Paul McCartney - "Tug of War" (1982)

My collection of solo Beatles records is growing rather impressive and although I have always professed to be a fan of solo George, I've been reluctant to declare a similar admiration for solo Paul. That time is over. I admit that the much-discussed flaws of his output (nonsensical lyrics, maudlin sentiment) all exist in small or large degrees throughout his solo career and as such, any Beatles fan who hasn't listened to a lot of Wings albums needs to prepare themselves for the fact that it's rarely Beatles-level material. But setting all that aside, I am an unabashed lover of pop music, and as such, I am charmed by some of his better albums like Venus and Mars or Ram and outright love Band on the Run.

That said, I had heard mostly negative things about his 80s career, so I was pleased to discover that Tug of War, dating to 1982, is actually a pretty decent album. It's definitely lightweight pop, but it's diverse, melodic, and best of all, consistently interesting, as the songs develop in unexpected ways (see the title track for a great example). I even like "Ebony and Ivory" or at least don't find it particularly offensive, thanks to a striking horn intro and other Beatleesque arrangement twists (George Martin produced the album to wonderful effect). I did find the other McCartney-Stevie Wonder collaboration on the record ("What's That You're Doing?") to be rather abominable, as it is the only song on the album to feature a sterile early 80s electronic sound and like any good album-killer, is the longest song on the album as well, at over six minutes. But all that aside, I enjoyed this album quite a bit more than I expected, and would certainly recommend it to solo Paul fans.