This Is The Thread Where We Praise And Canonize Paul McCartney's "Ram"

I'm loving Linda on this: "is this the only thing you want me for"

Though this might me be the schmaaltz I was posting about earlier. It's fantastic though.

a VERY good introduction to solo Macca/ Wings for the uninitiated is this double CD

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-X6X5Ba9WGMM/T2HD_k0-PrI/AAAAAAAAAfw/Qlkz7wAUkh8/s640/paul+mccartney+wingpag+and+history+album+cover+2001.jpg

oh and also for anyone who's never seen it, the accompanying WingSpan documentary is ball-jigglingly exciting and is available in full 90 minute glory on You Tube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIpzZO31m-E

That's a very good compilation indeed. There's one or two selections on there which personally I would have left off, and there's one or two I may have included, but on the whole it's a good summary of the years from 1970 to about 1984. My introduction to solo McCartney was the 1987 compilation 'All The Best!' which has 'Once Upon A Long Ago' on it (which is also a "search", btw!). There really needs to be a complation which covers McCartney's post-1984 years, or which takes in all eras of his solo career.

10/10 posting Turrican. Cheers. I think I'm gonna have to experience most of that vomiting for myself though. Not really feeling the Monkberry Moon repulsion at this stage, but let's see...

― kraudive, Sunday, June 3, 2012 7:26 PM (51 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Brace yourself, a journey through McCartney's solo discography can be a hell of a ride, but it's well worth checking everything out. There's a lot of material there, over 300 songs easily! Some greatness, some goodness, some crap.

New album later this year maybe!

I hope so! I'm still undecided at the moment whether or not to treat the Electric Arguments album he did as The Fireman as part of his 'proper' solo discography. I dunno, I just sometimes think it has more in common with McCartney's usual work than anything he did previously as The Fireman.

it's weird to me that this album was ever considered less than a masterpiece. it looks like even 8 years ago there were haters. I mean I love some odd McCartney albums (McCartney 2 and Back to the Egg, namely) and can see why some people don't like them, but this seems so obviously his best collection, maybe only equalled by Band on the Run.

the songs on wild life recommended above were, I think, recorded at the same time as Ram, so it's not a surprise that they were good.

got the shit kicked out of it at the time by just about everyone supposedly. does seem baffling has to be said. Eat At Home pisses on most of Abbey Road.

most under-rated Macca album at this juncture is Tug Of War i'd say. i mean.. Take It Away, Here Today, etc. could never see the fuss about Flowers In The Dirt.

tug of war has a kind of bad 80's production sheen to it that is hard for me to get past, plus some lousy songs, but the ones I like I like a lot (the pound is sinking and wanderlust, for example)

I'm watching that amazing "Ram Off" bootleg DVD. "Three Legs" is still my favorite song, cos it most sounds like something that could have been on the "White Album". Lots of that album sound like it. It's sort of a shame he went off and formed Wings, cos if he had just stayed home, raising his kids, recording DIY records all through the 70's it may have resulted in some incredible stuff!

I think there's a lot that's owed to Paul in the lo-fi community, particularly with the first album. Stuff like "Beat Happening" probably wouldn't have happened without some of his early post-Beatles music.

Personally, I think he did a huge swan dive in quality after "Ram" - tho MCcartney II rules, obviously.

It's cool to see footage of, like, Paul setting up drums in his living room!

probably worth posting this again for anyone who's not seen it

http://thequietus.com/articles/01922-paul-mccartney-the-beatles-wings-the-best-of

The arrangements on this album are brilliant btw. It's sort of mystifying that people didn't think this was any good, including him!

The best songs on FITD have unexpected chord changes, discreet guest appearances (e.g. David Gilmour on "We Got Married") and quite better than average lyrics.

TOW will most likely get the remastering treatment as it was for a while an album so overrated that now it's underrated.

The best thing to do is to find a Macca-obsessed friend and ask him to burn a free-ranging CD-R: b-sides, album tracks, single mixes. That's what I got in 2001.

btw "No More Lonely Nights" is a real corker, his best of the eighties ("Press" is second, duh).

i wonder which others could possibly now come out in like six CD box sets with replica t shirts for 200 quid. Band On The Run is really the only other one guess.

xp at one point tug of war was his only 5 star album on allmusic. i always thought it was his most highly-rated one.

i disagree with a lot of yr s/ds turrican (the RRS medley is A+) but thank you for searching warm and beautiful. rarely is such a terrible set of lyrics redeemed by beautiful music. also, back to the egg. there's the last pre-90s paul album that would ever receive a reissue/critical reevaluation.

"Arrow Through Me" is a splendid take on EL Lay-Toto rock.

the songs on wild life recommended above were, I think, recorded at the same time as Ram, so it's not a surprise that they were good.

