10 Rockers That Went Pop (And Nailed It)
3. Tug of War - Paul McCartney
If you wanted to be really cagey about things, Tug of War could really be considered Paul McCartney's first real solo album. Since his self titled albums McCartney and McCartney II were never really meant to be listened to by the public, every other song that Macca put out always had some help behind it, whether it was with his wife Linda or having the entirety of Wings backing him up throughout the '70s. Without his band, his wife, and even John Lennon following his death, Paul finally stepped up with some of the sturdiest songs that he would ever write.
Teaming up with different producers like Eric Stewart from 10CC, Tug of War is the culmination of everything that makes Paul tick musically, like the Wall of Sound vocals that you get out of his voice on the song Take It Away or teaming up with his idol Carl Perkins for the country rocker Get It. And while Stevie Wonder's duet with him on Ebony and Ivory is great on its own, What's That You're Doing might be the better of their collaborations, working off of one another to create something a lot more soulful than just a regular piano ballad.
This is also the home of the song Here Today, written in response to John Lennon's murder, where Paul actually opens up about his relationship and ends up thanking John for being a part of his life for all those years. The modern Beatles reunion was now impossible, but the new music that Paul had coming out still had the potential to wow us just like it did back in the '60s.