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9.46am
31 March 2008
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Recorded: December 2007 – June 2008
Producer: Paul McCartney, Youth
Released: 24 November 2008 (UK), 25 November 2008 (US)
Electric Arguments was the third album credited to The Fireman – Paul McCartney’s experimental side project with Youth.
The original idea of The Fireman was to feel completely free in a studio atmosphere and this is something I’ve been interested in since Sgt Pepper, where we gave ourselves alter egos to achieve the same effect. It gives you the feeling that anything is possible and stops you being too serious.
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3.54pm
All I can say is…WOW! Great collaboration with Youth on this album. Terrific stuff and far more accessible and tuneful than the Fripp & Eno style of electronica I'm used to.
Paul is always his best when he fixes that hole that keeps his mind from wandering where it will go.
Anyone else like/dislike this…?
4.09pm
14 October 2009
Offline Haven’t listened to all of it, but it’s such an improvement (to me) on his other Fireman stuff, which I really couldn’t get in to. I do like Sing The Changes – very catchy, very McCartney.
"If we feel our heads starting to swell.....we just look at Ringo!"
4.57pm
mjb said:
Haven’t listened to all of it, but it’s such an improvement (to me) on his other Fireman stuff, which I really couldn’t get in to. I do like Sing The Changes – very catchy, very McCartney.
Yeah, I like that song a lot! It sounds like Paul doing Bono doing Paul. Especially the backup vocals on the “oh-oh-oh-oh-oh” bit…
I think I like the Good Evening NY version a bit better. That’s another satisfying Paul live album. Not earth shattering by any stretch, but fun. Although, I miss the fact that there’s no stage chatter between songs like on Tripping The Live Fantastic . It’s worth it, though, for new live versions of “Here Today ,” “Calico Skies,” “Mrs. Vandebilt,” “Helter Skelter ,” & his tribute to John by doing “A Day In The Life /Give Peace A Chance .”
5.22pm
31 March 2008
Offline I didn’t buy the Fireman album, but I loved that song that’s supposed to be about Heather Mills, the one that sounds a little like Helter Skelter . Classic McCartney.*
I bought the first Fireman album (Strawberries Oceans) once in Liverpool. It was supposed to be an underground, anonymous release but the shop had a massive display calling it Paul’s latest album. I think it was a bit of a rarity for a while, though when I last looked there were loads of copies on eBay.
*just checked – it was Nothing Too Much Just Out Of Sight.
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Or buy my paperback/ebook! Riding So High – The Beatles and Drugs
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6.05pm
Yeah, that one kicks of the album in rollicking style! Sir Paul can still belt 'em out!!!
1.10am
26 April 2010
Offline Elsewhere Man said:
Yeah, that one kicks of the album in rollicking style! Sir Paul can still belt ’em out!!!
IF you listen to “Nothing to Much…” it sounds more like Youth singing than Paul. The best song on the album is “Light from your Lighthouse”!
Oh that magic feeling…nowhere to go!
7.42pm
1 May 2010
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Well I found this topic so I didn't need to open one.
Man, this album blew me away. I got it when I saw it in a record store weeks ago and when I played it … BAM!! That song that Joe posted blew me away. I mean, if you don't pay attention to the lyrics, it's sexy, fun, kinky, dirty, awesome. Very Helter Skelter . I love Traveling Light (like listening to a dream) Highway (very fun), Lifelong Passion (another dreamlike song). I just can't get tired of listening to it. 
Actually thanks to Nothing is too much song I think of Paul as a sexy man. Nothing bad for a +60 year old guy uh??
Here comes the sun….. Scoobie-doobie……
Something in the way she moves…..attracts me like a cauliflower…
Bop. Bop, cat bop. Go, Johnny, Go.
Beware of Darkness…
11.12pm
19 September 2010
Offline mithveaen said:
Well I found this topic so I didn't need to open one.
Man, this album blew me away. I got it when I saw it in a record store weeks ago and when I played it … BAM!! That song that Joe posted blew me away. I mean, if you don't pay attention to the lyrics, it's sexy, fun, kinky, dirty, awesome. Very Helter Skelter . I love Traveling Light (like listening to a dream) Highway (very fun), Lifelong Passion (another dreamlike song). I just can't get tired of listening to it.
Actually thanks to Nothing is too much song I think of Paul as a sexy man. Nothing bad for a +60 year old guy uh??
I can barely make out the lyrics to That song that Joe posted
As if it matters how a man falls down.'
'When the fall's all that's left, it matters a great deal.
11.27pm
1 May 2010
Offline It's something about a girl that nothing is too much for her. Some of them are very rude (the best thing you did was to lie beside me 
) but compared to nowadays songs they're not that shocking. But the song is awesome. I love nasty Paul.
Here comes the sun….. Scoobie-doobie……
Something in the way she moves…..attracts me like a cauliflower…
Bop. Bop, cat bop. Go, Johnny, Go.
Beware of Darkness…
7.53pm
19 September 2010
Offline Well, I just bought it, and so far, it seems great. Thanks for the reviews, everyone.
As if it matters how a man falls down.'
