Band on the Run

Best McCartney work since the Beatles! Always knew the first 2 songs but not really the rest of the album. Liked a lot of this one and a number of very good songs which I will listen to again. Felt somewhere between the Beatles and the Frog Chorus which I guess makes sense. A steady and pleasant effort.

I really enjoyed this album, I had heard the singles before and liked them even more as an album all together. Its very good and complete

I had never heard ninteen hundred and eighty five before, what a great song. That will be played again!!

Favourite song: Band on the run
Least favourite: Bluebird, I was not a fan of this at all.
Album artwork: Iconic album cover

Nu er jeg ved at få nok af Paul og John.. Når eneste sang jeg synes stikker ud er den der med "Ho, hey ho", så synes jeg sgu at det er lidt tyndt.

Such familiar sound. Feels like I've known him forever without eer knowing who it was. Great album

That’s an easy 5, and thank goodness it is.

I always use this album as a sort of benchmark, but it’s been so long since I actually heard it that I wondered if my memory was sort of faltering on me – obviously, Band on the Run and Jet are the two biggest hits off of this album, and some of Paul’s best known post-Beatles stuff, but I couldn’t fully remember the rest of the album.

The rest of the album is just as damn good; the only real point of “ehh” for me was the sort of “first minute is the whole song” track that is “Let Me Roll It,” but even that’s a pretty good song when it comes to it – I think this is just a great fucking listen, regardless of paying attention to the lyrics, and if you do pay attention to the lyrics, I think it just adds even more to the album. The structures on all of these tracks are super fun, both vocally and instrumentally in a way that’s both reminiscent of The Beatles and much closer to some of his contemporaries at the time, like say, Stevie Wonder, Elton John, or even a lot of the U.S. bands that had kinda tried to fill the post-Beatles void (especially on No Words & Helen Wheels).

I could keep going, but I’m just glad this album was as strong as I remembered it being – I truly forgot the album had ended on a small reprise of Band on the Run, so that was a fun looping point. It’s just a great fucking album, and when music can make someone feel this good, there’s not a damn thing wrong with it. Just a really strong listen from top to bottom, and a real pinnacle of 70s rock to me. One of the easiest 5’s I’ll give.

I liked this quite a bit. 4/5

Dans le grand marathon qu'est ce projet "1001 Albums", il y a des étapes qu'on attend avec impatience, des découvertes qu'on espère, des pépites qu'on a hâte de déterrer. Et puis, il y a les monuments. Les mastodontes. Les mecs tellement installés dans le paysage qu'on a l'impression de les connaître par coeur sans même les avoir vraiment écoutés. Et Paul McCartney en fait partie.

Je vais être honnête avec vous : je ne suis pas le client idéal. Ma came, mon panthéon personnel, se situe à des années-lumière de la pop léchée et des mélodies bienveillantes. Pour faire simple et caricatural : entre les Beatles et les Rolling Stones, j'ai toujours choisi le Velvet Underground. Et entre McCartney et Jagger, ma chapelle, c'est celle de Lou Reed. L'héroïne-chic, la noirceur poétique, les guitares qui crissent comme un métro new-yorkais à 3 heures du matin... Voilà mon terrain de jeu.

Alors, forcément, quand le nom de "McCartney" est apparu sur ma liste, j'ai soupiré. Je me suis préparé à une corvée polie. J'imaginais déjà les mélodies un peu niaises, les arrangements propret, la gentillesse dégoulinante d'un artiste qui, pour moi, avait perdu toute sa sève en quittant Liverpool. Je m'attendais à m'emmerder, purement et simplement. J'y allais à reculons, la mine renfrognée, le casque vissé sur les oreilles comme on met un casque de chantier avant d'entrer dans une zone sinistrée.

Je me préparais à écrire une chronique polie mais acerbe, une analyse distante de ce troisième album solo, unanimement salué comme son chef-d'oeuvre, mais qui, j'en étais persuadé, ne serait pour moi qu'une confirmation de mes préjugés.

Et puis, j'ai appuyé sur "Play".

Et merde. Le salaud m'a eu.

Il faut bien le reconnaître, même quand on est un snob endurci comme moi. Il faut savoir s'incliner. "Band on the Run" n'est pas juste un bon album. C'est un putain de grand disque.

