Writing for "Rolling Stone", Langdon Winner found the songs "distinctly second rate" relative to McCartney's best compositions as a Beatle, with only "Maybe I'm Amazed" "even comclose" to matching that high standard, but he admired McCartney's vocals and added: "if one can accept the album in its own terms, "McCartney" stands as a very good, although not astounding, piece of work." Winner admitted to being repelled by the "tawdry propaganda" surrounding the release, however, about which he emphasised: "Remember, this is all stuff that Paul himself deliberately included [in the album's press kit, not just some idle comments he let slip to a probing journalist." The reviewer concluded: "I like "McCartney" very much. But I remember that the people of Troy also liked that wooden horse they wheeled through their gates until they discovered that it was hollow inside and full of hostile warriors."