Paul McCartney & Wings - Band on the Run
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Free Music Notes for Band on the Run
Free Music Review: Superb remastering of a classic
Hit: 5 Stars
Paul McCartney's best post-Beatles album is given the Steve Hoffman remastering treatment. Both the performances and the sound of this CD are superb.Free Music Review: McCartney's Breakthrough Album
Hit: 5 Stars
After the mediocrity of "Wild Life" and "Red Rose Speedway," Paul McCartney and Wings deliver this post-Beatles breakthrough. "Band on the Run" (1973) remains McCartney's strongest solo effort -- a remarkably cohesive album with no weak spots. Among the standout tracks: "Jet," "Mrs. Vandebilt," "Let Me Roll It" and the famous title song. Worth hearing alongside George Harrison's "All Things Must Pass" and John Lennon's "Plastic Ono Band." Free Music Review: Band on the Run
Hit: 5 Stars
ESSENTIAL ALBUM!!! This is Macca's best album, ever! Of all the albums released by the former Beatles, this one is the closest thing to what the Fab Four did together. Band on the Run topped the charts at #1, it was his third album to do so. Three singles were released from this album, "Band on the Run" which went to #1, his third single to do that, "Helen Wheels" peaked at #10 & "Jet" which peaked at #7. In just three short years the former Beatle was proving himself to be the most successful of the Fab Four.
Band on the Run is one of Sir Paul's most adventurous albums. The story behind the recording of the album is no less entertaining. The majority of this album was recorded in Lagos, Nigeria. When Paul had heard that EMI (Capitol Records) was building a studio there he wanted to put it to use. Upon announcing this to his bandmates his drummer & lead player decided they didn't want to go. McCartney, always a difficult person to deal with, decided to go ahead & record the album with only himself, wife Linda & Denny Laine. When they arrived in Lagos Paul found the studio not completed (they would be the first musicians to record there), many Nigerians were upset thinking they were there to 'steal' their music, transportation & housing were atrocious & the government itself in a state of flux. I mention all these things to show how difficult it was to record this album &, yet, it is, almost without any doubt, the best album he recorded. He did this under all these pressures; actually playing all the instruments except for Linda on synthesizers & Laine on rhythm guitar.
Band on the Run doesn't have a weak song on it, I wouldn't consider a single song here to be filler. And as adventurous as the song "Band on the Run" is & acknowledging that it was a #1 single, it's actually the weakest song here. The album opens with the title track followed by "Jet" one of his solid rockers. Then comes "Bluebird", one of his absolute best album tracks, it could have been a single. It's chorus is dynamic, has great harmonies & an incredible sax solo in it. "Mrs. Vanderbilt" follows, though it might be the next weakest song from the album it is, nonetheless, an entertaining piece. "Let Me Roll It" is also one of the best album tracks he ever recorded, it's another song that could have been released as a single. Played in 6/8 gives it a very special feel, Paul plays a very distorted lead guitar. With the reverb drenched vocal & distorted guitar, that, in some ways, reminiscent of Lennon's "Cold Turkey", one can see why some consider this song as a McCartney tribute to a former Beatle. "Mamunia" is a beautiful ballad that has some impressive lyrics, something that McCartney has received much criticism about. "No Word" co-written with Laine, is next that's another solid piece of creativity. Then there's "Helen Wheels", a song about his sand buggy, a play on words, & one of the best leads recorded by him. One of the amazing things about this song is that it hasn't a single chord change! It's a solid piece of recording studio wizardry; McCartney is acknowledged by many in the business at being sheer genius at this. Then there's "Picasso's Last Words", a song suggested by Dustin Hoffman, that has several different movements & speed changes. It's another piece of studio wizardry. The album closes with "Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five", another one of Paul's best album tracks. He plays piano to great effect & is an incredibly rocking song. Unfortunately, this song has the sort of lyrics that McCartney is constantly criticized over; they don't make any sense. This is another one of those cases by him where he's more concerned about the lyric scansion than the lyrical sense; they sound good & they flow extremely well. Because it's such an incredible song I'm willing to forgive him for what could be considered to be a weak set of lyrics.
Free Music Review: Almost four stars, it's at the very least Wings' best effort
Hit: 3 Stars
Sure, he had Wings now, but this is still McCartney's album through and through. "Band on the Run" is a mostly consistent and singularly focused post-Beatles effort despite the presence of the immediately forgettable "Mamunia" and the goofy song-written-on-a-dare, "Picasso's Last Words." Band on the Run also has several of Paul's best truly rocking numbers like the rollicking closer, "Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five," the lyrically slight but musically stomping "Jet," and the formidable title track.
Despite its winners, there's never any doubt that this is hardly essential stuff. But Mac is a master of fluff, and while it's playing, despite the absence of cheers and smiles, it has an ingratiating quality that can make even a jaded Beatles shrugger nod along. Its populist quality has essayed in a wave of dissention that while not entirely undeserved is at least curious. Derided by some, heralded by others, "Band on the Run" is one of those perfectly "pleasant" albums that's not going to be remembered forever but is definitely worthy of at least one listen.
Best cuts: "Band on the Run," "Bluebird," "Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five," "Jet," "Let Me Roll It," "No Words," "Mrs. Vanderbilt"
Free Music Review: Probably Macca's most solid post-Beatles effort
Hit: 4 Stars
I first bought this record a few years after it came out, when I was at the height of my love for The Beatles. I liked it quite a bit at the time, though some songs ("Let Me Roll It," "Bluebird," "Maumania") were harder to like than others (the title track, "Jet," "Picasso's Last Words/1985," plus "Helen Wheels," which was added to American editions of the record).
Listening again all these years later on CD, I'm still struck by Macca's (usual) efforts to cover broad stylistic ground. There's straight ahead rock, acoustic reverie, two attempts at multi-part suites, and even what's been interpreted as another post-"How Do You Sleep" dig at John Lennon ("Let Me Roll It"). Musically, he does it well, but listening with older ears I'm struck all the more at the dodginess of some of the lyrics--Macca seems to be straining a bit to be clever or profound and sounds like it on a bunch of these songs, at least to my ears. On the other hand, even if "Band on the Run" makes only approximate sense it is still great fun, and while "No Words" may not reach the same heights as "Maybe I'm Amazed" in McCartney's rockin' love song canon, it takes a good, enjoyable stab at it.
I haven't listened to all of Paul's post-Beatles solo disks, having largely given up some time around "Back to the Egg" (I do have "Flaming Pie"), but of the batch he put out over those 15 years or so this one is probably the best and most consistent. If you like The Beatles, I'm sure you'll like this one, too.