McCartney III
by
  • Record Label:
  • Release Date:
McCartney III Image
Metascore
81

Universal acclaim - based on 23 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
8.1

Universal acclaim- based on 93 Ratings

Your Score
0 out of 10
Rate this:
  • 10
  • 9
  • 8
  • 7
  • 6
  • 5
  • 4
  • 3
  • 2
  • 1
  • 0
  • 0
  • Summary: The latest full-length release for the Beatles artist was self-recorded and produced during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown.
Buy On

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 21 out of 23
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 23
  3. Negative: 0 out of 23
  1. Uncut
    Dec 18, 2020
    90
    Ad hoc, anything goes is the mood of what follows. Much is accomplished and playful. ... When he allows himself to forget who he is and just remember what it is that he does, he can still come up with songs to surprise you. More impressively, maybe even surprise himself.
  2. Variety
    Dec 18, 2020
    83
    Though the album has its share of pleasingly ramshackle numbers, there are a good number of “real” songs here, ones you can imagine fitting in on “Flaming Pie” (which had a deluxe reissue this year) or “Chaos and Creation in the Backyard.” But it’s some of the goofier or slightly more experimental tracks that, for a certain breed of fan anyway, make the ramshackle “III” even easier to love than the more formal “Egypt Station.”
  3. Rolling Stone
    Nov 25, 2020
    80
    McCartney III isn't ambitious like Egypt Station - like his first two self-titled solo statements, it's a spontaneous palette cleanser after a labored studio project. [Nov 2020, p.69]
  4. Classic Rock Magazine
    Dec 8, 2020
    80
    III is the sound of a less restless McCartney simply doing what he does best. [Jan 2021, p.86]
  5. DIY Magazine
    Dec 17, 2020
    80
    Adding another installment to a successful legacy is always a risk, but with ‘McCartney III’, all the icon’s beloved songwriting quirks are out in full force. A more than worthy third prong of the trilogy.
  6. Consequence of Sound
    Dec 18, 2020
    75
    McCartney III will likely go down as one more intriguing artifact from this deeply strange year: an above-average quarantine album from one of the highest-profile artists yet to share their lockdown material. Left alone with his thoughts like the rest of the world, Paul McCartney turned solitude into something unifying. The end result has its flaws, but the sentiment certainly doesn’t.
  7. American Songwriter
    Dec 18, 2020
    50
    Though it’s by no means essential, McCartney 3 will likely still win over legions of compulsive Macca collectors.

See all 23 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 34 out of 43
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 43
  3. Negative: 6 out of 43
  1. Darren101
    Dec 18, 2020
    10
    Absolutely brilliant. Loved it. Really impressed by the guys talent still being there at 78. Then again, what could we expect differently fromAbsolutely brilliant. Loved it. Really impressed by the guys talent still being there at 78. Then again, what could we expect differently from Paul McCartney.

    Standouts:

    - Pretty Boys
    - Seize The Day
    - Winter Bird/When Winter Comes
    - Find My Way    … Expand
  2. Massilanciasass
    Dec 23, 2020
    10
    Great great great! One of his best records! Very nice songs and a lot of variety... His voice is weak but very expressive... I love it!
  4. lipino
    Dec 18, 2020
    10
    Exactly what we needed in quarantine. I love the creativity and optimism in this album, while most other quarantine albums have been moreExactly what we needed in quarantine. I love the creativity and optimism in this album, while most other quarantine albums have been more about isolation and depression. Melodically, McCartney is still the best there is. Probably the best there has ever been, in any genre or era of music, from a melodic sense.… Expand
  5. denizkose
    Jan 1, 2021
    9
    A balm for the soul- love the melody and the lyrics are emotional. Enjoyed all the songs on the album.
  6. segsi
    Dec 18, 2020
    9
    a wonderful album, which has a bit of everything and what is not boring, it is an album that pays tribute to its two previous installments
  7. GuitarPen
    Dec 27, 2020
    8
    Since his departure from The Beatles, the beloved songsmith has alternated between skillfully-written pop masterworks to complete pieces ofSince his departure from The Beatles, the beloved songsmith has alternated between skillfully-written pop masterworks to complete pieces of **** Who would deny the excellence of Ram, Band on the Run, and Flaming Pie? On the other hand, who in their right mind can stomach head-scratchers like Wildlife, Press to Play, and the coma-inducing pablum, Give my Regards to Broad Street. Let's face it; what you get out of a Sir Paul release is anybody's guess.

