Chaos And Creation In The Backyard - Paul McCartney
Chaos And Creation In The Backyard Image
Metascore
78 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 19 Critics What's this?

User Score
9.1 out of 10

Universal acclaim- based on 225 Ratings

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  • Summary: Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich helms the bassist's 20th post-Beatles album, which finds McCartney in true solo mode, playing every instrument on these 13 songs.

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17 out of 19
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 19
  3. Negative: 0 out of 19
  1. Stylus Magazine
    100
    Never in his career has McCartney seemed more serious in tone and more aware of the play of his lyrics as poetry.
  2. Rolling Stone
    80
    Chaos and Creation in the Backyard is the freshest-sounding McCartney album in years.
  3. All Music Guide
    80
    The quiet nature of Chaos and Creation may mean that some listeners will pass it over quickly, since it's a grower, but spend some time with the record and becomes clear that McCartney is far from spent as either a songwriter or record-maker.
  4. New Musical Express (NME)
    60
    By teaming up with Godrich, McCartney has come out of his safety zone and challenged himself in a way not seen since his first solo album way back in 1970. But the feeling remains that the one person who could really inspire him to write one final classic record was tragically murdered in 1980.

See all 19 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 155 out of 166
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 166
  3. Negative: 6 out of 166
  1. Cdmann
    10
    I have a big Paul McCartney fan since my childhood. My one problem with McCartney over the years is his inconsistency. I actually understand and accept this part of his talent. after all McCartney is not afraid to experiment and try new things. This album however is special. There are no throw aways here. The acoustic music is almost exclusively played by McCartney. The songs are honest and seem to look back on his life. I am actually reminded a bit of Loudon Wainwright III throughout this amazing album. This album is more enjoyable with each listen and always sounds good with a glass of wine or a pint or two of your favorite brew. Reflective, honest and very listenable. Simple excellent.… Expand
  2. MartinW
    8
    To be honest, when I first bought this album, I played it, thought it was utter, utter pants and filed it away! Having also bought Ringo';s latest album, I concluded that Ringo's was the better of the two and that McCartney had completly lost the plot. It was only after reading the 'professional' and 'user' reviews on this site that I got "Chaos" out again and gave it another chance. There is still something 'irritating' about it, but I have certainly come to like some of the tunes. McCartney's albums are usually much more 'instant'/'commercial', and this one needs time to grow, I guess. The production and McCartney's playing are both excellent, but he has definitely written much better post-Beatle songs than the ones on here. Best track: "Friends To Go"; worst track: the annoyingly twee "English Tea". [Dear Paul, if you ever read these reviews, please note that, whatever else you do, we could really do without songs like "English Tea". OK?]… Expand
  3. nelliea
    7
    It's 's kinda classic alright! jenny wren is my fave piece ---the rests are okay! I love Mccartney's old albums and I hope next time he's gonna make another album better than this one!… Expand
  4. ScottY
    4
    A real disappointment. The first song starts off strong and there's a catchy one towards the end and the rest is just dull. His last decent album was Flaming Pie, and the collaborations he had on that just bury the by-himself-except-for-the-string-section attitude on this one.… Expand

See all 166 User Reviews

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