10 Perfect Rock Albums That Critics Got Wrong
7. McCartney II - Paul McCartney
At the start of the '80s, Paul McCartney had gone through more than his fair share of ups and downs since leaving the Beatles. After the very start of his career got off to a rocky start, his new band Wings had become one of the biggest acts of the '70s and notched up some classics like Band on the Run and Venus and Mars. When things started to dissolve though, critics got the advance copies of McCartney II and were... puzzled.
From the first sounds of this album, this is nothing like the Paul McCartney that we were used to, with most of it sounding like its being fed through the lens of something like Kraftwerk. Looking to get out of the normal way of making records, this is the sound of Macca going berzerk in a recording studio and making the most primitive music he can, like the gorgeous sound of Waterfalls and the calming instrumentals on songs like Summer's Day Song.
Even though most of the fans and critics had a pretty bad reaction to songs like Temporary Secretary back in the day, one of the few fans that saw something in it was former Beatle John Lennon. After hearing songs like Coming Up on the radio, Lennon was inspired again to go back into the studio for what would turn out to be his final album, Double Fantasy. And if you make an album that inspires a Beatle to get back to work to best it, you've done something right.