TS: Band on the Run Vs. Venus and Mars

I vote Venus & Mars, by a nose ..

I completely disagree with this statement as forcefully as possible. McCartney's are pastiches which usually over-emphasise either the melacholic or jaunty elements in the original music. This is one of the reasons why so many of us are able to resist their charms.

Some of the Bonzo's stuff falls into this category too (Hello Mabel, Beautiful Zelda). However the Bonzos surrealist lyrics and bizarre arrangements breathe new life into a moribund musical genre ("The Equestian Statue", "My Pink Half Of The Drainpipe" "Look Out There's A Monster Coming") and when being serious ("Tubas In The Moonlight", "Laughing Blues").they can actually get to the emotional heart of this old-time music in a way that McCartney can't.

Band On The Run, by the way. I think it's his best album.

x-post

You'll never be crowned by the aristocracy
To their delight, you'd merely invite them in for a cup of tea

... is this awesome throwaway that DOES get at the heart of that music and the way the melody is taken for that new, little, very stylistically characteristic twist there as just this little thing thrown in at the end is the kind of thing that puts it above the Bonzos for me (that and the elaborate instrumental part).

I love Paul. He's vastly superior to the Bonzos but they stomp all over him in this genre.

1) Tell me what's that man moving cross the stage
2) Looks a lot like the one used by Jimmy Page

"Venus and Mars" isn't far off "Band on the Run", IMO; sadly, I do have to agree with received wisdom that the earlier record is a little better. "Letting Go" is the least affecting track for me; "Spirits of Ancient Egypt" and "Call Me Back Again" aren't great, either, but are at least memorable; the first in its bombast and lyrical absurdity, the latter with its very avuncular guitar riff.

But, Tim Ellison is largely spot-on about V&M's merits, though I'd agree with Mark G. that "Treat Her Gently..." is rather better than that. A very moving, plaintive melody and lavish production; it also segues beautifully with the preceeding "Listen to What the Man Said" (a genuinely great song and single in my book): great orchestral linkage.

Insightful comments, all, in comparing the Bonzo Dog Band. Isn't "Magneto and Titanium Man" rather Innesian? Rather comparable actually in theme to "Beautiful Zenda" (which I like but accept isn't the BDB's finest hour), but rather a stronger melody.

One hopes with the new McCartney album that he manages his equivalents of Vivian Stanshall's "The Cracks are Showing", and "Possibly an Armchair (Like Me)"...

I forgot how much I like botr until tonight.

http://blog.limewire.com/posts/49656-deluxe-reissue-of-paul-mccartney-wings-band-on-the-run-out-in-november/

On November 2nd, Concord Music will re-release Band on the Run, Paul McCartney & Wings’ multi-platinum album from 1973. The Grammy-winning record has been remastered at Abbey Road using the same team who recently remastered The Beatles reissues. Sir Paul himself has overseen every aspect of the album’s re-release. The release is the first in Concord’s recently announced campaign to reissue the entirety of McCartney’s post-Beatles records.

The Band on the Run reissue will be available in four formats: standard, special, deluxe and vinyl. The standard edition will be simply the original album remastered. The special edition also includes a second CD of bonus tracks (mostly taken from the band’s 1974 “One Hand Clapping” television special) and a DVD with footage of the McCartneys in Lagos, original Band on the Run promotional videos, and the “One Hand Clapping” television special (highlighted by studio performances filmed at Abbey Road). For the deluxe edition, a third CD of the audio documentary originally produced for the 25th anniversary edition of Band on the Run in 1999 and now remastered is included, as well as a 120-page hardcover book containing unseen and unpublished photos by Linda McCartney and Clive Arrowsmith, album and single artwork, a full history of the album with a new interview with Paul, and expanded track-by-track information for all four discs. The vinyl edition contains the original album and bonus material on two 180-gram records and mp3 downloads for all the tracks. The standard and deluxe versions will also be available digitally.

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What say you?!

Bleh.

a Press to Play reissue would be sweeeeeet though.

I have to say these two are pretty close for me. But "Band On The Run" wins because it's better throughout, whereas the weaker tracks on "Venus & Mars" are very weak. It is still one of few cases (possibly the only case even) where McCartney managed to come up with two really great solo albums in a row.

