Paul McCartney: All The Studio Albums Ranked – Worst to Best
Paul McCartney has an impressive catalogue and in this video I look at McCartney’s WORST album to his very BEST. All his studio albums ranked. I have not included orchestral or intrumental works like ‘Thrillington’ or live albums
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DISCLAIMER: This video features materials protected by the Fair Use guidelines of Section 107 of the Copyright Act. Clips are used with commentary for educational purposes.
#beatles #paulmccartney #classicalbum
@classicalbum
June 14, 2026 at 12:19 pm
'Ram' a work of genius, full of whimsical twists and turns … or is it just utterly overrated tripe?
@PraeVas
June 14, 2026 at 12:19 pm
Couldn't agree more about RAM
@WooHoo4U
June 14, 2026 at 12:19 pm
My favorite would be Back to the Egg. I stopped buying Paul’s albums after Pipes of Peace. Back when you actually had to pay for them 😀. Now that they are virtually free to listen too I’m going to wade through some of the albums made since then. Thanks to you for giving me a good idea which ones to listen to ….
I think the problem with Paul McCartney albums is there’s just too much damn Paul on them and they can become tedious. The Wings at least had a little diversity to them and The Beatles even more.
@IANMASON-b5c
June 14, 2026 at 12:19 pm
"MY VALENTINE" is NOT an inconsequential song.
@jazzpunk
June 14, 2026 at 12:19 pm
McCartney's debut is my #1. Surprised to see it made #2 here. Cool!
Watching all the albums go by…just realized – McCartney had some pretty awful Album Art.
@davidturnbull288
June 14, 2026 at 12:19 pm
🍀🙏 Well done! RAM is outstanding and the box set is absolutely incredible! I feel lucky like delving now into all the albums you have surmised here. Thank You
@johnedark
June 14, 2026 at 12:19 pm
When you pile it up like this, you realize what an overwhelming percentage of his solo work is watered down and plainly bad— a dog pile of dross for a few daisies.
@pisotones2348
June 14, 2026 at 12:19 pm
I totally agree with you about RAM. Best Macca album and one of my all time favourites. I NEED lo listen to this album quite often.
@peterhammer6915
June 14, 2026 at 12:19 pm
It has to be Band on the Run for me. And, I would put Flowers in the Dirt even higher.
@Deebhoy
June 14, 2026 at 12:19 pm
Really good video and not much to argue about. On Press to Play the boys over on Nothing Is Real podcast do a really good discussion on it – don't think it's anywhere near as it is made out. I'm not a big fan of Venus and Mars however, an album I just can't get into. Agree about Kisses on the Bottom, a bit of a dirge. Wild Life is a bit of a guilty pleasure. Side two is terrific, especially Tomorrow, an really overlooked gem. Thanks for the video.
@canadianstudmuffin
June 14, 2026 at 12:19 pm
Excellent review! My top 3 favorites are Ram, The Boys Of Dungeon Lane and Chaos and Creation In The Backyard.
@alanmurchie7330
June 14, 2026 at 12:19 pm
Herculean effort to get through the catalogue and I’m guessing took many many hours. Appreciate the work Barry. The great thing for me is that I’ll now go and listen again to certain of the albums based on your commentary. I’ll certainly keep listening 🙌🏻
@pavinder
June 14, 2026 at 12:19 pm
Great video, and one of the few I've ever seen which matches my own ranking…almost. I was astonished how high you ranked the McCartney album.
@vanandrewschrisanddione
June 14, 2026 at 12:19 pm
"I love animals……….especially with gravy". Fantastic 😅
@SpikeKasperak
June 14, 2026 at 12:19 pm
“Oasis for people who know nothing about music”…so true
@David77646
June 14, 2026 at 12:19 pm
I rate Back to the egg highly too
@MarkShaw-s4w
June 14, 2026 at 12:19 pm
Everything up to the last Wings album excellent every after meh. Ram is one of my favourite records
@cricketbat09
June 14, 2026 at 12:19 pm
'Venus and Mars' features 'Listen to what the man said', which is one of Macca's best songs. imho.
@erniericardo8140
June 14, 2026 at 12:19 pm
If Ram is used as some high standard, its no wonder why so much of McCartney's work is considered or accepted as "Great" when its obvious some of his work is just okay or its just plain bad -The Gold standard for me was his work with The Beatles.
@Badger_Watch42
June 14, 2026 at 12:19 pm
Aninteresting take indeed ….. I was surprised Press to Play was at the very bottom but each to their own ….. I haven't listened to New at all to be honest.. i listened to Egypt Station once but can't remember anything from it
@simonfiveash3810
June 14, 2026 at 12:19 pm
Good review ,i dont get the hype about Ram ,I dont like it at all in my opinion , Definitely like Dungeon lane.
@howard7246
June 14, 2026 at 12:19 pm
Hi Barry, I always enjoy watching album rankings to see what other people think. 'Ram' is right up there amongst his best. Being your number one, I was wondering what you make of the Thrillington album and the more recent 50th anniversary tribute Ram On produced by Fernando Perdomo and Denny Seiwell?
