What Song Are You Listening To?

[FinneasGage]

 

[minutemancl]

I've been Ween-pilled, and my wife is not happy lol. She does like this song though!

https://youtu.be/TutI8k49xoA?si=ESGv5lHv9Np5vLCj

[THE DUKE]

Decided i'm going to go through the Wings discography and given them each a thorough listen after i enjoyed Wild Life as much as I did.  

Red Rose Speedway almost made me question that decision.  This was a clear step down from Wild Life and did not hint at what was to come next with Band on the Run.  Now they did do the song Live and Let Die for the Bond film of the same name right around this time as well, and that was better than anything that was on this album.

It actually starts off pretty good with Big Barn Bed, a solid album opener that is a little repetitive, but not in a bad way as it keeps building and building musically throughout the song until it's really rolling by the end and is cooking.  The best track on the album and better than the singles from these sessions, not really counting Live and Let Die as that was sort of separate and coordinated more with the movie than with these sessions.  

I get what McCartney was going for with My Love and the melody is quite nice, it just doesn't click for me.  It just feels like it's missing something.  Having heard a live version of this, I do think it plays better than the album version which feels flat.

Get on the Right Thing felt very paint by numbers song building with no real heart or inspiration behind it.  It's not a bad song and one I could listen to again, but not one i'd look forward to.  Could pretty much say the same thing for One More Kiss except with a slower tempo.

Little Lamb Dragonfly gets overly repetitive and musically has no real reason to be almost six and a half minutes other than they just don't stop.  No real good melody either, which is rare for Macca, once I got about half way through, I was just waiting for it to end.  This closed side one, which was the better of the two sides of the album.

Single Pigeon tries to be a little more vaudevillian and succees to a certain degree, but it doesn't really catch you either.  When the Night is much in the same vein as One More Kiss, not bad, but nothing to write home about either.  This is probably the highlight of side two though.

I don't know if they were trying to be a little avant garde with Loup, but it doesn't work for me if they were or not, worst song on the album and one I don't really care to ever hear again.  I don't know if i'd go as far as to give this song an F rating, but it's definitely not higher than a D.

The closing Medley of Hold Me Tight/Lazy Dynamite/Hands of Love/Power Cut is a fitting ending to this album as it is entirely forgettable, overly repetitive, has a couple interesting musical themes, but it in the end, no worth the eleven and a half minutes it takes to listen to it.  Lazy may be the best way to describe this medley as roughly half the words sang were likely 'Hold Me Tight' and 'Lazy Dynamite'.  I don't know if he thought he was doing something similar to side 2 of Abbey Road, but this certainly isn't that.

Red Rose Speedway was a slog to get through, and likely not an album i'll ever listen to all the way through again.  Big Barn Bed is the only real thing to take away from it, though I could probably be ok listening to My Love. 

Singles from these sessions:

• C'Moon would have fit right on this album as a repetitive lazy idea that doesn't feel fleshed out.  It's B Side Hi, Hi, Hi is a much better song, i'd have it a notch below Big Barn Bed, but better than everything else on RRS.
• The Mess and I Lie Around were a couple discarded tracks when the album was briefly considered as a double album and while neither is anything special, I would have rather had these four songs on the album and the medley taken off of it.  Would have been a much stronger album then.

Overall I think I have to give this album a D+ and frankly i'm shocked that this and Wild Life were considered comparable by music critics of the day.  I get being low on this album, but Wild Life is a way better.

Classics: None
Good/Great: Big Barn Bed
Solid: My Love, Get on the Right Thing, One More Kiss, When the Night
Meh: Single Pigeon, Little Lamb Dragonfly
Bad: Medley, Loup

Thankfully, Band on the Run is next on my Wings retrospective.

