Customer Reviews

Band On The Run (Archive Collection)

5 star:		(48)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Music: 5 stars... Video extras: 4 stars... Historic value: 5 stars... Economic value: 5 stars

I've been a fan of Paul McCartney's post-Beatles output since the early days. I was 13 when this album was released, and it had a HUGE influence on me, and one of the top 5 or 10 albums for me in my lifetime.

This reissue of "Band On the Run" is lavish. CD1 (41 min.) brings the original brilliant 9 tracks of the album and nothing more needs to be said about that. CD2 (9 tracks; 34 min.) kicks off with the "Helen Wheels/Country Dreamer" single, and then brings 7 live tracks from the "One Hand Clapping" movie (more on that later), including a jaw-drapping version of "Nineteen Hundred Eigthy Five", with Paul solo at the piano for the first half of the song, just fantastic. The DVD (85 min.) is a jem, even though it's a bit of a mixed bag. The videos for "Band On the Run" and "Mamunia" are in the Yellow Submarine style, if you follow me. Hadn't seen the video for "Helen Wheels" in forever", a nice addition. But the 15 min. footage of the cover shoot for the album is great. Even better is the 3 min. "Wings in Lagos" bit, bringing home movies from their stay there, and featuring an Eastern-style version of "Band on the Run" I had never heard, completely different but I loved it. Best of all is of course the 50 min. "One Hand Clapping" movie, which I had never seen before. It was shot live in the EMI studios in Fall of 1974 and cover a lot of ground, including (besides the album tracks) such bits as "Soily", "Little Woman Love", "C Moon", "I'll Give You a Ring", etc. The video quality is not always great, but what can you expect from so many years ago? The packaging is well done, with tons of pictures, great liner notes (from Paul Gambaccini, who interviewed Macca back in the day for Rolling Stone), just nice. The edition I bought (at a big box retailer) came with an extra DVD (24 min.), bringing Paul's comments on the reasons for this reissue (which is curiously missing from the 'regular' reissue), and 3 live videos from last year's New York concert DVD, including a great "Mrs. Vanderbilt".

In all, I can't say enough great things about this reissue. I had the good fortune of seeing Sir Paul in concert again in August on the "Up and Coming Tour", and what a show it was. Sir Paul, now 68 if you can believe it, looks and sounds pretty much like 30 years ago, just incredible. In the first half of the show, Sir Paul played mostly Wings/solo stuff, including 5 of the 9 original Band on the Run tracks. I was floored when he played "Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five", I never imagined I'd ever see that song played live. Wow, what a fantastic evening of music that was.

Two audio discs 41,34 minutes each approximately, and a DVD (1hr. 24 min. approximately) disc. The remastered sound, done at Abbey Road Studios, is clean and crisp without being harsh. The DVD contains videos, promotional clips, scenes from the album cover shoot, the TV special, and the McCartney's in Nigeria. The discs are slipped into attached paper sleeves in a tri-fold holder. The attached booklet contains a number of photos, in color and b&w, of the band and others during the recording in Nigeria. Of interest is a couple of photos of drummer Ginger Baker, who at the time lived and recorded in Africa. Also included are the lyrics, individual track times and disc totals. There's a four page essay/interview by Paul Gambaccini, on the album and McCartney. Paul McCartney supervised the reissue, including the remastering, which was done using the same people who recently remastered THE BEATLES back catalog.

This album, a Grammy winner, if not McCartney's best post-BEATLES work, is certainly one of his best. Thankfully it has now joined the ranks of other great remastered albums. Plus the fact that there's a second disc of music ( with several tracks from the TV special "One Hand Clapping") makes this edition the one to own. You can also purchase another version with a hardcover book, another disc (an audio documentary from the 25th Anniversary Edition), downloads of the album, a new Paul McCartney interview etc., but it's substantially more money aimed at fans/collectors who want everything. There's a vinyl edition for record fans, and finally the original, stand alone album is also available. But whichever version you purchase, this is some of McCartney's finest post-BEATLES work ever.

"Band on the Run" spawned several songs ("Jet", "Helen Wheels", "Let Me Roll It",and the title track), that are still favorites of fans today. At this point most everyone is familiar with at least a couple (if not more) of the fine songs found on this album, so a track-by-track critique isn't needed. On this album McCartney's penchant for song craft is very evident. The melodies, the arrangements, the production work-all come together to produce some very fine, pleasing, and at times, rocking pop music. Too, this album was McCartney alerting the critics that he still possessed his musical talents, after the drubbing he received for some of his previous solo/WINGS work.