    Interspersed among his bipolar discography is a triad of numbered albums that beg the question, what is so special about this triumvirate? What they appear to represent are three experimental shifts in style and direction. "I" was a lo-fi introspective shift away from Beatlemania. Ten years later, after the dissolution of Wings, "II" set an experimental tone for his next era of pop profundity. Fast forward forty years. In the middle of a pandemic, which he dubbs "rock-down," McCartney finds himself at the final transformational point in the triad.

    This current incarnation harks back to the first. Let's face it; Paul was the polished Beatle, the produced and precise Beatle, while John was rougher around the edges. The combination of the two is what made the magic. On "III", John lets himself go. He skips the razor and hairbrush, and as a result, we see more of his authentic self. He creates grooves and then jumps into them to explore space within. There's a little John Lennon in these tracks, and thus, a bit of magic is conjured.

    "Long Tailed Winter Bird" sets the pace with a vibrant blues riff greeted by scuffled rhythm and vocals a third of the way. "Find my Way' shines the light of hope into the dark space of our modern times with pop savvy. "Women and Wives" is a refreshing conjuring of a bare-bones blues ostinato. "Deep, Deep Feeling" evokes the modern soulfulness of James Blake or Mac Miller.

    "Deep Down" contains the lyric 'Yankee toes and Eskimos can turn to frozen ice' which McCartney wrote upon impulse and later determined that "it's best not to question too deeply a lyric" and left it alone. The closing track, "When Winter Comes," revisits the album's opening blues riff, building and accentuating dramatically. Much like 2020, we begin in the winter and end in the winter with a whole lot of struggle in between.

    In the long and winding road that is Paul McCartney's career, "III" is a rest along a scenic vista after a rough stretch of terrain. Fingers are crossed that "III" marks a pivot from the polished and predictable toward a deeper and more introspective McCartney in his remaining days.

    - Guitar & Pen    … Expand
  8. RikuSalo
    Dec 22, 2020
    0
    I purchased this CD because I expected fresh lyrics that blend with acoustic/electric guitar melody.... Sorry for Sir Paul fans like me,I purchased this CD because I expected fresh lyrics that blend with acoustic/electric guitar melody.... Sorry for Sir Paul fans like me, this was performed with created melodies afterwords matched up to non-melodic lyrics. I can't recommend buying this CD unless you listen to it first from another user like me… Expand

See all 43 User Reviews

Awards & Rankings

49
#49 Most Discussed Album of 2020

Current Music Releases

Full List »
99 Sign O' the Times [Deluxe Edition] - Prince
95 Wildflowers & All The Rest - Tom Petty
94 To Bring You My Love: The Demos - PJ Harvey
93 Neil Young Archives Vol. II (1972-1976) [Box Set] - Neil Young
93 Untitled (Rise) - Sault
92 Pylon Box [Box Set] - Pylon
92 Hard Luck Stories: 1972-1982 [Box Set] - Richard & Linda Thompson
92 Palo Alto: Live at Palo Alto High School - Thelonious Monk
91 Idiot Prayer: Nick Cave Alone at Alexandra Palace - Nick Cave
91 Sex, Death & The Infinite Void - Creeper
90 Send Them To Coventry [Mixtape] - Pa Salieu
89 The White Stripes Greatest Hits - The White Stripes
89 Pleased To Meet Me [Deluxe Edition] - The Replacements
88 Optimisme - Songhoy Blues
88 Letter to You - Bruce Springsteen
87 Microphones in 2020 - The Microphones
87 Joni Mitchell Archives, Vol. 1: The Early Years 1963-1967 [Box Set] - Joni Mitchell
87 Edna - Headie One
87 Ohms - Deftones
87 Shore - Fleet Foxes
All Current Music »