 

[THE DUKE]

Ok, now it's time for me to gush about Paul McCartney again

On first listen, Band on the Run is a very tight, complete, musically interesting, thematically excellent album from start to finish.  Once you go into multiple listens, the ear worms and melodies just stack on each other one after another after another after another and your appreciation for each song just continues to grow.  After a couple solo albums with McCartney and Ram (which I think is an indie pop masterpiece, but it was crapped on when it came out, too far ahead of its time) and then the first two Wings efforts with Wild Life and Red Rose Speedway, I don't think anybody saw this album coming, which is crazy, because we're still talking about Paul McCartney, but it's true nonetheless. 

It starts off with the title track and Band on the Run is very reminiscent of You Never Give Me Your Money off of Abbey Road in that it is essentially three separate songs stitched together but it all melds so well that it just works. This is the most well known song on the album and probably the easiest to sing along.

Jet was actually the first single released from this album and while it performed moderately on the charts after the mess that was Red Rose Speedway it was definitely a step up musically and a nice rocker that was better than anything on the previous album.

Bluebird is my least favorite song on the album, but that said, it's still a solid song. Just the similarity in name harkens you back to Blackbird, but they really are two very different kinds of songs and I almost wonder if that shades my opinion a bit.  I do dig the couple saxophone interludes on it though and it's a nice change of pace after BotR and Jet.

Mrs Vanderbilt is one that I liked on first listen and that just sort of ear worms it's way into your brain that once you hear it multiple times my appreciation for it grew and grew. 

Let Me Roll it might be my second favorite song on the album after the title track.  It's somehow slow yet driving, hard rock yet soulful, and another one that is easy to get caught up in.

Mamunia might be lyrically the best song on the album, it's just such a vibe from front to start.  You can almost feel the rain falling because the music is so immersive.  This is another one where I would have loved if McCartney could have been able to work with Lennon on it because it seems like it would be right up his alley and could have maybe used a little bit of Lennon's acerbic wit.  That said, I still love this song, an absolute classic for me.

Helen Wheels is just a fun rocker that is a nice change of pace with side two having more slower songs than side one that helps the pace keep up and keep you guessing about what comes next.  Wasn't originally on the UK album but was on the North American release, I think leaving it off was a big mistake as it's a great counterbalance on side two.  I like this over Jet for this album's straight up rockers, but both are fun songs.

No Words has some great musical thematic elements, it just feels like it was missing something from being fleshed out that keeps it out of the classic territory for me, but still a great song with some wonderful melody.

Picasso's Last Words (Drink to Me) is another ear worm that is good at first blush but you get into more and more with each re-listen.  A bit repetitive, but not as bad as anything on Red Rose Speedway and I really dig how it turns into a bit of a medley with sections harkening back to both Jet and Mrs Vanderbilt.  It both fits and makes the whole album feel a bit more circular and together.

The album closes with Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five and it is both one of the most lyrically interesting tracks on the album about it's warnings off excess and just a fantastic driving beat and melody that propels the song and resets it a few times as well.  It has an epically building finale that crescendos back into the chrous of Band on the Run to closeout the album and i just fits like a glove.

This is probably in my top 10 favorite albums of all time, I can listen to this one start to finish day after day and still find interesting stuff I didn't notice before.  This was Paul back at his creative best and it always makes me wonder if anything was really lost when he got robbed in Lagos or if he just had to write it back down and re-demo stuff.  As big of a roll as he was on then (and it was just him, Linda, and Denny Laine who did everything for this album) i'll always wonder what if.  Iconic album cover too, just casually getting the likes of James Coburn, Christopher Lee, and other big stars of the day who happened to be in London together for the photo shoot.  I doubt any other album I listen to from McCartney or Wings will ever touch this height again, but at least that bar is set insanely high.  Give me this and Ram over anything else released post Beatles from any of the four, but I am going to get to the others releases as well eventually.  A+ album for me.

