Written by Ashley Paskill
From his time with the Beatles to a highly successful solo career, Sir Paul McCartney has made an impact on the music industry and has inspired so many musicians and music lovers alike. McCartney III Imagined pays homage to the musician’s McCartney III, his 18th solo album, and invited musicians to cover the songs on the album or remix the songs. The new album is now available across digital platforms and will soon be released in CD and vinyl formats.
The artists featured on the album include Anderson. Paak, Beck, Blood Orange, Damon Albarn, Dominic Fike, EOB, Idris Elba, Josh Homme, Khruangbin, 3D RDN of Massive Attack, Phoebe Bridgers, and St. Vincent. The songs were all written by McCartney.
According to McCartney in an interview with PaulMcCartney.com, he has loved seeing how artists have interpreted their songs. None of the artists were given guidelines for how to approach the songs, so they had free range to put their own sound and creativity into the songs. Some artists even added their own lyrics to the tracks and created music videos.
As someone who grew up listening to McCartney and the Beatles, hearing different renditions of the songs by such a legendary artist is super interesting to me. For me, this album really encapsulates the power of music. Everyone has their own interpretations of songs, and it is powerful to see how musicians across different genres and of different ages have all come together to put a cohesive project in place. It shows how unifying music is, which has been so crucial over the pandemic.
This album also shows how impactful McCartney’s career has been. Hearing so many different musicians interpret his songs from his most recent album is so powerful. He has influenced so many musicians, so it is great to see these artists paying tribute to him in this way. In a sense, this is also a way for McCartney to pay his career forward by allowing musicians to have a spot on the album.
In terms of style, the songs are all so different and there is truly something for everyone. No matter what your favorite style of music is, it is likely that it is featured on this album. The mixing of all of the songs is well done. Even though all of the songs are so different, somehow they all work when put on the album together.
Overall, this album is definitely one to check out. This kind of album, especially by such a legend as McCartney, is not common, so McCartney III Imagined is a nice change of pace. Being able to hear so many different styles come together to put their own spins on McCartney’s songs symbolizes both the unifying power of music and the impact of McCartney’s music career on newer musicians.
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