'When the fall's all that's left, it matters a great deal.
9.37pm
1 May 2010
Offline I'm glad you're enjoying it!!
Here comes the sun….. Scoobie-doobie……
Something in the way she moves…..attracts me like a cauliflower…
Bop. Bop, cat bop. Go, Johnny, Go.
Beware of Darkness…
10.11pm
19 September 2010
Offline It certainly isn't normal Paul, but that can be more enjoyable.
*19*
As if it matters how a man falls down.'
'When the fall's all that's left, it matters a great deal.
6.10pm
Reviewers
14 April 2010
Offline Picked this one up over the holidays. I like it more and more each time I play it. I already knew “Sing The Changes” and “Highway” from Good Evening New York City . The one Joe posted upthread absolutely kicks ass.
A very cool album.
To the fountain of perpetual mirth, let it roll for all its worth. And all the children boogie.
12.27pm
28 March 2012
Offline I quite like the album, though for me the best part about it is its overall vibe. It’s kinda wild in its multiple textures. very groovy.
Frankly it’s the album that allowed me to be a little less knee-jerk defensive and more thoughtful about trying to understand Paul’s critics. Whenever I’d hear someone take a shot at Paul, I use to feel defensive and kind of scramble in my mind to think of counter-arguments. i’d think, what about this song? And what about that song? And what about that contribution? When I heard Electric Arguments, I thought, “you know what? there is no need for an argument. you don’t have to like his music. no crime there. but to me this guy is simply flat-out endlessly creative. i don’t need to feel defensive in the least about liking his music. true, he likes a catchy melody. fine, sue him. and true, he writes the occasional clunker. okay, so he’s human. true, he’s a little sentimental. fine, so am i.” but what a career! what a talent! that he’s also sometimes goofy and whimisical adds to rather than detracts from his charm in my book. makes him more relatable.
paul’s body of work is so large and varied, it’s astounding. imagine a person who had never heard any of his work either during or afte the beatles, and it was up to you to introduce his music to that person. if you had a mischievious streak, you could have real fun with it.
on one day, give him or her a cd of just paul’s musica hall songs (e.g. you gave me the answer)
the next day, just weird electronic music (e.g. mccartney II stuff and some early The Fireman stuff)
the next day, a cd of pop love ballads (e.g. no more lonely nights)
the next day, rockers (e.g. helter skelter; junior’s farm, etc.)
the next day, reflective acoustics
the next day, classical
the next day…
and so on. and on.
surely there are other musicians who have written music as diverse as paul’s. they just don’t come to mind.
7.15am
Reviewers
29 August 2013
Offline Just got it in the mail on the 2nd attempt – Hong Kong did odd things on the first.
Anyway, it is on the ‘one day soon’ stack for now; but I did notice that it has yet another variant of the digipack – and one that REALLY doesn’t want to let the disc go. I wonder, does anyone test these things before they release them, or is it all a ploy to damage the CD so we have to buy another?
==> trcanberra and hongkonglady - Together even when not (married for those not in the know!) <==
1.24pm
Moderators
Members
Reviewers
20 August 2013
Offline trcanberra said
Just got it in the mail on the 2nd attempt – Hong Kong did odd things on the first.Anyway, it is on the ‘one day soon’ stack for now; but I did notice that it has yet another variant of the digipack – and one that REALLY doesn’t want to let the disc go. I wonder, does anyone test these things before they release them, or is it all a ploy to damage the CD so we have to buy another?
Thought I’d see this x-posted in the cd packaging thread 
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8.29pm
Reviewers
29 August 2013
Offline Ahhh Girl said
trcanberra said
Just got it in the mail on the 2nd attempt – Hong Kong did odd things on the first.Anyway, it is on the ‘one day soon’ stack for now; but I did notice that it has yet another variant of the digipack – and one that REALLY doesn’t want to let the disc go. I wonder, does anyone test these things before they release them, or is it all a ploy to damage the CD so we have to buy another?
Thought I’d see this x-posted in the cd packaging thread
Mm – good call – wasn’t sure which one to put it on – both may be best.
==> trcanberra and hongkonglady - Together even when not (married for those not in the know!) <==
7.53pm
1 August 2013
Offline I love Electric Arguments maybe even as much as Ram .
The treatment of Paul’s voice is a really interesting choice; it’s further back in the mix than usual, as if it’s just another instrument in the arrangement. This suits the improvisational spirit of the album, and lets the age in Paul’s voice add character without being jarring.
All the transitions in “Traveling Light” are just stellar, IMO. That high atonal piano(?) note gets me every time. And the swirly little descent into the tropical slide guitar, too.
“Sun Is Shining” wasn’t an early favorite, but it’s grown on me tremendously. The intro finally clicked; it sounds exactly like those last few moments of sleep, where you gently bob against the surface a few times before suddenly being awake (and, if you’re Paul, apparently, immediately leap out of bed. YAY! IT’S A DAY!). Very pretty song, and the bass is gorgeous.
I’m not as crazy about the second half, though I think it’s cool how the album gradually gets more and more ambient and “experimental.” Adore the melancholy piano in “Universal Here, Everlasting Now.”
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