The album, recorded in Lagos, Nigeria, in 1973, was McCartney's idea (someplace different), but before the group departed, both guitarist Henry McCullough and drummer Denny Seiwell were out of the band. So when it came time to record, McCartney played drums, and both he and Denny Lane played the guitar parts, along with Linda McCartney on keyboards. Working through adversity-the "studio" was an ill equipped shed, and the WINGS demo tapes were stolen in a mugging, the band managed to record the basic album in a couple of months. Back in England McCartney added strings and horns to fill out the songs, and the album was finished. When it was released it shot to the top of the charts.

The tracks on the second disc are mostly from a TV special, "One Hand Clapping", which showed the group performing and backstage. The songs from the special were recorded at Abbey Road Studios in 1974, and include a number of fan favorites from the album. The sound and performance of the studio and "live" tracks aren't that different, but it's nice to have more from this era of the band nonetheless. "Bluebird" is a slower tempo pop song which shows McCartney's voice very well, along with his arranging skills. "Jet" has a bit more energy and an edge about it than the studio version simply because it's a live version, but that's enough to raise the excitement level appreciatively. This song alone proves that McCartney could still rock within the constraints of pop music. "Let Me Roll It" (which has some fine guitar throughout), taken at the same tempo as the studio version, nonetheless has it's own feel brought on by the live recordings for the special. "Band On The Run" is again very close to the original, but the vocal inflections by McCartney make this something special. You can hear the exuberance in his voice, and the excitement of the band as they energize the arrangement beyond the studio version. Even the synthesizer that weaves in and out of the song has a certain feel not found on the original. "Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five", with it's piano intro, has a fine rough edged vocal from McCartney. "Country Dreamer" sounds as if it could have come from the
"White Album", with it's use of acoustic guitar as sole backing for a winsome sounding McCartney vocal. It's shortness, with no extraneous instruments to clutter up the beautiful vocal stands out from the other songs. "Zoo Gang" is a short (2 minutes) instrumental that sounds like it could have been a backing track without the vocal. Nonetheless it's a fine way to end this collection of bonus tracks.

Apparently this is the first reissue of McCartney's post-BEATLES work, with more in the pipeline. By starting with "Band On The Run", the bar has been set very high. Hopefully other reissues will meet the high standards found in this edition. If you're a Paul McCartney fan-pick this reissue up and hear this good sounding edition for yourself. If you're not-pick this album up and hear what you've been missing.

A classic album given a well deserved re-issue. I remember playing this non stop when it came out, I had enjoyed the wings stuff and while McCartney's first few albums after the Beatles all contained some fantastic tracks - this was the one where it all came together with a strong set of tracks that have survived the test of time. It's nice quality although I agree with a previous reviewer that it's hard to really appreciate the re-mastering if you listen with an 'average' ear like myself. While I am agreeing with the same previous reviewer he is also right about the strange lack of Denny Laine - I'd love to know how he feels about this re-issue and the memories.
An interesting booklet and Gambaccini piece, I think I can actually remember the 1973 interview it came from which is a little worrying, but those were the days where anticipation was half the pleasure..
A good second cd with the extras, I rather enjoyed the one hand clapping stuff some nice versions in there and worthy of repeated listening.
While the dvd is mildly interesting I kind of doubt it is one I will watch very often much of it is not great quality and I am not sure it adds much to the whole package - I would rather have had a copy of the UK Channel 4 documentary shown in the UK the day before this was issued.
As I lurched through my teens in the 70's I think I was kept sane by Pink Floyd, David Bowie, Mike Oldfield and McCartney. Here Band on the Run gets the treatment it deserves and has brought back some very happy memories, Goodness knows how my Dad put up with me playing this non stop!!!
If this is not in your collection, now is the time to add it. Recommended, this is one of the world's greatest at the top of his game.

(The album is five stars. If you need me to tell you what a great album Band on the Run is, then there isn't much I can do for you. What follows is a review of the bonus DVD):


Bloody hell! How many bloody times do I have to buy the same bloody album to get all the bloody extras they add to it?

That's a fair question, but since this is a review of the bonus DVD, let's look at it a different way. Imagine the near-mythical Wings film One Hand Clapping was finally released after 35 years in the vaults and was available from Amazon or your local for under $30. Most McCartney enthusiasts would definitely be interested in that. Now imagine it came with the free copy of Band on the Run and a bonus CD of selections of the film. Bargain, right? So let's approach it from that angle before discussing if it's any good.

