When I first heard Ram in bits and pieces on the radio several weeks ago, I hated it. I didn't care much for the single, either. But then, feeling myself getting swept up in the anti-McCartney backlash that seems to be building daily, I promised myself to listen to the album with open ears. I did, and now I have to admit that I like most of it very much. Musically, it's easily the most successful post-Beatle album yet.

McCartney excels at composing riffs; he doesn't write concertos. His genius is most evident in the sheer simplicity of his creations. Side two of Abbey Road is McCartney at his best: first conceiving, then executing, finally juxtaposing a rainbow pattern of simple melodic and lyrical ideas. Ram works in a similar way, although the juxtapositions occur for the most part within single songs. "Uncle Albert//Admiral Halsey," for example...