Your 5 favorite McCartney/Wings albums?

I first heard the Wings At The Speed Of Sound tracks on WOA, and when I finally found that album (for some reason, in 1985, it was scarce on vinyl in the US), I enjoyed those songs a lot more - especially "Beware My Love".

 

Except Band On The Run. I hate Joe English's drumming on it. He plays the chorus' drum riff thru-out the song and it sounds off kilter.

 

Really??? I think "Beware My Love" is the one of the four "Speed of Sound" tracks that improves the MOST on "WOA"!

 

Yeah but the live WOA version omits the gorgeous faded-up harmonium and neat acoustic guitar riff heard on the studio track intro. I've always wondered why.....

 

My Picks:

Chaos & Creation
Band On The Run
London Town
Ram
Tug Of War

 

I have McGear CD on See for miles label and it's AWESOME! The sound is so good it reminds me of DCC Maccas. I guess it must be OOP and rare these days but this CD is truly worth hunthing down!

 

Really? I have it and I have played it only once because it wasn't what I expected. I guess I have to give it another chance.

 

Yeah, I had the same experience! Played it once and it was sitting on my self until yesterday night, when (inspired by this thread obviously) I gave it a spin. First of all I really like the music this time and yes, I was blown away by the warm, dynamic mastering.

 

Thats my reason exactly

 

Band on the Run.

Didn't really enjoy any of the others, by the time I had got to hear McCartney I was tired of being disappointed and so I can't say that I have done that lp justice.

 

WEEKEND UPDATE
The original results are on page 6 - post #105. Over the weekend there have been a few more votes. So, to include everyone, here are the latest results:

VOTES

Unplugged (The Official Bootleg) - 1
All The Best - 1
Tripping The Live Fantastic - 1
CHOBA B CCCP - 1
Off The Ground - 1

Wings Greatest - 2
Run Devil Run - 2
McCartney II - 2
Pipes Of Peace - 2
Driving Rain - 3

Press To Play - 6
Wings At The Speed Of Sound - 7
Flowers In The Dirt - 8
Wings Over America - 8
Wild Life - 9

London Town - 11
Flaming Pie - 12
Red Rose Speedway - 13
Tug Of War - 18
Back To The Egg - 20

MEMBER'S (who voted) ALL-TIME 5 FAVORITE McCARTNEY

#5 - Chaos And Creation In The Backyard - 22
#4 - Venus And Mars - 32
#3 - McCartney - 33
#2 - Band On The Run - 48
#1 - Ram - 53

 

Nice to see the new album getting so many votes I ordered it the other day after reading all the positive reviews here. I didn't vote since I don't own them all but I guess most of my picks would be in the top few places although I love Back to the Egg and that would make the top 5 for me for sure.

 

The new album is nice, but I suspect there is a bit of "The Flavor Of The Month" with the votes - lots of votes at the beginning which tailed off towards the end. I'll have to do another poll, next year, and see how well it fares at that time. I suspect "Off The Ground" would have received more than 1 vote if it was released this year.

The biggest surprise, it seems, is how popular "Back To The Egg" is with forum members. If I did this poll one month ago, "Back To The Egg" (or "Tug Of War") would have been #5.

 

uh uh......for me, it sucked then, it sucks now, it'll always suck!

 

Off The Ground sounded real nice when it came out. But I don't listen to that one as much. I count "Off The Ground", "Hope Of Deliverance", and "I Owe It All To You" as McCartney classics. Also very good are "Looking For Changes", "Mistress And Maid". And personally, I like the much maligned "Biker Like An Icon" and "Peace In The Neighborhood". Still, not one that I listen to a lot.

Also, this is another McCartney album that was seriously compromised in its song selection. He left off superior tracks such as "Kicked Around No More", "I Can't Imagine", "Keep Coming Back To Love", "Style Style" and "Sweet Sweet Memories" (available as b-sides). Only "Kicked Around No More" would rank as a lost classic, but the others are still pretty good, and certainly better than "C'mon People", "Get Out Of My Way", and "Winedark Open Sea".

Dave, now that I know you disliked PTP and OTG, did you like Flowers In The Dirt?

 

I am tempted to say Wing's Greatest Hits (though I think it's missing a couple songs like Listen to What the Man Said, Too Many People, Helen Wheels) Wingspan rectified those ommisions, but used DJ edits for Junior's Farm and Mull of Kintyre. McCartney's post Beatles output, to me, is more miss than hit, so I prefer a good compilation.

The best album is Band of the Run with Ram a close second, and Wings Over America a distant third.

 

It's admittedly hard to put a new album into perspective within a 30 year career, but I think most McCartney fans are experienced enough (or have been burned enough) to see through the "new release euphoria" to sense what is good, what is great, and what is, well, the other dozen or so Macca albums!

