''Strawberries Oceans Ships Forest'' is the first album by the Fireman, released in 1993.

Background

The album consists of samples of McCartney material, mostly from the sessions that spawned his '' Off the Ground'' album, as well as samples of "Reception" and "The Broadcast" from

Wings A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expre ...

' 1979 album ''

Back to the Egg ''Back to the Egg'' is the seventh and final studio album by the British–American rock band Wings, released in June 1979 on Columbia Records in America (their first for the label), and on Parlophone in the UK. Co-produced by Chris Thomas, t ...

'', as remixed by Youth. Neither McCartney nor Youth are credited on the album; rumours of McCartney's involvement were eventually confirmed by EMI. The project began when McCartney asked Youth to remix several tracks from McCartney's ''Off the Ground'' album for use on possible

12" single The twelve-inch single (often written as 12-inch or 12″) is a type of vinyl ( polyvinyl chloride or PVC) gramophone record that has wider groove spacing and shorter playing time with a 'single' or a few related sound tracks on each surfac ...

s. McCartney stated, :"The brief from me was that he should only use stuff from our recordings, because dance mixes often feature a kick-drum sample or a

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the hono ...

snare sound and, as a consequence, the record ends up sounding a bit like someone else's so I told Youth that I'd prefer any sound he might select to come off our recordings, mainly ''Off the Ground''."

Recording

Regarding the project, Youth has stated, :"I didn't think it appropriate to remix any of the ''Off the Ground'' tracks the way I'd been briefed. I thought it would be better to do a more conceptual thing - that is, rather than remix a track I thought we should deconstruct the album into samples and then construct a new mix from those. And Paul liked the idea. He was into it, so I went for it." Eventually, McCartney decided to join Youth in the studio to create new music to add to the tapestry along with the existing samples, and the project became a more collaborative effort. Although originally conceived as a series of 12" remixes, McCartney became so enamoured with the results of the sessions that the project became this full-length album.

Release and reception

In a ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...

'' review, Michael Bonner wrote, :"Paul McCartney has discovered dance music - and the results are as staggeringly brilliant as those that came from

John Lydon John Joseph Lydon (; born 31 January 1956), also known by his former stage name Johnny Rotten, is an English singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer of the late-1970s punk rock, punk band the Sex Pistols, which lasted from 1975 until 197 ...

's similar road-to-Damascus-like conversion last year. Truly, we live in an age of miracles. Eschewing the easy option of making a remix album, McCartney and his collaborator, Youth, have chosen to follow the likes of Brian Eno down a more experimental and cerebral path. They take a melody and, with dexterous genre-hopping through ambient, trance and house, evolve a number of breathtaking variations. Like snowflakes, each song seems identical to the last, until closer inspection reveals that it has its own unique shape." ''Strawberries Oceans Ships Forest'' was released in the UK on 15 November 1993, and in the US on 14 February 1994. The album, released on

Parlophone Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a German–British record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 192 ...

in the UK, and

Capitol A capitol, named after the Capitoline Hill in Rome, is usually a legislative building where a legislature meets and makes laws for its respective political entity. Specific capitols include: * United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. * Numerous ...

in the US. "Transpiritual Stomp" was released as a 12" single, with "Arizona Light Mix" as the B-side.

Track listing

All songs written by the Fireman.

Personnel

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

– banjo, double-bass, flute *

Youth Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood ( maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as being a young adult. Yo ...

– bass

References

; Footnotes ; Citations {{Authority control 1993 albums The Fireman (band) albums Parlophone albums Capitol Records albums Albums produced by Paul McCartney Albums produced by Youth (musician)