Drop the needle down on this one and the first thing you hear is a somewhat ominous guitar strumming, and a hoarse voice screaming “Piece of cake……”. Not what you would expect from Paul McCartney, especially coming close at the heels of his first solo LP, which began with a quiet, cosy little ode to his lady love. Get to the chorus, and you begin to see the point:

That was your first mistake You took your lucky break and broke it in two Now what can be done for you? That’s Too Many People,  Paul channeling some of the bitterness and rage of the Beatles’ breakup into a decidedly iconic song, complete with a searing guitar solo that closes the track.This theme continues on Dear Boy, where a much calmer McCartney chides John with “Guess you never knew, Dear Boy, how much you missed”.

That apart, there’s also ample representation of his new happy post-Beatle life. Heart Of The Country finds Paul singing sweetly about a horse and a sheep and a good night’s sleep on his recently acquired Scottish Highland farm while Long Haired Lady reiterates his love for Linda in quite an epic fashion.

Then there’s the faux solemnity of Uncle Albert which quickly dissolves into the merry little romp that is Admiral Halsey, and the fun Buddy Holly-esque singalong of Eat At Home. This is quintessential McCartney, master of melody and the pop hook.

On the downside, there’s the decidedly odd Monkberry Moon Delight, and a couple of rock and roll throwaways with genuinely cringeworthy lyrics in 3 Legs and Smile Away, but the soaring magnificence of The Back Seat Of My Car makes up for it all.

The critics were quite merciless on “Ram” when it first came out, and Lennon clearly hated it, famously putting out his parody of the album cover with the first release of Imagine, but over the years it has grown in reputation, and is now quite a worthy entry in the distinguished McCartney canon.

Rating: ****

Label: Apple

Release Date: 1971

Reviewed by Sughosh Varadarajan

Sughosh is a bonafide music nut, having spent over 25 years collecting audio tapes, vinyl and audio CDs. A superfan of The Beatles, The Who, Jethro Tull and XTC, among many others, his collection includes over 700 LPs, plus a similar count of audio CDs. Given half a chance (or even if not), he is most likely to be found attempting to sell fellow music lovers on his personal passion – British and Celtic folk-rock. He can be reached at sughosh@gmail.com