Don't Run From McCartney's Best Solo Outing (Band On The Run: 25th Anniversary Edition - Paul McCartney & Wings)

Member Name: Robin_Hod12

Product:	Band On The Run: 25th Anniversary Edition - Paul McCartney & Wings
Date:	26/07/09 (47 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: His Best Post-Beatles Album With Some Classic Tracks

Disadvantages: A Couple Of Weaker Songs

Band On The Run is often seen as the peak of Paul McCartney's post-Beatles recordings, which for the most part I would have to agree with, as I feel that at this point in his already glowing career he still had the drive and creative spark to create great songs. This tended to fall as the years went by, but then for me Paul was always best in a band situation, as he found himself in, to an extent, with the Wings. This I feel allowed him to bounce ideas around and gain a degree of input from other members, allowing him to have a greater focus on his role rather than simply playing every instrument on the record, as he did later on.

Band On The Run was released in 1973, being the third release by Paul McCartney and the Wings, going triple platinum and becoming the best-selling album of 1974 (as it was released December 1973). This huge degree of commercial success was not unfounded, as is the case with many albums, as it plays as one of the strongest pop-based albums that I have heard, with tracks that you can sing along to as well as a few tracks that you simply sit back and listen to in awe. The album was placed at number 418 on the Rolling Stone's Top 500 albums, which I feel may be slightly below its true placing, although simply making the list is achievement enough considering some of the competition.

The album has often been compared to Abbey Road in the way that it plays, with many tracks graduating into each other, and the use of orchestral parts as well as powerful production. For me though, one of the main strengths of the album is the instrumental backing, which is always strong and helps to lift the lyrics and easily recognisable McCartney vocals. The dynamics and the changes that are used help to create an album that becomes more of an event, something that for a more pop orientated album becomes all the more important for it to stick in the memory.

For me though, the title of the album and the track that goes with it are all the more poignant when you consider that Paul McCartney was effectively running away from the world, with the core of the group, Paul, Linda and Denny Laine, left after the departure of the other two members of the Wings. The album was recorded in Nigeria after they had grown tired of the hectic world that they had been within before. This though I feel helps to make the album a bit freer from some of the constraints of larger recording environments where the technology and surrounding area can become overbearing.

Track Listing

1. Band On The Run 5:13
2. Jet 4:08
3. Bluebird 3:24
4. Mrs Vandebilt 4:41
5. Let Me Roll It 4:49
6. Mamunia 4:50
7. No Words 2:38
8. Picasso's Last Words (Drink To Me) 5:52
9. Nineteen Hundred And Eighty Five 5:36

Bonus Tracks

10. Helen Wheels 3:47
11. Country Dreamer 3:08

Total Run Time 48:06

The opening track on the album, Band On The Run is in truth split into three parts, with a very mellow opening that is dominated by the use of synthesizers, which for the most part are quite annoying but in this case just manage to draw me in. The lyrics in the opening section are light and feel very much like a McCartney ballad of old, which is how some of this album feels, but with the extra kick and depth of sound that came from his period with the Wings. The proceeding section begins with a sharp build-up from the guitar, which leads to a brief piece that for me is a reflection of why they decided to record in Lagos, as they felt trapped, "If we ever get out of here". And then on queue, this section ends with the introduction of an acoustic guitar riff that leads to the main section of Band On The Run. Within this we have lyrics that for the most part feel very upbeat and perhaps overwrought with joyful imagery but helped by the chorus and the nice drumming in the background that controls most of the piece. For an album opening, this is one of the best I have heard, instantly drawing you in with its dynamic shifts of tempo and style that leaves you wanting more.

But then we have a very orchestrated opening that instantly hits you with its rough bass sounds before firing into the song's title, inspired by McCartney's Labrador puppy, which incidentally is not the first dog that Paul has sung about, with Martha My Dear released on The White Album. This is one of those songs that you can just instantly see being played live, with its powerful backing and simple lyrics that could easily be sung along to, and so it became. This song again features quite a few changes in dynamics, with the verses being quite straight in their vocal presentation compared with that of the harmonics within the chorus.

Bluebird is one of those tracks that most will probably instantly recognise when they hear it, but will probably not realise that they know it from simply reading a track listing. This is probably because even though it is quite a catchy song that hits you softly but quickly, it is almost instantly forgettable, which although doesn't sound too good, is still a feature that perhaps helps it, as it makes it feel fresh however many times you hear it. But the saxophone solo near the end of the song does feel slightly out of place, as if it was tacked on just to add a couple of extra dimensions to the song. The backing vocals of Linda McCartney are also slightly grating, feeling far too forced and could have been done with being completely removed or at the very least replaced with a better take or vocalist.

