The next stage of Paul McCartney‘s SHM-CD reissue campaign has commenced. McCartney has been bringing his catalogue to Japan’s popular Super High Material CD format, packaging them in paper-sleeves featuring replicas of the original LP artwork, with a Japanese obi-strap and Japanese lyric translations.
This new batch of SHM-CD reissues features five highlights from later in his career. The titles include two live albums, 1993’s Paul Is Live and 2019’s Amoeba Gig, sandwiching a trio of studio projects: 1997’s Flaming Pie, 2005’s Chaos And Creation In The Backyard, and 2013’s New.
Paul Is Live, recorded during McCartney’s tour supporting Off The Ground, pokes fun at the pervasive Beatles-era “Paul is dead” rumors with its title and cover art that calls back to Abbey Road. In that iconic image, bare feet and a cigarette in the famously left-handed musician’s right hand were allegedly clues that he had passed away; among other Easter eggs, the Paul Is Live cover puts shoes on his feet and the smoke in his dominant hand. The tracklist covers McCartney’s full career up to that point, from Beatles to Wings to solo records, and it ends with three tracks improvised during rehearsals. The Paul Is Live SHM-CD features the 2019 remaster of the album; it comes with a miniature poster, a 2 x inner-sleeve, and a white booklet featuring the Japanese translations of the lyrics.
Flaming Pie arrived after McCartney spent years immersed in The Beatles Anthology, and it found him inspired by the high bar set by he and his bandmates in their ’60s heyday. Recorded in quick bursts with producers George Martin and Jeff Lynne, the album features playing from Steve Miller, Ringo Starr and Paul’s son James McCartney. The SHM-CD features the 2020 remaster and comes with a 16-page booklet in addition to the white booklet featuring the Japanese translations of the lyrics.
For Chaos And Creation In The Backyard, McCartney teamed with producer Nigel Godrich, known for his work with Radiohead, Beck, and R.E.M. The album was McCartney’s first since the 2001 death of Beatles bandmate George Harrison, and it includes the Harrison tribute “Friends To Go” among other personal reflections. The SHM-CD features the original 2005 master, packaged with an inner-sleeve, 4 x art print, and the white booklet featuring the Japanese translations of the lyrics.
McCartney worked with four producers to create four distinct chapters on New. Giles Martin, Mark Ronson, Ethan Johns, and Paul Epworth each helmed one section of the album, which was the first McCartney album comprising all new compositions since 2007. In SHM-CD format, it comes with a 20-page booklet, inner-sleeve, and the white booklet featuring the Japanese translations of the lyrics.
Though released in 2019, Amoeba Gig captures a free in-store performance at Hollywood’s famed Amoeba Music on June 27, 2007. That year, four songs from the set saw wide release via the Amoeba’s Secret EP, and in 2012 a 12-song version of the show titled Live In Los Angeles – The Extended Set was made available free to PaulMcCartney.com premium members for a limited time. Amoeba Gig marked the first release of the full performance. The SHM-CD features the 2019 remix of the recordings; it includes an inner-sleeve and the white booklet featuring the Japanese translations of the lyrics.
Buy Paul McCartney’s music on SHM-CD now.
