Im not much for ranking albums but definively think that albums like Ram, Band on the run or Tug of war are more worked out and important albums than Wild Life and Red Rose Speedway. That does not lessen the values of WL or RRS for me. I have listened to these albums more than most albums I ever can think of and in all their weirdness I truly love them. It will be great now to hear RRS in the double-album it was originally intended
Yes, Paul can play offense and defense - organic, or slick also. “I Am Your Singer” sounds almost amateurville but “Dear Friend” is a big production yet I love them both and they coexist on the same record . Ram is a good example of Paul sounding “produced” but not annoyingly so to my ears. Red Rose Speedway also IMO.
I was actually going to cite both Ram and Red Rose Speedway as good mixes of Paul marrying his clean/slick/crafty production tendencies with his more “let it all hang out” approach. I think Ram in particular is the best mix of the two and probably a big reason why it has found so many supporters. But it’s tough to fault any record with “Some People Never Know”, “Tomorrow”, and “Dear Friend”, regardless of the other content. The fact that the rest of the record is so spontaneous, fun, and exciting is just icing on the cake for me. If it was freed of the expectations placed upon it due to it being by an ex-Beatle, I think you’d see more love for Wild Life. As others have posted too, the running order is definitely uncompromising, not putting a full-on song until track four. While I love that about it, I can see why others, particularly those expecting something similar to The Beatles (or even Ram for that matter) would be thrown off by “Mumbo”, “Bip Bop”, and a funkily jammed “Love Is Strange” to open the record.
I’ve mentioned this before, giving myself up as an example : Being an original era fan I unfairly expected Paul to be a one man Beatles when he started releasing solo records . So with that expectation in my head, I put McCartney aside because I thought it might be a one shot thing and the Beatles would resolve their spat and get back together . But when that didn’t happen and the reality sunk in, I was confused by Paul’s ping pong approach to his solo career . Great things on solo albums next to puzzling things on the same album. Meticulously produced Ram followed by an album that sounded like my college buddies recording us with a TEAC reel to reel. John and George’s immaculate harmonies replaced by Linda. Rocking out on..um, “Mary Had A Little Lamb”,complete with ultra twee accompanying videos, etc . It was a very confusing era to be a die hard McCartney fan. As some other guy sang years later .. “Strange days indeed, most peculiar Mama.”
It sure was some weird stuff Paul made following the Beatles. Red Rose speedway was even weirder for me having experienced the rockin glory of Wings live 1972. Hardly any if the songs(the Mess, Soily and such were included). But there is a certain feel from that era that s absolutely glorious. Which is the reason I name the 71-73 box the motherlode. With that said Band on the run and to a lesser externt Venus and mars are more worked out and more commercial ventures. Still the era from McCartney to Red Rose speedway is an incredible fruitful time and for me the motherlode and also something that really is unique . More so-imo-than the admittedely great work from John and George during the same time. Put it all together with some of Ringos best there is no doubt the ex-Beatles did very well at the start of their solo-careers And Paul is still at it making great music
I remember when listening to Paul's new solo albums and trying to imagine that it was a new Beatles album but then Linda would start singing and it was over
When I listened to Maybe I'm Amazed , I always thought the harmonies sounds exactly like them, perfectly imagine John and George (so did my dad when at the time, he heard the song on the radio for the first time and thought it was a new Beatles song but then learned they broke up...)
Abbey Road Studios on Instagram: “Abbey Road mastering engineer Alex Wharton tells us about his experience of working on the reissues of Wild Life and Red Rose Speedway by…”
Interesting-he seemed to like Loop callin it a phsycedelic nugget. The real favorite was Wild Life though-he found the lyrics of the song very important besides being a ”great sounding recording”. I would not argue with that-Wild Life is a poignant song with a topic way ahead of it s time
Ha! I'd do the same. Denny Laine would start singing a song of his own and then it was over for me too. ;-) To this day I still project the "what if" to Paul's records. What if Ringo drummed on his tracks? It would have made so many of Paul's recent albums more enjoyable, instead of having to endure Paul's baby basic drumming or Abe's somewhat over-the-top drumming. The drumming is the biggest thing keeping Paul's recordings from sounding Beatle-like. On Flaming Pie, for example, "Beautiful Night" stands out to me as a superior track because of the drumming when put up against the amateur drum track on "Young Boy". In my opinion, Paul sounds SO MUCH BETTER when surrounded by a band of musicians than he does when he goes into his "one man band" mode. The only producer who seemed to be able to hide the deficiencies of Paul's drumming was George Martin on Tug Of War and Pipes Of Peace. Several of those tracks Paul drummed on and it was tastefully done and mixed. Other than that, we get hack-job drumming like "Spies Like Us" or most of Egypt Station.
I respectfully disagree. Paul is not Ringo but his playing certanely serves the songs well. Band on the run is-at least for me-a great example but his playing on Egypt Station certanely is good enough-at least to my ears Denny Seiwell was-and still is a brilliant drummer. Arguably the best Paul ever had. His playing on Ram and Wild Life is rock solid
Nope. There are AT LEAST three oddballs. I love Wings Wild Life, too. I was born several months before the album was released in 1971, and only discovered it in 1990. Having not been around to witness all the negative criticism when it was released, I didn't know I was 'supposed' to dislike it. From the first listen, I thought it was a fun album. I liked the sound & the energy of it. And, as I posted elsewhere in this thread, I do prefer it to Red Rose Speedway. YMMV
Oh, I know there are a few people here that like Wildlife also but Mazzy and I get a kick out of the love being shown for the album lately . That love wasn’t very evident here for years and years when we were championing the album, to the dismay of many others. It was always near or at the bottom of his solo album popularity list here so I wonder why the big reassessment now ?
I would not say Wild Life is my favorite McCartney album, but I do like it in spite of itself. I first heard it back probably around 1973 when I was in a stage of finding all the Paul solo material I could.. It was like no other album before or since in it's rawness and that "unfinished" quality. Almost like listening to the demos for a "real" album. Some of the songs went on a bit too long and I was not a fan of Linda's lead vocals. But.... still.... Mumbo! Bip Bop! Great tracks. Some People Never Know, Love Is Strange, Dear Friend, Wild Life are good [although the latter two have kind of "draggy" tempos] even if they could use some editing. And the untitled links were icing on the cake! I love this album for it's weirdness... the quirkiness that seems to evaporate with RRS and beyond. [At least until McCartney II...]
I love hearing all the appreciation and excitement for Wild Life on the forum. I am very psyched about the big box and hearing the cleaned up live material. I can't wait to hear the alternate mix too. I am even fully expecting to gain a further appreciation for Wild Life after hearing it in it's newly formed glory. However I must be honest: it is still going to be second to last on my Paul list right in front of GMRTBS. I fully get why some love it, but it just isn't up to par for me. I make this statement to make a point though. As a matter of context (of course!) Paul's worst is still better than other's best. We're still talking about a great album here in the context of all of music. Sometimes the naysayers on here seem to forget that context and just look at the microcosm. It's like massaging data to get that line graph to show what you want others to see.
I always been amazed how many people here who have claimed to like Wild Life through the years but it s true. the album generally gets low rating when people makes ranking lists I have always liked the album but in all honesty have seen it as a delightful but minor venture for Paul. A few years ago I started listening to it more often again and was slightly blown away. As far as Im concerned the album contains 3-4 songs that are absolutely top-tier Macca and the rest are at least entertaining, energetic and eccentric in a very attractive way Paul had a knack for creating albums that somehow existed in their own words and did not sound like anything else really. Ram might be the best example but Wild Life have the same unique feel. Wild Life still sounds fresh -thats some achievment.
