McCartney II Rewards The Diehard Fans

I picked up the new McCartney II remaster yesterday, and my first impression is that it’s a feast for hard core fans, such as myself.

Anyone who considers themselves a “hardcore” fan of anything most likely considers themselves as also “long-suffering”. Hardcore fans simply can’t be satisfied. We spend ridiculous amounts of money on our favorite artist’s products. The longer this goes on, the more impossible is becomes to satisfy us.

We no longer like most of popular songs, the hits. We like the most obscure stuff and we wish, and half-way expect that we will get what we wanted. When CSNY toured in 2000, their first tour since 1974, I actually thought they’d play “Pushed It Over The End”, the legendary unreleased Neil Young song from the 1974 tour.

I’ve probably spent no less than $5000 on Paul McCartney music over the years. Despite feeling generally neglected by McCartney himself, I think it was money well spent. Over 28 years I have easily received more than $5000 worth of enjoyment from the music.

So back to the McCartney II reissue. I bought the deluxe edition. It was expensive, but thank you Paul. This is the kind of thing I want. Paul is giving as much (or more) attention to his “lesser” solo albums as was given to CLASSIC albums like Pet Sounds or any of the Beatles albums. Who listens to the McCartney II album these days? Pretty much only the diehard fans I would guess. This is the kind of album that contains the obscure songs that have become our favorites, and that we wished he would perform in concert. Yes, I would love to hear “On The Way” in concert. Everyone else would hit the bathroom.

The deluxe edition of the album cost me $89 at Best Buy. It goes for a more reasonable $65 on Amazon. If you like McCartney, don’t hesitate to pick this up. It isn’t just a boutique collector’s item. It’s a really nice, well done product.

Stay tuned for more about McCartney II…