McCartney I
The original bedroom pop album, “McCartney, " debuted Paul’s solo career away from the Beatles, which would earn him plenty of hate at times but would be remembered fondly as inspiration for good lo-fi music. Paul was vilified at the time for killing the Beatles, but the reality was the band was breaking apart anyway. Feeling depressed and lost from the recent departure of John Lennon, Paul turned towards his four-track recorder to process his emotions and reinspire his creativity. The most memorable tracks the record would produce are “Maybe I’m Afraid,” “Junk” and “Every Night.”
McCartney II
Seeing the changing tides in pop music, Paul McCartney tries to ride the new wave with his second namesake album experimenting with synths and studio trickery. Recorded in Paul’s farmhouse in Scotland, the album was released early due to his Japanese tour with Wings being canceled (because he was arrested too many times for possessing weed in the country). Critics loathed it at the time, but the album has earned a cult following for its eccentricity and novelty.
McCartney III
Nearly double the age of the last McCartney album 40 years prior, Paul returned to the home studio to make “McCartney 3” during the pandemic. Embracing the spirit of those early projects of the ‘70s, Paul recorded and played all the instruments seeking to make music for himself again rather than for business. Critics loved the album earning him multiple Grammy nominations for its playful weirdness no 80-year-old man should be capable of producing.
