Paul McCartney Rushes 1/8 - Watercolour Guitars

Track Nº1/8

"Rushes" is the second album which Paul McCartney released under the pseudonym of The Fireman. Like the first Fireman album, "Strawberries Oceans Ships Forest", it is a collaboration between McCartney and the producer known as Youth. Unlike that album, the style and flow is more varied and has more of an ambient etherial quality to it.
The opening track "Watercolour Guitars" has a very Pink Floyd/"Shine On" feel to it especially in the guitars and spacey electronics. The guitar riff continues on into the next track "Palo Verde" in which a bass pulse emerges along with spoken words from Linda McCartney (her last appearance on one of Paul's albums) as well a subdued rhythm, ambient chords and treated vocals from Paul.
"Auraveda" is a very psychedelic piece which sounds like an outtake from "Magical Mystery Tour" at first. Sounds of handdrums, sitar, harmonium, mellotron and string bass create an acid-soaked collage during the opening half of the piece. Then it suddenly shifts into floating waves of hypnotic synth chords with light percussion. The second half of this piece is similar to ambient artists such as Steve Roach.
"Fluid" is a moody simplitic piece which reminded me somewhat of Mike Oldfield's "Tubular Bells" especially with its haunting piano lines and repeated guitar phrasings. "Appletree Cinnabar Amber" carries on "Fluid's" guitar line to the next level. Here, Paul adds his steady drumbeat and beefs up the instrumentation. At times, there are hints of "Momma Miss America" from Paul's first solo album.
"Bision" is a short, off-the-cuff piece which again features Paul on drums as well as a distorted bass line and discordant random melodies. This leads into "7AM" which is a continuation of "Auraveda" with a more prominent bass-synth sequence and bits of strings played on the mellotron. The whole album comes full circle with the short coda "Watercolour Rush", a reprise of the guitar line from the album's opening track.
Like his previous Fireman album, there is no information on the CD cover apart from the song titles. However, there is a photo of Paul's backside with the word "Man" written across it in suntan lotion. This is another fine piece of work from Paul McCartney and once again shows off his willingness to create music that is a departure-from-the-norm. This is also another sought-after collector's item. If you're a Paul fan, this is definitely a must-have.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• The
• Beatles
• Fireman
• Paul
• McCartney
• Rushes
• Youth
• 1998

[jc333jc]

Now, I like John (a lot), he could knock out a decent tune :-), but this is wonderful. Paul has diversified into so many different types of music that few but the most avid of fans will ever know about. He has such a wide portfolio of musical styles and may, one day, be credited with being more than " the one who could write a pleasant melody" I think that he will prove to be one of the great musicians of our times.

Isn't it great to have been here when this type of talent is around?

[wings4ever]

paul is the best

[DashiellCabasa]

yes, it might seem a preposterous thing to say ...but i've always felt Paul was under estimated and under appreciated....at last he is getting the credit he richly deserves

[mybikemybike]

Splendid musician is Paul.

[beatlesfan464]

I WANT TO FIND THE DAMN WEBCAST CANT FIND IT ANYWHERE. It was in 1998 but I want to watch it!!!

[OropherThranduil]

@dizzarch1

nope.

but the intro of the rain song reminds me of something.

the melody and lyrics of dazed and confused remind me of, guess, dazed and confused by jake holmes.

just like many more zeppelin songs they ''Borrowed''

[mgenty2k5]

Wow - I've never heard this type of music. It's cool I like the ambience it creates. Not something I would listen to everyday but still nice to listen too. Paul's come a long way from the Beatles - I can respect someone who tries to diversify and try new things

[PinkPANDA64]

@jc333jc AMEN!

[txeire]

@dizzarch1 8 months later...YES! never thought of that till u said it

[HenryClarson]

@dizzarch1 Do you mean "The Battle Of Epping Forest"? That's what it made me think of. :)

[TheMusicHistorian]

The guitar is phenomenal.