McCartney II is the second solo studio album by British artist Paul McCartney and his second self-titled album, released in 1980 through MPL in conjunction with Parlophone Records in the UK and Columbia Records in the US.
After years of touring along with his band Wings, Paul came back to his farm in Sussex in order to focus on solo material without necessarily having an album in mind. Working on his own, he recorded 20 songs during that session before going back on tour with Wings (a 1979 live performance of the song "Coming Up" was released as a single and became a top-charter in the US). As the band was about to start their tour in Japan, Paul got arrested (again) for Marijuana possession, a few months before the album's release (ironically, one track on the album references Japanese culture). Following that event and the album's release, Wings was dissolved in 1981 and Paul went on to focus back on his solo career.
Recorded at his home studio, McCartney II showcases a departure in sound thanks to the presence of synths and experimentation that leads him closer to New Wave Music as opposed to the Pop Rock sound he was accustomed to with Wings. First released to negative reviews, the album has since been praised retrospectively for its lo-fi sound and its D.I.Y. recording.
It's only forty years after this album's release that Paul released a third self-titled album which he recorded at a home studio during the pandemic of 2020.
Tracklist
Side One
- "Coming Up" (3:53)
- "Temporary Secretary" (3:14)
- "On The Way" (3:38)
- "Waterfalls" (4:43)
- "Nobody Knows" (2:52)
Side Two
- "Front Parlour" (3:32)
- "Summer's Day Song" (3:25)
- "Frozen Jap" (3:40)
- "Bogey Music" (3:27)
- "Darkroom" (2:20)
- "One of These Days" (3:35)
Bonus single included with the US release
- "Coming Up (Live at Glasgow)note
The album has been reissued as part of the "Paul McCartney Archive Collection" with bonus tracks such as "Blue Sway", "Check My machine", "Bogey Wobble", "Secret Friend", "Mr. H Atom / You Know I'll Get You Baby", "Wonderful Christmastime" and "All You Horse Riders".
Personnel:
- Paul McCartney - Lead vocals, backing vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, bass guitar, piano, electric piano, keyboards, synthesizer, sequencer, drums, percussion, engineer, mixing
- Eddie Klein - Mixing Assistant
Let me show you to my tropes:
- Alliterative Title: "Nobody Knows".
- Beary Friendly: "Waterfalls"Don't go chasing polar bears
In the great unknown
Some big friendly polar bear
Might want to take you home - Broken Record: "Temporary Secretary" keeps repeating the song's title during its chorus and outro.
- Can't See a Damn Thing: Played for Laughs at the end of the music video for "Waterfalls" where Paul turns off the lights and knocks over things in his house.
- Censored Title: Due to the use of an anti-japanese slur in its title, "Frozen Jap" has been renamed "Frozen Japanese" when the album was released in Japan.
- Christmas Songs: "Wonderful Christmastime" was originally released as a non-album single before being released on the deluxe edition of this album.
- Chroma Key: Shown on the music video for "Waterfalls" where Paul walks in front of a fountain, an arctic setting and a merry-go-round.
- Chronological Album Title: It is also his second solo album, since Ram was a collaborative album between him and Linda Eastman.
- Face on the Cover: A bewildered Paul photographed by his wife Linda. It can be interpreted as some kind of mugshot and could refer to his arrest back in early 1980. His face is split into two inverted sides on the back cover of the album.
- Genre Roulette: The album showcases genres such as New Wave, Electronica, Boogie Rock/Blues Rock and Synth-Pop, making this album stand out from most stuff Paul was known for up to that point.
- Heavy Meta: "Bogey Music" references the Boogie Rock genre.
- In the Style of: While Paul may have been vaguely inspired by Oriental music while composing it, "Frozen Jap" has been interpreted as a nod to Japanese Technopop band Yellow Magic Orchestra over the decades. On YMO's side, their song "Nice Age" from the ×∞Multiplies album (which came out a month after McCartney II) includes the lyrics "It's coming up like a flower".
- Instrumentals: "Front Parlour" and "Frozen Jap".
