Paul McCartney, Wings - Back to the Egg

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Music reviews of Back to the Egg

Music Review: One Of Wings Greatest
Rating: 4 Stars

"Reception"- This song is a great instrumental and a perfect introduction for the album. Gotta love that funky bass line! It's a fine oper with a perfect little electronic noise bridge to my personal favorite of the album:

"Getting Closer"- A nice rocking start for the album, "Getting Closer" makes hardly any sense lyrically ("Say you don't love him, my salamander/ Why do you need him/ Oh no, don't answer") unless you think a bit. It's still one of Wings' hard rockers despite the fact it would sound a little better if the chorus was repeated like in the ending. Great driving yet sort of care-free rocky beat.

"We're Open Tonight"- A perfect break and bridge from the rocking "Getting Closer" to the rocky and quick paced track "Spin It On". Though I hate to compare Paul's solo work to that of The Beatles I have to make a small comparison: this is like the break "When I'm Sixty-Four" provided from the annoying (to me and many people I know) chiming of "Within You, Without You".

"Spin It On"- As I described it before "Spin It On" is a rocky and quick paced track that, again, makes hardly any sense lyrically, but that still doesn't effect how good the song actually is. Not much can be said about this so you would have to listen to it to decide whether it's any good or not. I give it thumbs up!

"Again and Again and Again"- One of guitarist Denny Laine's better songs (not that all of them are bad). "Again and Again and Again" is one of those songs where you listen to it and the next day you come back and listen to the album again and you think "Great, 'Again and Again and Again' is next! I don't wanna listen to that!" but then you listen to a second of it and you're reminded that its a great song. This song is definetly one of the album and Laine's tops.

"Old Siam, Sir"- When i listened to this song I had no idea what he was saying at all. I thought when he says "Met her parents at the wedding meal" he was saying something about red and green. It wasn't until I saw the lyrics that I had any idea at all of what he was talking about! But again, it doesn't take away from how good the song is. This is probably Wings' last hard rock song that isn't instrumental.

"Arrow Through Me"- This song is quite a lot like "With A Little Luck" with a catchy soft rock beat and lyrics. So if you love "With A Little Luck" like me you'll definetly love this (like me), or if anything, like it pretty good.

"Rockestra Theme"- This is what I'm talking about when I said hard rock instrumentals. "Rockestra Theme" has an all-star lineup of skilled British veteran musicians along with Wings makes this track catchy but I never could listen to it more than four times in a row.

"To You"- Can't say much about this one except that it's less rocky than "Old Siam, Sir" but more than "Getting Closer" because I never enjoyed it as much as most of the other songs on the album. It doesn't have that kind of appeal most of the others did.

"After The Ball/Million Miles"- Ah! At last a slow ballad on Back To The Egg! "After The Ball" doesn't have the kind of appeal (I used that strange word again) that "Million Miles" does, but it helps build up the anxiety and provide a perfect link to it. "Million Miles" is a perfect bluesy number with better vocals than "After The Ball" and some of the better harmonicas on the album. Wait, there are no others I'm pretty sure! Oh well, it's still OK.

"Winter Rose/Love Awake"- Again, the second half is better than the first. "Winter Rose" seems to be instrumentally better than vocally. "Love Awake" immediatly helps put everything right that "Winter Rose" did wrong vocally and brings the vocals and instruments to equal power. "Winter Rose" doesn't change the fact that this is a fine ballad.

"The Broadcast"- This isn't even Wings except for the instruments. It's lovely and all, but I'm sure it was only put in to surprise you when the next track starts with a big bang:

"So Glad To See You Here"- This song has a bit of nostalgia mixed in its rocking beat. Paul sings to a tune similar to the "Rockestra Theme" with the same all-star lineup and about two-and-a-half minutes in the song all of Wings starts reciting a little of "We're Open Tonight" in harmony. This song provides a perfect link to the next.

"Baby's Request"- A fitting end for the original album. Another favorite of mine, I love the jazzy style of this song, well it is true jazz. "Baby's Request" is a short, soothing ballad providing a perfect close for the album. But the 1993 Paul McCartney Collection reissue CD of this album (which I have, but accidentally typed my review under the wrong item) has bonus tracks!

"Daytime Nightime Suffering"- "Daytime Nightime Suffering" is a sort of mix between disco and rock. With a strong standout beat, this is one Wings' standout songs on this album and all of their career.

"Wonderful Christmastime" and "Rudolf The Red Nosed Reggae"- Both of these songs are great for any time of the year in my opinion. "Wonderful Christmastime" was recorded in 1979 without Wings and "Rudolf The Red Nosed Reggae" is an instrumental version of the Christmas classic by Johnny Marks and was the B-side of the "Wonderful Christmastime" single. The violin was played by an unknown violin delivery boy that delivered one of the instruments to Paul. He invited the guy in to play on the track and it isn't known just who the guy was!

Overall the album does have a few flaws but that doesn't overcome the fact that the good songs are some of Wings' best.

Description of Back to the Egg

Classic Rock CDs

• Music > Styles
• Pop
• Rock