“Bad” production was Paul’s secret weapon as a solo artist
BOTR and the first two McCartney albums in particular. Out-of-tune instruments, thin almost telephone vocals with no low end, snares that sound like someone slapping a table (“Jet” in particular has almost non-existent drum mixing).
Oddly enough, this turned out to be a major advantage to Paul’s solo output, allowing a lot of it to sound kind of cool and gritty to modern ears. Imagine “Jet” with the ultra-polished, 3D production of John’s mid-70s output; somehow it would be way worse even if it sounded “better”.
Conversely, I think slick production really hurt John’s solo output. The goal of Ultimate Mixes seems to be scrub off the sheen of his mid-to-late 70s material, probably with this idea in mind. Imagining “Whatever Gets You Through The Nite” with the unvarnished production of BOTR and suddenly it seems way better.
Kind of an ironic outcome (and maybe doubly ironic considering J+P’s respective personalities). Curious if anyone else agrees?