Some nice songs were recorded during the late 80s, but a lot of them were not released until the
Flaming Pie singles, ten years later. Well, I suppose we're lucky that we've finally got
them.
Excellent:
Once upon a long ago - no message in the lyrics, but the melody is beautiful, the violin soars
and the singing is great.
Very good:
Loveliest thing - another memorable melody, nice singing and fine piano playing.
Love come tumbling down - the best of the old songs on the Flaming Pie singles.
Love mix - nice composite of two songs. Especially the "Waiting for the sun to shine" part is
good.
Back on my feet - the first of the Costello collaborations, and the best. Fine lyrics, excellent
rock playing and good singing.
Flying to my home - the intro put me off a bit at first, but the rest of the song really makes
up for it. The chorus is the best bit. I think this song is the only example of Paul using this
strange singing voice.
Squid - this instrumental is quite fun, but it's way too long at the same time. The guitar theme
is extremely well done, though.
Okay:
Beautiful night (original) - not at all as good as the remake on Flaming Pie, the song is still
so good that nothing can ruin it completely.
Same love - another nice melody, and the singing is good too, but on the whole the tune isn't
all that memorable compared with many other McCartney tunes.
Uninteresting:
Atlantic Ocean - too many spoken bits. Is that a drum machine? The beat sounds just as boring as
one, anyway.
The first stone - has a message, but the beat is boring and the musical backing isn't much
better.
Don't break the promise - an adequate reggae song. Not very exciting at all.
Boring:
I wanna cry - I haven't heard this more than once, but from what I remember this is far from
being one of Paul's best rock songs.
Good sign - the modern beat (that drum machine again?) does not help what is a boring song from
the beginning.
Party party - boring, boring, boring. Almost no lyrics, and the back-beat is again too
repetitive.