From: djs@sadtler.com
Subject: Off The Ground Preview
Organization: BIO-RAD Laboratories
Date: Wed, 23 Dec 1992 19:32:42 GMT


Ok, so here is a very simple review of Maccas new album.  I have it on
cassette and rumor has it that it was recorded at a listening party in NYC
a couple of weeks ago.  The quality is not that great because they played the
music over a sound system and someone with a tape player recorded it
near one of the speakers.  This means that the tape has alot of hiss, is in
mono and sometimes you can hear people talking and laughing in the backround!
Obviously they are not there to hear the music, but rather to be seen. 
With that said, the tape does capture the entire album and it is listenable
if you keep in mind the recording conditions .


OFF THE GROUND


Approx
Song
Length      Title                 Very Brief Synopsis
------      -----                 -------------------

3:30        Off The Ground        Above average song. Kind of catchy, but not
                                  terrific. Has a background chorus that 
                                  sounds like Linda is present!

2:51        Looking For Changes   Would have been my pick for the first
                                  single.  This song is fast paced and Macca
                                  even howls like a coyote at one point - 
                                  "Ow Ow Owwwwwwww!!!!!". Great song.

3:30        Hope Of Deliverance   The first single.  It is not much like any
                                  other song on the album.  It is very much
                                  Macca reggae / quasi funky tune.  ( Macca
                                  reggae, not REAL reggae.) Poor choice for
                                  the first single. Above average.

3:20        Mistress & Maid       This is a McCartney-Mac Manus song.  
                                  Definately from the Flowers In The Dirt 
                                  sessions. And it has the flavor of "You Want 
                                  Her Too".  A strong Mac Manus influenced song.

4:50        I Owe It All To You   A Slow song but not a ballad.  If they make a
                                  video for this song it will be in heavy 
                                  rotation on VH-1.  One of my favorites on
                                  this album.

3:30        Biker Like An Icon    A faster paced song than all of the previous
                                  songs except Looking For Changes, but it 
                                  does not really rock. mediocre.
4:50        Peace In The 
            Neighborhood          A Mid-tempo, average, Macca song.

4:05        Golden Earth Girl     This song opens with a piano piece that is
                                  similar to the opening of Maybe I'm Amazed.
                                  It is the first real ballad on the album.

3:40        The Lovers That 
            Never Were            The 2nd McCartney-Mac Manus song on the 
                                  album.  It sounds like it too.

3:35        Get Out Of My Way     This is an upbeat tempo song.  This would
                                  be my choice for the 2nd single release.
                                  This song could be great in concert.

5:30        Wine Dark Open Sea    I was told this is the title of the song but
                                  it might be incorrect, it could be titled 
                                  Wide Dark Open Sea.  It is a slow song but
                                  again, it is not a ballad.  Above average.

5:40        C'mon People          This is another slow song, good for closing
                                  out the album.  Not particulary exciting.




So that is it.  Interesting enough, "Cosmically Conscious" did not show up,
or if it did then it was buried somewhere in between songs.  The current 
press releases say that this album really rocks, but I don't believe it 
even comes close.   It is a good album but it is not a great album.  Macca
fans will like it alot, but I do not believe that it will bring over many new
listeners.  There is here nothing as catchy/pop as My Brave Face.  Only 
two songs, Looking For Changes and Get Out Of My Way are true rockers, the 
rest are either mid tempo or slower.  I do not feel that this album will sell 
very well.  It will probable sell as much as Flowers In The Dirt.  The album
sounds like a mixture of Press To Play and Flowers In The Dirt, which is not
surprising.  It does NOT sound like Back To The Egg.

Although I have not heard the song Big Boys Bickering, which will be a b-side
to Hope Of Deliverance, a friend of mine has heard it and Macca says the word
"fuck" over twenty times during the song. Sounds like a great song for a 
single :-).  The song might be about his feelings toward the British 
Parliment (sp?). Who knows.

-- 
D. Sears                                          Email:  djs@sadtler.com
post += disclaimer;                   Sadtler Research Labs, Philadelphia 
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