Wings' Venus and Mars Appreciation Thread

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Scott S., May 25, 2018.

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  1. ConnieGuitar

    ConnieGuitar Here in my balloon...

    Good album (though I'm one of the few/only? that enjoys Speed of Sound better musically as a whole) but the timeless "Listen To What The Man Said", "Letting Go" and "Love In Song" automatically make V&M a necessary staple in one's collection.

    As many have already said, the WOA versions of these songs beat the studio ones ten ways from Sunday bar "LTWTS", which still, all these years later, is quintessential Paul pop perfection.

    Will say I absolutely loved all the marketing/promotion around this album though, the cover/sleeve/label design (still incredibly visually striking over four decades later), all the sticker/poster goodies included with the LP (which I'm sure had someone at EMI screaming re the cost!). I even still have an original Capitol Records promo t-shirt similar to the one that the PM.com website started selling in conjunction with the Archive release but mine (unlike the new one) has the "It's All Balls" tagline on the back :D

    Essential Wings album but can't quite say it's an essential McCartney one. Still will always be incredibly fond of it though and it always brings back great memories of those times - some of my happiest!
     
  2. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product

    not sure that I like it more but speed of sound is great
     
  3. wwright

    wwright Forum Resident

    Location:
    San Francisco, CA.
    It is my go-to McCartney album. Bought it in grade school when it came out - the extra stickers were great as well.

    For some reason, "Venus and Mars (Reprise)" is my all time favorite track of his.
     
  4. Arnold Grove

    Arnold Grove Senior Member

    Location:
    NYC
     
  5. streetlegal

    streetlegal Forum Resident

    Nice post!
     
  6. Arnold Grove

    Arnold Grove Senior Member

    Location:
    NYC
    Nicely stated. Seems like a contradiction at first, but it is true (for you and me) when you think about it.
     
    ConnieGuitar likes this.
  7. Mister President

    Mister President Forum Resident

    Location:
    London
    A sweet ending...:)

     
    g.z. likes this.
  8. streetlegal

    streetlegal Forum Resident

    This album was very much in my consciousness in the mid '70's; it was one of those albums that seemed to be everywhere, and the album cover (like so many at the time) just pulled you right in. But I was into other ("edgier") stuff, so never went further than admiring the sleeve.

    Well, after Pure set my up for reconsidering McCartney's solo career, I got around to getting this album last week. I knew a few songs, particularly from Wings Over America, but it's mostly new to me (it's under-served on Pure). I've always wanted this album to be as good as its cover art, to take you "somewhere else" . . .

    My first listen was "meh." I quite liked the tracks from WOA but didn't find much else to like. And the production is so "boxy."

    Second and third listens, and already I'm locking into some of the other tracks--"Love in Song" (beautiful sung, yearning melody) and "Treat Her Gently/Lonely Old People" draw me in, and have that rare time-stands-still quality. The production no longer bothers me--in fact, I'm finding that the songs have really interesting layers within them, a quality I had been hoping for from a package that seemed to have so mid-70's. "Letting Go" perhaps represents this layered quality best to my ears (at this point).

    Fourth and fifth listens, and I am finding the album irresistible. I changed my mind really quickly on this one. It helps that I don't dislike any of the tracks (I discovered "Medicine Jar" on WOA and loved it from the start--pure mid-'70's rock, catchy and classy).

    So yeah, really pleased that I got to listen to this. Even though it took me 40+ years.
     
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  9. lavalamp3

    lavalamp3 Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    I've always found You Gave Me the Answer to be one of Paul's most underrated songs. It certainly ain't rock & roll, but it is the work of a true songwriting craftsman, paying homage to the vaudeville/Music hall tunes that his father James would have introduced him to.

    Musically, it is deceptively complex (as anyone who has tried to play along to it on piano or guitar soon discovers!) and George Martin would surely have been proud of the wonderful arrangement (in fact I'd be none too surprised to learn that George did arrange it).

    That arrangement is highlighted here by an instrumental mix which showcases the terrific woodwind and period sounding string parts.

     
    jricc, joy stinson, g.z. and 3 others like this.
  10. belushipower

    belushipower Forum Resident

    Love it. I call Venus & Mars Paul's Great Pot Album.
     
  11. Arnold Grove

    Arnold Grove Senior Member

    Location:
    NYC
    And I call Red Rose Speedway Paul's Not-So-Great Pot Album ... ;)
     
  12. belushipower

    belushipower Forum Resident

    yeh, he wasn't happy with that bag 'o leaf!
     
    joy stinson and Scott S. like this.
  13. Folknik

    Folknik Forum Resident

    Fantastic album, and not a letdown after the brilliant Band On the Run. I got it for my 22nd birthday in 1975 and it's loaded with the atmosphere and memory of a very good time and place for me. I still have that same vinyl copy with the posters.
     
  14. Bruce M.

    Bruce M. Forum Resident

    Location:
    Hilo, HI, USA
    Venus and Mars was always my favorite Wings album. When it was new, I listened to it way more than Band on the Run. Objectively, I'd say BOTR is more coherent and consistent, but I just enjoyed listening to V&M more, and I still listen to it pretty regularly. Also, the instant I heard "Rock Show," a voice inside my head screamed, "Yes! He's about to tour!!!!" It may be hard for young'uns to see what a breathtaking development that was in 1975, but it was.
     
  15. maclen

    maclen Senior Member

    My friend Jenn has some nice pics of Paul in and entering the studio. That must have been really cool to be in Nola back then.
     
    JDeanB likes this.
  16. Arnold Grove

    Arnold Grove Senior Member

    Location:
    NYC
    [​IMG] [​IMG]
     
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  17. RockWizard

    RockWizard Forum Resident

    It was. AND...it was Mardi Gras time, they partied! My grandfather worked at the restaurant where he had his private party on the 3rd floor balcony(when he and Linda were in clown face). Grandfather was sworn to SILENCE about that party. I remember seeing the picture and then I saw the hat store across the street on St. Charles. All I could say was....DAMN!
     
  18. wwright

    wwright Forum Resident

    Location:
    San Francisco, CA.
    This describes it perfectly.
     
    joy stinson likes this.
  19. fmfxray373

    fmfxray373 Capitol LPs in the 70s were pretty good.

    I love the album, particularly Magneto and Titanium Man. I always identify with the singer being disillusioned when his best girl turns out to be bank robber...only to be on the side of the law at the end! I still feel a great sigh of relief whenever I hear "You were the law!" You Gave Me The Answer is another great song.


    I don't think Magneto is a song about comic books and bank robbers. It is a song about trusting the one you love.
     
  20. streetlegal

    streetlegal Forum Resident

    Has Venus and Mars ever been noted--officially or otherwise--as an influence on Queen's Night at the Opera?

    Listening tonight, possibly my 5th or 6th time with the album, I couldn't help but notice an affinity between the "period" pieces on the latter and "You Gave Me the Answer." One's a rock show (kind of), the other a night at the opera (kind of), both kaleidoscopic in genres.
     
    joy stinson and Scott S. like this.
  21. maclen

    maclen Senior Member

    That actually might be one of Jenn's pictures. That is among the ones she had sent me I believe.
     
  22. Arnold Grove

    Arnold Grove Senior Member

    Location:
    NYC
    Please thank her then!
     
  23. maclen

    maclen Senior Member

    Wish I could. She just passed. I wish I could post a couple of hers but I don't know how anymore here.
     
  24. Arnold Grove

    Arnold Grove Senior Member

    Location:
    NYC
    Sorry to hear that.
     
    maclen likes this.
  25. maclen

    maclen Senior Member

    g.z. and Sci-Flyer like this.
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