Dès le morceau-titre, cette suite en trois mouvements qui ouvre l'album, j'ai senti que mes certitudes commençaient à vaciller. Ce n'était pas la pop simpliste à laquelle je m'attendais. C'était alambiqué, ambitieux, ça partait dans tous les sens avec une cohérence folle. Une sorte de mini-opéra rock de poche, qui passe d'une ballade mélancolique à un rock enlevé sans qu'on ait le temps de dire ouf. Déjà, le doute s'installait.

Et puis est arrivé "Jet". Et là, j'ai pris une claque. Un uppercut. Ce riff de piano, cette énergie brute, cette guitare qui griffe... C'était du rock'n'roll, du vrai, du pur. Ça puait l'urgence et l'inspiration. Fini le gentil Paul, bonjour la bête de scène. Mon armure de cynisme a commencé à se fissurer sérieusement.

Le coup de grâce est venu en deux temps. D'abord, "Mrs. Vandebilt". Ce refrain, bordel. Ce "Ho, hey ho !" qui s'incruste dans le cerveau pour ne plus jamais en sortir. C'est con comme la lune, mais c'est absolument génial. C'est le genre de mélodie que seul un génie peut pondre, un truc à la fois évident et complètement unique. J'ai surpris mon pied en train de battre la mesure. Trahison.

Et enfin, "Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five". Le final. Cette montée en puissance au piano, ce morceau qui démarre presque comme une comptine et qui finit en apocalypse orchestrale... C'est brillant. C'est le McCartney des grands jours, celui de "Abbey Road", celui qui n'a peur de rien et qui sait qu'il a le talent pour tout oser.

En trois titres, le mec avait balayé des années de préjugés. Après un premier album solo en demi-teinte et un deuxième un peu paumé, McCartney retrouvait ici toute la magie de son écriture. On sent un artiste libéré, un type qui a enfin digéré la fin des Beatles et qui se lance à corps perdu dans sa nouvelle vie, avec une créativité débridée.

Ce qui rend l'album encore plus fascinant, c'est de connaître les conditions de son enregistrement. C'est tout sauf une partie de plaisir. McCartney et ses Wings s'envolent pour Lagos, au Nigeria, en pensant y trouver un studio exotique et une nouvelle inspiration. À l'arrivée, le studio est à moitié en construction, deux membres du groupe claquent la porte juste avant le départ, et pour couronner le tout, Paul et Linda se font braquer au couteau en pleine rue, se faisant piquer leurs maquettes et leurs textes.
McCartney, loin de se laisser abattre, a retroussé ses manches. Il a joué de la basse, de la guitare, des claviers, et même de la batterie sur la plupart des morceaux. Cette adversité, cette urgence, on la ressent dans chaque note. L'album transpire l'énergie du désespoir et la joie de la survie. Ce n'est pas le disque d'un rentier, c'est celui d'un combattant.

Alors oui, je l'admets sans peine. J'ai adoré.
Je ne vais pas pour autant jeter mes vinyles du Velvet à la poubelle, ni me faire tatouer le visage de Paul sur l'omoplate. Mais je dois reconnaître l'évidence : "Band on the Run" est un chef-d'oeuvre de la pop-rock, un disque intelligent, inspiré, et foutrement efficace. C'est l'album qui a prouvé que oui, il y avait bien une vie, et une vie brillante, après les Beatles.

C'est un disque qui s'écoute et se réécoute, et qui a largement mérité sa place dans ce panthéon des 1001 albums.

Mostly good catchy tunes. A few of the songs kind of drag, I’m looking at you Bluebird. But overall a nice listen. Also the first album on the list that I own the vinyl and listened somewhere other than Spotify or YouTube.

Perhaps critics and the general public just needed a bit of time to make sure the world wouldn’t end, but three years after announcing, and subsequently being blamed for, the Beatles’ breakup, Paul delivered a record that finally won everyone over. It would have been pretty hard to deny this one; it still sounds like a massive success 50 years later, thanks in no small part to the fact that it contains three verifiable classics.

