Wings Greatest

Paul McCartney, Wings | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Capitol
• ASIN: B000002U8M
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (52 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #15,466 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Paul McCartney might not have been the coolest or most cosmic ex-Beatle, but none of his former bandmates could touch his knack for creating perfect pop singles. Say what you will about their "lack of depth," but the 12 songs on Wings Greatest considerably brightened AM radio playlists during the 1970s, and most of them have actually improved with age. Wings' pure rock power is ably represented by "Band on the Run," "Hi Hi Hi," "Jet," "Live and Let Die" and the underrated non-LP single "Junior's Farm," all of which positively explode from the speakers. Paul's gooey streak shows up on "My Love," "Silly Love Songs," and the bagpipe-infused "Mull of Kintyre," but only "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" still contains a high cringe quotient. Some key tracks are missing--most notably "Maybe I'm Amazed" and "Venus and Mars/Rock Show"--but Wings Greatest is still a thrilling document of Macca at the peak of his pop abilities. --Dan Epstein

Product Description

International remastered edition of the first Wings hits collection was originally released in 1978 (the U.S. edition is long out-of-print) following the success of the album London Town. Wings Greatest rounds up McCartney and band's greatest hits from 1971 to 1978 which means it skips 'Maybe I'm Amazed' but touches on Ram. The main strength of this collection is that it includes hits that never appeared on any album and these are among McCartney's very best solo singles: the eccentric domesticity of 'Another Day', 'Junior's Farm', the Bond theme for 'Live and Let Die', the pile driving 'Hi Hi Hi' and the controversial b-side 'Mull of Kintyre', a Scottish-styled folk ballad that was McCartney's biggest hit in England. EMI. 1993. --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

56 of 62 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Some People Never Know..., August 24, 2004

By 

Tom Emanuel (Deadwood, SD USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wings Greatest (Audio CD)

I have read the reviews of this album here and find them nauseating, I mean LITERALLY nauseating - don't read these on a full stomach, to paraphrase one of them. I am convinced that a person who is unable to see the inherent good qualities of these songs is so blinded by the rock press' jaded concepts of "art" and "music" that they shouldn't have ears. Rather, they should allow the critics to tell them what to think of this music without having to listen to it - it would certainly save their closed minds wear and tear. As for the rest of us, this collection (though unavailable from Amazon.com itself) represents the best of Paul McCartney's 70s career - not a bad thing.

Silly Love Songs seems to receive a lot of flack, a lot of totally undeserved flack. It is as though its critics cannot sense the irony of Paul writing an effortlessly melodic, polished, multi-layered song that in essence silences their complaints in spite of their determination. Often persistence is a good thing; but in cases like this it is defiance in the face of overwhelming evidence. The song's message, like the Beatles' best, is not only uplifting but completely true, set to an instantly memorable tune. An example:

Love doesn't come in a minute
Sometimes it doesn't come at all
I only know that when I'm in it
It isn't silly
Love isn't silly
Love isn't silly at all!

Quite right, Paul. Only one verse there, along with all the rest expressed in one glorious pop opus. Just listen to the splendid three-part polyphonies, string flourishes, and tremendous bass-line of this great song - mindless indeed. One of McCartney's better goes, I'd say, in the Beatles or out.

That sums up Wings work in a nutshell. With pieces like the afore-mentioned Silly Love Songs, Band on the Run, Jet, and others McCartney approaches the grandeur of the Beatles at their very best. Rockers like Hi, Hi, Hi and Junior's Farm demonstrate that he hadn't lost his ability to belt out a pumping rock song now and again, and while My Love, With a Little Luck, and their ilk are admittedly syrupy, there's nothing wrong with a little romantic emotion in music now and again. Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey is a great, tuneful mini-suite of a song, Mull of Kintyre a folksy delight for fans of Celtic music that became one of the biggest singles of all time in the U.K., Another Day a splendid McCartney character-sketch piece ala She's Leaving Home, Live and Let Die a great pop-rocker combined with a quasi-sinister James Bond instrumental. Even Let 'Em In defies in part its criticisms as it builds around a single chord (E major) subtly manipulated throughout as only a master like Paul can.

Admittedly, the lyrics were sometimes lightweight, but words are not the only thing that make a song - there exist too the melody (always Macca's strongest point), the arrangement (Paul is a notoriously meticulous songsmith), and the overall mood or "feel" which can sometimes exist wholly independently of the lyric or tune. And Paul has, for the most part, always been able to craft a catchy, melodic, polished pop song that all-too-often contains messages and insights that completely escape the mundane minds of critics professional and amateur alike. I don't necessarily recommend this collection - the double-disc set Wingspan is both more comprehensive and affordable - but just to set the record straight, Paul McCartney was and remains an immensely talented musician, for the most part undeserving of the criticisms heaped upon him. In this review I often compare Paul's solo work to his work with the Beatles. Do not get me wrong - I feel that the Beatles were the most brilliant musicians in the history of popular music and that brilliance is not easily replicated by one element of a four-part whole. However, Paul's post-Beatles stuff is still very worthy of recognition and not just mindless pop-fluff. If you disagree, you are entitled to your opinion - your loss!

30 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not complete, get Wingspan!, May 7, 2001

By 

B E H (In a world with no MTV) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wings Greatest (Audio CD)

This is the original greatest hits album of Wings released in 1978. These are all great songs and the best Wings collection up until the recent double disc set, Wingspan: Hits & History. The biggest complaint I have about Wings Greatest is that it is far too incomplete. For example, some songs that are missing are "Listen to what the man said", "Coming Up", "No more lonely nights", "Maybe I'm amazed", "Let me roll it", I could go on but you get the point. I highly recommend Wingspan for a few reasons. First, its a 41 track set for about the same price as Greatest. Secondly, it has all 12 tracks from Greatest and 29 more. Unless you have every Wings album then Wingspan is for you!

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Flight Of Wings, July 12, 2000

By 

Brent Evans (Rockhampton, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wings Greatest (Audio CD)

There are many people who dismiss the solo work of Paul McCartney as commercial garbage;as if he was never guilty of that charge when he was a Beatle. On every McCartney/Wings album there is at least two worthy songs that grab you by the throat and never let go.WINGS GREATEST is collection of those songs.Apart from BAND ON THE RUN,Paul has never been able to deliver a klinker free album;but when you write beauties such as MULL OF KINTYRE or MY LOVE,does it really matter?I love the fact that McCartney can borrow a musical style and make it his own,be it a James Bond Theme(LIVE AND LET DIE),Beach Boy harmonies(UNCLE ALBERT/ADMIRAL HALSEY),or straight ahead guitar rock(JET,HI HI HI,JUNIOR'S FARM);he's been a master style copier since his Beatle days.Unfortunately,classic tracks like LET 'EM IN,MAYBE I'M AMAZED,and HELEN WHEELS are not included on WINGS GREATEST;but that's not enough to dampen this great compilation.If you want to get started on Paul McCartney and Wings, this is the perfect introduction.Just think how many radio stations are playing one of these tracks right now.