THE DUKE Posted June 11 Share Posted June 11 Just as Venus and Mars was a significant step down from Band on the Run, Wings at the Speed of Sound feels like a significant step down from Venus and Mars. I get a little more why music critics of the day tend to think McCartney just kind of phoned it in sometimes, although with this one, there is at least one stand out track in Silly Love Songs that's a classic. Side one starts out ok with Let Em In, and while it's casually enjoyable, it's almost entirely unmemorable as well. Still a solid opener. The Note You Never Wrote has a decent melody, i'm just not that big a fan of Denny Laine's lead vocals, he's much better suited in harmonizing parts. She's My Baby is a bit of a bop, but it never gets to that next level and just seems to coast along a bit. It probably feels like this biggest missed opportunity on the album that it could have been something cool if it was fleshed out a little more. It's good lyrically, it just needed something a little more melodically. Beware My Love was my clear second favorite song on the album and it finally feels like things are picking up and getting interesting. Wino Junko kind of kills the momentum though. It's solid, it's not an auto skip if i hear it, but ultimately no one else in Wings is anywhere near the singer that McCartney is and most (not all) of the songs he doesn't sing lead on tend to suffer for it. All the best parts of Wino Junko are the solos. All in all, I think side one is pretty solid, and I would probably even prefer it to Venus and Mars if side two could match it. Side two starts out terrific with Silly Love Songs. That bass riff is just infectious as hell and the lyrics are a lot of fun and about the nicest way to say "piss off" to the critics that McCartney could think of, lol. Unfortunately, it's a steep decline for the rest of the album. Cook of the House isn't that bad, it's just that Linda McCartney's vocal limitations don't really work with her singing lead on a song. It takes another step down with Time to Hide with Denny Laine singing lead again, still an ok song, just fairly unmemorable, not one that's going to make any playlists. I do prefer Denny Laine's lead vocals to Joe English's though and you can just see they came in with the intention of getting everyone to sing lead on a song on this album, with English's being the boring Must Do Something About It which sounds like 100 different acoustic fold rock guitar bands from the 70's, and is probably the low point of the album. More of the same with San Ferry Anne, but with McCartney back singing lead, but sounding completely uninspired in a song that very much feels like album filler. It ends with Warm and Beautiful which is a step up melodically but still feels like McCartney phoning in a song to fill an album. After starting off with a bang, most of the rest of side two is a whimper. All that said, I still like Wings at the Speed of Sound over Red Rose Speedway, but I probably put it behind Wild Life. I think most of the album would be in C- territory, but Silly Love Songs and Beware My Love elevate it to a C+ as those are songs I will keep coming back to. One more good to great song probably would pull it to a B range, but it just falls off hard after those two. It's a shame the momentum of side one and into the start of side two of Silly Love Songs couldn't keep building, but it just feels like the ideas dried up or the effort wasn't made after the first six songs. Classics: Silly Love Songs Great: Beware My Love Good: She's My Baby Solid: Let Em In, Wino Junko, Cook of the House, Warm and Beautiful, The Note You Never Wrote, Time to Hide Meh: Must Do Something About It, San Ferry Anne Bad: None 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THE DUKE Posted June 12 Share Posted June 12 Wings Over America is a tremendous live album. You can catch a couple full shows from this tour online on YouTube as well. It's a great mix of Wings hits, some of Paul's stuff from the Beatles, and even a couple covers thrown in. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Demoniac Posted June 15 Share Posted June 15 Cyclone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thrILL! Posted June 15 Share Posted June 15 For any hip hop + Beatles fans Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Apparition Posted June 15 Share Posted June 15 (edited) Really didn't expect much from this album, but it was their best release post-reunion by a wide margin. Edited June 15 by Apparition Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thrILL! Posted June 16 Share Posted June 16 Happy Father’s Day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamq Posted June 17 Share Posted June 17 This actually gets really good about 1/3 of the way through Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamq Posted June 18 Share Posted June 18 (edited) https://www.bobdylan.com/on-tour/ Bob Dylan. Robert Plant and Allison Krause Willie Nelson. John Mellencamp. I don't pay up for concert tickets often but for this, I'll give about anything. Chicago and St Louis are each ~3 hours away so I will be there for at least one of them Edited June 18 by adamq Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malfatron Posted June 21 Share Posted June 21 This song is wonderful. Irritating Rainbow should be more popular Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neumatic Posted June 30 Share Posted June 30 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamq Posted July 3 Share Posted July 3 I've probably posted this song before but someone cut this movie into a music video and it works really well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamq Posted July 3 Share Posted July 3 (edited) I've been deep diving into Grand Funk and they are way better than I ever knew. I Come Tumbling especially is just controlled chaos. Obviously very influential on bands like RHCP Edited July 3 by adamq Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THE DUKE Posted July 5 Share Posted July 5 (edited) London Town was a bit of an enigma for me. All in all, I have to say I liked it better than Wings at the Speed of Sound, but i'd also say that no song on this album was as good as Silly Love Songs or even as good as Beware My Love. That said, the only real low point on this one for me was Girlfriend. This album is very much a vibe and carries nicely on through making it a fairly enjoyable listen, it just doesn't quite hit the highs of earlier Wings albums. The four standout tracks for me were mostly the faster songs which is a little odd as McCartney usually kills it on a ballad or two each album. The one ballad I do really like on London Town is I'm Carrying. It's one of those ear worms that I seem to like more and more each listen and find myself humming out of nowhere. The other three I particularly enjoyed were Cafe on the Left Bank, With a Little Luck, and Morse Moose and The Grey Goose. With a Little Luck is a good song, but the middle part gets bogged down a little bit and the song ends up pushing six minutes. A whittled down 3.5 minute version of this song feels like it could have been an all timer, but it's still good with a nice hook and melody. The other two are just solid fun to bop along to rockers that were a nice change of pace. I had seen Famous Groupies on a lot of McCartney post Beatles greatest hits lists but it just felt very average to me. It feels more like a novelty song and one that just didn't land for me. The rest of the tracks set that vibe I was talking about and work better as a whole more so than as individual tracks. Fewer highs than a lot of the other Wings albums, but as a whole this is probably my third favorite Wings album after Band on the Run and Venus and Mars. Classics: None Great: None Good: With a Little Luck, I'm Carrying, Morse Moose and The Grey Goose, Cafe on the Left Bank Solid: London Town, Backwards Traveler, Cuff Link, Children Children, I've Had Enough, Famous Groupies, Deliver Your Children, Name and Address, Don't Let it Bring You Down Meh: Girlfriend Bad: None Rating: B Wings Album Rankings Band on the Run Venus and Mars London Town Wild Life Wings at the Speed of Sound Red Rose Speedway From these sessions they released what may be my favorite post-Beatles McCartney song, Mull of Kintyre, as a single, and the B side Girls School is a nice little rocker as well. I'd probably rate both of these songs as better than anything on the London Town album and had they included these two instead of say Girlfriend and one of the other mid tier songs like Name and Address this would have been a much stronger album and above Venus and Mars for me. Mull of Kintyre is a fantastic ballad about the nostalgia of home that I definitely recommend if you have never heard it. I'm down to only one more Wings album to go with Back to the Egg next. I've enjoyed my Wings listen through so far. Some misses for sure, but i've found a bunch of new enjoyable songs that I never knew about before. Edited July 5 by THE DUKE forgot my grade Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malfatron Posted July 7 Share Posted July 7 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TakeTheBallDeep Posted July 9 Share Posted July 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.