See, I liked "Red Rose Speedway" and "Wild Life" but I'd probably wonder why, now.

(I remember Wild Life more, however. "Mumbo" is basically what Damon ripped off for "Music is my Radar")

"Wild Life" = "Dear Friend" and not much more. Horrible album. At least the CD includes "Give Ireland Back To The Irish".

"I am your singer" is twee with added sugar and artificial sweetener.

"Wild Life" = "Dear Friend" = "snooze"

Mumbo, Bip Bop, yeah filler but fun filler.

"Some people never know", "Love is Strange" and "Tomorrow" in particular, c'mon you can't deny those. You'd love them if they were by Jellyfish!

Does anyone else think the beginning of Band on the Run is way better than the rest of the song?

a Press to Play reissue would be sweeeeeet though.

Pretty certain McCartney's entire EMI solo catalogue will be reissued as part of the ongoing Apple reissue program.

X-Post Well, it begins with the title track, "Jet" and "Bluebird", so I guess that is kind of obvious.

I have to write about both of them so here's the first part.

I couldn't choose really, I enjoy them both equally.

That was great, Marcello. Looking forward to part II, Marcello and Titanium Man.

And here is Part II!

You nailed it, Marcello. I only listened to it last November for the first time, gobsmacked by the collision of good ideas and whimsy. I like "Magneto and Titanium Man" and "Letting Go" more than you though. The former (it sounds so small!) reminds me of a lost XTC b-side; the latter boasts that McCullough guitar and the brass section.

I agree that there's an acknowledgment of P.M. as hard-working and, in his own way, ambitious that cuts somewhat into the perception of a record like V&M as decadent.

Does anyone else think the beginning of Band on the Run is way better than the rest of the song?

"If we ever get out of here" section >>>> "Stuck inside these four walls" section >>>> the rest

Mrs Vanderbilt sounds like a lost Monty Python song.

A really on-point piece from Marcello, and yet it doesn't make me dislike the record one bit. Listening to it now for maybe the 200th time in my life, and it still sounds great. The lyrics are slight and it's getting by on showmanship 90% of the time, sure, but that's not the worst thing in the world. Some solid tunes, performed with conviction and rather well-recorded compared to the later Wings records.

It'd be hard to say that any of these was my favorite Paul McCartney song and nothing here stirs the spirit one bit... but boy is it fun to sing along to most of this.

(speaking about Venus & Mars, if that wasn't apparent!)

Venus And Mars Roll Poll

Doctor Casino otm

Jesus christ, is 'Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five' just one of the most perfect album closers.

oooo ooooooo oooo ooooo ooo ooooooooooooooooooo

Venus and Mars is up next in McCartney's reissue series. I doubt it ever makes it that far, but I'd like them to get around to Tug of War too.

The new two-disc One Hand Clapping (the first time the whole thing has been officially released as an album) is apparently remixed by Giles Martin, and a lot of it is apparently very different than what can be heard elsewhere, including the tracks included in the previous super deluxe editions of Band on the Run and Venus and Mars.

For example, "Jet" is the same take as the one released on Band on the Run super deluxe edition but it's a radically different mix. Linda's Moog kicks off the track (which was mixed out in the previous version) and the synth is also mixed up really high throughout the entire track. (It also sounds like a mix of two vocal takes.) Hence this line from Pitchfork's review:

With Linda’s fuzzy keyboards jacked up in the mix, this version of “Jet” makes a case for Wings as the first synth-pop band...

Uh... no.

lol

Stuart Berman's take, not mine!

Random observation, but I just noticed that the two most interesting tracks (imo) on Band on the Run - "Jet" and "Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five" - were the only two not recorded in Lagos, Nigeria but rather in London just after the Lagos sessions. If the album had been just the Lagos stuff and excluded the "Helen Wheels" single it would be a pretty mellow album.

Were those songs developed later, or did they just get recorded later? (I know the broad outlines of the lost tape saga etc., but not the details - is the original tracklisting known?)

I'm hoping someone else can answer that; I haven't read any of the Macca bios, though I did hear a podcast that challenges Paul's story of the stolen tapes as he has come to tell it over the years.