Listening to the Wing's retrospective Wingspan not only decades after the songs were first released but more than a decade after the retrospective was released reminds me of the old line about how public buildings, whores and politicians become respectable when they grow old. Macca is the latter, a rock and roll politician who has made it to 70 and counting and has spent years changing the public perception of the man as a lightweight.
He has pretty much succeeded as well but still… He doesn't lack heart, he lacks soul. There is something facile about Wings and that's coming from a fan of Wings at least some of the time because Macca is probably the greatest melodist of the 20th century. Yep, take that Gershwin.
But you can't imagine Paul writing "Rhapsody In Blue", "Porgy And Bess" even less so. His every attempt to write serious stuff, his "Liverpool Oratorio" stuff, is sustained crap. Luckily for McCartney, that's not what we come to listen to him for. These aren't just Wings song, they are McCartney songs from 1970 – 1984. One more thing, they are also Linda McCartney songs. Her gentle thereness is all over the tracks.
1. Listen To What The Man Says – Survives its clunky opening verse to become the perfect silly love song – A+
2. Band On The Run – The lick could sustain anything at all and does – A
3. Another Day – Lady Madonna rewrite – C+
4. Live And Let Die – One of the greatest 007 theme songs – A+
5. Jet – And back to the Band running – A
6. My Love – When McCartney misses,a s he does from one of his worst albums Red Rose Speedway, he misses completely – D-
7. Silly Love Songs – In which he loses all credibility and is hated for years and years but all discerning rock fans – F
8. Pipes Of Peace – This isn't a Wings song, but it is bad enough to be. "Help me to learn some jy instead of burn baby burn…" – D-
9. C-Moon – Completely charming nonsense song – B+
10. Hi Hi Hi – Banned by the BBC – A
11. Let Em In – In the race for the bottom of the barrel, this was a huge hit so should be his lowest moment – F
12. Goodnight Tonight – Disco McCartney and just about the greatest, the beat is a shuffling beauty – A
13. Junior's Farm – That lick is wonderful, powerful, compact – A
14. Mull Of Kintyre – Sorry my bad, this is the worst song – F
15. Uncle/Admirable Halsey – Worst song on a great album, Ram, not a solo album a Paul and Linda album – B
16. With A Little Luck – When McCartney gets it right, his charm is so strong it overwhelms his tweeness – B+
17. Coming Up – Pure disco – A+
18. No More Lonely Nights – This is pretty enough but it doesn't hang together in the end – C-
19. Let Me Roll It – His Lennon answer song – A+
20. The Lovely Linda – Sweet nothing – B
21. Daytime Nightime Suffering – A rarity, the bridge sucks but the rest of the song works – B+
22. Maybe I'm Amazed – Off his first solo album, a flat out masterpiece – A+
23. Helen's Wheel – An ode to his car, this is why we claim he has heart not soul – B+
24. Bluebird – Yeah, no "Blackbird" – C
25. Heart Of The Country – This is why we do say he has heart – A-
26. Every Night – This is blues as pure melody – A
27. Take It Away – Nothing much happening here, but this is a type of greatness, fluff as deep melodic know nothingness – B-
28. Junk – A perfect evocation of possession nostalgia – A
29. Man We Was Lonely – Bland weak tea, ended the first album badly – D+
30. Venus And Mars/Rock Show – Meant to be played live, of course – B
31. The Back Seat Of My Car – Maybe he does have a soul, this song for his daughter seems to imply it – A+
32. Rockestra Theme – Isn't Dave Edmunds somewhere around? – C
33. Girlfriend – Nice steel peddle guitar and falsetto, written with Michael Jackson in mind – B
34. Waterfalls – Too self-important for what it is – D+
35. Tomorrow – Just proof the man can write melodies like breathing, off the underrepresented here Wild Life – A
36. Too Many People – Another very successful Lennon put down – A-
37. Call Me Back Again – Less successful blues but a great vocal – B
38. Tug Of War – He got rid of the huffing and puffing that used to start the song. A million times better than "Pipes Of Peace" – B+
39. Bip Bop/Hey Diddle – Baby giggling int he back ground and we are all singing along"bip bop bip bop bop…" – B
40. No More Lonely Nights (Play Out) – A remix, don't see much is gained but it isn't the worst song here – B