rs

LUE

Off the Ground Paul McCartney (Capitol)

TT aR ay Mick Jagger (Warner)

by Kirby Ferguson fter reacquainting himself with oldies A and Beatles’ faves, experimenting with full-fledged classical music and col- laboratit.g with Elvis Costello, Paul McCartney

has been pushing the envelope in recent years.

Unfortunately, the high aspirations of Qf-the

Ground, his latest release, are squanggyed i ‘ ‘lagget andMeC arttiey seém revitalized, though “McCartney neéds ag Rick Rubin (or Elvis

bland production. A lack of melodies certainly isdt the sprob-

hen which drains character and melts theBy ints rendering the proceeding obit nous. Not that this is a tragi¢ Wa Ground consists largely of hopéfessly jolly

trots, unconvincing rockers and dippys socialy

commentary (climaxing with * ‘and don’t forget to be... Cosmically Conscious,’’ yeah whage ever, Paul). Even the two Costello collabofa- tions fail to provide some punch. Though these

12

ethan’ one, ould have pos ib’

lem with a. Ground; nor is vr" the album’ 3

objections apply to all McCartney’s solo al- bums, a rootsier production could have hidden his cloying cuteness and left the pop hooks to stand on their own. Though Paul McCartney still seems to be an artist of potential and daring, he obviously needs someone else to bring some passion to the equation. In the end, Off the Ground’s craftsmanship should satisfy fans. Others should direct themselves to any of the album s on the opposite page.

Far preferable is Mick Jagger’s Wandering Spirit, by far the strongest of his three solo albums. Without Keith Richards, Jagger has seemed as incomplete as McCartney, but here he adds producer Rick Rubin (something other than a yes-man), whose beefy production and contemporary sounds add a new dimension.

In the past, Jagger’s attempts to catch up with the mainstream have been embarrassing. He obviously has no intention of growing old gracefully; he’s gonna fight it every step of the way, just like the Oil of Olay lady. But Jagger scores a victory over Old Man Time with this

"compared to Off the Ground it sounds especially rocking."

one, a surprisingly fresh and varied work. ““Sweet Thing’’ (not the Van Morrison song) is amodernized ‘‘Miss You”’ and an attempt to be contemporary that works. Covers of James Brown’s ‘‘Think”’ and Frederick Knight’s ‘‘I’ve Been Lonely For So Long’’ are inventive and fun. Jagger seems willing to tackle anything

handat Celtic folk with ‘‘Hand-

th Sais amaster- rit, i$ more exciting y predicted, and oy the Ground it

piece, Still, Wanderi

compared to McCartney unds especially rocking, Witile both are.aip’ ai phd that 50 mark,

Costello, or John Iennon) to stop him from

Ging s@ cute. An@ perhaps he knows this -- : sfumodrhasit thiat McCartney, George Harrison

y and Ringo Starr are going to reunite (but don’t

Gountyon it), Which reminds me, Cream are

definitely going to record another album to-

gether Teal soon. You can also expect newies

trom Living Colour, Sting and a Tin Machine- Jess DavidiBowie any time now. Also, a couple weeks@po I forgot to give number ratings to my

revfews: Elvis Costello’s Juliet Letters got an 8,

while Jesus Jones’ Perverse landed a 5. @

Inside Out Sue Medley

(Polygram)

by Carol Schneider n this her second album, Sue Medley C) takes some of her adventures and turns out an album for real life. The title comes from the fact that Sue Medley looks inside herself and gives us what she found there.

The first single from this album, ‘*‘When the Stars Fall’’, is Sue’s own ideas on ‘‘what a crazy business we’re in, and how the support of friends makes a difference.’’ If you’ve listened to any top 40 radio lately you’ ve probably heard it since it was a fairly popular song.

But this soft, sentimental song is not the only type of song on this album. Sue medley mixes a fairly heavy rock sound, ‘‘The Sound and the Fury’’ with the bitter humor of ‘Forget You’ and the sensitive but harsh ‘‘Jane’s House’’ to put together an album well worth a listen. @

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