Despite that backing of Mrs Vandebilt feeling very powerful and suggestive, the vocals feel a bit forced out, falling behind the track and losing their sharpness. But despite that, the lyrics are nice enough, talking about a woman that perhaps had some connection to Paul in real life, although the exact details of which I am unsure. Again though, we have a saxophone part that should have been left out, as it doesn't suit the musical environment, as it almost seems to try and play out the guitar, which for most of the album is the strongest instrument. The chorus as with many of the tracks on the album is dominated by "hooo, ha, hooo"s and other vague vocal creations.

Let It Roll is often viewed as a sister track to I Want You, as it features a dominant guitar part and slightly repetitive lyrical parts, which on I Want You was one of its stronger features as it was able to become more expansive without the use of overdone lyrics. This though is slightly more complex than the three lines used on the aforementioned track, but then most songs are able to top that. The guitar riff, although not the most imaginative in the world gets the job done for the verses and provides some framework and opposition to the McCartney vocals.

This along with the next track, are for me the weakest on the album, this for instance simply feels like a drawn out lyrical exploration that is not particularly successful as they feel underwhelming. This would be fine if the instrumentation was able to sparkle and help to create more of a soundscape and basis for them, which has been done on many tracks by Paul, but is sadly lacking here. I mean the acoustic guitar and bass riff is nice, but they feel far too bare for a track that cries out for a greater degree of sound and instrumentation. The title of the track itself, Mamunia, doesn't really inspire a great deal of confidence, as English songs with foreign titles do tend to be the artist trying to replicate a sound he has heard and liked, but failing to sell it to the audience, as I suspect in this case.

No Words, does from the first few notes suggest quite a good track, but then we fall into a vocal block, as it does seem to almost move towards an eighties feel, which is not that bad, but with the large sound on this track, it seems to struggle to stay together. This song does also seem to fall back into the rest of the album, with similar instrumentation to the rest of the album, which makes it far too forgettable, as it doesn't really possess any great distinguishing features, except that it is the shortest track on the album, for which I am slightly thankful of.

Picasso's Last Words is one of the better tracks on the album, picking up from the slowdown of the previous two tracks, this is far more experimental and seems almost Rolling Stone like in its beginning, although the vocals give it away as a McCartney piece. The chorus and the verses seem to switch between past and present and the subject of the lyrics, but this helps to expand the creative elements of it. Once this has passed though, we enter a piece of buried French dialogue, of which I understand nothing, before returning almost bizarrely to a brief section of Jet. But then if that wasn't enough we turn to a slower version of the chorus, "You know I can't drink anymore". The ambling nature of the track, along with the orchestral parts create an almost surreal sound piece that does far more than most of the tracks on the album in creating an experience, the event that I spoke of at the beginning of the review. And then once we get further into this track, the longest on the album, we get into the "hooo, he, hooo" part of Mrs Vandebilt, which slowly fades out before the final track on the main album itself.

The final track is Nineteen Hundred And Eighty Five, the importance of which I am unsure of, as it doesn't seem to refer to any event. This does feel though quite like a disco track, taking on the beat of it and featuring Paul singing "shake it", a line I wouldn't really expect. This track though does go to show how diverse some of the pieces on this album are though, as we have gone from ballads and rock numbers to a disco-esque track. The end of the track though does go beyond this still and turns into almost a surreal universe of its own, featuring what I assume is an Oboe and some more orchestral parts that slowly build and the fade into a five second clip of Band On The Run, an appropriate ending I feel.

The next two tracks were bonuses on the remastered CD release, both originally featuring as two halves of a single. Helen Wheels, the first of the two, the A-side, is the better track and does fit in far better with the sound of the album, featuring a strong guitar basis and rhythm line that continues throughout. This track though was originally featured on the American version of the album, and I feel that it would not have been to its detriment to feature this, as it is a nice rock number that would have helped to break up some of the slower tracks or extend what is actually quite a short album.

Country Dreamer is more reminiscent of Ram, featuring more of a country, folk feel that is stripped back, focusing more on natural elements that was the dominant element on the album. I mean it is quite a good track in its own right, but perhaps not that appropriate for the sound of the album, but as it is only a bonus track, I view it as a separate element and from this it is easy to appreciate it. The lyrics and quite playful and not particularly thought provoking, but ideal for the instrumentation nonetheless, which is what a good track should do.

Overall then, I would have to agree with the many voices claiming this as the best of McCartney's solo releases, as it is pretty consistent throughout, despite featuring a couple of weaker tracks, but these are balanced by some classics. The more experimental side of the album also is one of the better features, which I feel probably helped the lyrical style of McCartney to develop and adapt, bringing it forward from some of the more confining affairs that can be the feature of his work as a solo artist. If you only own one Paul McCartney solo album, then let it be this, as it is a record that breaks down barriers and can be enjoyed by pretty much everyone, especially those who enjoy the later work of the Beatles, which appears to have been an influence of the style of the album as a whole.

Summary: A Great Album That Is A Must For Any Beatle's Fan (Or Otherwise)