Five Paul McCartney solo albums will soon get a special limited edition release in the Japanese SHM-CD (Super High Material CD) format. Due out in May, the reissues will be packaged in paper-sleeves featuring replicas of the original LP artwork, with a Japanese obi-strap and Japanese lyric translations.
The albums getting the SHM-CD treatment include 1980’s McCartney II, 1982’s Tug Of War, 1983’s Pipes Of Peace, 1988’s CHOBA B CCCP, and 1989’s Flowers In The Dirt. Together, they represent a fascinating survey of McCartney’s 1980s output, marking a time when he was embracing his status as a solo artist after spending the ’60s changing the world with the Beatles and the ’70s topping the charts with Wings.
McCartney II was the former Beatle’s second solo album, marking the dawn of the 1980s—and the impending end of his hit-making 1970s band, Wings—with a shift toward electronic experimentation. McCartney made the album at his farm in Scotland in the summer of 1979 during the same sessions that yielded his holiday classic “Wonderful Christmastime.”
He returned to a studio setting for Tug Of War and Pipes Of Peace, two albums that reunited him with longtime Beatles producer George Martin. The albums yielded a pair of hit duets: From Tug Of War came “Ebony And Ivory” with Stevie Wonder, while Pipes Of Peace had “Say Say Say” with Michael Jackson.
Fast-forwarding to 1988, CHOBA B CCCP was a Russia-only release — in a nod to Beatles history, the title translates to “Back In The U.S.S.R.” — comprising classic rock ‘n’ roll covers banged out live in the studio. It eventually saw worldwide release in 1991. Rounding out this batch of reissues is Flowers In The Dirt, the album that saw McCartney teaming up with Elvis Costello on a handful of songs including the hit “My Brave Face.”
Buy Paul McCartney’s music on Japanese SHM-CD now.
