Band on the Run

SUFFER A JEFF - and I think we've *all* had to suffer a Jeff at some point in our lives. I once had to suffer a Jeff AND a Geoff at the same time.

Aside from that, a perfectly pleasant if unspectacular slice of 70s AOR.

Feels like he is running out of ideas? The singles are 100% jams, but the rest just feels like parts of beatles songs that was never really flushed out. I think he thinks so too as he does a lot of reprises from the hits.

meh. not a big "wings" fan. Here're the neat things I learned on wikipedia:

they recorded part of this in Lagos, Nigeria. Paul wanted to record it somewhere exotic. He got held up at knifepoint. Lost a bunch of demos and lyrics. Went back to England.

Two dudes quit the band before he left for Lagos, so Paul filled in their parts.

I'd always written off McCartney's post-Beatles work, but this is more interesting than I thought it might be, adding an experimental, electronic edge.

This just showcases that Paul McCartney is a really accomplished and interesting songwriter. I really like this album, there's tons of great songs, and lots of moods and tones running through it.

4.5 rounded down.

Good one but not gonna be my favorite

Het eerste nummer is kenmerkend. De eerste klanken zijn dodelijk saai en daarna volgt even een zeurende zang. Maar nog hetzelfde nummer wordt het zelfs wat pakkend. Dit geldt voor de rest van het album. Het wisselt wat af tussen saaie en enigszins catchy muziek.

The only Paul McCartney and Wings song I was familiar with before today was Band on the Run, which is great, so I figured that today's album would be pretty good as well. Plus, Paul McCartney was a well known name internationally due to his previous gig as a member of the Beatles. Truthfully, Paul's solo stuff is much more enjoyable to me than his stuff with the Beatles.

Upon doing some research about this album I learned some interesting stories about the recording of it. For some reason, Paul decided that they would record this album in Nigeria.
The studio was in disrepair, and the end of town that it was in was quite the slum. Paul got robbed of his demo tapes and song lyrics at knife point at one point during the trip. Apparently Paul and Fela Kuti got into an argument while Paul was down in Nigeria as well. Fela thought that, since Paul opted to record in Nigeria, he would "rob" some of the local musical influences, and inject it into his music. Apparently Paul invited him over to the recording studio, Fela listened to what they were laying down, and was like "oh, ok. This is just regurgitated Beatles music, never mind." Also, Ginger Baker offered them his studio to record in, but Paul being Paul said "No, I want to do it myself." Apparently right before they headed to Nigeria, the drummer and guitarist from Wings quit, so Paul recorded the bass, guitar, vocals, and drums parts himself. It was just him, and the two remaining Wings members, his wife on keyboard, and a rhythm guitarist. It would have been great if Ginger had done the drum bits for the album. The drums were ok on the record, but you could tell that they weren't really studio quality.

Overall, this album endured all those hardships and still managed to go triple platinum. It was a great album, and is very easy to listen to. I may not seek it out, but it had more hits than duds, and if it was playing in the background, I wouldn't be inclined to turn it off. I went into this exercise today assuming Band on the Run would be my favourite song, but Let Me Roll It ended up surprising me, and claimed the top spot.

Favorite songs: Let Me Roll It, Band on the Run, Mrs Vandebelt, Jet, Bluebird

Least favorite songs: Picasso's Last Words (Drink to Me)

4/5

Great Beatles solo album...one of the best. I think McCartney solo is probably the pinnacle of post-Beatles output. 4.5/5

A great Side A and a pretty ok Side B.

Solid if unspectacular, with two stone cold classics to open, but a bunch of good to very good afterwards. As such, it's pretty much my definition of a 4 🌟!

Extremely strong start with the first few songs being all absolutely great, but the spark does seem to find a bit in the middle to near the end, with Mamunia Picasso's Last Words being pretty boring. However, the final song is a pretty great bop and ends the album on a high enough note to ensure a four star. This album was very good, but I still wish Ram was the Linda and Paul project that made it to this list.

Un disco tranquilito. Paul en sus orígenes en solitario. Nunca he seguido mucho su carrera más allá de los Beatles. "Mrs. Vandebilt" con su aire de verbena me ha gustada y del resto están "Let me roll'it" (vaya título sugerente) y "Nineteen Hundred And Eighty Five". Poco más.

It's a fine album. But it's not great, it's just fine. Some good things, some not great things. It is NOT The Beatles, that's for sure.

McCartney detractors can take a flying fuck. This album is better than half of John Lennon's erratic solo career. People act like John was the true genius behind The Beatles just because he was the most outspoken prick of the bunch. People can't help but love a good quick witted, silver tongued asshole who lives out their fantasies of being an unfiltered bully and getting away with it. Don't get me wrong, I do too... And Lennon reached some unbelievable heights in his solo work - some really intense and profound music to be sure. But he also had some periods of really sloppy floundering. And just because Lennon went on this deep, soul-searching musical journey half the time he went into the studio, doesn't mean McCartney should be expected to do the same thing, nor does it detract from McCartney's brilliance as a songwriter. Yes, Paul McCartney has a softer, more light-hearted approach in his solo material. It reflects him as a person and where he was in his life at the time. He was a dad, and not a largely absent one like his former songwriting partner. So yeah, I get that he wanted to put out something more fun and playful into the world, rather than introspectively crawling further up his own asshole.

Ei yllä tämä stygä ihan koko Beatlesin tasolle. 3/5

I like the opening/title track, but I didn't find the rest of the album that interesting.

Some great songs on here, but just feels like something is missing compared to the Beatles albums.

Band On The Run is a fine song and album opener. Dear lord, this side A is boring. Picasso's Last Words (Drink To Me) has some fun shifts and textures.

The grand question - were the Beatles ever as good solo as they were together? The answer for Paul McCartney is clear. He's got some great solo tracks, but I don't think he was ever as good solo as he was with the Beatles. But that's not really a fair way to judge his solo albums, is it? A-hem, you must be as good as the Beatles to get a 5. So, I'm trying to listen without thinking, "This dude wrote Let it Be and Hey Jude and so on and so on." Great - Band on the Run, Let Me Roll It, Mrs. Vandebilt, Jet (at first, I classified this as "good not great" but then it got stuck in my head). Good - Mamunia (I really like the African stylings), No Words (sounds like it would fit on ELO's Out of the Blue), Picasso's Last Words, Nineteen-Hundred and Eighty-Five. Bluebird is probably the weakest song on the album - meh 70s soft rock. So, 4/9 great, 4/9 good, 1 meh. Probably makes it a 4.5 and now I'm going to add my bias of "but it's not as good as the Beatles" and round it DOWN to a 4. It just doesn't feel like a 5. Sorry, Paul. You're still awesome to me.