Classics: Band on the Run, Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five, Mamunia, Let Me Roll It
Great/Good: Jet, Mrs Vanderbilt, Helen Wheels, Picasso's Last Words, No Words
Solid: Bluebird
Meh: None
Bad: None

[adamq]

I can't wait until you get to Wonderful Christmas time because to me, it's by far the worst Christmas song ever released 

[THE DUKE]

8 hours ago, adamq said:

I can't wait until you get to Wonderful Christmas time because to me, it's by far the worst Christmas song ever released 

While i'm not a big fan of it, I think the hate for it is a little over board, there are plenty of other Christmas songs I think are worse.

[FinneasGage]

 

[BobbyPhil1781]

It's embarrassing how catchy this is for those who like party metal.

 

[Malfatron]

32 minutes ago, BobbyPhil1781 said:

It's embarrassing how catchy this is for those who like party metal.

 

You jerk, i accidentaly clicked that button at work when i put my phone down and it was on full blast

Love babymetal though so i dont feel too bad

[BobbyPhil1781]

1 hour ago, Malfatron said:

You jerk, i accidentaly clicked that button at work when i put my phone down and it was on full blast

Love babymetal though so i dont feel too bad

At least it starts slow and doesn't start hitting until 30 seconds in lol. This is my first real exposure to Baby Metal and it's interesting to see choreography to heavy music

Edited May 29 by BobbyPhil1781

[Malfatron]

38 minutes ago, BobbyPhil1781 said:

At least it starts slow and doesn't start hitting until 30 seconds in lol. This is my first real exposure to Baby Metal and it's interesting to see choreography to heavy music

About that, when i tried to turn it off i ended up clicking the middle scrollbar so it jumped to the middle

[FinneasGage]

listened to this one like 50 times over the past few days. had a buddy that loved smog and i just never got into any bill callahan stuff for years even though i'd end up hearing quite a bit, but now i'm hooked. 

 

[FinneasGage]

[THE DUKE]

As a follow up to Band on the Run, Venus and Mars is......fine.  Fine is just about how you can describe everything on this album.  It never ventures close to being a bad or down song, but it doesn't hit the highs that they were able to hit with Band on the Run, and i'd argue there are more inspired songs on Wild Life as well. 

The highlights for me were Rock Show, Listen to What the Man Said, and Call Me Back again.  Good, solid rock tunes that could find a place on any album and be a nice track.  I'd have Letting Go just a slight step below those three but still a very good tune and Medicine Jar a slight step beyond that as while Jimmy McCulloch proves his guitar chops pretty well on this track, his vocals don't measure up but it's still a good song.

After that, it's just a whole bunch of OK.  Treat Her Gently has a couple of good ideas and melodies, but ultimately doesn't feel like it goes anywhere, Venus and Mars along with it's reprise at the start of side two are similar as to just when you think it might start getting interesting it's done.  It doesn't feel fleshed out and sort of killed the albums momentum for me.  Love in Song, You Gave Me the Answer, and Magneto and Titanium man are all back to back to back on side one and it feels a bit like it was phoned in.  The album version of Magneto and Titanium man doesn't feel nearly as playful and energetic as the live version.  Not sure why they thought the Crossroads would be a good album closer considering it just feels like another abandoned idea.  It's probably coloring my entire opinion of the album downwards a bit because there are several songs I liked.

I have to give the album a solid B because of the things I liked about it, but it's hard to listen to Venus and Mars and not come away with a feeling of a really big, missed opportunity, an opportunity that feels more realized in their Wings Over America live album.  It definitely their bluesiest album so far which was cool, but things just didn't quite click for me.

Classis: None
Great/Good: Rock Show, Listen to What the Man Said, Call Me Back Again
Solid: Crossroads, Letting Go, Medicine Jar, Venus and Mars, Venus and Mars (Reprise), Treat Her Gently, Magneto and Titanium Man
Meh: Spirits of Ancient Egypt, Love in Song, You Gave Me the Answer
Bad: None

Edited June 3 by THE DUKE

[BobbyPhil1781]

The Falling in Reverse and Jelly Roll collab was something we needed. This is great