1 of Paul McCartney’s More Controversial Solo Albums Has Aged Well
Music is like a roller coaster ride. One time an artist or song can top the charts with hit after hit, and another time, they are nowhere to be seen. Sometimes the only way to remain on top is to release a controversial album and pray for the best.
When the Beatles broke up, Paul McCartney took to music to vent his feelings. He clearly expressed his feelings about the dissolution of the group’s partnership in one of his controversial albums, Ram. Although the album received heavy criticism, especially from former bandmate John Lennon, the album has since aged well.
The Beatles were a prevalent group in the 60s
Lennon is credited for forming the Beatles in 1957 with a couple of friends playing under the name the Blackjacks. However, they ended up changing the name after realizing that the name was already in use by another band.
Lennon met McCartney in July that year and invited him to the band as a rhythm guitarist. McCartney then invited a young George Harrison to watch the band while they played. Impressed by what he saw, Harrison asked to join the band, but Lennon thought he was too young.
After insisting for so long, they let him join the band as a lead guitarist. Lennon then joined Liverpool College of Art, where he met Stuart Sutcliffe, who suggested they change the name to the Beatles after joining the band as a bass guitarist.
They used the name for some time, then refashioned it to the Silver Beatles until they shortened it to the name they came to be known by; the Beatles.
The Beatles enjoyed moderate success with their songs for a time. However, it wasn’t until 1963 when they started gaining international recognition for their songs. The track ‘Please Please Me’ charted at number one in almost every UK chart.
Lennon said that when they were writing the lyrics to the song, he and McCartney weren’t giving it much thought and were coming up with words for the sake of producing sounds. The song is a hit until today. The Beatles released several hit songs such as ‘She Loves You,’ ‘Yesterday’ and ‘From Me To You’ until their breakup in 1974.
Paul McCartney and Lennon had a very public feud since then
The Beatles’ problems began with the appointment of a financial adviser. Afterward, the band members began recording solo projects, and Lennon officially left the band on September 20, 1969. McCartney and Lennon had noticeable creative differences.
When the band worked on ‘The Long and Winding Road,’ McCartney felt dissatisfied with the finished product and asked that it be altered. When the producers didn’t meet his demands, he exited from the group. In 1971, McCartney and his wife Linda had been working on an album called Ram.
When they released the album, it was met with heavy criticism. Lennon thought the song “Too Many People” was a jab at him and his wife Yoko Ono. Lennon thought that some of the album’s lyrics were McCartney’s opinions of the Beatles and their breakup.
‘Ram’ was received with mixed reviews but has since aged well
Lennon wasn’t the only one who felt indifferent towards McCartney’s Ram. Music journalists also expressed their reservations about the album. The mixed reviews significantly hurt McCartney since he hoped that the album would clarify his opinions from his previous self-titled album.
Most critics called the album ‘inconsequential and irrelevant,’ with many saying that Ram showed how McCartney had ‘benefited a lot’ from being with the Beatles. Critics have gone back to look at the album from a different perspective over the years, and the reviews have been great. In 2020, Rolling Stone listed Ram on number 450 for the greatest albums of all time.
