POLL: How do you rate Paul McCartney/Wings' "Band On The Run" album?

Clearly one of his best works. No doubt. Solid from start to finish which can't be said for most of his albums if we're all honest about it...

 

This coming from an Olivia Newton John fanboy.

 

I disagree with the common view that this is his very best, but it still warrants the top rating

 

I think 'Band On The Run' is his best album ever.
However, I must admit that it lacks the charm of his earlier albums and I prefer 'McCartney' and 'Ram' over this one.
It doesn't change that fact, though, that 'Band On The Run' is his best effort.

 

I thought of that, too. But the OP is following a formula, as the same options have been made available for the other Paul albums surveyed thus far, and the OP has been able to track the relative levels of enthusiasm for each one.

 

Weak. Very weak. Paul is the personification of an artist who aims low...and misses, again and again.

 

I guess that means you don't like Driving Rain?

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, so more power to you.

Arnie

 

Clearly essential listening - how could you possibly introduce somebody to McCartney solo music without spending a considerable amount of time on BOTR? It's up there with Ram, Cherries and Flowers for me.

 

No....that I would give to George Harrison's magnum opus "All Things Must Pass".

 

It boggles the mind five people say it's "clearly one of his worst". I think the people picking the bottom option just hate McCartney period - I don't see how someone who likes or even is neutral toward McCartney would think "BOTR" is "clearly one of his worst"...

 

Yes, it is very strange, if they are being honest. Even if you hate Macca's music, you still should concede that Band On The Run is definitely "one of the better albums among a whole lot of crap albums", or something like that.

I don't think Paul is losing any sleep over those votes here though.

Arnie

 

Prior to Ram's critical reappraisal, this was the Paul album - considered an equal of ATMP, POB and Imagine. I recall someone referring to it as Paul's Sgt Pepper. I love it and always had, it should be on more best albums of all time lists.

Heck, I've even had it on 8-Track.

 

Perhaps it is the SGT pepper of paul's post beatle canon ...originally cited as the glorious triumph and sold by the multi million..Of course people tend to pick others as their favourite [including me],but when you look at it fairly it really is the strongest and best.....and of course it includes two of the best tracks recorded by the anyone during the decade of the 1970s...'nineteen hundred and eighty five' and the title track.

 

For Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five and the title track alone, I chose "best works."

 

I've always thought that each Beatle had one solo album that was an unqualified masterpiece that even the most casual fan should have. BOTR is Paul's.

 

I have to give this the top rating, because it is a flawless album from top to bottom IMO. I consider this to be one of Paul's albums where every song is fantastic and where I wouldn't change a single thing (alongside albums like Ram, Chaos and New).

There is not really much more that I can add to what has already been said, although I also agree with some here that it isn't necessarily his best album, despite it being brilliant; he has more great solo albums than many give him credit for.

No-one else that I know of is able to write songs like Band On The Run and Picasso's Last Word; Paul really is the master of the mini-medley (also see Live and Let Die and Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey).

I am glad to see so much praise for 1985; I really think that it was one of the most incredible, original and forward-looking songs that he ever wrote. I have said this elsewhere and I will repeat it here: I consider it to be just as unique and amazing as Tomorrow Never Knows, and I wish that he had written other songs like it.

 

For once, I'm in the majority... BOTR is a fantastic, essential album.

It's actually the only "proper" Macca album I own... all the rest of the Wings/solo stuff in my collection are compilations (Wingspan, All the Best, Wings' Greatest)

 

It may or may not be his best but ....it is my personal favorite ...

 

I love Paul McCartney and every album that has his name somewhere on it has songs worth listening to at least a few times. That said, in my opinion, Mc Cartney has never put out a flawless album. Band on the Run comes closest. From the epic title track ( the opening riff evokes the summer of 1974 for me) to the gorgeous " Bluebird" (with that sax solo!) to the inscrutable but rollicking "Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five", BotR is one of the best examples of a well-crafted, popular, commercial AM/FM early '70's pop/rock album ( Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, from the same year, is another example). Easily his best, and leagues ahead of what his former mates were doing in that time period.

 

I didn't vote because none of the ratings quite fits my opinion. It's a very good album, clearly his best post-Beatles work to that point (sorry, "Ram" fans), and its best moments are just glorious. After being a massive Beatles fan, I hadn't much cared for his prior albums ( I was 17 or so when BOTR came out). When I heard it for the first time, as soon as the 3rd section of the title song came on -- "Well the rain exploded with a mighty crash" -- I literally jumped in the air and shouted, "He's BACK!!!!" I still think that's one of the most glorious moments in all of pop music, absolute, pure genius.

But, while it's the most cohesive Wings album and has a level of consistent craftsmanship that earlier Wings releases had lacked, it's always felt a little slick and superficial to me. Tacking on a bit of "Band on the Run" at the end of 1985 always struck me as gimmicky. Artistically, I personally prefer some of Paul's later stuff -- Tug of War, Chaos, Memory Almost Full -- but BOTR is really solid and entertaining. Most of Paul's albums have at least one clunker, and their aren't any here.

 

I just listened to Picasso's Last Words and was struck by the string arrangement. Very intricate and quite beautiful. I wish it was a hair more prominent like it is on the DTS.

I like when something stands out to me in a recording I've heard hundreds of times. It's like listening to it new. Kinda.

 

Pretty flippin great

 

Gonna listen now, in fact!

 

Band On The Run is clearly one of McCartney's best albums!

 

One of Paul's best, top notch.