Paul McCartney, Wings - Back to the Egg
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CD Details
Artist: Paul McCartney, WingsEdition: Music CD
Format: Extra tracks, Import, Original recording remastered
CD Release Date: 1993-08-16
Music Label: EMI Europe Generic
Soundtracks:
- Reception
- Getting Closer
- We're Open Tonight
- Spin It On
- Again And Again And Again
- Old Siam, Sir
- Arrow Through Me
- Rockestra Theme
- To You
- After The Ball - Million Miles
- Winter Rose - Love Awake
- The Broadcast
- So Glad To See You Here
- Baby's Request
- Daytime Nightime Suffering
- Wonderful Christmastime
- Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reggae
Music reviews of Back to the Egg
Music Review: Wings Final Flourish
Rating: 4 Stars
And so all good things must end.
It's usually useful, when reviewing a record from way back, to recall the time it belonged to, to place it in its original context. Difficult if you weren't yet born in 1979, but I was there. Disco was at its height, though would start a slow decline as the 80's dawned. Punk had exploded a few years before, and its influence still saturated rock, with many of the new bands happily accepting the "new wave" label, though some more properly belonged to the new heavy metal scene. Abba were the top of the European hitmaking pile, the Eagles ruled in the States, and the Rolling Stones rolled on, not yet wrinklies but by now hitless dinosaurs. Michael Jackson was still black and untarnished, seeking to find a place outwith the Jacksons by releasing his first solo album. It was an Indian summer for the likes of the Beach Boys, Roxy Music, Pink Floyd, Supertramp and Led Zeppelin, and the Beatles were a distant, if fond, memory and had not quite yet been elevated to god-like status, with John and Ringo long absent from the scene and George considering mere pop music beneath him. Remember too that John was a bit of a joke in Britain (check out the end of the Rutles) and it would take his death the following year to begin his transformation into the sainted genius he has become today - usually by people unaware of much of his work. In the late 70's only Paul McCartney remained at the cutting edge of rock, still having No 1's, still gigging, still talking to the music press, still appearing on Top Of The Pops.
In 1979 McCartney was almost as famous for being a Wing as for once having been a Beatle, and had decided, after a 3 year break, to go back on tour, so he once again expanded his band to 5 by recruiting Laurence Juber (guitar) and Steve Holly (drums). And a great band it was too - I had the pleasure of seeing them in Edinburgh towards the end of '79, they really rocked the house, in a joyous age when Wings songs vastly outnumbered Beatles songs. However, McCartney would drastically change course after his drug bust in early '80 and the subsequent killing of Lennon, disbanding Wings and largely retreating from personal appearances for over a decade. It is fascinating to think what would have happened if things had turned out differently. McCartney and Lennon dueting "Two Of Us" at Live Aid?
Back To The Egg has a strange title (note the similarity with Band On The Run?) but a great album cover. But like London Town, it just has too many tracks (17 including bonuses!) and it's probably the diversity of the material that prevents the album having its own "feel" in the way his previous albums did. I would lose Reception, Again & Again & Again, After The Ball, Winter Rose/Love Awake and The Broadcast to make a more cohesive rock classic. It's not that some of these aren't good songs - Winter Rose/Love Awake is particularly beautiful - just that without them I believe the album would be tighter and classier - and have 5-star status. But there is no excuse for The Broadcast - does Paul deliberately include pap like this to give critics ammunition?
Getting Closer is a great opener, setting the listener up for a harder-edged set of songs than on the preceding London Town. The punk rock influenced Spin It On reinforces this, and Old Siam, Sir keeps the rock groove going. McCartney albums always include a beautiful ballad, and Arrow Through Me is one of his best - a combination of pop, disco, reggae and pure balladry.
The Rockestra idea, I remember, was exciting at a time when the rock greats tended not to mix too much, and the tune plays like the label says, a rock orchestra, best played LOUD. To You has balls and some excellent guitar work, and is another of McCartney's many overlooked classics. So Glad To See You Here is reminiscent of Cafe On The Left Bank, a rock tune dripping with hooks that just drives along. Things turn mellow with the album closer, Baby's Request, a blissful slice of smooth jazz.
The bonus tracks score 2 out of 3. Daytime Nighttime Suffering belongs on the album, but I can't understand the decision to leave Goodnight Tonight, its original a-side, off. It belongs here, and certainly does not belong on McCartney II, an incomprehensible decision taken by some faceless record exec. Wonderful Christmastime is as much a staple at Christmas in the UK as Lennon's Happy Christmas (War Is Over), so much so that, like Mull Of Kintyre, it can sound a bit too familiar. Rudolf? Paul must have run out of ideas, or studio time, this was Wonderful Christmastime's throwaway b-side, and is probably the least played of all my McCartney songs. For least played read once, which was enough!
Back To The Egg didn't live up the the sales of previous Wings albums and produced no smash-hit singles, which must have proven a disappointment to Paul, but shouldn't put you off buying it - it is literally stuffed full with cracking songs! As the Beatles ended with the close of the 60's, it was perhaps fitting that Wings ended as the 70's faded. Wings would soon fade into legend and Paul McCartney would put his own name on his records once again and return to the top of the charts.
Description of Back to the Egg
Digitally remastered reissue of their top 10 1979 EMI album featuring the hits 'Getting Closer' and 'Arrow Through Me', plus 'Old Siam, Sir' and 'Rockestra Theme', as well as threebonus tracks: 'Daytime Nighttime Suffering', 'Wonderful Christmastime' and 'Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reggae'. 17 trackstotal. 1993 EMI release.The promising career of this final edition of Wings was cut short in 1980 when Paul McCartney, perhaps just a bit too elated to be returning to Japan for his first performances since the Beatles' legendary visit 14 years earlier, was arrested by Japanese customs officials with a substantial stash of marijuana in his luggage. But though it's anchored by the muscular drumming of Steve Holly and the solid guitar work of the classically trained Laurence Juber (who's since carved out a comfortable niche as studio ace and innovative acoustic stylist), it's too often McCartney's songwriting that's the band's weakest link. Ostensibly upbeat numbers such as "Spin it On," "Getting Closer," and the big rock of "Old Siam, Sir" just can't overcome the MOR leanings of much of the rest, including "Arrow Through Me." The star-laden "Rockestra Theme" (featuring Pete Townshend, Ronnie Wood, John Bonham, John Paul Jones, Dave Gilmour, and Ronnie Lane) is rollicking fun, but still not enough to surmount the artistic Battle of the Two Pauls; the Little Richard-inspired rocker and the Manilow-esque balladeer who too often gets the upper hand here. This CD also features the strong B-side "Daytime Nighttime Suffering," a track which may unintentionally comment on the other two "bonus" cuts here, the misfired McCartney holiday singles "Wonderful Christmastime" and "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reggae." --Jerry McCulley
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