Band On The Run

The album that saved Paul McCartney. No really, it did. His last two albums tanked (I mean look, they went Gold, but this was Paul friggin' McCartney! The Beatles corpse was still warm!) and none of them were exactly critical darlings. He did have a string of hit singles to keep him viable in the public eye, but his fans were slowly dwindling away and the critics were chomping at the bit to rip his solo material to shreds. Plus, you know, this was 1973! Zep and Floyd are at the rock forefront, Glam is exploding in the US and UK, Prog is captivating more discriminating rock music fans, and newer and more exciting artists are sprouting up all over the musical landscape. Many of them trying valiantly to take up the baton where Lennon & McCartney tossed it aside and run with it, whereas the impression of Paul was that of a floundering artist. Irrelevant. Certainly nowhere near as important as he was as a Beatle. Plus Wings wasn't exactly doing so well. Two members up and quit the band, feeling like they were nothing more than McCartney's backup band. Which they were. Let's be honest. Wings was no Supergroup. Heck it was barely a "The Firm" or "GTR". It was Paul + friends with Linda mussing things up. More or less. But Paul, to his credit, was keenly aware of how he needed a GREAT album and hired Beatles engineer and professional McCartney apple-shiner Geoff Emerick to produce and engineer his next album. So in August of 1973, Paul, Linda, Denny Laine, and Emerick hopped a flight to Lagos, Nigeria (!) and began the Band On The Run sessions in earnest. Having recently read Emerick's book, I'm amused by his chapter on the BOTR affair. Paul got mugged and lost all of their demos, so the arrangements they used on many of the songs had to be done from memory. The equipment wasn't exactly state of the art. Poisionous insects. Malaria. A near riot by the locals when it was assumed McCartney was performing cultural imperialism and "stealing" African rhythms and songs for his own purposes. And yet, they somehow managed to record six songs. Eventually the foursome got out of Africa safe and sound, and finished the BOTR sessions in London that October, adding overdubs and recording five more songs. The album had to hit its early December release date; it was being pushed as the big Christmas release of the season. And boy-o-boy, was it BIG! "Gabby Hayes" BIG!! McCartney not only hit paydirt, he beat it like it owed him money. Band On The Run was the blockbuster he was looking for, both commercially and critically. Reviews were ginormously positive, and the album, while not an immediate success, slowly grew and grew on the back of the smash hits "Jet" (#7 in the US) and "Band On The Run" (#1), eventually going Triple Platinum in the US and winning the band a Grammy. Of course, winning a Grammy in the 70s was as difficult as joining the National Geographic Society, but I'm sure they were pleased as punch anyhow. I love this album. I think it's McCartney's best solo work, where he really sounds like he's coming into his own as a solo artist. Gone is the noodling, the wasted tracks, the stupid filler, the overabundance of self-indulgence. This is Paul's first bonafide post-Beatles masterpiece. You probably couldn't ask for a better 1-2 opener than the title track and "Jet". As McCartney standards and AOR/classic rock staples for decades now, they still (to me) seem fresh and exciting. BOTR is certainly an odd song and really shouldn't work. It's composed of three different segments, each with a different tone, tempo, and feel, and yet it comes together perfectly. "Jet" is another winner, one of my favorite all-time songs, McCartney or otherwise. The lyrics make little-to-no sense, and yet this rock classic feels effortless, like it's taking flight and soaring and bringing you along for the ride. "Bluebird" takes it down to Earth, a mellow acoustic piece. A good track, beautifully produced, and McCartney's vocals haven't sounded this confident in awhile. If it's a trifle, it's a good one. Paul's thumping, melodic bassline drives the folky, uptempo "Mrs. Vanderbilt", one of the more underrated tracks on this album. I love the sound of the acoustic guitars screaming out in minor-key unison. "Let Me Roll It" is another live staple, and a fantastic song. Paul's punchy guitar lick punctuates each verse effectively over a slow bluesy foundation. This song was rumored to be McCartney's response to Lennon's "How Do You Sleep", something he denied. Still, it's hard not to see the connection there. It almost sounds like a Lennon tune. Maybe that's why it works so well. Side 2 starts with the cute, pretty, and ultimately slight "Mamunia". It's not a bad song, just not quite at the level of the songs that have preceded it. It's followed by the thickly produced, almost George Harrison-esque "No Words". In fact, it REALLY feels like a George tune. If it had some limp, thinly-recorded slide guitar, it totally WOULD have been a George tune. Ultimately it is a decent track, but a throwaway, non-essential one. "Helen Wheels" picks up the pace with a fast, enjoyable blues-rocker. It's got a snap and a verve that reminds us that Paul can really cook when he wants to. The album plays out with two more songs. The first is "Picasso's Last Words (Drink To Me)". Legend has it that, during a Jamaican holiday, Dustin Hoffman urged McCartney to write the song based on Picasso's recent passing, and recorded him doing an early demo of it. Paul decided to turn the song into a Picasso painting of sorts, inserting tempo and key changes, and bits of callbacks to other songs on the album (Jet and Mrs. Vanderbilt, most ostensibly) like a sort of audio surrealism. It really doesn't work as a song, but it's an interesting attempt nonetheless. I like the opening two minutes of the song just fine on its own ("Drink to mee-eee... Drink to my health...") as a dirgey pub singalong song, while the endless slow "Hey ho" callbacks to Mrs. Vanderbilt that end the song get annoying real fast. The orchestrations during the midsection are lush and melodic. It's the album's only attempt to get indulgent and experimental, and it's the only time I really fast forward. At least after the first two minutes. The final song "Nineteen Hundred And Eighty Five" caps the album off with a total winner. A swingin' piano-driven tune, it finishes the LP on a strong note. The cut served as the B-side to the "Band on the Run" single, but it does just fine by itself. The "Hamburger Helper" of the album, as it were. Paul recently revived the song live on his 2010 tour (along with "Mrs. Vanderbilt") and it makes a strong live track. His piano work has never sounded better, and the song features a sweet guitar solo during the finale, which really builds with strong orchestrations and synthesizer accompaniment. It practically ends a reverse "Thus Spoke Zarathustra", and leaves us with a bit of the title track's chorus as a reminder of the total journey on which Band On The Run takes you. There isn't a weak song on the album. "Picasso's Last Words" is sorta weird and only skippable for about the last minute, and "Mamunia" and "No Words" are good tracks that probably would have been excellent standouts on "Red Rose Speedway" or "Wild Life". The rest of the album really, REALLY cooks. There's no doubt in my mind that Band On The Run represents Paul McCartney at his solo best. The album is beautifully produced, confident, and melodic. It has a catchiness that eluded much of his first four LPs, and a fullness that he would never again achieve to the same level of successful results. So McCartney came out on top with Band On The Run. Would his next album return to his middling previous efforts, or be a virtual Botticelli masterpiece? The answer, surprisingly, may surprise you!

