Reuniting with producer {$George Martin} was a bit of a masterstroke on the part of {$Paul McCartney}, since it guaranteed that {^Tug of War} would receive a large, attentive audience. {$Martin} does help {$McCartney} focus, but it's hard to give all the credit to {^Tug of War}, since {$McCartney} was showing signs of creative rebirth on {^McCartney II}, a homemade collection of synth-based tunes. This lush, ambitious, sprawling album couldn't be further from that record. That was deliberately experimental and intimate, while this is nothing less than a grand gesture, playing as {$McCartney}'s attempt to summarize everything he can do on one record. There's majestic balladry, folky guitars, unabashed whimsy, unashamed sentimentality, clever jokes, silliness, hints of {\reggae}, a {\rockabilly} duet with {$Carl Perkins}, two collaborations with {$Stevie Wonder}, and, of course, lots of great tunes. If anything, {$McCartney}'s trying a bit too hard here, and there are times that the music sags with its own ambition (or slightly dated production, as on the smash single {&"Ebony and Ivory"}). But, at its best -- the surging title track, the giddy {&"Take It Away,"} the {\vaudevillian} stomp {&"Ballroom Dancing,"} the {$Lennon} tribute {&"Here Today,"} the wonderful {&"Wanderlust"} -- it's as good as {$McCartney} gets. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide