Paul McCartney and Wings
Band on the Run Special Edition
(Hear Music)
To note, this isn’t the first special edition of Macca’s 1974 release, however this package includes two CDs and a DVD chock-full of good stuff. First, there is an immaculate re-master of the ten original songs from this album that really made Wings and firmly established McCartney’s post-Beatles career. The title track, the massive hit “Jet†and the stunning, jaunty “Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five†are still great listens 36 years later. This mix allows for some nice fat bass on “Mrs. Vandebilt†and “Let Me Roll It.† Sure “Bluebird†shows a little too much of McCartney’s sappy side and I’m not sure “Mamunia†works all that well still, but BOTR is still a classic, any way you cut it.
In this collection you get a lot more then just the original album. The second CD of bonus audio tracks include “Helen Wheels†and a whole bunch of songs from a studio performance film entitled One Hand Clapping. Its fun hearing and seeing this footage, as the songs are done more or less live and in many instances are slightly different then from what was recorded. The DVD is the visual record of the film, with a lot more songs like “Maybe I’m Amazed,†“Live and Let Die,†“My Love,†and even a quick, silly “Baby Face,â€Â plus some fantastic footage of the photo shoot for the infamous cover of Band on the Run, and some Peter Max-inspired videos and footage of the band in Lagos.
