10 Rock Albums That No One Was Asking For

As soon as we heard of the Beatles’ breakup, people were lined up to see what the solo outings from the Fab Four had to offer. Even if it might not have been as awe inspiring as what they had gotten up to on masterpieces like Abbey Road, the solo records of John, Paul, George, and Ringo were bound to have more than their fair share of highlights. And while Paul McCartney may have been known as the most meticulous Beatle in the studio, his solo debut is by far the most slapdash.

Being worked on around the same time that the band was in turmoil in the late ‘60s, much of what turns up on the first solo McCartney record is nothing more than just a glorified demo tape, with Paul playing most of the instruments. While we did end up getting one fantastic song out of the deal with Maybe I’m Amazed, the lion’s share of this album is just bits and pieces of what could have been Beatles songs sprawled out for a few minutes.

Even so, some of these tracks still hold up as something special, like the jaunty acoustic feel of Every Night and the little snippet ditty Junk, which sounds like it could have been a decent Beatles tune had John Lennon been there to add a little bit more flair into the arrangements. The last years of the Beatles sounded like they were pure hell for everyone involved, and even if this is Paul at his most frayed, he’s still pretty damn good.