u/donlockwood2026

I’ve been listening to the album Living in the Material World a lot the past few days.

I think the album is a masterpiece. It’s a very different album from its predecessor. I think of ATMP as an A+ collection of songs on an abundant double album. But Living in the Material World achieves its masterpiece status differently.

It’s a very tight, cohesive, thematically unified album. To me, this album is almost like the George Harrison equivalent of either Ram or Plastic Ono Band — the tightest distillation of its creator’s aesthetic and thematic interests. In this formulation, ATMP is more like Imagine or Band on the Run — the more varied album that’s just full of wall to wall bangers.

Anyway, I think Living in the Material World is George’s second straight masterpiece to start his solo career, but there’s one slight thing that bothers me. I think the sequence could be slightly improved.

Side One is perfect:

1. Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)
2. Sue Me, Sue You Blues
3. The Light That Has Lighted the World
4. Don’t Let Me Wait Too Long
5. Who Can See It
6. Living in the Material World

Perfect. No notes. I think this is one of the best album sides of George’s career and I wouldn’t change a thing.

Side Two, though, has a fairly notable energy sag down the final stretch. But every song is wonderful. And I think it would be fixed with a simple swap:

1. Be Here Now
2. The Lord Loves the One
3. Try Some Buy Some
4. The Day the World Gets ‘Round
5. That Is All

I feel like Be Here Now would have been the perfect song to start Side Two. It’s a very Within You Without You way to start Side Two: a cosmic, meditative, beautiful, transcendent song. Very still, after the energy and variety of Side One.

Then The Lord Loves the One, which is a good midtempo rocker, actually feels even more explosive coming after such a still track.

Then the rest of the album plays out as originally sequenced as a comedown and resolution.

In the current version, the only energetic track comes first, then a transcendent but extremely slow track. Then a bunch more slower paced tracks, and it gives the feeling of slogging a bit to the finish line.

Anyway, who am I to tell George how to improve his album? I think it’s a masterpiece either way, but I think this one little tweak would have made it PERFECT.

Hare Krishna!

The Background:

I haven’t done this before, but I’ve been spending time getting to know Paul’s 1980’s work. Press to Play is a fascinating album, but… frustrating.

Looking back at the Daily Song Discussion song scores, I found I agreed with the consensus: the last three songs just don’t cut it, but the 3 bonus tracks are very good. I also struggle mightily with Talk More Talk.

Another issue: the track list feels so off to me!

How do you not press play on an album called Press to Play and the first thing you hear isn’t Press playing? The wordplay writes itself!

Track List:

So here’s what I landed on:

Side 1

1. Press — 4:43
2. Pretty Little Head — 5:14
3. Write Away — 3:00
4. It’s Not True — 5:53
5. Tough on a Tightrope — 4:42
   Side 1 Runtime: 23:32

Side 2
6. Stranglehold — 3:36
7. Good Times Coming / Feel the Sun — 4:44
8. Hanglide (*b-side) — 5:18
9. Footprints — 4:32
10. Only Love Remains — 4:13
Side 2 Runtime: 22:23

Total Runtime: 45:55

Why This Works Better for Me:

Opening track — You have to start with Press. It’s the single. It’s catchy. It’s the title. It establishes we are making an adult 1980s pop album. It helps start to establish the identity… which Track 2 completes.

Second Track: Pretty Little Head is weird. Good weird. I didn’t understand what this album was until I got to this track (7th) on the original. It’s Paul the eccentric studio experimenter figuring out mid-80s production while balancing his pop craftsmanship and his eccentricity. This is the shadow identity of this album, and it needs to come up front.

Third Track: Write Away is fun! We dabble in the experimental side on PLH, and now we get back to some pop fun here on track 3.

Fourth: It’s Not True is a good album glue track. Keeps things moving.

Side Closer: Tough on a Tightrope is one of the best songs here. Doesn’t have the finality to end the album, but it makes you want to turn the record over and keep listening.

Side Two Opener: Stranglehold was way too indistinct to start the album and be a thesis statement. Here it’s much better used as an energetic kick off to side 2. A lower-stakes position for a solid song.

Next Track: Good Times/Feel the Sun is a nice one here. We’re deep into the album and we get Paul doing classic Paul things: a suite. Still recognizably pop with some of those eccentric touches. Speaking of which…

Middle of Side Two: I don’t care for Talk More Talk, but I recognize what it does for the album: add a weird, experimental texture. I think it’s not very good and it comes awkwardly too early in the album. Moving Pretty Little Head up to the second overall slot now establishes the experimental side of Studio Paul in a great way, so here, deep into the album, we can go full instrumental/atmospheric/spacey/textural as a continuation of that theme established on the second track of Side One. And I love the b-side Hanglide for this. If you disagree, you can keep Talk More Talk.

Penultimate Track: Footprints is one of the best songs on the album. A great song to lead into the finale.

Closer: Only Love Remains… you gotta end on the ballad! This is the only song from the entire pool of available songs that has finality to it. I like the version from the Singles Box Set with the cheesy sax solo. Why not lean into 1986 adult contemporary pop? That’s a major part of what we’re doing here! But as I hope I’ve leaned into, it’s just one side of the Paul coin that this album explores, as there’s some more interesting stuff happening as well.

The Cover:

The original album cover is atrocious. It makes me not want to listen to the album. Old fashioned cover means old people boring music. And given the original side one… I kinda don’t disagree.

The new cover sets the tone: it’s a Paul photo from 1986. Simple, elegant text. The cover communicates clearly what the album is: Paul in his early 40s using the studio as a tool to see if he can crack the riddle of mid-80s pop production while allowing himself to explore and get a little weird. A synthesis of the studio sophistication of Tug of War/Pipes of Peace and the exploratory studio as instrument eccentricity of McCartney II.

Warm, inviting, it makes me want to Press play.