Paul McCartney retreated from the spotlight of
the Beatles by recording his first solo album at his home studio, performing nearly all of the instruments himself. Appropriately,
McCartney has an endearingly ragged, homemade quality that makes even its filler -- and there is quite a bit of filler -- rather ingratiating. Only a handful of songs rank as full-fledged
McCartney classics, but those songs -- the light folk-pop of "That Would Be Something," the sweet, gentle "Every Night," the ramshackle
Beatles leftover "Teddy Boy," and the staggering "Maybe I'm Amazed" (not coincidentally the only rocker on the album) -- are full of all the easy melodic charm that is
McCartney's trademark. The rest of the album is charmingly slight, especially if it is read as a way to bring
Paul back to earth after the heights of
the Beatles. At the time the throwaway nature of much of the material was a shock, but it has become charming in retrospect. Unfortunately, in retrospect it also appears as a harbinger of the nagging mediocrity that would plague
McCartney's entire solo career. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine