RUHtf: Fireman - Rushes

Alright...this is a sweet ditty. Today the new Fireman album is available. (below I have a link for a FREE track from
Amazon). In case you don't know who "Fireman" is, I won't play guessing games with you- it's Paul McCartney under an alias. Fireman allows him to do "experimental"/non-McCartney-esque material. Those who are tried and true fans will "get it". Those who are "fly-by-night" fans and only in to him for the "hits" (the people who go to the bathroom or snack bar while he starts playing a new, unfamiliar song in concert) will think "What the hell is this?" Changing musical direction midcareer can be very disadvantageous to an artist. Especially the "un-errable" (former) Beatles. Does anyone remember the praise for Paul's "Liverpool Oratorio", George's "Wonderwall Music", John's Primal Scream music, Paul & Ringo's children's albums? Didn't think so.

Well...he's got the money, he's got the time, he's got the talent...he knows the old fans will be there, they'll just get up for a potty break. The hardcore fans will listen and enjoy.

Here's his first Out Of Print album, "Rushes". I saw this at Best Buy years ago and passed it up. Now it fetches bucks on Amazon. We saw him a couple years ago, and played this album as people were getting their seats before the show.

The title, I imagine, refers to something only true Beatle fanatics (the ones who stay in their seats) would probably understand....it refers to to the lyrics from "Penny Lane": "The fireman rushes in...from the pouring rain".

Track 1


Track 2


Track 3


Track 4


Track 5


Get the lead track from his new album here for free from Amazon.

Here's Daily Om's review:

Paul McCartney, former Beatle and arguably the most world’s most beloved working musician, just refuses to rest. Not only does he release formidable solo albums at a steady clip after all these years, but even finds time for surprising—and surprisingly rewarding—side projects. The Fireman began in 1993 as a collaboration between McCartney and the producer and bassist known as Youth. The pair’s first two albums focused on experimental sound collage and instrumental electronica, styles McCartney helped forge decades back with the Beatles’ "Tomorrow Never Knows." 2008’s Electric Arguments, however, arrives as an album of a different stripe: a set of 13 terrific new McCartney songs, with vocals, written and recorded with Youth in only 13 days.

Opener "Nothing Too Much Just Out of Sight" is an unexpectedly raging rocker, a dirty blues thump that sees McCartney growling his vocals like he’s seldom done since the Beatles’ "Helter Skelter." Youth concocts a swirling mass of bass and guitar to bolster this vicious tale of betrayal, and the song’s chorus breaks into a thick, floating chorus with "na na na" background vocals and disembodied wails. The next track, "Two Magpies," takes a more laid-back, acoustic tack, with shifting chords and a smart McCartney melody. But the duo keeps the number loose and mangy, with buzzing, in-your-face production.

What’s most surprising about Electric Arguments, in the end, is its accessibility and immediacy. While the album still features moments of sound collage, it also boasts a track list full of arresting pop songs. "Sing the Changes" is a great sweeping rocker, a stadium anthem build on an easy, beautiful melody. The track has the effortless pop appeal of so much of McCartney’s best work, but he and Youth again keep the number refreshingly unslick—a blazing comet of sound as opposed to a polished gemstone. The Fireman began as an experimental aside, but on its third album the project has become something bigger: an outlet for one of our greatest songwriters. This is McCartney let loose and cutting loose. Safe behind the relative anonymity of the Fireman moniker he’s able to produce his freshest work in years.