John, Paul, & George's solo albums are too often overlooked by people who have bought into the idea that they never really did anything worth listening to after leaving The Beatles. This is unfortunate because they really did record a number of great albums on their own (or with new bands like Wings.)
In this article I highlight five such albums that I recommend you give an honest listen to. Are any of these albums a match for Revolver, The White Album, or Abbey Road? No, not in my opinion. But not many albums are in that league! While these albums may not be true classics, they are (in some cases) very close to that status.
Paul McCartney - Ram (1971) - This album has a real "magic" to it. I think it may actually be Paul's best solo album because it unleashes his musical creativity in it's most unbridled way. Sadly, a lot of the music critics at the time just didn't get what Paul was doing and I think he backed away from this really quite "weird" (and I mean that in the best way) direction because of that.
John Lennon - Walls & Bridges (1974) - This is a really underrated album. I really enjoy listening to it all the way through. My favorite track on the album is #11, "Nobody Loves You (When You're Down and Out.)" It's a true classic in my opinion.
George Harrison - All Things Must Pass (1970) - This one was a huge revelation as showed what a prolific songwriter George was He had a lot of songs built up from his time with The Beatles that he wasn't able to get onto Beatles albums thus this triple album came into being (the 3rd LP being instrumental jams.) Unfortunately he never came close to matching this album the rest of his career, in my opinion.
Paul McCartney - Memory Almost Full (2007) - A lot of people were disappointed by this one in comparison with Chaos & Creation... and I can understand that, but it's really a completely different side of Paul. Chaos... was the disciplined Paul. This is the "do anything he damn well pleases" Paul. I find both Paul's charming and I think this is a pretty great album.
The Fireman - Electric Arguments (2008) - This is Paul's third release as "The Fireman" which is actually a duo of McCartney and the producer Youth. The first one isn't worth checking out, but the second one is titled Rushes (1998) and it's a really great electronic ambient music album that I highly recommend. Anyway, as far as Electric Arguments goes - it's basically a marriage of Paul's experimental edge with his more pop oriented songwriting.
This list is not meant to be the top five and it's definitely not meant to be all inclusive. These are just five albums to check out so that you can get a taste of the great music John, Paul, & George kept making after they left The Beatles.
In this article I highlight five such albums that I recommend you give an honest listen to. Are any of these albums a match for Revolver, The White Album, or Abbey Road? No, not in my opinion. But not many albums are in that league! While these albums may not be true classics, they are (in some cases) very close to that status.
Paul McCartney - Ram (1971) - This album has a real "magic" to it. I think it may actually be Paul's best solo album because it unleashes his musical creativity in it's most unbridled way. Sadly, a lot of the music critics at the time just didn't get what Paul was doing and I think he backed away from this really quite "weird" (and I mean that in the best way) direction because of that.
John Lennon - Walls & Bridges (1974) - This is a really underrated album. I really enjoy listening to it all the way through. My favorite track on the album is #11, "Nobody Loves You (When You're Down and Out.)" It's a true classic in my opinion.
George Harrison - All Things Must Pass (1970) - This one was a huge revelation as showed what a prolific songwriter George was He had a lot of songs built up from his time with The Beatles that he wasn't able to get onto Beatles albums thus this triple album came into being (the 3rd LP being instrumental jams.) Unfortunately he never came close to matching this album the rest of his career, in my opinion.
Paul McCartney - Memory Almost Full (2007) - A lot of people were disappointed by this one in comparison with Chaos & Creation... and I can understand that, but it's really a completely different side of Paul. Chaos... was the disciplined Paul. This is the "do anything he damn well pleases" Paul. I find both Paul's charming and I think this is a pretty great album.
The Fireman - Electric Arguments (2008) - This is Paul's third release as "The Fireman" which is actually a duo of McCartney and the producer Youth. The first one isn't worth checking out, but the second one is titled Rushes (1998) and it's a really great electronic ambient music album that I highly recommend. Anyway, as far as Electric Arguments goes - it's basically a marriage of Paul's experimental edge with his more pop oriented songwriting.
This list is not meant to be the top five and it's definitely not meant to be all inclusive. These are just five albums to check out so that you can get a taste of the great music John, Paul, & George kept making after they left The Beatles.
About the Author:
It's because of the greatness of The Beatles music (heard in The Beatles in Stereo & The Beatles in Mono box sets) that the solo work of John, Paul, & George is so often overlooked.
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