UK album release: Flaming Pie by Paul McCartney

Flaming Pie, Paul McCartney’s tenth solo studio album, was released in the United Kingdom on 5 May 1997.

It was McCartney’s first new album in four years, and followed his work on The Beatles’ Anthology project.

The album was well received by critics, and peaked at number two in the UK, his highest new entry since 1989’s Flowers In The Dirt. It was held off the top spot by the Spice Girls’ debut album Spice.

Its US release was three weeks after the UK’s, on 27 May 1997. As a result, many American fans bought imported copies, affecting McCartney’s first-week sales. As in the UK, Flaming Pie peaked at number two, again held off the top by the Spice Girls.

The album also went top 10 in Austria, Denmark, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway and Spain. It was certified gold in Japan, Norway, the UK and US.

Flaming Pie was nominated for Album of the Year at the 1998 Grammy Awards, although it lost out to Bob Dylan’s Time Out Of Mind.