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti and Paul Simon's Hearts and Bones... they all sound dated compared to other albums they made previously. Press To Play was McCartney's first album to be made with a non-Beatles associated producer (George Martin Tug of War, Chris Thomas Back to the Egg), and Hugh Padgham gave the songs what I would say is a disconnected and mechanical feel. The only song that i believe benefited from this treatment was the closing track, "However Absurd" which has an atompheric, eerie tone to it and the musical accompaniment adds to the other worldy feel.

The single, "Press" was more annoying than clever, far less tuneful than we McCartney fans were accustomed to hearing for a first single. The video was amusing, even with the gray hair (which didn't last long) but the song is one of the least successful on the record and a very odd choice as a single... not surprisingly it charted terribly. What we do find on this record is Paul flexing his songwriting muscle a bit more, certainly compared to his previous studio album Pipes of Peace. Here at least the listener gets the sense that he has set about to write some very high quality songs, even collaborating with Eric Stewart of 10cc fame on six songs to do so. Among the highlights is the lovely and sad song "Footprints", which can be seen as a follow-up to the songwriting on "Elanor Rigby", a lonely old man dealing with loss, detached from those around him. Also of high quality is "Angry", a pulsating rocker, the closet Paul has ever come to attempting anything "punkish". Its precise, fast and points a threatening finger.. unusual for Pauly. The two more likely candidates to be premier singles off the album were "Stranglehold" and "Only Love Remains". "Stranglehold" glides along nicely, well played.. a superior song to "Press" though it may not have done much better commercially. "Only Love Remains" on the other hand was the hit single off the record that never was, maybe not a good choice as a first single solely because it didn't represent the overall sound of the record very well, since it is a stately, typical McCartney ballad... but more tasteful and listenable than other ballads he wrote of that era like "Motor of Love" off Flowers in the Dirt, or "Winedark Open Sea" from Off The Ground. The three bonus tracks added to the CD, "It's Not True" "Tough on a Tightrope" and "Write Away" are all very good quality and one or two would have fit neatly onto the record itself since it only contained 10 songs.

Overall Press To Play is a very interesting record, Paul can be seen to have really taken some chances here.. and though not all of them worked (mainly the production), it's a unique and enjoyable record and has not gotten a fair shake through the years. Definitely better than say Pipes of Peace or Off the Ground. Give it another try.