Note: the CD I listened to was the imported 1993 reissue in The Paul McCartney Collection which added 2 bonus tracks.
Generally regarded as one of the lesser albums put out by Wings, but that's only because it is unfairly compared to other McCartney/Wings releases and, perhaps subconsciously, Beatles albums. Hardly fair to compare this release to Revolver or Band On The Run, but I guess that's human nature. This album certainly doesn't measure up to those classics. Nevertheless, it sold platinum and almost topped the charts in the spring of 1978, bested only by the mega-selling Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. It's not bad at all, there are some examples of classic McCartney harmonies and chord progressions combined with his innate sense of melody. McCartney was also blessed with a good voice; I think his vocals were at their best in the late '70s and that includes his work here.
Back in 2018, I placed the chart-topping single With A Little Luck as my fifth favorite song of 1978, writing
this tune, with it's opening electric piano, positive lyrics, and easily singable melody, is easily the highlight of the album. There's also a lot of synth pads for 1978. It transports me back to '78, one time so suddenly I actually welled up for no immediately discernible reason. Music, right?
Press of the time:
- Robert Christgau: B
- High Fidelity: "There are probably fewer hit-bound tracks on this fifty-minute disc than on Wings's last several, but it may be a far better album because of that."
- CashBox: "Overall, a brilliant collection"
- Record World: "more subdued than his previous albums"
- Billboard: "McCartney still has a flair for writing clean, intelligent rock'n'roll"
- Record Mirror: "Forget the new wave - this is the true sound of the medium wave"
- Rolling Stone: "Even the best songs here...sound as if Wings were only half trying"
- Stereo Review: "There's only one problem, Paul. You keep releasing these terrible albums."
Album chart peaks:
- US Billboard Top 200: #2
- CashBox: #2
Tracks: With A Little Luck (#1 pop, #5 adult contemporary) is worth the price of admission by itself, but I also like all the tunes on what was side one (tracks 1-8 on CD). That includes the other singles released from the album: I've Had Enough (#25 pop) and the title track (#39 pop, #17 AC). I also dig the Supertramp-ish track Morse Moose And The Grey Goose as well as Name And Address, a rockabilly throwback that would make Carl Perkins proud.
Bonus tracks: Also included is the double A-side single from 1977, Girls' School (#33 pop) and Mull Of Kintyre (#45 adult contemporary). The former is a fun, energetic rocker, albeit one with disturbing lyrical content. Of the latter, I've previously written "Mull Of Kintyre sounds like an old Scottish pub singalong waltz, complete with bagpipes. Not bad, but not for me." But what do I know? The single was Wings' biggest hit in Britain and is one of the best selling singles of all time in the UK, where it became the 1977 Christmas number one and was the first single to sell over two million copies nationwide.
Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None
Previously revisited for the blog:
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