McCartney III Imagined

McCartney III Imagined is a remix album of songs from McCartney III, the eighteenth solo album by English musician Paul McCartney. It was released digitally on 16 April 2021, with a physical version released on 23 July. It features remixes by numerous artists.

McCartney III Imagined
Remix album by Paul McCartney
Released	16 April 2021 (2021-04-16)
Studio	Various
Genre	Various
Length	47:23 (digital) 50:07 (physical)
Label	Capitol/Universal
Producer	Various
Paul McCartney chronology
McCartney III (2020) McCartney III Imagined (2021) McCartney I II III (2022)
Singles from McCartney III Imagined
"The Kiss of Venus (Dominic Fike version)" Released: 11 March 2021 "Find My Way (featuring Beck)" Released: 25 March 2021 "Slidin' (EOB remix)" Released: 7 April 2021

The tracks were curated by McCartney, featuring "friends, fans, and brand new acquaintances".^[1] Dominic Fike's version of "The Kiss of Venus" was released as the first single, followed by Beck's version of "Find My Way" and EOB's version of "Slidin'".^[2][3]

Coinciding with its release, McCartney had live conversations via Instagram Live with several contributors.^[4] The album received positive reviews.^[5] Following McCartney III accomplishing the same feat, it became the first remix album to top Billboard's Top Album Sales Chart in more than a decade, also reaching number 1 on the US Rock Albums and Vinyl Albums charts.^[6]

Background

For McCartney III Imagined, McCartney enlisted numerous collaborators to remix and perform songs from the album, including: Beck, Dominic Fike, Khruangbin, St. Vincent, Dev Hynes, Phoebe Bridgers, Ed O'Brien, Damon Albarn, Josh Homme, Anderson .Paak, Robert Del Naja, and Idris Elba.^[7]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	7.0/10[8]
Metacritic	76/100[5]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[9]
Clash	8/10[10]
Exclaim!	8/10[11]
The Independent	[12]
Loud and Quiet	6/10[13]
musicOMH	[14]
NME	[15]
The Observer	[16]
Paste	8.0/10[17]
Pitchfork	6.6/10[18]
Uncut	7/10[19]

At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, McCartney III Imagined has an average score of 76, based on 11 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[5] Aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave the album 7 out of 10, based on its assessment of the critical consensus.^[8]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Paul McCartney.

McCartney III Imagined – Digital edition^[1]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Find My Way" (featuring Beck)	4:53
2.	"The Kiss of Venus" (Dominic Fike version)	2:23
3.	"Pretty Boys" (featuring Khruangbin)	5:48
4.	"Women and Wives" (St. Vincent remix)	3:00
5.	"Deep Down" (Blood Orange remix)	4:24
6.	"Seize the Day" (featuring Phoebe Bridgers)	3:29
7.	"Slidin'" (EOB remix)	2:39
8.	"Long Tailed Winter Bird" (Damon Albarn remix)	4:10
9.	"Lavatory Lil" (Josh Homme version)	2:53
10.	"When Winter Comes" (Anderson .Paak remix)	2:21
11.	"Deep Deep Feeling" (3D RDN remix)	11:23
Total length:		47:23

McCartney III Imagined – Physical edition^[1]

No.	Title	Length
12.	"Long Tailed Winter Bird" (Idris Elba remix)	2:44
Total length:		50:07

Charts

Chart performance for McCartney III Imagined

Chart (2021)	Peak position
French Albums (SNEP)[20]	104
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[21]	28
Scottish Albums (OCC)[22]	3
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[23]	46
UK Albums (OCC)[24]	13
US Billboard 200[25]	19

References

1. McCartney III Imagined – CD. paulmccartney.com. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
2. Kreps, Daniel (11 March 2021). "Paul McCartney Taps St. Vincent, Beck, Phoebe Bridgers for 'III Imagined' Album". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
3. Minsker, Evan. "Paul McCartney and Beck Share New Version of 'Find My Way'". Pitchfork. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
4. Sacher, Andrew (16 April 2021). "Phoebe Bridgers, St. Vincent & more on Paul McCartney III Imagined livestream today + album out now". Brooklyn Vegan. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
5. "McCartney III Imagined by Paul McCartney". Metacritic. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
6. Reimann, Nicholas (4 August 2021). "At 79, Paul McCartney Has A Bestselling Album Again—With A Little Help From (New) Friends". Forbes. Archived from the original on 6 January 2022. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
7. "McCartney III Imagined - Available Now". paulmccartney.com. 16 April 2021. Archived from the original on 25 April 2021. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
8. "McCartney III Imagined by Paul McCartney". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
9. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "McCartney III Imagined". Allmusic. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
10. "Paul McCartney - McCartney III Reimagined". Clash Magazine. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
11. Tymochenko, Katie. "Paul McCartney Gets by with a Little Help from His Friends on 'McCartney III Imagined'". Exclaim!. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
12. "Album reviews: Paul McCartney – III Imagined and AJ Tracey – Flu Game". The Independent. 16 April 2021. Archived from the original on 12 May 2022. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
13. "Paul McCartney - McCartney III Imagined". Loud and Quiet. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
14. Murphy, John (16 April 2020). "Paul McCartney – McCartney III Imagined". musicOMH. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
15. "Paul McCartney – 'McCartney III: Imagined' review: Macca shines with a little help from his friends". NME. 14 April 2021. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
16. Spencer, Neil (18 April 2021). "Paul McCartney: McCartney III Imagined review – classy remixes by proxy". The Observer. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
17. Reed, Ryan (15 April 2021). "Paul McCartney's Famous Friends Avoid Remix Clichés on McCartney III Imagined". Paste. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
18. "Paul McCartney - McCartney III Imagined". Pitchfork. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
19. "Paul McCartney - McCartney III Imagined". Uncut. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
20. "Top Albums (Week 30, 2021)". Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
21. "Oricon Top 50 Albums: 2021-08-02" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
22. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
23. "Spanishcharts.com – Paul McCartney – McCartney III Imagined". Hung Medien. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
24. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
25. "Debuts on this week's #Billboard200 (1/2)..." Billboard on Twitter. Retrieved 3 August 2021.