McCartney – Paul McCartney debut album that sound nothing like the band
So, yeah, we might be going with a bit of an obscure artist on this one. While this little old upstart kid named Paul McCartney was starting to make a name for himself in the 1960s, fans seemed to be waiting meticulously to finally hear what this hopeful songwriter could get up to without working with his friends. All joking aside, though, McCartney was definitely a shock coming from someone known as one of the biggest perfectionists of The Beatles.
While Ringo Starr also had a strange turn towards adult contemporary on Sentimental Journey, this is far more drastic a turn than anyone was willing to take. Outside of having the classic ‘Maybe I’m Amazed’, more than half the record was nothing but McCartney working in his home trying to make a record in the most ramshackle way he could, whether that’s experimental tracks like ‘Hot As Sun’ or acoustic ditties on ‘Junk’ or ‘Man We Was Lonely’.
Everyone might have been baffled not to hear another Beatlesque epic on first glance, but McCartney wasn’t trying to match what he did with his old mates. He could only be himself once his record came out, and considering how much he embraced the sounds of DIY, he laid the groundwork for what many modern artists are working with. Yes, even when The Beatles are completing the side missions of their career, they are still making pieces that influenced generations to come.