The film is mostly fly-on-the-wall footage of Wings rehearsing at Abbey Road studios. It introduces the second 5-piece line-up of Wings - adding Jimmy McCulloch, who looks barely out of puberty here, and Geoff Britton, who lasted less than a year in the band. This may have had something to do with the film being shelved. The context of what's happening is hard to glean. There are clearly rehearsals but there are also recordings going on as we hear the band discussing which take is best. There also seem to be overdubs happening for the Band on the Run album and an orchestral session for Live and Let Die which is odd because that song was already out when this film was made. They might have spliced footage from the original session in with the rehearsals we see here. Did they really make the orchestra dress up in their dinner jackets and bow ties for a recording session, or was that just because it was being filmed?

We hear interviews with every band member but these are not to camera. Instead, they are mostly played over the documentary footage and often over the music. Grrr!

A bit over half-way through, the film switches gears and we see Paul solo at the piano talking about his fondness for cabaret. He makes mention of the song Suicide (written for Sinatra but rejected) but doesn't play it. He does play I'll Give You a Ring which was eventually released on the B-side of Take It Away, and two songs unreleased elsewhere - Let's Love and All of You. Although Paul feigns some embarrassment and self deprecation during this section, you can tell he's a total ham and he's loving it.

It's this enthusiasm that shines through, especially when he is directing other musicians. He may be a show-off but we see how Paul will do anything to get a great performance from his players. This is especially noticable when he does a live vocal during the orchestral overdubs for Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five just to get the maximum energy in the performance. And the audio mix pushes the bass. Win!

One the downside, the film has not been restored in any way so visually, it's exactly what you'd expect from a made-for-television film from 1975. Also, the entire disc is formatted for 16:9 which means that if you still have a 4:3 television, as many still do, you'll get black bars on every side of the screen. It might just be my player, but I had that happen even when I set it to pan & scan.

Having said all that, it's possible that One Hand Clapping is intended merely as the bonus feature of the DVD, but I think to any long-term McCartney fan, it's going to be the main attraction. Other features of the disc include the videos for Band on the Run, Mamunia and Helen Wheel plus a promotional film for the album. Since all of these have already been released on The McCartney Years, it's reasonable to assume that anyone considering this release already has them. There's also fifteen minutes of behind-the-scenes footage from the cover shot (half as much would have been plenty) and Wings in Lagos which is some short home movies soundtracked by a longer version of Band on the Run (A Different Perspective) which was originally done for a BBC promo.

While it may be a drag that Paul is still presenting his work according to what the conventional wisdom says is good, rather than rehabilitating some underrated greats, there's still more than enough on this disc to make it a worthwhile purchase for anyone with more than a passing interest in Paul McCartney and/or Wings. Here's hoping they put the James Paul McCartney television special on one of the other upcoming reissues.


Audio: LPCM Stereo
Worth paying extra for? Yes, and worth buying the album again if you've always wanted One Hand Clapping.

Concord Music has outdone itself with the first release in the "Paul McCartney Archive Collection" series, 1973's BAND ON THE RUN (originally Paul's fifth and final Apple LP). Packaging is excellent, there are wonderful rare photos throughout the book, but the most important item is the music itself.

Disc 1 - Remastered Album: The 1993 Paul McCartney Collection release (with Helen Wheels and its B-side, Country Dreamer, added as bonus tracks), sounds somewhat trebley; the 1999 25th Anniversary Edition (with the US track listing (Helen Wheels on track 8)) has more of a bass sound. The new version is more balanced, though it is closer to the 1993 release. At first, I was disappointed that the disc omitted Helen Wheels, per the UK release, but after listening to it, I can understand why Paul wanted it left off the album (it made the US album only because Capitol Records' Al Coury twisted Paul's arm).

Disc 2: Contains Helen Wheels, Country Dreamer, and the quirky instrumental TV theme Zoo Gang (the UK B-side to Band on the Run, formerly available as a bonus track on VENUS AND MARS). Also included are six tracks from the One Hand Clapping TV show, including two outtakes - Let Me Roll It and Country Dreamer.

