Paul McCartney's Canceled Album | Return To Pepperland

It was 1986 when Press to play, Paul McCartney's last album, became the biggest album failure of his career. Pop music was changing, and new references such as George Michael and Phil Collins were causing Paul's misgivings as he realized that his dominance in the charts had come to an end. In an attempt to give his music a contemporary sound, he began working with Hugh Padgham, one of the most sought-after producers of the time, who had already worked with Peter Gabriel, Genesis, and The Police. McCartney's album, despite featuring collaborations with Phil Collins, Pete Townshend and Carlos Alomar, was not enough to please the public, who saw in Paul a desperate attempt to sound modern, and for many it betrayed the essence of his sound. Selling only 250,000 copies in the U.S., Paul McCartney knew he could not afford another setback, months earlier his film Broad Street had also failed at the box office, and the feeling of going out of the mainstream was terrifying him. He changed his manager and his strategy. And taking advantage of the celebration of the sergeant pepper 20th anniversary, paul mccartney thought that perhaps by reconciling with his beatle legacy he could get back to number 1 in the charts. And Return to Pepperland was an attempt to do that.