CD Review - Band on the Run 2CD - 25th Anniversay Edition - Paul McCartney

 

2CD REVIEW: 

When the Beatles split in April 1970 Paul McCartney was already into the first four months of a solo career, secretly recording his first post Beatles album 'McCartney'.

It achieved a respectable No.2 in the UK Chart only being kept off the summit by Simon & Garfunkel's record breaking album Bridge Over Troubled Water.

He followed it with two albums during 1971, Ram, now considered a classic but in 1971 it received a lukewarm reception. The second album, Wings Wild Life fared even worse. Released 7th December 1971 it failed to reach the Top 10 in the album charts, peaking at No.11.

In 1973, the newly named 'Paul McCartney & Wings' released two albums, Red Rose Speedway in May and Band on the Run in December.

To call Band on the Run a slow burner on the UK charts would be an understatement. Released on the 7th December 1973 it finally topped the charts 27th July 1974 with a run of 7 weeks at No.1.

When I first played the album on its release, I couldn't progress past the first three songs, Band on the Run, Jet & Bluebird, playing them repeatedly. Not knowing what was to come, until eventually listening to the remainder of this classic album.

CD2 of the 25th Anniversary Edition begins with the 'nicely toasted mix' of Band on the Run, an acoustic version of the song by Paul. The recordings on the second side are punctuated with interviews from the band telling the story of the making of the album and also with the celebrities including James Coburn and Kenny Lynch recalling the photo shoot posing as prisoners in front of a brick wall on the classic album cover.

The recordings and interviews give CD2 a documentary feel that fulfills a purpose but it's also a bit annoying with highlights being the full barn rehearsal of Band on the Run from the 21st July 1989 and Jet from a Berlin Soundcheck on the 3rd September 1993. 

It would have made a superb bonus DVD if the footage was available.

However, Band on the Run 25th Anniversary Edition is a worthy addition to the Band on the Run releases,  it also featured as part of the first release in Paul McCartney's Archive Collection series.

CD TRACK LISTING:

DISC 1:

Band On the Run, Jet, Bluebird, Mrs Vandebilt, Let Me Roll It, Mamunia, No Words, Helen Wheels,

Picasso's Last Words (Drink to Me), Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five. 

DISC 2:

Band On The Run (Nicely Toasted Mix), Band On The Run (Original), Band On The Run (Barn Rehearsal - 21st July 1989), Mamunia (Original), Bluebird (Australia 1975), Bluebird (Original), No Words (Original), No Words/Band On The Run (Original), Jet (Original From Picasso's Last Words), Jet (Berlin Soundtrack - 3rd September 1993), Dialogue (Clive Arrowsmith & Paul McCartney), Nineteen Hundred And Eighty Five (Original), Mrs Vandebilt (Original), Let Me Roll It (Cardington Rehearsal - 5th February 1993), Mrs Vandebilt, Helen Wheels (Crazed), Band On The Run (Strum Bit), Picasso's Last Words (Original), Picasso's Last Words (Drink To Me)(Acoustic Version), Band On The Run (Nicelt Toasted Mix), Band On The Run (Northern Comic Version) - Wings