Disc 3: This is the audio documentary that appeared with the 25th Anniversary Edition of BAND ON THE RUN, released in 1999. There is only a marginal difference in sound quality, so if you already own that edition and don't care about the fancy deluxe book, purchase the less expensive 2-CD/1-DVD edition. As mentioned by another reviewer, a certain big-box retailer (initials: BB) has the 2-CD/1-DVD edition with a bonus DVD containing an 8-minute mini-documentary of Paul discussing the reissue, and three live versions of BAND ON THE RUN songs from GOOD EVENING NEW YORK CITY. This extra disc is not available on the big deluxe edition.

Disc 4 (DVD): The meat of the package. The four music videos (Band on the Run, Mamunia, Album Promo, and Helen Wheels) are the same ones found on 2007's THE MCCARTNEY YEARS DVD set, but this disc has some nice additions, including a moving "Wings in Lagos" video, set to a melancholy version of the title song; an 18-minute documentary about the cover photo shoot; and the entire One Hand Clapping TV show from 1974 (although some fans claim parts were edited out). The only track from OHC released before now was the alternate take of Live and Let Die that was donated to THE IN-LAWS soundtrack in 2003. That track is on the video, but not the audio disc; perhaps that track will end up on RED ROSE SPEEDWAY instead. This version of Wings features Jimmy McCullough on guitar and short-time drummer Geoff Britton (soon to be replaced by Joe English). In addition to familiar material from the period, there are two unissued songs: Let's Love (written for, and recorded by, the great Peggy Lee) and All of You, plus an early version of I'll Give You a Ring (re-recorded and released in 1982 as the B-side to Take It Away, but unavailable on CD because none of the available versions of TUG OF WAR have any bonus tracks).

Nits to pick? A few. There is a typo in the Mamunia lyrics ("The next time you see U.C.L.A. rainclouds"), I would have liked to have the words to Helen Wheels and Country Dreamer in the Lyrics section, more album and single sleeve variations, and more album and single labels (particularly the Capitol and Columbia reissues). But those minor things are not enough to detract from the excellent quality of this release. I'm looking forward to the next one, and I hope it's WINGS OVER AMERICA, which has not been remastered since the '80s, and that the ROCKSHOW film (currently available only in European PAL DVD format), will finally be issued in its entirety (a few excerpts appear on THE MCCARTNEY YEARS).

Megakudos to Macca and Concord/Hear Music for a job well done.

Reissues are tough because you have to keep in mind the average fan as well as the uberfan who wants everything. For the reissue of Paul McCartney's seminal album "Band on the Run" MPL has taken the best approach for EVERY fan out there. The problem is that it might get confusing for someone who isn't sure which one to get. For the average fan the 2 CD and 1 DVD set may be enough but for the ultimate fan the 3CD and 1 DVD combo set is the way to go. Here's why:

1) You get the original album remastered by the Abbey Road team that did the Beatles remasters, Lennon remasters and Apple remasters. If you like the sound on all of those releases, you'll like the sound here as well. Be aware however that you get the original International release of the album with only 9 songs. In the U.S. "Band on the Run" was issued with the single "Helen Wheels" added to it (that has now been reassigned to the bonus disc).

The remaster sounds really good over all be aware however that some limiting and compression was applied. My go-to disc for this album would STILL be the Steve Hoffman gold version (even though it's missing the first few seconds of "Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five" but it does feature the best transfer AND "Helen Wheels")but this is an excellent second choice with a terrific job by the Abbey Road Team.

2) You get the great documentary "One Hand Clapping" which documents Wings in the studio after the recording of the album when McCartney was braking in new members the late Jimmy McCulloch and Geoff Brittan (who would leave before the album "Venus and Mars" was completed). It's an excellent documentary but it hasn't been digitally restored for this edition (meaning that it looks like a vintage documentary from the 70's--and you could argue that adds to its charm). The band performs a number of tunes during the rehearsals and also there are plenty of interviews. Fans have been waiting for this on home video for ages.

There are also vintage video clips produced for the song included as a DVD bonus. These are:

1)"Band on the Run" music video
2) "Mamunia" music video
3) Album promo
4) "Helen Wheels" music video
5) Footage of Wings in Lagos during the recording sessions for the album
6) Footage from Osterley Park
and the documentary.

