All songs written or co-written by Paul McCartney.

Digitally remastered English version includes the bonus tracks "Spies Like Us" and "Once Upon A Long Ago" (Long Version)).

Personnel: Paul McCartney; Linda McCartney, Pete Townshend, Phil Collins, Carlos Alomar.

At the time, Press to Play was occasionally promoted as Macca's response to punk -- which we all better hope is not true, since that means he was responding ten years after the fact, signaling just how out of touch he was. But McCartney wasn't that disconnected from reality (he did talk about punk in interviews from the late '70s), so a more accurate view of Press to Play is to see it as McCartney trying to reconnect with his classic strengths, from orchestral pop and whimsy to driving rockers and sweet love songs. All this is apparent on the record, often in pretty charming fashion. "Stranglehold" has an offhand charm, "Good Times Coming/Feel the Sun" feels like a forgotten Red Rose Speedway medley, "Move Over Busker" has a brisk gait (better than its cousin, "Angry," anyway), and "Press" is a terrific mid-'80s drum machine-driven slice of synth-pop, utterly featherweight in the best possible way. Each of these captures a different side of McCartney, and that's the overriding impression of Press to Play -- McCartney is dabbling in each of his strengths, just to see what works. It doesn't wind up as one of his stronger albums, but it's more interesting than some of his more consistent ones, and those aforementioned cuts demonstrate that he could still cut effective pop records when he put his mind to it. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Opening with the gentle rhythm guitars, slap-back reverb vocals and clean-sounding horns of "Stranglehold," Paul McCartney's PRESS TO PLAY is an exercise in straightforward, feel-good pop music, as only McCartney can do it--sincere in a way you wouldn't buy from too many songwriters. Filled with sonic strokes that might stain the record of a lesser artist, PRESS TO PLAY rises above its now-quaint sounding atmosphere to even further show off McCartney's pure, transcendent gift.

The production of PRESS TO PLAY is a sign of the times-- tight, compressed sounds dominate, gated reverb and heavy chorus guitar (courtesy of the nimble-fingered Carlos Alomar, among others) are but a few of the eighties trademarks which define its sound. What's timeless, though, is McCartney's still-staggering gift for melodic invention. The essence of simplicity, his every note is perfectly placed, from the off-kilter "Talk More Talk" (which even includes Simmons drums!) to the meditative throb of "Pretty Little Head." "Only Love Remains," the album's stand-out, is McCartney at his best--heartbreaking chord changes and sweet melody give way to sweeping orchestration and a huge, infectious refain.