Album Of The Day #78: BAND ON THE RUN: 25th ANNIVERSARY EDITION - Paul McCartney & Wings

Title: Band On The Run: 25th Anniversary Edition

Artist: Paul McCartney & Wings

Label: MPL/Capitol/EMI

Year: 1999

Recorded and Originally Released: 1973

Songs:

Disc One: Band On The Run/Jet/Bluebird/Mrs. Vandebilt/Let Me Roll It/Mamunia/No Words/Picasso's Last Words (Drink To Me)/Ninteen Hundred And Eighty-Five

Disc Two: Paul McCartney (Dialogue Intro) /Band On The Run (Nicely Toasted Mix)/ Band On The Run (Original)/Paul McCartney (Dialogue link 1)/Band On The Run (Barn Rehearsal - 21 July 1989)/Paul McCartney (Dialogue link 2) /Mamunia (Original)/Denny Laine (Dialogue)/Mamunia (Original)/Linda McCartney (Dialogue)/Paul McCartney (Dialogue link 3)/Bluebird (Live version - Australia 1975)/Bluebird (Original)/Paul McCartney (Dialogue link 4)/Paul McCartney (Dialogue link 5) /No Words (Original)/Geoff Emmerick (Dialogue)/No Words (Original)/Paul McCartney (Dialogue link 6) /Tony Visconti (Dialogue)/Band On The Run (original)/Tony Visconti (Dialogue)/Jet (Original from Picasso's Last Words) / Paul McCartney (Dialogue Link 7) /Jet (Original from Picasso's Last Words) /Al Coury (Dialogue)/Jet (Berlin Soundcheck - 3 September 1993)/Paul McCartney (Dialogue link 8) /Clive Arrowsmith (Dialogue)/Nineteen Hundred And Eighty Five (Original)/ Paul McCartney (Dialogue link 9) /James Coburn (Dialogue)/ Paul McCartney (Dialogue link 10) /John Conteh (Dialogue)/Mrs. Vandebilt (original)/Paul McCartney (Dialogue link 11)/Kenny Lynch (Dialogue)/Let Me Roll It (Cardington Rehearsal - 5 February 1993)/Paul McCartney (Dialogue link 12)/Paul McCartney (Dialogue link 13)/Mrs. Vandebilt (Background)/Michael Parkinson (Dialogue)/Linda McCartney (Band On The Run Photo Shoot) (Dialogue)/Michael Parkinson (Dialogue)/Helen Wheels (Crazed)/ Paul McCartney (Dialogue link 14)/Christopher Lee (Dialogue)/Band On The Run (Strum Bit)/ Paul McCartney (Dialogue link 15)/Clement Freud (Dialogue)/Picasso's Last Words (Original)/ Paul McCartney (Dialogue link 16) /Dustin Hoffman (Dialogue)/Picasso's Last Words (Drink To Me) (Acoustic version)/ Band On The Run (Nicely Toasted Mix) /Paul McCartney (Dialogue Link 17)/Band On The Run (Northern Comic Version)

Written by: Paul & Linda McCartney, except "No Words", by Paul McCartney & Denny Laine

Original LP Produced by: Paul McCartney

Disc Two Produced by: Paul McCartney & Eddy Pumer

Thoughts: Before the inclusion of DVDs in every anniversary edition possible, Paul came up with the brilliant idea of an audio-documentary as a bonus disc for this 25th Anniversary Edition of his most popular album, Band On The Run. The disc is filled with interesting bits from Paul and Denny, plus archival recordings from Linda (to whom the set is rightfully dedicated to) and additional interviews with others involved in the preceedings. There's a lot here and it's certainly worth getting if you still don't have it. Paul also shuffled in soundcheck recordings from the 1975-76 Wings tours and his 1989 World Tour. He also gave us a couple of interesting demos, although we could obviously use more of that type of stuff.

One of the things that has always puzzled me about this release is Paul's decision to use the US line-up rather than the UK line-up. Of course, the only major difference is "Helen Wheels" being part of the album and the UK line-up was used for all previous CD issues. Another thing that puzzled me is why Paul would have not wanted it on the LP anyway. He even mentions "Sailor Sam", connecting it easily to the title track. To me, the LP is better for its' inclusion, considering how awesome the song is anyway. It also would have been nice for Paul to include "Country Dreamer" and "Zoo Gang", but we only get what we can get.

Rating: 10/10