Off The Ground Atlanta GA

Off The Ground

Paul McCartney

Capitol, 1993

REVIEW BY: Christopher Thelen

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 07/20/2007

Paul McCartney’s solo career has been savaged by critics and the music-buying public alike, often for being too syrupy-sweet and reliant on ballads.

So why does Off The Ground, McCartney’s 1993 release, turn out to be one of his unheralded triumphs? Quite possibly, it’s because no one expected McCartney to put out an album this strong, even coming off the success of Flowers In The Dirt four years prior. This was, after all, the same person who was responsible for Press To Play and Give My Regards To Broad Street.

Yet there it is, wrapped up in about a dozen tracks -- a disc that could well be one of McCartney’s best, if not the best one he’s recorded in his career.

Kicking off with the strong title track, McCartney lets the listener know that this is more than an album. It’s a musical journey. Within these songs, one will hear quite possibly one of the strongest animal rights songs ever recorded (“Looking For Changes”), one of McCartney’s strongest ballads (“Hope Of Deliverance”), a powerful rocker that shows McCartney had lost little of the edge over the years (“Get Out Of My Way”) and a tender love song that doesn’t push the limits (“I Owe It All To You”).