The title track is one of Paul’s all-time crowning achievements, with three distinct sections expertly crafted, connected, and performed. Tony Visconti provides some exquisite orchestration to fill out an already-flawless soundscape, and, setting a tone for most every song on the record, the three-part harmonies between Paul, Linda, and Denny Laine are supremely good. “Jet” is the first true rocker of Paul’s solo career, kicking off with an effective three-note guitar/saxophone riff before exploding into a rush of pure energy featuring one of Mr. McCartney’s finest drumming performances. And “Let Me Roll It” is one of Paul’s most beloved ballads for good reason. Seen by some as a tribute to John with its snarling riff, use of tape echo, and repetitive lyrics, it contains an unbelievable lead vocal from Paul, enhanced with glorious harmonies in the choruses, and great Hammond organ from Linda. These three songs, like the album as a whole, stand the test of time; the masterclass of songwriting that is the title track may be my personal favorite, but all three rank among the best of Paul’s solo career, and their popularity is well-deserved.

That’s not to say the other tracks on Band On The Run aren’t also gems. In particular, I have never been able to get enough of the bizarrely fun “Mrs Vandebilt.” The infectious “ho-hey-ho” background vocals and hilarious banter at the end of the song are overwhelmingly appealing, so much so that they threaten to, but thankfully don’t, overshadow the abundance of brilliant performances on the song. Linda’s electric piano playing is excellent, as are Howard Casey’s saxophone solos, and Paul delivers both his best bass playing on the album and marvelous dual-lead guitar work with Denny.

Following “Let Me Roll It” is another first-class ballad in “Mamunia.” Featuring superb acoustic guitar work from Paul and Moog synthesizer from Linda, it is a beautiful and calming call to consider the positive in every seemingly negative situation (“The rain comes falling from the sky to fill the stream that fills the sea/And that’s where life began for you and me/So the next time you see rain, it ain’t bad/Don’t complain it rains for you”). “Picasso’s Last Words (Drink To Me)” has an intriguingly drowsy ambiance that sounds effectively akin to a dream of someone on their deathbed. Just like a dream, it glides by lazily at points before unexpectedly shifting; motifs and choruses weave in and out of each other effortlessly; two previous songs, “Jet” and “Mrs Vandebilt,” are quoted and integrated brilliantly. It is remarkably intricate, yet it floats by so smoothly.

It’s another perfect example on this record of Paul flexing his muscles with true confidence for the first time in his solo career. The results are spectacular, and although I can’t deem it my favorite McCartney record like many others, Band On The Run is a complete, undoubted success.

5/5

Surprisingly I like this album a lot more than any of the 20 The Beatles albums on this list. That doesn’t say much, but it’s a solid 3. The first tracks are much better than the 2nd half of the album.

Not the finest album featuring McCartney, but a decent enough listen.

Strong opening two tracks and good final two tracks. I could mostly take or leave the rest.

Definitely one of McCartney's best post-Beatles releases. The title track and Jet are both insanely good singles. The album is just solid and catchy throughout with no filter. Maybe not as mind blowing as you know he can be, but that's only because of the insanely high standards.

I'm finding it hard to articulate exactly why I don't like this album. It just doesn't do anything for me. It's depressing that one of the giants of 20th century music was essentially all washed up by age 30.

This album is plagued by the "first and last song are great, and the middle songs are subpar" scenario. The song Band on the run is good enough, but Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five makes the album. Not strong enough to hold the rest of the album up. 2/5.

Funny to get this the day after we got Sgt Pepper. That was a fairly easy 5*, this might even be better IMO. Consistently excellent stuff from Paul here.

One of the first albums I ever bought with MY OWN MONEY! By far the best post-Beatles McCartney album in my opinion. Catchy as hell, amusing, touches of the loveliness we've all come to know. The song arc is excellent. One of the best of all time and a big personal favorite. Brings me back to my childhood I would grab one of my dozen or so albums, put it on the record player and sit down in my beanbag chair with the album cover in hand and just get transported to a completely different world :P

Ugh. McCartney at his most Macca.

There’s a reason you’ve only heard the first two tracks on this.

I thought I was familiar and was ready for disappointment. But actually I find that it has aged well!

This was a bit better than I expected, more than just a standard dad rock album. Quite a few catchy tunes on here. Paul McCartney really has a gift with melodies.