Paul Is Live


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.

Title and cover

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. The cover is a digitally altered photo from the August 1969 photo shoot for the Abbey Road album cover. Intentional differences between the two are:
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. As a result, Paul Is Live became McCartney's lowest-selling live set of his career, peaking at number 34 in the UK and number 78 in the US.
A concert film subtitled The New World Tour was subsequently released on VHS, and later on DVD. It was directed by Aubrey Powell. The video release includes the controversial pre-concert film, which features vintage footage of the Beatles, solo-era live footage of "Maybe I'm Amazed" and "Bluebird" from the Rockshow film, then switches tone by including graphic animal test footage, and, finally, warmup footage of the band. The program starts with the warm-up footage, and is played in full at the conclusion of the concert. The packaging included a disclaimer warning regarding the graphic nature of the animal footage.
Afterwards, McCartney took an extended break from his solo career to begin the enormous Beatles Anthology project in early 1994 with George Harrison, Ringo Starr and George Martin. This took up much of his time for the next two years, before Flaming Pie in 1997.

Track listing

All songs composed by Paul McCartney, except where noted.
;Album
  1. "Drive My Car" – 2:34
  2. "Let Me Roll It" – 4:10
  3. "Looking for Changes" – 2:43
  4. "Peace in the Neighbourhood" – 4:50
  5. "All My Loving" – 2:16
  6. "Robbie's Bit " – 2:00
  7. *the track is a solo performance by guitarist Robbie McIntosh, "inspired by Chet Atkins"
  8. "Good Rockin' Tonight" – 2:48
  9. "We Can Work It Out" – 2:42
  10. "Hope of Deliverance" – 3:29
  11. "Michelle" – 2:56
  12. "Biker Like an Icon" – 3:40
  13. "Here, There and Everywhere" – 2:29
  14. "My Love" – 4:06
  15. "Magical Mystery Tour" – 3:15
  16. "C'Mon People" – 5:38
  17. "Lady Madonna" – 2:33
  18. "Paperback Writer" – 2:39
  19. "Penny Lane" – 2:58
  20. "Live and Let Die" – 3:51
  21. "Kansas City" – 3:54
  22. "Welcome to Soundcheck" – 0:41
  23. "Hotel in Benidorm" – 2:00
  24. "I Wanna Be Your Man" – 2:36
  25. "A Fine Day" – 6:18
;Video release
  1. "Drive My Car"
  2. "Let Me Roll It"
  3. "Looking for Changes"
  4. "Peace in the Neighbourhood"
  5. "All My Loving"
  6. "Good Rocking Tonight"
  7. "We Can Work It Out"
  8. "Hope of Deliverance"
  9. "Michelle"
  10. "Biker Like an Icon"
  11. "Here, There and Everywhere"
  12. "Magical Mystery Tour"
  13. "C'Mon People"
  14. "Lady Madonna"
  15. "Paperback Writer"
  16. "Penny Lane"
  17. "Live and Let Die"
  18. "Kansas City"
  19. "Let It Be"
  20. "Yesterday"
  21. "Hey Jude"

    Band line-up

Weekly charts

;Album release
ChartPosition
Austrian Albums Chart38
Dutch Mega Albums Chart60
German Media Control Albums Chart44
Japanese Oricon Albums Chart16
Spanish Albums Chart13
Swedish Albums Chart23
UK Albums Chart34
US Billboard 20078

Certifications

;Album release
;Video release