3) You get an extra disc with songs performed in the doucmentary (and "Helen Wheels") as well as b-sides recorded/released at the time of "Band on the Run". The following tracks are on the bonus disc:
1. Helen Wheels
2. Country Dreamer (single b-side)
3. Bluebird (from "One Hand Clapping")
4. Jet (from "One Hand Clapping")
5. Let Me Roll It (from "One Hand Clapping")
6. Band on the Run (from "One Hand Clapping")
7. Nineteen Hundred and Eight Five (from "One Hand Clapping")
8. Country Dreamer (from "One Hand Clapping")
9. Zoo Gang (single b-side)

4) You get a 24bit 96kHz high resolution audio version download card for ALL 18 songs (the album plus bonus disc) and the "bonus audio disc". You can convert this and burn this to a regular CD if you want, a DVD-A so that you can enjoy the best version of the album out there--an uncompressed lossless version--or keep it on your computer and listen to it via Squeezebox.

5) The "bonus audio disc" from the 25th Anniversary Remaster is available again. It's essentially an audio documentary on the making of the album with bits and pieces of the songs from the album performed live throughout the years. It's not essential but it is nice that they included this for the completist so you can give up your "25th Anniversary" edition if you want to. It features interviews with Paul, Linda, Denny Laine, engineer Geoff Emerick, orchestral arranger Tony Visconti, Al Coury, photography Clive Arrowsmith, the late James Coburn (who appears on the album cover), Kenny Lynch, Michael Parkinson, Christopher Lee, Clement Freud and Dustin Hoffman (who threw down a challenge for Paul to write a song around the last words Piccaso said resulting in the song "Piccaso's Last Words" which Denny Laine sings with assistance from Paul on the album).

6) All of this is stored in a 120 page hardcover limited edition (with a number embossed on the back cover)book printed on high quality glossy paper. This includes rare photos, interviews, reviews of the album, lyrics and complete credits for all the discs. The discs are stored in the hardcover book and slide into the hardcover (not my preference but if you are careful you won't scartch them or you can store them somewhere else).

The Big Picture: This is an excellent reissue of one of Paul's seminal albums and features a disc of previously unreleased material, single b-sides, the 25th Anniversary Audio Documentary, a DVD with the "One Hand Clapping" documentary as well as music videos, footage from Lagos and a card for a free high defintion digital download of all three audio discs housed in a 120 page hardcover book. For fans of the album album this is the ultimate edition of the album (although some will quibble with the remaster and prefer previous mastered versions). Highly recommended.

Length:: 7:35 Mins

This is my first ever video review. I hope it provides some useful information to prospective buyers. I feel that sometimes it is good to show the product in real life to give an idea of what it looks like. I enjoy having this edition of Band On The Run and look forward to many more releases from the Paul McCartney Archive Collection. Enjoy!

Paul McCartney & Wings "Band On The Run" was always one of my favorite albums,and this new 2 CD/1 DVD edition is quite special for several things:the audio/video presentation of the very rare "One Hand Clapping" documentery;six songs appear on the second disc("Let Me Roll It" is the one that isn't featured in the film),while the whole 50+ minute thing is on the DVD.The DVD also has music videos of "Band On The Run","Mamunia" and "Helen Wheels",and an entertaining 15-minute "Osterley Park" which where the album cover was shot and the star-studded cast charming it up in style.As for the new remastering(done by the same Abbey Road team that gave us those wonderful Beatles remasters in 2009),it's excellent,though as previous reviewers have said,it's not night and day if you have either the 1993 Parlophone/EMI remaster or the 1998 "25th Anniversery" remaster.Both of those were improvements over the crappy 1987 Capital CD.But the 2010 remaster sound quality is superb nevertheless,sounding clean,spacious,,crisp and punchy without overcompression or excessive noise-reduction.The first CD retains the original UK 9-song lineup,while "Helen Wheels" along with the B-sides "Country Dreamer" and "Zoo Gang" are included as bonus tracks on the second disc.Given its cheap price on Amazon($14-$15),it's a terrific bargain.

After a couple of just "okay" albums ("Wild Life" and "Red Rose Speedway"), Paul McCartney and Wings released "Band on the Run" in December of 1973. I remember "Bluebird" and "Mamunia" being good recordings for checking out hi-fi at the time. Bluebird had several percussion instruments and a very breathy sax solo, and Mamunia had very distinct bass guitar and great overtones in the congas. It wasn't until recently that I learned about how poor the recording conditions were in Lagos, Nigeria, where most of the album was recorded over a seven week period. The EMI studio had an 8 track recorder with only 4 tracks with working "sync" amps (so you can hear pre-recorded tracks from the record head for over-dubbing), a few dozen inexpensive microphones and only a couple of Neumanns, no drum or vocal booth, poor isolation, heat and humidity, etc. Geoff Emerick's recording engineering talents really triumphed over the many challenges he had to deal with on this project. The record won two Grammy Awards, one for Best Contemporary Pop/Vocal and the other for Best Engineered Album.

