At The Speed Of Sound

Paul McCartney, Wings - At The Speed Of Sound

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CD Details

Artist: Paul McCartney, Wings
Edition: Music CD
Format: Import
CD Release Date: 1993-06-08
Music Label: EMI Europe Generic
Soundtracks:

Let 'Em In
The Note You Never Wrote
She's My Baby
Beware My Love
Wino Junkie
Silly Love Songs
Cook Of The House
Time To Hide
Must Do Something About It
San Ferry Anne
Warm And Beautiful
Walking In The Park With Eloise
Bridge On The River Sweet
Sally G

Music reviews of At The Speed Of Sound

Music Review: Don't Believe the Critics!
Rating: 4 Stars

By critics amateur and professional alike, Wings at the Speed of Sound has been greatly underrated and underappreciated. But to those of us who LISTEN to the sounds that we call music, rather than succumbing to the rock press's strange requirements for "coolness," this album is both interesting and passionate.
For example, two of the songs most often criticized are the albums two hit singles, "Let `Em In" and "Silly Love Songs." They have both been called lightweight and lacking substance. With "Let `Em In," the reason for this is probably that the song is basically built around one chord that is subtly altered as the song progresses. Critics have said that this keeps it from being a true song, but in actuality this is part of its brilliance. Remember that the Beatles' "Tomorrow Never Knows" is built around one chord, too. That song sounds like it was dropped here from another world, but so does "Let `Em In." The difference is that one seems to come down to you from above, while the other builds itself up organically from below using baroque techniques of augmentation. (Not that I am trying to compare the two songs, or claim that this one rivals the experimentation of the other.) This song ends up as one of McCartney's most unique and oddly wonderful (or wonderfully odd?) pieces. Similarly, "Silly Love Songs" has been wrongly dismissed. Critics manage to applaud its excellent bass line, but they entirely look past the simply beautiful melodies and excellent arrangement. Have they listened to the glorious three-voice polyphony of the second half of the song? Brilliant.
Another example of misplaced criticism: "Cook of the House." It is often said that this song is oddly song by Linda, or that she is off-key. I ask you, do you really think McCartney doesn't know whether or not she is off-key? The point is that the McCartneys meant for the song to sound this way. After all, it is supposed to be a wife at home singing in her kitchen.
The album has merits well beyond these two great songs. First of all, it plays well from beginning to end. It stands up well to repeated listens. It also contains many other well-written and well-performed songs. Denny Laine's magnificent high voice is exhibited on the McCartneys' "The Note You Never Wrote" and his own "Time to Hide." "Must Do Something About It" and "Beware My Love" have been praised elsewhere, and "Wino Junko" is a solid contribution from Jimmy McCulloch. Finally, the brilliant "Warm and Beautiful" is one of McCartney's most beautiful songs. It has been criticized as sappy by those aforementioned critics, but it is simply one of McCartney's gems, on a par with similar parts of "Golden Slumbers," "Let It Be," and "Hey Jude." This is not just a forgotten beauty, but one that was never noticed in the first place. (We are also lucky to have the excellent CD bonus tracks.)
Beyond the music itself, this album is lambasted for its lyrics and subject matter. Stephen Thomas Erlewine has said elsewhere that Paul McCartney has been wrongly criticized for his strengths: his melodicism and his domesticity. I echo that sentiment here. Those are his strengths, and he either consciously or unconsciously constructs this album in defiance of his critics. He knows his place and he knows it is the critic, not he, who has something to prove. Why else would he allow Linda to sing off-key, or write a song actually entitled "Silly Love Songs"?
While his fellow magicians John Lennon and George Harrison were trying to make people cosmically conscious with grand, lofty visions like Lennon's "Imagine" or "Instant Karma" and Harrison's "My Sweet Lord," McCartney and Ringo Starr attempted to show us the other side of awareness. McCartney knows that enlightenment is not just the Buddha sitting on a mountain-top feeling compassion for everyone; it is also a mother cooking dinner, a father opening the door to friends and family, and a lover writing a song to his beloved. So, you see, it appears that even after they parted, the Beatles were still working together to bring us the message in all its forms. Don't criticize any one part. We need them all to have the complete package. Don't let the critics fool you: Wings at the Speed of Sound is a worthy bearer of that message.

More At The Speed Of Sound free music reviews:
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Description of At The Speed Of Sound

Digitally remastered reissue of their hit 1976 album, which spent seven consecutive weeks at #1! Features the #1 smash 'Silly Love Songs' and the #3 'Let 'Em In', plus three bonustracks: 'Walking In The Park With Eloise', 'Bridge On The River Suite' and 'Sally G'. 14 tracks total. 1993 EMI release. The original album was released on EMI/ Parlophone.

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