- Intercourse with You: Suggested on "Darkroom":Paul: Actually, somehow I just heard the word "darkroom" and thought it had lots of connotations. It could be a dark room, a photographic darkroom, or just a room which is dark. You know, a fellow saying to a girl, ‘Come to my dark room,’ is a bit like a ‘Come, let me take you to the Casbah,’ kind of thing.
- Limited Lyrics Song: "Summer's Day Song":Someone's sleeping
Through a bad dream
Tomorrow it will be over
For the world will soon be waking
To a summer's day - Location Song: "Front Parlour" and "Darkroom".
- Looped Lyrics: "Bogey Music":Without bogey music, life is incomplete
- Lyrical Cold Open: "On The Way", "Waterfalls" and "One of These Days".
- Lyrical Dissonance: "Waterfalls", basically an ode to The Power of Love (with a side of Please, Don't Leave Me), is very melancholy-sounding, even described as "mournful".
- Meaningful Name: Named as a successor to Paul's debut solo album which was also recorded by him.
- Minimalist Cast: Paul took part in the album's entire recording with only Eddie Klein serving as an assistant on the mixing. This was further acknowledged when a promotional image for the album showed the cover art along with a legend saying: "On his own".
- Mythology Gag: Besides all the celebs mentioned in Shout-Out, one of the members of the backing band played by Paul in the "Coming Up" video is none other than Beatlemania-era Beatle Paul, complete with moptop wig, collarless suit, Hofner violin bass and constant grin.
- One-Woman Song: "Temporary Secretary".
- One-Word Title: "Waterfalls" and "Darkroom".
- Paper-Thin Disguise: Linda sports a obviously fake mustache in the music video of "Coming Up".
- Parody Names: Paul and Linda represent a band called Plastic Macs on the music video for "Coming Up".
- The Power of Love: "Waterfalls". Its original title was "I Need Love" and Paul was looking for a less ordinary name.
- The Power Of Music: "Bogey Music" and its repeated lyrics: "Without bogey music, life is incomplete".
- Regional Riff: "Frozen Jap" has a sound similar to the "oriental riff" which has been used as a way for Western people to portray Eastern Asia.
- Rhyming Title: "Temporary Secretary".
- Sampling: "Check My Machine" (originally the B-Side of the "Waterfalls" single, then added to the deluxe edition) samples a bunch of dialogue from the 1957 Sylvester the Cat and Tweety Bird cartoon Tweet Zoo.
- Self-Titled Album: Paul's second one.
- The Something Song: "Summer's Day Song".
- Shout-Out:
- The music video for "Coming Up" has Paul dressing up as various artists: keyboardist Ron Mael from the band Sparks, guitarist Hank Marvin from the Shadows (sometimes mistaken for Buddy Holly), guitarist David Gilmour from Pink Floyd, and drummer John Bonham from Led Zeppelin, according to Paul. The kick drum also bears the name "Plastic Macs," a riff on John Lennon's Plastic Ono band.
- "Nobody Knows" mentions the story of Samson and Delilah.
Samson and Delilah would have made a crazy pair
If that silly woman hadn't shaven off his hair - Silly Love Songs: From the Trope Namer himself, much of the album counts.
- Spoken Word in Music: "Temporary Secretary" has a section where Paul says how hard it is for young girls to stay on the right track.
- Take That!: Averted with "Frozen Jap" which has been interpreted as a commentary of Paul about his incarceration in Japan, despite the fact that the track has been recorded prior to that event (it was also renamed "Frozen Japanese" in order to avoid any offending). According to Paul, Japanese people made the connection anyway.
- Title Drop: Particularily evident on "Temporary Secretary" and "Nobody Knows", both of them dropping their title 22 times. "Bogey Music" is also title-dropped 24 times.
- Vocal Dissonance: Paul's voice on this album goes through varying degrees of altering, sounding high-pitched on "Coming Up", having a low echoed voice on "Bogey Music" and reaching his highest registers on "Darkroom"
