Movie rating: 4 Star

Paul McCartney - Back In The World

Right from the Beatles' very earliest days, Paul McCartney was always the one who most enjoyed playing to the audience. Now, more than thirty years after they broke up, he's produced the ultimate crowd-pleasing album - a live record of his current world tour, with a setlist that contains over 20 Fab Four classics. And while some veteran musicians are touchy about having to revisit their back catalogues, McCartney treats his with the respect it deserves - producing punchy versions of tunes such as 'Hello Goodbye', 'Back In The USSR' and 'Getting Better' that evoke justifiably ecstatic responses from an appreciative crowd. Sensibly enough, he sticks mostly to his 'own' Beatles songs, the sole exception being a version of George Harrison's exquisite 'Something' that could have been risky but is happily executed with the best of taste. Rubbing shoulders with all of these are Wings favourites such as 'Band on the Run' and 'Jet' - which, contrary to received wisdom, don't suffer badly by comparison at all. As with most live albums, Back In The World isn't nearly as good as actually being there. But if you can't get a ticket for the RDS, this is an awful lot better than nothing.

Review by | 09:00 | Thursday 10th April 2003 | Album Review