I know it's going to sound like madness, but I think at least 1/3 of "C&C" ranks among his ALL-TIME best work -- and yes, I'm including the Beatles. Specifically, I'm talking about "At The Mercy," "Friends To Go," "Too Much Rain" and "A Certain Softness." I'm tempted to add "Jenny Wren" and "English Tea" and declare that these are the best six songs to ever appear consecutively on a McCartney solo album. Madness? Find me another Macca LP with six songs in a row that are as good as these.

And for the record, no, I never entertained such fanciful thoughts when listening to "Off The Ground" in 1993 or "Flowers In The Dirt" in 1989 or "Tug of War" in 1982. I've never been "fooled" by excitement into thinking the latest was the greatest. It's impossible to predict how we will vote next year -- and who are we kidding, someone will do this poll again next year! -- but I think "C&C" might actually RISE in rank!

Sean Murdock

 

Chaos is a nice album and all, and it's good to see Paul still making an effort, but I've been surprised to hear people making these kinds of claims over the past couple of weeks. I don't think there's anything on the album that approaches the spirit or inventiveness of Paul's best work, let alone the Beatles'. It's more consistent than many of Paul's other records, sure, but most of it doesn't achieve much more than low-key pleasantness, either (IMO of course). I mean, I like it, but I think Paul would have to make something much more exciting for me to put this album alongside his classics from the 60s and 70s.

 

I'm not.

I've been buying each new album since Tug Of War. I can usually tell that the "new album" isn't as good as the ones I love, but I still think they are great. The only place where I gain clarity over time is song selection. At first I think every song is a gem. I thought "Flaming Pie" was the best thing ever until I realized that it had "Used To Be Bad" and "I Really Love You" on it. I felt the same way about "Driving Rain" until I realized that "Spinning On An Axis", "Back In The Sunshine", "Heather", "Riding Into Jaipur", and "Rinse The Raindrops" (while interesting) just weren't so hot, and dragged the album down. Thus, FP and DR don't rank as highly for me as Ram, Tug Of War, Band On The Run and McCartney, and even below Red Rose Speedway, Wildlife, London Town, Back To The Egg, McCartney II, and Press To Play.

 

Yeah, but so is John Lennon's post-Beatles output, and George Harrison's, and Ringo Starr's. Out of the four Beatles, McCartney by far had the most consistent output after the Beatles. Most of John Lennon's solo albums are nowhere near as interesting. Notice how nobody ever talks about Lennon's albums in these big long threads as we do for Paul? Not being defensive---but just trying to stick up a bit for Macca, as if he needs it.

Speaking of a good compilation, I recently put together two mixes for a McCartney skeptic with the following track lists. If these two discs do not contain masterful work, then I'm not sure what qualifies. These are all solo or Wings efforts. Needless to say, the skeptic was won over big time...he couldn't believe his ears. These discs flow really well, if I do say so myself. This is what WINGSPAN should have looked like!

Disc One:

1. Too Many People
2. Tomorrow (Wings)
3. The Back Seat of My Car
4. Maybe I’m Amazed
5. Junk
6. Man We Was Lonely
7. My Brave Face
8. Monkberry Moon Delight
9. Dear Friend (Wings)
10. Tug of War
11. Take It Away
12. Dear Boy
13. Calico Skies
14. Call Me Back Again (Wings)
15. Every Night
16. Daytime Nightime Suffering (Wings)
17. Letting Go (Wings)
18. Waterfalls
19. Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five (Wings)

Disc Two:

1. Big Barn Bed (Wings)
2. Flaming Pie
3. Beware My Love (Wings)
4. Jet (Wings)
5. The Lovely Linda
6. That Would Be Something
7. Eat at Home
8. Get on the Right Thing (Wings)
9. Band on the Run (Wings)
10. So Bad
11. Uncle Albert / Admiral Halsey
12. Put It There
13. A Love For You (Wings)
14. From a Lover to a Friend
15. Figure of Eight
16. Junior’s Farm (Wings)
17. Heart of the Country
18. Live and Let Die (Wings)
19. No More Lonely Nights
20. The Pound Is Sinking
21. Young Boy

 

But if you know right away that the "new" album "isn't as good" as previous ones, than you CAN see through the euphoria, you just haven't pinned it on specifics yet.

I know it seems like I'm trying to justify my unreasonable praise of "C&C", but I actually didn't respond to it that well at first. I downloaded it before it was released out of curiosity and, while I wanted it to be "fresh" when I bought the CD, I couldn't help myself and listened to about 30 seconds of each track. My overwhelming first impression was "eh" -- or maybe it was "ugh." I was so UNDERwhelmed that I didn't bother burning the mp3s to a CD; I didn't even listen to the mp3s again. However, by the time I had played the CD about 5 or 6 times, it had hit me with an impact I hadn't felt since I first heard Band On The Run (around 1983 -- I was too young for the original release).