Concord Music has outdone itself with the first release in the "Paul McCartney Archive Collection" series, 1973's BAND ON THE RUN (originally Paul's fifth and final Apple LP). Packaging is excellent, there are wonderful rare photos throughout the book, but the most important item is the music itself. Disc 1 - Remastered Album: The 1993 Paul McCartney Collection release (with Helen Wheels and its B-side, Country Dreamer, added as bonus tracks), sounds somewhat trebley; the 1999 25th Anniversary Edition (with the US track listing (Helen Wheels on track 8)) has more of a bass sound. The new version is more balanced, though it is closer to the 1993 release. At first, I was disappointed that the disc omitted Helen Wheels, per the UK release, but after listening to it, I can understand why Paul wanted it left off the album (it made the US album only because Capitol Records' Al Coury twisted Paul's arm). Disc 2: Contains Helen Wheels, Country Dreamer, and the quirky instrumental TV theme Zoo Gang (the UK B-side to Band on the Run, formerly available as a bonus track on VENUS AND MARS). Also included are six tracks from the One Hand Clapping TV show, including two outtakes - Let Me Roll It and Country Dreamer. Disc 3: This is the audio documentary that appeared with the 25th Anniversary Edition of BAND ON THE RUN, released in 1999. There is only a marginal difference in sound quality, so if you already own that edition and don't care about the fancy deluxe book, purchase the less expensive 2-CD/1-DVD edition. As mentioned by another reviewer, a certain big-box retailer (initials: BB) has the 2-CD/1-DVD edition with a bonus DVD containing an 8-minute mini-documentary of Paul discussing the reissue, and three live versions of BAND ON THE RUN songs from GOOD EVENING NEW YORK CITY. This extra disc is not available on the big deluxe edition. Disc 4 (DVD): The meat of the package. The four music videos (Band on the Run, Mamunia, Album Promo, and Helen Wheels) are the same ones found on 2007's THE MCCARTNEY YEARS DVD set, but this disc has some nice additions, including a moving "Wings in Lagos" video, set to a melancholy version of the title song; an 18-minute documentary about the cover photo shoot; and the entire One Hand Clapping TV show from 1974 (although some fans claim parts were edited out). The only track from OHC released before now was the alternate take of Live and Let Die that was donated to THE IN-LAWS soundtrack in 2003. That track is on the video, but not the audio disc; perhaps that track will end up on RED ROSE SPEEDWAY instead. This version of Wings features Jimmy McCullough on guitar and short-time drummer Geoff Britton (soon to be replaced by Joe English). In addition to familiar material from the period, there are two unissued songs: Let's Love (written for, and recorded by, the great Peggy Lee) and All of You, plus an early version of I'll Give You a Ring (re-recorded and released in 1982 as the B-side to Take It Away, but unavailable on CD because none of the available versions of TUG OF WAR have any bonus tracks). Nits to pick? A few. There is a typo in the Mamunia lyrics ("The next time you see U.C.L.A. rainclouds"), I would have liked to have the words to Helen Wheels and Country Dreamer in the Lyrics section, more album and single sleeve variations, and more album and single labels (particularly the Capitol and Columbia reissues). But those minor things are not enough to detract from the excellent quality of this release. I'm looking forward to the next one, and I hope it's WINGS OVER AMERICA, which has not been remastered since the '80s, and that the ROCKSHOW film (currently available only in European PAL DVD format), will finally be issued in its entirety (a few excerpts appear on THE MCCARTNEY YEARS). Megakudos to Macca and Concord/Hear Music for a job well done.

