BEST
8. PAUL MCCARTNEY
Memory Almost Full (Hear Music)
If you were expecting a divorce album, you don't know Macca. He escaped from present unpleasantries by cobbling together a collection that winsomely touches on childhood playgrounds and Beatle beginnings (''That Was Me''), as well as sweet romances of yore (''Gratitude''). Even when he embraces the melancholy and skips ahead to ''The End of the End,'' death sounds pretty groovy too. Much like the carefree ''Mr. Bellamy,'' who won't leave his skyscraper perch despite pleadings from below, McCartney has no intention of being forced down. But venture upward, and you'll encounter pop's finest melodist offering you his most invigorated material in decades.