Search - Fireman :: Strawberries Oceans Ships Forest

Another side of Paul McCartney.

Louie Bourland | Garden Grove CA | 07/12/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

""Strawberries Oceans Ships Forest" is the first of two albums which Paul McCartney released under the pseudonym The Fireman. Essentially, it is a collaboration between McCartney and a musician/remixer/engineer who simply calls himself Youth. The fruits of this album came about during a remix session for what was then Paul's latest album "Off The Ground". Instead of properly remixing that album's title track, Youth and McCartney created something entirely different. Upon listening to this CD, you would be hard-pressed to think that this music was done by McCartney. It sounds like nothing he has done before. Also, apart from the song titles and publishing credits, there is no other liner notes in the CD cover. McCartney was definitely undercover on this one.
Musically, the album is quite interesting and trance-inducing. It contains nine lengthy variations on a single theme set to a moderately paced drum rhythm. This is a far cry from "Silly Love Songs" or "Band on The Run". However, once you get used to the strange sounds and plodding rhythms, this CD can become an excellent piece of background music. It's simplistic and stays out of the way. This album is very much in the same style as modern composer Steve Reich especially with his composition entitled "Drumming". Both feature the same idea of trance-like rhythms with uncompilcated melodic and harmonic patterns.
All in all, The Fireman McCartney's "Strawberries Oceans Ships Forest" is an excellent CD. It's also now extremely rare, out-of-print and very expensive. However, if you're a Paul McCartney collector, this CD is a must. I will not reveal in this review how much I paid for this CD but I will reveal that it was very much worth it."

A Secret Pleasure, Secret No More

owlberg | Seattle, WA USA | 11/15/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"For the longest time I delighted in playing this for people who ordinarily would turn up their noses at Paul McCartney, never letting on that they were actually listening to and enjoying ol' Mr. Silly Love Songs himself. Partnering with Youth from Killing Joke, and calling the project The Fireman, Paul stitches together a fantastic trance album based primarily on outtakes from his 'Off The Ground' album (and, if you listen closely, also including segments from the spoken-word tracks on Wings' final album 'Back To The Egg'). The Fireman's follow-up (Rushes) definitely lived up to StrawberriesOceanShipsForest, so hopefully that means this type of experimentation will be a continuing sideline for Macca (along with the classical albums). Nicely done..."

$10 on iTunes

M. Waltermire | Albuquerque, NM United States | 12/02/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"You can get this for $10 on iTunes. It's criminal to sell this music for $100."