In 1997, Paul McCartney released the album Flaming Pie. To accompany this album, McCartney participated in a behind-the-scenes documentary of the making of that album. Produced by his daughter, Mary, and her husband. Alistair, In the World Tonight takes viewers into his world and into his home as he’s recording his 1997 album, Flaming Pie.

The DVD begins in his home as he’s walking the property and enjoying what he has with his wife at the time, Linda. He spends his time caring for the property, painting, and enjoying time with Linda, who would die a short time later. At the time, they had been married for 28 years. There is background music playing, which is really suitable as a narrative to the glimpses into his life.

When he’s in the recording studio, he talks freely about what went into the songs on the album, and it includes memories from his days as a Beatle. He talks openly and fondly about John Lennon.

It’s nice to see this aspect of McCartney, who rarely gives interviews. Fans are welcomed into his world and see what his thoughts and feelings are as he crafts the album. Over the years, there have been many questions about his feelings toward his time as a Beatle as well as toward his bandmates. It would seem from what is shown and said here that it was a time of fond memories for him, and he doesn’t have regrets about moving on from it, either.

The musical side of the DVD is excellent as well. Flaming Pie was a great album, if not one of the best-sellers of the year. People who think McCartney’s time had passed by then should really take a look at this and reconsider their opinion. Whether it’s the collaboration with Jeff Lynne or the fact that he got in touch once again with his roots as a Beatle after working on the Anthology DVDs, the album is one of McCartney’s better ones.

The songs that will become the album are played in a variety of venues. Sometimes he sits at home playing them just for friends and family. At another time, he is shown recording them in the studio. The DVD also shows live performances of his music, sometimes to an audience of more than 150,000 people. It was nice to see Linda giving him input for the last time before she died, and perhaps knowing the uphill battle she faced, he wanted this to be something to remember what she gave to his music.

In addition to Linda, Paul is shown working with Ringo Starr, Lenny Kravitz, George Martin, Steve Miller, and Bill Clinton. Yes, you read that right. It does work well for the DVD, as the people who are working with him are working with Paul, rather than Paul designing a song that is exclusively an excuse to get them on the DVD, as I have seen other artists do.

The DVD is pretty loose and has less structure than other music DVDs. If you were looking for all the music from Flaming Pie in its entirety, you’ll be disappointed. Most of the music is snippets or played in the background. Still, I enjoyed it with the looser structure quite a bit. It didn’t bog down or become boring the way other music DVDs sometimes do.

The DVD menus at the end allow the viewer to jump around to specific scenes or bits about specific people. I found this handy for when I wanted to go back and see specific scenes that I forgot to write down notes about. Other than that, it’s pretty straightforward as a DVD.

Fans of Paul McCartney and the Beatles would enjoy viewing In the World Tonight. If you’re just trying to get into McCartney’s music, this isn’t the best place to start. I would recommend taking a look at the Beatles Anthology before looking at his solo work. However, as solo works by McCartney go, this has to be one of the best I’ve seen by him on DVD.


Track Listing:

Somedays
Flaming Pie
The World Tonight
Heaven On A Sunday
Little Willow
Young Boy
When I’m 64
The World Tonight (2)
Bishops Gate
Calico Skies
Coming Up
Great Day
Beautiful Night
Beautiful Night (2)