The first decent sounding CD of Band on the Run came out as an import in 1993 in The Paul McCartney Collection of CDs simply saying "Digitaly Remastered". If I remember right Geoff Emerick did the remastering for those, though the CD does not credit anyone. The CD also includes "Country Dreamer" and "Helen Wheels" as bonus tracks.

The next remaster for Band on the Run was the 25th Anniversary Edition in 1999. Re-mastering done by Greg Calbi and Geoff Emerick. The sound is better still and it came in a box with a miniture of the LP's full size poster and second CD containing containing various interviews and previously unreleased versions of some of the album's songs. It is about 2.5 dB louder than the 1993 CD.

The newest remaster, Archive Collection, was released November 2010 and in many forms; LP, CD, double CD, with DVD, with book, download, etc., etc. Remastered at Abby Road by Sam Okell, Steve Rooke and Allan Rouse, it also is about 2.5 dB louder than the 1993 remaster and sounds even better. There is more bloom in the instruments. They sound fuller, more individual, articulate and present. I know of at least one noise that has been removed; 10 seconds into track one there used to be a clicking noise for a couple of seconds on the right channel that is now gone. Other similar noises seem to have been left intact. It seems that there is some sweetening around 3-5kHz. and some low frequency limiting added with great finesse. For example; the 12 string in "Mamunia" rings more, the bass guitar and kick drum are quicker to stop, and there is more punch now to the beater striking the bass drum head.

I wondered again why "Jet" doesn't sound as good. I turned to the book "Here, There and Everywhere" by the recording engineer Geoff Emerick to see if there was any mention (I haven't read that far yet) and sure enough, there was. It turns out that it was a new song recorded at AIR Studios in London, and while doing overdubs, the 16 track recorder began to shred oxide off of the tape, reducing the high frequency content, so quite a bit of equalization was added to save the performance of the backing tracks.

The second CD contains 9 tracks at about 34 min. and starts off with "Helen Wheels" and "Country Dreamer". The first recorded in Lagos, the second recorded and mixed by Alan Parsons at Abby Road. There are 7 live tracks from the "One Hand Clapping" movie session. The last track is "Zoo Gang" recorded by Alan Parsons and mixed by Geoff Emerick.

The DVD of 85 min.contains the videos for "Band On the Run", "Mamunia" and "Helen Wheels", 3 min of home movies of "Wings in Lagos", the 15 min. film footage of the album's cover shoot, and the 50 min. "One Hand Clapping" movie shot live in the EMI studios in Fall of 1974 that includes 16 additional tunes from that session, only four of which are from "Band on the Run".

In addition, the version I bought (at a big box store) came with an extra DVD (24 min.), with Paul's reasons for this reissue and video of 3 live Band on the Run tunes from last year's New York CTI Field DVD.

For about $15, this is a great value; good music, good sound and lots of live versions, videos, etc.

Those who have the 25th Anniversary Edition from 1999 might not feel compelled to get this. The remastering isn't significantly better than that reissue. "Band On the Run" is not necessarily McCartney's best solo album, as many believe. I think "Ram" is even better, and his much more recent "Chaos and Creation in the Backyard" might just be his best album ever. But "Band" is definitely among his top five, and consistent throughout its ten tracks.

Er, wait a minute, make that nine tracks. As was the case with the original UK vinyl release in 1973, 'Helen Wheels' is not part of the album. That hurts the record, as "Wheels" was such a fun rockin' little tune that fit perfectly as a late-album boost of energy. The song was added to the US release of the album and has been part of the subsequent US reissues. I think it was a mistake to restore the original line-up, and it makes the single-disc reissue of "Band" far less desirable.

This release has a 35 minute second CD, with "Helen wheels," two b-sides, and five live-in-the-studio tracks from "One Hand Clapping" recorded in 1974 (note: not all five of these are actually seen in the "One Hand Clapping" special). The third disc is a DVD featuring almost an hour and a half of material. "One Hand Clapping" is in sad technical shape. It sounds okay, and it is watchable. It just looks like it was transferred off of a second or third generation VHS tape. The three music videos won't be anything new if you already own "The McCartney Years" DVD collection.

This edition is definitely a better value than the four disc boxset. I haven't seen the hardcover book that it comes with, but the fourth disc is the exact same thing as the second disc from the aforementioned 25th Anniversary Edition.