Customer Reviews

Wings at the Speed of Sound

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

With all the hoopla surrounding the Paul McCartney & Wings media blitz and the release of the two-disc Wingspan anthology, maybe it's time to take another look at the original albums. Wings at the Speed of Sound was released in advance of the band's triumphant U.S. tour and the album stayed at No. 1 for seven weeks. Its first single, "Silly Love Songs," hit No. 1 and stayed there five weeks. But it's no Band on the Run. Heck, it isn't even a Venus & Mars.

"Let 'Em In": A pleasant enough song. The single went Top 10 and sold a million copies.

"The Note You Never Wrote": A fairly tepid ballad--nice guitar solo though.

"She's My Baby": The kind of song McCartney could write in his sleep and probably did.

"Beware My Love": One of the highlights of the album. A strong vocal from Paul helps propel this rocking number. [This should have made the Wingspan set list.]

"Wino Junko": This is Jimmy McCulloch's chance to shine on a tune he wrote. He doesn't.

"Silly Love Songs": This is the song where McCartney answers his critics. And you know what? It's a terrific song!

"Cook of the House": You know your album is in trouble when this slight rocker with lead vocal by wife Linda is better than most of the other tracks here.

"Time to Hide": Denny Laine provides this mid-tempo rocker.

"Must Do Something About It": Here's another keeper. Lovely melody. Nice guitar accompaniment.

"San Ferry Anne": Nothing really memorable here. Some nice moments, but sounds unfinished.

"Warm and Beautiful": Mostly just Paul and his piano. A nice, but insignificant ballad.

Bonus Tracks:

"Walking in the Park with Eloise": A toe-tapping dance hall number with some nice Chet Atkins-style picking and barrelhouse piano on this instrumental.

"Bridge on the River Suite": This is a moodier instrumental with a jazz feel. Both of these songs were originally released under the pseudonym The Country Hams.

"Sally G": This was originally released as the b-side to "Junior's Farm" and charted for one week at No. 39 in early 1975. A fun if not spectacular country romp complete with pedal steel.

Overall, it's no surprise that only three of these tracks made it onto the concert disc Wings Over America: the two hits and "Beware My Love." With a handful of exceptions, once McCartney left the Beatles he was mainly a singles artist. Sure, I still bought everyone of them. However, most fans will be more than content with his hits collections. The individual albums are for completists like myself. [But, hey, I also bought Lennon's Life with the Lions and Wedding Album.]

This was a huge hit in 1976 when it was released, I can still remember the gigantic display at "Gemco" when it came out. "Silly Love Songs" and "Let 'em In" were in constant rotation airplay on FM radio stations that summer.

But this record has not held up particularly well with the passage of time. Most of the lyrics are insipid and facile, hardly worthy of the genius who produced "Eleanor Rigby" and "For No One." What was Paul thinking when he allowed Linda to sing the ridiculous (though admittedly catchy) "Cook of the House," complete with sizzling bacon canned sound effects?

"Beware my Love" is a good rocker with bite. Had the rest of the album been done with a similar hard edge, it would have been much better and less cloying and adolescent.

Released prior to Wings' mega successful American tour, this album (and it's two singles) sailed to the top of the charts. Less focused than "Band On The Run" or "Venus And Mars", we still have some interesting material here. Besides the commercially successful singles "Let 'Em In" and "Silly Love Songs", we have the invigorating rocker "Beware My Love" (why was that a B-side?) as well as some interesting tracks by the other members. Denny Laine scores with his composition "Time To Hide", as well as providing lead vocal on the McCartney track "The Note You Never Wrote". Jimmy McCulloch contributes "Wino Junko", another dope song which pales in comparison with it's cousin "Medicine Jar" from "Venus And Mars". Drummer Joe English sings a wonderful lead on "Must Do Something About It", but Linda's vocal on "Cook Of The House" is, well, if you can't say anything nice...

I really got into this record when it came out. Even Linda's,"Cook of the House" was great.I remember by cousins and I sitting in back of there pick up truck,and all of us singing a part in "Silly Love Songs." I thought it was so cool how this song came together at the end.I hate it when they cut this song on the radio.My favorite number on the CD is "She's my Baby."Along with "Let 'Em In," this could have been a hit also.When Linda sings backup,I always thought her voice was so layed back,and different. Every member of Wings gets a solo shot,and there all fantastic. I was always a Beatles fan,but I became a Wings fan after this record also.

This is a typical McCartney/Wings solo album -- a few good songs and the rest filler (if not junk). Linda McCartney' song, Cook of the House, has to be one of the all time WORST songs. But, Silly Love Songs, Let 'Em In, and Beware My Love redeem this disk, somewhat.

Of all of McCartney's solo work , this cd seems to have gotten lost in the schuffle. The songs are amoung some of his best. It's a shame that this cd gets overlooked. Everyone knows Band on the Run, and in my mind this cd is it's equal.

I strongly believe Paul McCartney never gets the credit he deserves when it pertains to his mid to late 70's albums. He released three albums in particular that seem to have been unjustly forgotten by this point in time. Too bad, because albums such as London Town and Venus & Mars contain some REALLY good tunes.

Wings at the Speed of Sound is pretty bland compared to McCartney's more diverse and creative high standards of songwriting. Some of these songs kinda blend together and that *never* happened in the past.

I don't know if people were calling this album a sellout of sorts back in 1976, or perhaps people loved the two biggest hits so much that nobody noticed anything was a bit off with this one.