I can't explain why anyone should accept "C&C" as a McCartney classic. Time isn't on my side; it's only been out for a week. But it's like the famous quote about porn -- I can't tell you what a classic is, but I can tell you this is one. For me, anyway. Paul has so many albums and so many fans that there will be defenders of nearly all his albums, no matter how limp or feeble other fans think they are. (I won't cause trouble by naming albums, but we can all fill in the blanks.)

This illustrates perfectly why being a Paul McCartney fan can be so much fun. You listed five songs that "dragged [Driving Rain] down", and I think four of them (sorry, "Spinning on an Axis"!) are terrific. Even crazier, I think "Heather" is one of his all-time best solo tracks.

Like I said before -- "madness"!

Sean Murdock

 

You got that right. I'm with you on C&C though. I think that over time it will hold up as one of his best. This is largely because the individual songs are great, the production is not liable to sound dated, the album works as a whole piece, and there aren't any duff tracks. People might find fault with "English Tea", but I tend to view it as a novelty tune, and a decent one at that.

There is something about this album, a quality I last heard on "Tug Of War", and sometimes on "Flaming Pie", that is mature and no BS. I can't pin it down. Its almost like an air of dignity.

 

I know what you're saying, and it's foolhardy to compare anything to his Beatles work, but I can't help it. I'm tempted to agree that "C&C" isn't as "exciting" as his best work, and you can almost hear the sweat in the tracks as he tries his darnedest to be great again. I'm not saying "Chaos" has the effortless, breezy quality of, say, "Band On The Run," but Paul being effortless and breezy also gave us "Wings At The Speed Of Sound." I'll take sweat over effortlessness at this point.

Here's how I can believe that "C&C" is a classic work. With Macca, fairly or not, everything gets held to the Beatles standard, and I listen to each solo LP with a mental checklist containing the following items:

(1) Song -- Is it good? Catchy? Good hook/haunting melody?
(2) Performance -- Are the instruments well chosen, well arranged and well played?
(3) Vocals -- Is Paul singing with anything approaching the sincerity or passion of 1968-70?
(4) Lyrics -- Is it "Let It Be" or "Bip Bop"? If in between, do I cringe or vomit?
(5) Production -- Is it crisp and clear-minded, squishy and overcooked, soft and formless, or simply wrong for these songs/this album/this artist?

If you start with the assumption that the Beatles were a "5 for 5" band, then the problem with Paul is that he's a "2 for 5" solo artist. He may have some good songs, but crappy lyrics and production (Wild Life). He might have good songs and decent lyrics, but erratic performances and production (Flowers In The Dirt). He might have great production, performaces and singing, but bad songs (Speed Of Sound). You get the drift.

If you follow my criteria above, it's easy to see why "McCartney" -- an album that logically should be held in low esteem (homemade, dashed off, unfinished) -- is so loved by Macca fans. It's 4 for 5 -- and they lyrics are good enough on the few great songs to make it seem even better. The vocals are great, the tunes (while unfinished) are catchy and memorable, the performances are energetic, and the production is modest and direct. "Ram" -- so hated by critics in 1971 -- is almost flawless by my "5 for 5" criteria, again taking a hit for the lyrics. "Tug of War" -- so loved by critics in 1982 -- has a soft, edge-free production, a couple of truly horrid songs, and some good tunes saddled with bad lyrics.

To get back to "Chaos", you probably know what I'm going to say. As I listen to it, I hear good-to-great tunes, great performances, strong singing (aided by the earnest and determined production, perhaps), mostly good but occasionally great lyrics, and clear, sympathetic production. To give specific examples, I think "Too Much Rain" is a 5 for 5, while "Follow Me" is a very generic 2 for 5, with the good production and decent singing not quite salvaging a lazy melody, ordinary performance, and trite lyrics.

Time will tell how this one will age, of course. Few artists' albums age so wildly as Paul's. "Wild Life," so reviled and mocked upon release, is now a favorite of many. "Flowers In The Dirt," hailed by so many, has cooled somewhat in reputation. I feel in my gut that "Chaos" will stand the test of time, but as Ringo would say, time takes time.

Sean Murdock

 

Your scale is pretty good. But since I have to... I think the production on Wild Life is right on the spot, for what its trying to be (which I assume is a low-key, lo-fi, quickie effort). Given what McCartney was capable of, and what he accomplished just within three short years ago, and what the other ex-Beatles were doing, and what the music world at large was up to, Wild Life was maligned. Its charms have become apparent over time.

What were the bad songs on Wings At The Speed Of Sound? The mistake wasn't the actual songs - but letting other band members sing them. I'd love to hear the Paul versions of "The Note You Never Wrote" and "Must Do Something About It". And of course, there were songs by Denny and Jimmy, and one true crapfest with "Cook Of The House". Aside from that, weren't Paul's songs damn good, well produced and well-played?

Eh... its just for arguments sake. I'm still with you on Chaos.

 

I agree, I think Paul should have handled all the vocals and then "Speed Of Sound" would have a better feel. Still one of my top 5, though!