Mccartney's RAM...From the opening volley of "**** off girl" in TOO MANY PEOPLE to the the closing snarl of "We believe that we can't be wrong" in BACK SEAT OF MY CAR, this near perfect post Beatle Paul disc is full of sublime references to the Lennon/Beatles/Allen Klein vs McCartney feud...Maybe its imaginary supposition on behalf of this listener or concrete intention on behalf of McCartney, the references are all there...Blatant or subtle, Lennon responded, in kind, with his more abrasive reaction on his IMAGINE album which was as inobtrusiveas a jackhammer set up in your living room while you were trying to do a Rip Van Winkle impersonation... RAM, stylistically, covers all the bases from the hard rockish blast of TOO MANY PEOPLE, where Paul steps up with a mighty guitar break, to the chameleonesque ballad of BACK SEAT OF MY CAR, McCartney proves, once again, that he is a master of songwriting, equally adept at all genres, and the driving force behind the versatility of the Beatles songbook that afforded them the respectability of the masses, not just the rock crowd...Lennon may have been their credibility fulcrum to the "serious" audience, but it was Mccartney's ability to expand their music to world wide acceptance on all musical levels that gave John his platform to showcase his knack for lyrical substance and innovative rock musings...But, back to RAM...The bluesy 3 Legs, with more entries in the other Beatles vs. Paul sweepstakes, showcases his inate ability that the songwriter has with time/tempo shifts that takes a perfectly constructed uptempo R&B number and brings it into another plateau...Musical shifts in mood, instrumentation, chord and melody structures abound on this album...Music oozes from this man's pores...RAM ON, with its false start, may be the weakest cut on the album, with Mccartney strumming a ukelele(?) and whistling and singing his way through the banal melody only to have it resurrected as a coda later on near the end of the disc, which gives it a curious importance to the singer's concept of the song...DEAR BOY, an ode to Linda's old lovers, disguises itself as a doo-wop number, with the complexity of its background vocals, and sparsity of instrumentation...Uncle Admiral/Admiral Halsey is McCartney at his frivolous peak...Listen to the nuances carefully...The thunder claps, the phone dialing, the speaking through an archaic phone connection which simulates a transAtlantic phonecall from America, where the album is being made, back to England, where the recepient , embattled Beatle administrator Allen Klein, is assured by Mccartney, that everything is indeed fine in Mccartneyland despite's Klein/Lennon's assertion that Paul's solo output is just "ANOTHER DAY"...Try to get the trumpet riff out of your head as the proceedings transform from the dreamy phone conversation to the jaunty chorus of "Hands across the water, heads across the sky"...A brilliant ensemble blend of melody and stylitic transformation that few rock songwriters, Freddie Mercury comes to mind, can successfully pull off...This showpiece segueways into the straight ahead, simplistic rock and roll of SMILE AWAY which serves as the perfect foil to the complexity of the Uncle Albert staging...The next number, HEART OF THE COUNTRY, is a finger-pickin country and western ditty that lyrically cohabitates with the melody to express Paul's contentment to lay back on his Scottjsh farm and sheer sheep...The subtlety of this song is in direct contrast to the snarling, driving, anarchristic nature of the following tune, MONKBERRY MOON DELIGHT...maybe the lyrics mean something or are just a jumble of words that go together well, I don't know, but it sure is a fun listen...The straight up rock and roll of EAT AT HOME follows and again, reinforces The Mccartney's satisfaction of being homebodies and away from the destructive rock and roll lifestyle that will claim the lives of many of his peers...LONG HAIRED LADY is a jazzy jaunt through a lyrical salute to Linda which leads to the reemergence of RAM ON for a brief reintroduction...Now, the meat and potatoes of side two...BACK SEAT Of MY CAR...if there ever was a track on his early solo projects that ties Paul Mccartneys supple musical talents into a pastiche of realization it is this doing...From the opening balladry of its initial piano laced segment to the closing grandiose of a rock and roll equivalent to a symphony crescendoing to its ultimate musical climax, BACK SEAT OF MY CAR has it all...His amazing shift as a vocalist to the purest of pure to the rocking rockiest in a single segment shows this superstar's ability to transform a rock and roll album to a complexity of song stylings that have few , if any, comparisons and yet, the disdain for Mccartney was so intense because of his pivotal role in the decomposition of the Beatles, that this disc was critically received with a sharp slap of the rock reviewers back of their hands...But, as time and tide wait for no man, this album has been elevated to the "toppermost of the poppermost" list of post Beatle solo discs...If you've never listened to it, or are a Paul basher, and amazingly, there are many, give this album an unbiased listen...You should walk away with a newer sense and respect for McCartney...If you are a Macca fan and haven't listened to this in a while, then revisit this old friend...It will only reconfirm what you already know...RAM is par excellance..."A" rating...