This is a really, really well-done package. The remastering has a great clarity to it, so much so that you get a better sense of studio acoustics and can here little things which weren't apparent before (Such as Paul shouting in the background to 1985). These are small details, but they do add to your enjoyment. It is also worth noting the packaging. It has been done fantastically, the cds are housed in a nice, chunky feeling cardboard flip-cover with a fairly hefty little book packed with photos. I really love the way that the cds are held in top-loading (rather than sideways on) cardboard slips with little holes in the front so that they look like l.p paper inserts. Its really cool and a really nice touch. The contents are great value for money too. The album has been restored to its correct sequencing, so Helen Wheels is on disc 2 which also includes Country Dreamer, Zoo Gang (Which used to be a bonus on Venus and Mars but was always chronologically closer to Band on the Run) and the One Hand Clapping tracks. But my favourite little extra is the dvd, which has the music videos, extra footage of Lagos and the making of the cover. The real stand out is the One Hand Clapping programme which is just brilliant. It is a documentary from 1974 which lasts for around an hour and I loved every minute of it. The set is really top notch, especially for the price, and I would highly recommend it. A great place to start if you have never bought a McCartney cd but also with lots of little things for fans who may already have a copy and are wondering whether to upgrade. If the other remasters in the collection are up to this standard, then they will be excellent.

Un gran álbum. Merece la pena.

Volver a disfrutar del Band on the Run en su formato vinyl es una experiencia insuperable después de tantos años de escuchar la obra en formato CD. Para mi gusto, debieron haber incluido la pieza Helen Wheels, con lo que la experiencia hubiera resultado total. Desde el inicio, con el track Band on the Run, hasta el final, con la mítica 1985, la calidad auditiva nos remite a mediados de los 70, cuando el álbum causaba encanto entre los seguidores de Paul McCartney y Wings. Para quienes estamos reorganizando la colección de vinilos que tuvimos en cierto momento, el álbum Band on the Run resulta imprescindible para completar la colección.

Delivered Taylor Swift instead of Band On the Arun

Disco espetacular! Clássico!