WINGS

BAND ON THE RUN

Paul rises from the dead. After stumbling with his first two Wings albums, McCartney created one of his most satisfying and complete masterpieces. The classic single Live And Let Die (recorded a couple of months before the album) hinted at the treasures on this great album. Clearly McCartney had rediscovered his unique song writing voice.

Recorded under trying conditions ( two members of Wings quit just before recording began) in a less than ideal environment (McCartney was robbed while in Nigeria and the recording studio wasn't in the best condition), it's a miracle that this album succeeded. Clearly Macca took the situation as a personal challenge to his creativity. It inspired him.

McCartney has always excelled at lyrics that told a story. He rarely created his best work from his personal life (unlike Lennon who created his best work when it was somewhat confessional in tone). There are exceptions to this rule that appear throughout McCartney's career (For No One, I'm Looking Through You, Let It Be, The Long And Winding Road, Two of Us, etc.), but on the whole McCartney was more of a storyteller than Lennon.

The stories on Band On The Run are witty, interesting and compassionate. The title track captures the exuberance of an artist that has recaptured his muse. When the orchestra kicks in and McCartney & Laine's acoustic guitars chime in this classic song takes your breath away.

Jet has a monster hook and although appears to be lyrically lightweight (the title was inspired by McCartney's puppy), it again tells a little story that captures the confusion in any new love affair. A lot of the songs on Band On The Run are devoted to the simple pleasures in life and how we let them escape us in this fast paced, uneven world we live in. The Laine-McCartney collaboration No Words is an example of the magic these two could create when their chemistry was right.

The stand out track is Picasso's Last Words. Created on a dare by actor Dustin Hoffman, PLW captures both the exhaustion of a life well lived and the appreciation for simple things that make life worth living. The segue into Jet and Mrs. Vanderbilt demonstrates McCartney's amazing skills as an arranger.

1985 is a crushing rocker filled with hooks. McCartney's love and pop songs have always overshadowed the great rock songs he is capable of writing. 1985 belongs in the same company as McCartney's best Beatles and solo rockers. It's a lyrically simple, but filled with great musical ideas that more than make up for this fact. 1985 brings the album to a satisfying close with a musical quotation from the title track.

The second disc has a number of live and alternative takes of the album tracks (all of them recorded well after the album). Since the original demos were stolen (McCartney was held up in Nigeria)McCartney tries to give a sense of the albums importance by performing both faithful live versions and reintreptations of the tracks on the album. Although the second disc isn't essential it does give a sense of creative avenues unexplored. While it would have been interesting to hear the outtakes from the Nigerian phase of the recording process, these tracks do give the listener a sense of the album's importance.

The booklet provides an informative history on the album by Beatles scholar Mark Lewisohn. The excellent booklet gives a great overview as to the circumstances that almost robbed McCartney and the world of this terrific album.