No Paul McCartney album can be considered pointless; after all, McCartney is a defining force of rock and roll. But Back To The Egg was certainly a major misstep and is most notable for being Wings’ final album.
McCartney, of course, went on to record many more great records, but aside from the pap that is “Arrow Through Me,” a very minor hit, and “Rockestra Theme,” which won the Grammy for Best Rock Instrumental Performance in 1979 (the competition must have been slim that year), there’s not much on here to recommend.
Supposedly, McCartney wanted a more rock and roll feel about Back To The Egg after his more recent softer record, Londontown. But all of the rock songs sound forced (“Old Siam Sir,” “Getting Closer,” “So Glad To See You Here”), as if the band was merely punching their time cards.
And the ballads? Well, there’s “Arrow Through Me”… and the rest are so faceless (and in many instances, tuneless) that noting them hardly seems worth the effort and remembering them after the CD moves on to the next track, impossible.
There are a lot of what seem like unfinished songs on this disc – four clock in at under two minutes – and I get the feeling McCartney wanted this to be a grand concept album, but simply wasn’t able to pull it off.
Still, even though “Getting Closer” sounds forced, it is memorable and McCartney does his best to make it interesting. After all, in how many songs does the singer refer to his love as a salamander? And McCartney must be proud of this verse: “Hitting the chisel and making a joint / Glueing my fingers together / Radio play me a song with a point / Sailor beware of weather.”
What, again?
Pass on this one and move on to Tug Of War from 1982. Yeah, there’s was one more stinker, McCartney II, in-between, but Tug Of War redeemed McCartney’s solo legacy.