@didierbion8056
June 14, 2026 at 12:19 pm
Agree with your top 5. I was indeed expecting Ram, absolute masterpiece i had the chance to discover when it was released.
@terrykemp1876
June 14, 2026 at 12:19 pm
I really like Press to Play. Definitely not last.
@FlemingThomson
June 14, 2026 at 12:19 pm
Thankfully she has grown up to forgive me 😂😂classic
@Shuttle_Weaver
June 14, 2026 at 12:19 pm
hard to disagree with that run down barry
@baronsaturday951
June 14, 2026 at 12:19 pm
I mostly agree with this ranking except for "Wild Life" which I love.
@Texeq
June 14, 2026 at 12:19 pm
Over the last 15-20 years the Macca album I play the most is Speed of Sound.
@Dudenez67
June 14, 2026 at 12:19 pm
RAM is great. Love it.
But his first solo album is really overrated. Same with his last album.
@danosullivan9502
June 14, 2026 at 12:19 pm
"especially with gravy" 👌🏻
@moishe43
June 14, 2026 at 12:19 pm
Wild Life is my worst. First few tracks are unlistenable. I am one of the only people who seems to love Pipes of peace. (Prob my fave album by him). What a title track, 'so bad' is gorgeous, and I love the song 'through our love', I think this is singularly his best track ever, including with the Beatles.
@FJMJ12
June 14, 2026 at 12:19 pm
As a Genesis fan I always found that Press To Play a fascinating listen. Not saying it’s anything good but to hear a Beatle copying the mid 80s Genesis/Phil Collins sound is weird
@ChristophBerdi
June 14, 2026 at 12:19 pm
I agree with most of the verdicts here. My personal ranking would slightly differ, but that comes down to personal taste. With one exception: I think McCartney III is great, I would rank it much higher.
@GarrattFamily
June 14, 2026 at 12:19 pm
2 of the top 5 albums had a Producer who had the balls to tell Paul when a song was crap and should not be recorded. (I am talking about Tug of War and Chaos). Paul sometimes needs the feedback that John also gave him. I would also argue he might have got some feedback from Denny too during the Wings years, though its not often mentioned. That could explain why Band on the Run is so good – its just the three of them locked in a crap studio under pressure to show they can still do it without a drummer and second guitarist. Some of those lower down the list was just Paul producing – which says a lot. With the Beatles, they were almost forcing each other to write a cracking song that the other three would run with. When you are on your own, who is your feedback person? Just yourself…..
@billwolford8181
June 14, 2026 at 12:19 pm
speaking of Steve Miller (Flaming Pie), would or could there ever be a countdown of his albums?
@yellyman5380
June 14, 2026 at 12:19 pm
"I used to sing the frog song for my daughter, thank god she has grown up to forgive me". Haha:) I love your sarcasm.
@PeterHarper-wh4df
June 14, 2026 at 12:19 pm
Great summary of the post Beatles work of the songwriter of the century. I can't argue with Ram as the best of a fantastic discography.
@sipope70
June 14, 2026 at 12:19 pm
Press To Play is always near the bottom of these lists and okay often there's always one album that happens to but worse than Give My Regards to Broad Street i honestly didn't see that coming
@jasonardler8373
June 14, 2026 at 12:19 pm
CHOBA A CCCP and Pipes of Peace better than Press To Play? I think not. That aside, not a lot to argue with. Right now I’d probably have Boys of Dungeon Lane higher (and more consistent) than Speed of Sound, Speedway and London Town – time will tell if that changes once the hype has subsided.
@robpickles-z3v
June 14, 2026 at 12:19 pm
I love wildlife but can’t argue with your other rankings ..brilliant
@JoeMay-wc6nv
June 14, 2026 at 12:19 pm
Flaming Pie & Ram & tied as my #1 favorite or is Ram & Flaming Pie either way they are both GREAT,
@stevesikes4421
June 14, 2026 at 12:19 pm
“Coming Up” is on McCartney 2. 😉
@b2tall239
June 14, 2026 at 12:19 pm
During the lockdown here in the States I listened to PM's entire catalog (minus Wings). I was somewhat surprised at how strong it was from top to bottom. Not a bad disc and a lot of really good ones. My favorite Paul album….again, minus Wings discs….is "Flowers in the Dirt". Simply fantastic.
Thanks, Barry.
@Fuzcapp
June 14, 2026 at 12:19 pm
It's a shame live albums are not included because Wings Over America is superb!
And I don't mind the live sections of Kisses on the Bottom.
Wings Wild Life is Paul's classic stinker. Oh – and Tug of War. Awful schmaltz.
Other than that – Paul's a frickin' genius. he's allowed a few stinkers in 60 years.
@Willsontime
June 14, 2026 at 12:19 pm
My Top 6 are:
Band on the Run
Ram
WIngs at the Speed of Sound
WIld Life
Chaos & Creation
Boys of Dungeon Rd (for now)
@Kuesel68
June 14, 2026 at 12:19 pm
Quite accurate list. Run Devil Run and New would be ranked higher for me though.