When Paul McCartney released his first solo album and the first true solo studio album by a Beatle in 1970, it was almost universally panned. While it certainly doesn't matchup with any of the Beatles albums, it has aged better than alot of the music of the time. Mr. McCartney recorded the album at his farm and its greatest asset is the simple, down-home feel that permeates it. You can almost picture the newly married and new father just tooling around the house and living the country life and whenever the mood struck him, laying down a new track. He plays all the instruments and other than some backing vocals by Linda, sings all the songs. There are several instrumentals on the album and a couple of songs like "Man We Was Lonely" that are basically just a couple of lines sung over and over, but "Maybe I'm Amazed" is a true gem. The song ranks up there with anything he's done in his solo career and a wouldn't be slighted by songs in the Beatles catalog. Other standout tracks include the sweet "Every Night", "Singalong Junk" & "That Would Be Something".

There tend to be two prevailing views of this album, as there are with the Beatles album "Let it Be." One is that this is a bunch of amateurish noodlings done at home, with one or two good songs thrown in to give it credibility, and released out of sheer arrogance that everyone would want to hear it because it's by a famous person. The other view is that this is a classic album, displaying McCartney's viruosity as an all-around musician, as well as a funky kind of devil-may-care experimentation. In truth, there is validity to both points of view. Only two tracks are really polished or radio-ready: "Maybe I'm Amazed" and "Every Night." Then there are the Beatle leftovers, "Junk" and "Teddy Boy," which feature excellent melodies. Then there are weird one-offs like "Kreen Akrore" that aren't worth listening to every time. Yet the album does stand as an important testament to the man's mindset at this crucial pivot in his career, and in some ways it stands as a portrait of domestic bliss rather like Lennon's "Double Fantasy" did ten years later. If you are a Paul fan, you will love this album's intimacy.

This is a McCartney solo album in every way. Not only did he write all the songs himself, but he also did every instrument on the album. This is probably still my favourite McCartney solo album just for the loving simplicity of the songs. Here is a man who has just found not only the love of his life and every single song on this album reflects that. Highlights on the album are "Every Night" (my favourite track), "OO You", "Momma Miss America", "Man We Was Lonely", "That Would Be Something" and "Maybe I'm Amazed". This is a terrific album from a man who embraces love songs that I feel are far from being "Silly". And I would take this album over "Imagine" anyday.

I laugh at the below attempts to bash this album. They are so full of incoherent nonsense! If the Beatles would have released this album, everyone would be crying praise from high heaven about it. Paul WAS a Beatle. They broke up. Get over it. People change, you know. First of all, try to find ANY McCartney fan who thinks Paul is a lyrical genius. We all know Paul's forte is SONG (music) writing: melody, et cetera. Considering that this album was recorded primarily at home on a 4 track recorder, by HIMSELF, the results are pretty phenomenal. How many artists have attempted "one man band" albums in the history of pop music? Not many: Stevie Wonder, and the most recent example, Trent Reznor (who basically didnt make an "album", but a collection of obcenities and computerized noise.) If you want amazing lyrics, go listen to Dylan, or go listen to Lennon. If you want a quality piece of MUSIC by a true MUSICIAN, check this one out. You appreciate more with each listen...it's all Paul in every way, written and performed. No artistic compromise here.

This album is so comforting. I don't know what's up with people who rate this album with 3 stars. The instrumentals are very good. The bass lines was very melodical. Very well played instruments. What struck me about this album what how it's feel and sound was very different than the Beatles. Do this: plug in the white album. And listen..... can't you feel the tension and the pain that is expressed through the music. And Abbey Road....you can still feel it. John's yokoish lyrics and music. McCartney is beatiful. It is so laid back, but not to laid back to filter out the quality of his music. Buy this album.