Paul Is Live | ||||
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Live album by Paul McCartney | ||||
Released | 8 November 1993 (UK) 16 November 1993 (US) |
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Recorded | 22 March–15 June 1993 | |||
Genre | Rock | |||
Length | 72:55 | |||
Label | Parlophone | |||
Producer | Paul McCartney | |||
Paul McCartney chronology | ||||
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Paul Is Live – The New World Tour | ||||
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Video by Paul McCartney | ||||
Released | 1994 | |||
Recorded | 1993 | |||
Genre | Rock music | |||
Length | 85 min. | |||
Label |
MPL Rounder Home Video |
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Director | Aubrey Powell | |||
Producer | Steven J. Swartz | |||
Paul McCartney chronology | ||||
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Professional ratings | |
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Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | |
Encyclopedia of Popular Music | |
Entertainment Weekly (album) | B+ |
Entertainment Weekly (video) | B |
The Essential Rock Discography | 4/10 |
MusicHound | |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide |
Paul Is Live is a live album by Paul McCartney, released in 1993 during his New World Tour in support of the album Off the Ground. The album cover is based on that of Beatles' 1969 album Abbey Road and contains multiple references to the "Paul is dead" conspiracy theory.
The album's title is a response to the "Paul is dead" rumours after the 1969 release of the Beatles' last studio album, Abbey Road, and the cover of Paul Is Live is a digitally altered version of the 1969 album's sleeve. Intentional differences between the two covers are:
The dog appearing on the cover is Arrow, one of the offspring of Martha, the sheepdog that was the inspiration for the title of the song "Martha My Dear". The cover photo is from the Abbey Road cover photoshoot by photographer Iain Macmillan. There are differences between this and the photograph used for the Abbey Road cover; most notably, the taxi present in the Abbey Road cover photograph does not feature here. The retouching was done by CGI artist Erwin Keustermans, who erased the Beatles and put in McCartney and the dog, taken from 35 mm pictures by Linda McCartney.
Excerpted from his shows in Australia, as well as from various cities in the United States, Paul Is Live followed the 1989–90 Paul McCartney World Tour/Tripping the Live Fantastic extravaganza by only three years, confounding critics and fans as to its appearance, and in some cases its necessity (although the only song it has in common with Tripping The Live Fantastic is "Live And Let Die"). As a result, Paul Is Live became McCartney's lowest-selling live set of his career, peaking at number 34 in the UK and a lowly number 78 in the US.