Flowers in the Dirt
| Flowers in the Dirt | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
||||||||||
| Studio album by Paul McCartney | ||||||||||
| Released | 5 June 1989 [original release] 24 March 2017 [Archive colletion] | |||||||||
| Recorded | September 1987 – February 1989 | |||||||||
| Genre | Rock | |||||||||
| Length | 53:42 | |||||||||
| Label | Parlophone | |||||||||
| Producer | Paul McCartney, Mitchell Froom, Neil Dorfsman, Elvis Costello, Trevor Horn, Steve Lipson, Chris Hughes, Ross Cullum, David Foster (and Phil Ramone on CD reissue tracks) | |||||||||
| Paul McCartney chronology | ||||||||||
|
||||||||||
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
| Chicago Tribune | (favourable) |
| Deseret News | (highly favourable) |
| Encyclopedia of Popular Music | |
| The Essential Rock Discography | 6/10 |
| Los Angeles Times | |
| MusicHound | |
| The New York Times | (favourable) |
| Q | |
| Rolling Stone | |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | |
| Time | (favourable) |
Flowers in the Dirt is the eighth studio solo album by Paul McCartney under his own name. The album was released on 5 June 1989 on Parlophone, as he was embarking on his first world tour since the Wings Over the World tour in 1975–76. It was considered a major return to form, and earned McCartney some of the best reviews he had received in years. The album made number 1 in the United Kingdom and Norway and produced several hit singles (the first being "My Brave Face"). The archive edition is expected to be released on 24 March 2017.
After the meagre sales that greeted Press to Play, McCartney realised that he needed to work much harder on his follow-up. Thus, he not only teamed up with several different producers, but also spent the better part of 18 months perfecting Flowers in the Dirt. A highlight of the sessions was McCartney's productive alliance with Elvis Costello, with whom he composed many new songs. In his 2015 autobiography, Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink, Costello described the track "That Day Is Done" as, "the unhappy sequel to "Veronica"", which they had also co-written. McCartney greatly enjoyed the new partnership, even finding that Costello mirrored John Lennon in certain aspects of his personality. Costello would also appear on the album, even co-singing "You Want Her Too" with McCartney. Another celebrity guest included was his friend David Gilmour from Pink Floyd, who plays the guitar on "We Got Married". On "Put It There", McCartney used an old Buddy Holly trick, the knee-percussion, that McCartney recorded on the same day as the backing track.
Knowing full well he intended to launch the biggest tour of his career thus far, McCartney also put together a regular band to take out on the road, and who would appear in various forms on Flowers in the Dirt. Hamish Stuart was best known for his tenure in Average White Band, while Robbie McIntosh had been a member of the Pretenders. Filling out the sound would be Chris Whitten on drums and Paul "Wix" Wickens joining McCartney's wife Linda McCartney on keyboards.
...
Wikipedia