The good news on Driving Rain is Paul has finally given up. No endless months of fine-tuning and overdubs. No fancy cover either - just a fuzzy Polaroid with a dashed off, handwritten title. If he feels like celebrating, he lets himself soar - as in the last-minute addition of a supercharged "Freedom" from the Concert For New York. If he wants to jam, he digs in at length. If he's feeling romantic, he lets us know (yeah, now there's a surprise). The entire album has an offhand, thrown together feel to it - like something Macca and a neighborhood band knocked off in their garage last week. Paul hasn't sounded this loose since 1965. It suits him well.

Remember Sgt. Pepper's floating, melodic bass lines? They're back for an encore on Driving Rain, and the title song announces their return in the album's opening seconds. Beatlesque flourishes are here, there, and everywhere - from the White Album-ish "Heather" with its oh-so-British piano and vocal phrasings, to "About You" and "Back In The Sunshine Again," either of which could pass for Abbey Road outtakes. Paul's new backing band is young, talented, and unpretentious. They make even the jams and instrumentals work.

Simply put, Driving Rain is Paul McCartney's best and most consistent effort since 1982's Tug Of War. Whatever demons Macca has been battling since Winging it on his own, remember you read it here first: they've lost, Paul's won. He is more than live. He's finally free. And to celebrate he's unleashed his first monster album in nearly two decades.


Another rockin' effort from Paul McCartney   July 8, 2002
Catherine S. Vodrey (East Liverpool, Ohio United States)
21 out of 22 found this review helpful

It's hard to believe this guy is sixty years old. He can still rock and roll with the best of them! There are a lot of wonderful treats on "Driving Rain," not the least of which is seeing his new sprightliness and cheer following the upswing of his lovelife. The very first track, "Lonely Road," stoutly declares that he's not ready to "walk that lonely road again," and while in someone else's hands we might think that it referred to simply, well, being alone, in McCartney's able hands it carries both overt and subtle references to the 1998 death of Linda, to whom he'd been married for twenty-nine years (an astonishing length of time by any standards, but especially by the standards of rock and roll). With this song, McCartney declares his willingness to go on with his own life.

"From a Lover to a Friend" carries McCartney's signature piano work to new heights and has echoes of so many old McCartney tunes. It's a treat musically, and showcases McCartney's usual ear for delicately revealing lyrics. It's difficult to tell if he's talking to both Linda and Heather here, but that's what seems to be going on. Most revealing, not to mention a fine tune.

On "Tiny Bubble," McCartney almost seems at the beginning of the song to be channeling a Barry White/Stevie Wonder/Funkadelic kind of groove, complete with Hammond organ. Then "Your Way" could easily pass for a Grateful Dead effort in terms of its harmonies and laid-back ease. McCartney is all over the map here and it's exhilarating!

Heather Mills has done something good for Paul McCartney--we'll never know exactly all the details, but good for her for being the inspiration for the lovely "Heather," a gorgeous blend of calmness and joy that is mostly all about piano with just a subtle drum rhythm in the background. It's truly a pretty song, something it's hard to say about most songs these days. Then on "Your Loving Flame," piano comes to the fore again, this time with an almost prayerful intensity. The song is thoughtful, complex, and bears lyrics of an almost naked intensity. Here is a Paul McCartney in the throes of young love, no matter what his age, and it's a splendid thing to hear.


If Only Paul Was a Nobody...   December 4, 2001
Tom (Palatine, IL USA)
27 out of 30 found this review helpful

...maybe then people we would be able to listen to an album open minded. But, Paul is Paul, John Lennon's partner, founder of Wings, a friggin BEATLE for God's sake...it's hard not to expect too much.

Yet, this album is good enough anyway. If Paul had produced his last two albums incognito, (I am thinking about "Flaming Pie" and "Driving Rain" here) and suddenly died, reviewers the world over would be lamenting the forshortened career of an under apreciated artist. But this is Paul McCartney, and everything is judged by Penny Lane and Revolver. Not gonna happen. Can't...this isn't the 60's and none of us are removing the sleepy dew of the 50's from our eyes.

So, on its own, this is a great album.

Like Jagger, Paul attempts to cover a number of musical genres here, but Paul's effort feels a little less forced. contrary to most expectations, this album isn't 64 minutes of Paul bemoaning Linda's death. "Lonely Road" clearly gets that job done, and rather ably at that.

There is a darkness to this album, lacking the silliness of "Press to Play" or the rawness of "Flaming Pie," but maybe that's its strength. Paul plays with a small 4 or 5 piece group for most of this album, staying away from his proclivity for massive over production.

Overall this is a hip, modern sounding album - with a refreshingly minimalist feel. It's also very good.


Driving Rain makes Macca blossom again   November 13, 2001
Ronald Kruschak (Hamburg, Deutschland)
20 out of 23 found this review helpful

Being a close follower of his life and work for more than 25 years, this is the album I never dared to hope he could still be able to come up with. When I put the album on last night, it took me six, seven songs to jump up and whisper to myself: this is impossible, this is the best he's done, since.... Abbey Road. This one reminds me why I started to love him when I was a kid listening to the first Beatles' albums. It's a fantastic album!

Let's be frank here. Although his later albums still had some wonderful music on it, sometimes you would have asked yourself whether Macca had completely lost touch of reality (Give my regards to Broad Street), sometimes he was too kitschy to bear (So bad, or that bit on Off the Ground with the lady and animals on their "mossy nest" uurrgh), often I thought, he was producing rather forced or pale efforts to recapture the magic inspirations of the sixties (C'mon people, Young boy). Only in the ballads of the grown family man and his adventurous FIREMAN trips, one found consolation. (Well, A LEAF was fab too.) But DRIVING RAIN sounds as if he was thirty years younger, full of energy, full of joy, hope and FULL OF INSPIRATION. The spark is there, the fire is there, the ballads sound heartfelt, the band is rocking and fresh. Paul McCartney has entered a new phase in his life and you can hear it. I can only congratulate him and us as well. He has proven it yet again -- that he still is one of if maybe not THE best living songwriter and performer. What a joy to have him still writing and playing for us. Thanks Paul, as a Radio Dj once said: when you get a Paul McCartney record, it's as if your birthday and Xmas would fall on one day. -- An effortless triumph.


Essential Recording   December 2, 2001
10 out of 10 found this review helpful

This album's songs came to Paul from the same places they have always come. If you own at least one Beatles' record, you'll enjoy this one just as much. Like a good book it keeps you captivated with tight mood swings. It truly cooks. What an accomplishment by such a gifted artist. Tired of all the (...) that's being hailed as great then when you take a listen and you're like Huh? He's got (...) to make such a record. I'm sure Paul feels really strong about these song's and everyone else that worked with him on it. He worked with a new young band and sung and played bass just like he did with the Beatles'. Live with no bass overdubs. Look what's on the charts now and weep. Then go out and buy "Driving Rain". True arsistic intent is hard to find.