While owning pretty much everything that Paul McCartney has released with and
without The Beatles, I was still persuaded to purchase this greatest hits
release. The promise of better sound quality, new pictures and liner notes, and
plain old curiosity is what did me in. McCartney has taken a beating by critics over the
years with his post-Beatles output, and about 90% of it is unjustified. McCartney
never made any apologies for making music the way he wanted to. With his wife Linda
along for the ride, Wings was probably Paul's way of trying to "blend in" with a band to
take away some of the comparisons to the Fab Four. This double cd release is a nice
collection of hits and other memorable songs spanning 1970 to 1984. For a second
generation Beatle's fan like myself, McCartney and Wings output during the 70's was
the closest thing to Beatlemania that I had. In some strange way, these songs are
actually a little more personal to me than what The Beatles did during the 60's. The
same thing goes for what John, George, and Ringo were putting out during this time
frame. "Wingspan" shows us that McCartney's music in the 70's was a rich and diverse
collection that had more hits than misses.
"Wingspan" is divided quite well between disc 1 and disc 2. The "Hits" cd contains
all of the #1 singles and radio friendly output that McCartney was best known for
during this period. This cd starts out brilliantly with "Listen to What the Man
Said", which is one of my favorite songs by McCartney during the last 30 years.
All the other hits are here including "Silly Love Songs", "Band On the Run", "Jet"
and "My Love". You quickly realize how many blockbuster songs
that McCartney churned out over this 15 year span. The sound quality is improved
dramatically on "Mull of Kintyre" (co-written with Denny Laine), "Pipes of Peace" and "With a Little Luck", but
I didn't seem to notice too much improvement with any of the other tunes. The biggest
treat of this release comes on disc 2 "History". The bluesy and "Lennonesque"
"Let Me Roll It" kicks off the second cd. Another one of my favorites,
the song ranks with up there as one of his best rockers. There is a generous
offering from McCarney's self titled first solo album, including "Maybe I'm Amazed",
"The Lovely Linda", "Junk", and "Every Night". The sound quality is vastly
improved on these tracks which lead me to believe that a re-release of "McCartney"
is coming soon. Another great song is 1971's "Too Many People" from the "Ram" album.
Sounding like it would fit in perfectly on The Beatle's White Album, the song was
actually the first fire shot during the musical war between Lennon and McCartney during
the early 70's. Paul jabs at John: "That was your first mistake. You took your lucky break and broke it
in two. Now... what can be done for you?". Lennon responded with the great yet harsh "How Do
You Sleep?" on his "Imagine" album, until McCartney called a cease fire with the song "Dear Friend"
(not included here, unfortunately). Other key additions on disc two include "Tug of War",
"Waterfalls", and "Tomorrow". Fans who closely followed McCartney's solo career usually tend
to favor songs like these rather than the hits on the radio. Disc 2 finishes off with
two rare additions. "Bip Bop/Hey Diddle" was featured on the Wingspan tv special, child
noises included in the background, and the surprisingly good and funky "No More Lonely Nights" playout
version. A couple of rare songs is a good way to finish off this very comprehensive
release.
There are few complaints with this release. The very mediocre "Girlfriend" should have
been left off. "Smile Away" and "Love is Strange" would have been wonderful
inclusion on this set, but this is only my opinion. I was also a little bothered with
McCartney's inability to give more credit to his right-hand man during the whole Wings
period: Denny Laine. During the ABC tv special, McCartney went out of his way to
credit Linda during this whole period, which is justified. But I always saw Laine as
a sort of replacement for John Lennon during this whole period. His musical and songwriting
talents were very crucial to the success of Wings, and McCartney should have given a
little more credit to him for making this music what is was. Regardless, the die hard
as well as the casual fan will find much to rejoice about with "Wingspan". Supposedly,
a Wing's box set with some alternate and unreleased tracks will be released by the end
of the year. This will be a nice way to document a very exciting time during Paul
McCartney's career.
