Reviews Written by
M. M. Kneppers (Utrecht, Netherlands)
Memory Almost Full ~ Paul McCartney
Eclectic poprock album

After the dark Chaos & Creation album from 2005, McCartney returns with a more later period Wings-like popalbum in 2007. The songs sound fresh and are cleverly arranged. Macca seems to have found his popsensibility again, without losing his edgy side.
8 songs on the album are great, the other 5 are less stellar, but no drag either.
Here is a song-by-song review of the album:

“Dance Tonight” is an upbeat simple popsong, written and played on a banjo. It gets three stars ***
“Ever Present Past” is more substantial than DT. I especially like the chorus bit… “I think I do I did…”. Reminds me a bit of the “Driving Rain” title track. The guitar bit in the middle is also interesting. Note the flute at the end, which sounds like the one The Beatles used on the Magical Mistery Tour album. I rank this 4 stars ****
“See You Sunshine”. Starts similar to the song “Tiny Bubble” from Driving Rain, but it is more satisfying than that one. It has a nice laid back feel. I rank this ***,5 stars
“Only Mama knows”. When I saw the title, I didn’t expect the song i was about to hear. This is great!! Think “About You” from Driving Rain. Intelligent hooks, great guitars, great speed and great voice!! He can still do it! I rank this ***** stars.
“You Tell Me” Nice song (a slow Blue Bird), but I am not a fan of Macca using his falsetto (high Voice). Ranking: *** stars (one point less because of the high voice)
“Mister Bellamy” Another unexpected song. Does not sound like anything he did before. Interesting arrangement, great voice and melodic. Reminds a bit of the old 10cc. A strong **** stars
“Gratitude”. Great voice, and arrangement. Reminds me of a slower version of the song “Souvenir” from Flaming Pie and of the song “Call Me Back Again ” of Venus & Mars. A grower! ****.
“Vintage Clothes”. Sounds like a song from the Wings album “London Town” called “Famous Groupies”,. It has an interesting rythm, harmony and guitar arrangement. ****
“That Was Me” starts similar to his song for the “Vanilla Sky” movie. The chorus is fab. A strong ****!
“Feet In The Clouds” Not the best lyrics, but the song is great musically (fab vocals arrangement). In spite of the lyrics I give this ****.
“House Of Wax”… woow! Macca goes Ozzy! A very powerful ballad, with a lot of echo, orchestra and guitar distortion. *****
In “End Of The End” he sings about his moment he will die and the way he whish the things will be at his funeral and about him going to the other side… very nice atmosphere. Reminds of “This Never Happened Before” from Chaos & Creation. Nice. ***
“Nod Your Head” Great, great ending but much too short! It leaves wanting more. ****
Special note: the bass playing of Paul on this album is very good!

Conclusion: an interesting album, with a good mix of ballads, uptempo pop and rock. It surely wil end up as one of better albums of Macca. My overall score is about ****, which means “good”.
Recommended to both Macca fans and people who ‘just’ like great pop/rock music.