Album Review

McCartney is the debut solo album by English rock musician Paul McCartney. It was issued on Apple Records in April 1970 after McCartney had resisted attempts by his Beatles bandmates to have the release delayed to allow for Apple's previously scheduled titles, notably the band's Let It Be album. McCartney recorded his album during a period of depression and confusion, following John Lennon's private announcement in September 1969 that he was leaving the Beatles, and the conflict over its release further estranged McCartney from his bandmates. A press release in the form of a self-interview, supplied with UK promotional copies of McCartney, led to the announcement of the group's break-up on 10 April 1970.

McCartney recorded the album in secrecy, mostly using basic home-recording equipment set up at his house in St John's Wood. Mixing and some later recording took place at professional studios in London, which McCartney booked under an alias to maintain anonymity. Apart from occasional contributions by his wife, Linda, he performed the entire album by himself, playing every instrument via overdubbing on four-track tape. In its preference for loosely arranged performance over polished production, McCartney eschewed the sophistication of the Beatles' work with George Martin in favour of a back-to-basics style that partly suggested McCartney's original concept for the Beatles' Let It Be project (then titled Get Back) in 1969.

On release, the album received an unfavourable response from the majority of music critics, partly as a result of McCartney's role in officially ending the Beatles' career. Many reviewers criticised the inclusion of half-finished songs and McCartney's reliance on instrumental pieces, although the love song ''Maybe I'm Amazed'' was consistently singled out for praise. Commercially, McCartney benefited from the publicity surrounding the break-up; it held the number 1 position for three weeks on the US chart compiled by Billboard magazine and peaked at number 2 in Britain. In June 2011, the album was reissued as part of the Paul McCartney Archive Collection. [wikipedia.org]