Rating:
Genre:
Rock
Release Date: 10/25/1990
Run Time: 40:59
Reuniting with producer
George Martin was a bit of a masterstroke on the part of
Paul McCartney, since it guaranteed that
Tug of War would receive a large, attentive audience.
Martin does help
McCartney focus, but it's hard to give all the credit to
Tug of War, since
McCartney was showing signs of creative rebirth on
McCartney II, a homemade collection of synth-based tunes. This lush, ambitious, sprawling album couldn't be further from that record. That was deliberately experimental and intimate, while this is nothing less than a grand gesture, playing as
McCartney's attempt to summarize everything he can do on one record. There's majestic balladry, folky guitars, unabashed whimsy, unashamed sentimentality, clever jokes, silliness, hints of
reggae, a
rockabilly duet with
Carl Perkins, two collaborations with
Stevie Wonder, and, of course, lots of great tunes. If anything,
McCartney's trying a bit too hard here, and there are times that the music sags with its own ambition (or slightly dated production, as on the smash single
"Ebony and Ivory"). But, at its best -- the surging title track, the giddy
"Take It Away," the
vaudevillian stomp
"Ballroom Dancing," the
Lennon tribute
"Here Today," the wonderful
"Wanderlust" -- it's as good as
McCartney gets.
~Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
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