― akm, Monday, June 4, 2012 1:37 AM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Well, I know 'Dear Friend' was recorded during the Ram sessions, but I'm not sure about the others!

also, back to the egg. there's the last pre-90s paul album that would ever receive a reissue/critical reevaluation.

― of family bonds and individual triumph. Narrated by Tim Allen, (zachlyon), Monday, June 4, 2012 2:07 AM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Back To The Egg and Venus And Mars are definitely the two Wings albums I find myself returning to the most. I enjoy listening to both from start to finish for different reasons. Love 'Getting Closer', 'Again And Again And Again', 'Old Siam Sir', the aforementioned 'Arrow Through Me'...

btw "No More Lonely Nights" is a real corker, his best of the eighties ("Press" is second, duh).

― go down on you in a thyatrr (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, June 4, 2012 1:54 AM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Definitely agree with you, Re: 'No More Lonely Nights'!

TOW will most likely get the remastering treatment as it was for a while an album so overrated that now it's underrated.

― go down on you in a thyatrr (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, June 4, 2012 1:53 AM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

In my mind, the three that are most likely to get the remastering treatment are Venus And Mars, Tug Of War and Flowers In The Dirt. I think it's still a bit too soon for everything from Flaming Pie onwards!

i have no recollection of band on the run being reissued in 2010 but apparently that happened

would love to think red rose speedway is a dark horse, but maybe that's just me

Yeah, Band on the Run kicked off this whole series, iirc. But I don't believe it any bonus material like the more recent three did.

fyi, there is an advertisement in the Ram one that says Venus and Mars, Over America, and Speed of Sound are the next three to be released in the series.

anybody own Wings Over America? It gets good reviews here and there.

whoa, one of the b-sides to Temporary Secretary is pretty fucking rad:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w40MUrFq3xM

^^^chillwave

we discussed "Secret Friend" in the Macca II thread and yes it's good.

xp wings over america is good. smh @ speed of sound, wtf

Speed of Sound has the much-awaited debuts of Geoff English and Linda as singers.

linda's solo comp makes for some interesting listening. it's not bad, maybe an acquired taste.

secret friend is a beardo favourite.

anybody own Wings Over America? It gets good reviews here and there.

― go down on you in a thyatrr (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 4 June 2012 23:25 (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I have a vinyl copy of this! It's not bad, although I admittedly don't dig it out that often. I'll have to give this another listen sometime this week.

I'd definitely welcome a Venus And Mars remaster. Wings At The Speed Of Sound is down there as one of my least favourite McCartney albums, though, and I personally think there are a couple of other McCartney albums that deserve it more.

I need to hear "Letting Go" and remastered.

Venus and Mars remaster is already available on iTunes.

Just the album - no extended package.

Speed of Sound is sort of a perfect distillation of Wings but completely unremarkable for it.

I guess that's why it's their best seller.

I imagine they're eventually going to do 'em all, so the duds were going to have to trickle as well. The only Wings I've ever owned prior to this batch were vinyl copies of Band on the Run and Over America.

Re: Wings Over America, I actually pulled that out about a week ago for Sunday afternoon background listening. It's...okayish but I think I might unload it soon - a 3XLP live album is a LOT of Wings in a row, and very few of the renditions are particularly interesting. They sound like the studio versions, played live with a little more audience-working by McCartney. They were a pretty decent sort of arena bar band, and it's probably fair to say that the Speed of Sound stuff sounds a little more rocking, but they can't really improve on the Band on the Run and Venus and Mars material, and the Beatles covers are all forgettable as hell. They do "Go Now" okay I guess, plus Denny Laine doing "Richard Cory" is, well, about what you'd expect, and "Soily" is cool enough, always liked that one.

Definitely not essential though.

I think I've hated on Speed of Sound on ILX before - - - I love the singles and a few other things (Warm and Beautiful, She's My Baby, Wino Junko!!!) but the overall sound feels mushy and muffled to me. (Well, "Beware My Love" ain't bad.) You long for a George Martin to step up the crispness of things. Maybe the remaster might actually make a difference for that one!

Also, uh, "Cook of the House," god bless 'er.

I might change my grade if "Sally G" were part of the original track list.

<3 Sally G!

A legit, comprehensive McCartney b-sides comp really would be great. I guess these remasters will basically end up putting those back on the radar. As a teenage McCartney fan in the mid-90s, I of course prized those extremely marked-up British imports that had the B-sides (and also the terrible cover art, with the original image shrunk down and stuck in a sea of white for no reason). Think I had a couple of 'em, definitely Flowers in the Dirt.

I suppose we'll get "Girls School" soon enough.

Vocal arrangement on "Dear Boy" is so hot.

speed of sound is pretty bad except for letting go. surprised they aren't doing london town before that (which is better...not great, just better). I would totally be one of three people to buy a back to the egg deluxe set.