After all the hoopla surrounding the release of "Wingspan," which just
happened to coincide with the TV documentary of the same name, I was
expecting really big things from this set. It's too bad it didn't deliver.
About the only thing that surprised me was just how many hits that "Paul
McCartney & Wings" had. I didn't remember a lot of them until I listened to
the first disc of the set entitled "Hits." The second disc of the set is
called "History" by the way.
Let's talk about the "Hits" first. There are 18 tracks on this disc and
indeed most of them are very recognizable hits. To name just a few, the
disc starts with "Listen To What The Man Said," followed by "Band On The
Run," "Another Day," "Jet," "My Love," and "Silly Love Songs." A few others
include "Hi Hi Hi," "Let 'Em In," "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" and "With A
Little Luck." About 7 tracks are ones I've never heard and don't have a
clue what they're doing on the "Hits" disc, although "Mull Of Kintyre" is
kind of interesting.
Quite frankly, unless you're a HUGE fan of Paul McCartney as a solo artist,
or as a member of "Wings," the "History" disc is a total waste! One MAJOR
hit, "Maybe I'm Amazed," found it's way onto this second disc (why is
beyond me!) and gives the set an even more slapped together feeling than it
already has. Since the "Hits" are really in no particular order, and
there's stuff on "Hits" that belongs on "History" and vice versa, it kinda
makes you wonder who was making choices and why. The "History" disc has 22
tracks of mostly tepid songs. One exception, "Tug Of War," is good, mainly
because of the lyrics rather than the music. There are a few other okay
songs, but they're not even worth naming.
In my personal opinion, unless you're that HUGE Paul McCartney fan, you're
better off finding a "Wings" greatest hits album to get the good stuff and
not pay for the "Junk" (a song title from the "History" disc). However, if
you're REALLY into this whole "Wingspan" experience, check out the special
offer on CDNow so you get the "extras" that don't come with the double
album set. CDNow's package has a Limited Edition of the Double CD, a copy
of Paul McCartney's book of original poetry, "Blackbird Singing," and a $3
off e-coupon to purchase Paul McCartney's "Live At The Cavern Club" DVD
from CDNow. You better be REALLY into "Wingspan" to go this far though. The
price is three times as much as the plain old double album set.
I happen to like several of the "Paul McCartney & Wings" songs, but they're
already out on their other albums and the "Greatest Hits" album released in
1978. If you just buy the "Wingspan" double CD set on sale then it's worth
the money I guess, but if duplication is not an option, don't bother.