Anyway, "Let 'Em In" starts off on a pretty good note, but I'm definitely not as impressed with that vocal melody like everyone else seems to be. It seems slightly amateurish to me, and almost like a nursery rhyme of sorts. I get the feeling... no no, I KNOW for a 100% fact that Paul McCartney could have turned out something better, even by this point in his career.

One of the most underrated songs from the album (and perhaps the most underrated song in the mans catalog period) is "The Note You Never Wrote". I absolutely adore the dreamy vocal melody that seems to sail and wander through (admittedly) dated 70's orchestration, but I wouldn't want it any other way, seriously.

"She's My Baby" is a really good ballad. I love the "moppin' it up" part. Yes, it reminds me of Captain and Tennille, but I don't care- it's memorable.

WOW, how did I completely forget that "Beware My Love" is over 6 minutes long and absolutely *rocks*? I must be losing my mind! Linda's brief moments of singing that lead into Paul's intense vocal style is just a terrific way to write a song. GREAT song. "Wino Junko" is melodic enough, but not a highlight.

Ah yes. "Silly Love Songs". Everyone knows this song. Some people even have a strong hated towards it. Me? Sometimes I don't particularly care for it. Other times, like yesterday afternoon, I really got caught up in the verse melody, the jazzy orchestration in the middle part, and even the lyrics. It's a fun song.

I realize everyone hates the Linda McCartney number "Cook of the House". That vocal melody really catches my attention though, as cheesy and silly as the song may be.

"Time to Hide" is definitely a song completely stuck in the mid 70's. It would be impossible to imagine this song written in any other time period. The verse melody catches my attention, and the chorus is definitely good, but it feels weak in comparison to previous McCartney efforts.

"Must Do Something About It" is a fairly weak and forgettable song, but on the other hand, it would fit in perfect with McCartney's self-titled debut album before the Wings came into the picture, and I consider that album a masterpiece, so perhaps I'm just being a bit unfair.

"San Ferry Anne" is really good, but "Warm and Beautiful" is *definitely* an extremely banal ballad. I don't care for it at all. Paul has done significantly better ballads than this one.

Overall, the worst album Paul McCartney made in the 70's, and I still give it a 4 out of 5. That's how solid his output is.

McCartney's attempt to spread the wealth doesn't fail because of his bandmates (after all, who expects anything from Denny Laine?), but rather the ordinary sounds coming from Paul himself.
"Let 'em In" is a good track to open the set. Solemn and well performed, it is a catchy song, good enough for Paul to get another top ten hit. It gets you ready for even better things. Denny's up next singing the McCartney written "The Note You Never Wrote," and it kills whatever momentum its predecessor laid at its doorsteps. It pretty much starts off going nowhere and stays there. "She's My Baby" is where Paul lets up. After the previous cut, this is where the disc needs a pick up and this is just a nothing song with lousy words. Starting slow and picking up steam, "Beware My Love" proves to be the meatiest cut on the set. It's a good song, however it fools you into thinking it's a raver when it's not really that fast at all. "Wino Junko" is simply Jimmmy McCulloch doing "Medicine Jar" lite. All it proves is that McCulloch is a one horse pony who could only write about booze and drugs and that this song is more poppy and less effective than his previous effort on "Venus and Mars." Many people have critized Linda McCartney (yes I am one them), however I do not find fault with her outing on "Cook of the House." Paul's production skills come most to the fore on songs that don't have a lot going for it---like this one. Here he uses the stand-up bass, the chewy horns, compression, reverb and deeper mixing on Linda's voice (to hide the flaws). A nice touch is also the way drummer Joe English goes to the toms after the second chorus instead of the snare like the first, it gives this shuffle a different feeling. "Silly Love Songs" is a good song, nothing more, nothing less. Fantastic threeway vocals introduce themselves in this song (indeed it's the highlight). It's success hides Paul's worsening skills as a lyricist, which is apparent all over this disc. His bass, however, is mixed very high in this song (and most of the album as well) in concession to the then burgeoning disco phase. Denny redeems himself with "Time to Hide." The fade up is interesting and a nice touch as well. His thin, weedy, pleading vocal fits this song like a glove. "Must Do Something About It" features a superb and surprising vocal from Joe English who proves he's easily the second best singer in this band. It's a good tune and McCartney wisely let Joe sing it as the words probably would not have sounded as sincere had Paul sung it. "San Ann Ferry" is another example of this disc needing a shot in the arm and Paul coming up short again. It's not that it's a horrible song, it's just that with all the other mediocre songs songs on this set, something with a little zip is needed and it doesn't happen with this song. "Warm and Beautiful," it takes a while to realize that Paul can still get to you with those sentimental songs, but he still can and here's proof. "Walking in the Park with Eloise" and "Bridge on the River Suite" are two instrumentals I could do without as they have nothing to do with this disc. And if we're going to get "Sally G" we should also get the A-side of the single that it was on---"Junior's Farm."
It's really noticeable to see the weakness of this set in that hardly any of these songs can be taken off the album and stand on their own. Whereas that problem was not evident in McCartney's last 3 discs.

My parents loved this album. The songs have been in my head all my life. When I left for college, the vinyl stayed with them. They recently turned it over to me. This was the crowning jewel. Get to know the album - to me it is one of the best 70's pieces one could ever find.

A lighter follow-up to Band on the Run and Venus and Mars. While the songs don't sound as inspired as some of the earlier McCartney/Wings material, the subtle yet intricate arrangements of the songs shows McCartney to still be a groundbreaker as a producer and arranger. Though the band might have been under some pressure to get an album out in time for the next big tour, McCartney and band-mates still took time to select only the finest musical ingredients. All-in-all a listenable album with some catchy pop songs and a little experimentation thrown in for balance.