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| Wingspan (Hits & History) |
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List Price: $19.98
Our Price: $15.97
You Save: $ 4.01 (20%)
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Manufacturer: Capitol
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0724353294625
Format: Original recording remastered
Label: Capitol
Manufacturer: Capitol
Number Of Discs: 2
Publisher: Capitol
Release Date: 2001-05-08
Studio: Capitol
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Editorial Reviews:
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While his fellow ex-bandmates busied themselves with various high-profile projects (John Lennon with Imagine and a series of high-profile media events; George Harrison with All Things Must Pass and The Concert for Bangla Desh), Paul McCartney climbed into a van with his wife and a few journeyman players and gigged at university student unions for what amounted to spare change. Of course, by 1976 they were one of the biggest draws in rock, having the last laugh--if not necessarily the final word. Gathering the cream of their recorded output on a generous double-disc sampler-cum-TV-special-soundtrack seemed a promising effort at historical revisionism, but Wingspan itself is a distinct misnomer: fully 17 of the 40 tracks here hail from various pre- and post-Wings McCartney solo albums. Completely overlooked are unheralded B-sides such as "Oh Woman, Oh Why," "Little Woman Love," "Country Dreamer," "The Mess," "Walking in the Park with Eloise," "Sally G," and "Girl's School"--some of McCartney the bandleader and solo artist's scrappiest and most interesting work. All the expected hits are here and more, ranging from spunky rockers and hook-rich bubblegum to syrup-drenched ballads. What's lacking is a fresh and less myopic perspective. --Jerry McCulley
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| Spotlight customer reviews: |
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Thoroughly entertaining and sing-a-long-able
Comment: I was a Paul Fan back in the day. Thought I would marry him one day. Hey hey hey!
Stop that madness. Paul married well the second time. I'm so glad. Not only does he pay tribute to the late Linda McCartney in the second song ("The Lovely Linda") on the second CD, but he provides happiness to his fans both old and new in this Wings compilation. Seven years after its release, it is just now playing in my car. Actually, I intended to purchase Venus and Mars, one of my all-time favorite albums (which vinyl version I have not replaced). Because the music store did not have it, I bought "Wingspan" instead.
The two CDs in the set are so different. The first CD is a selection of some of Wings greatest hits, while the second is surprises (for me). This disc is more ballads and love songs and blues with a couple of hits mixed in.
The liner notes tell us that Paul struggled to find his niche after the Beatles breakup, both alone and in a group. During that time I remember the negative reaction to Linda's inclusion in the band (I was one of the voices). Her addition seemed out of kilter for a master singer and songwriter. But as I have been listening recently, I hear Linda with "fresh" ears--as a retrospective. Whatever her contribution, Paul apparently wanted her there. That's a real tribute to a marriage in a fishbowl.
There is absolutely no reason to list any songs. A Paul fan knows them. Maybe a Paul-fan-in-the-making might like a rehash, but there are better reviews for that. However, THE song that jumps out at me is "Mull of Kintrye." I didn't even know what he was saying until I read it, then got out a map and discovered it is in Ireland. The other song I will mention is "Live and Let Die," my favorite James Bond theme song. The discordance fits perfectly with the evil always present in a Bond story. "Band on the Run" and "Jet" are two other excellent Wings songs.
On the second CD the two that stand out are "Venus and Mars/Rockshow" and "Maybe I'm Amazed."
Overall, it was truly interesting to hear the songs that Paul calls "some of our best work."
Customer Rating:
Summary: Brings back great memories!
Comment: This CD brings back all of those great memories of listening to Paul McCartney and the Wings in the 70's! It has all the hits and some. Enjoy!!
Customer Rating:
Summary: A solid compilation of McCartney hits and misses from his solo/Wings career
Comment: "Wingspan" does a pretty good job of presenting hits and "History" as McCartney refers to the second disc of album tracks, singles and b-sides that he felt were overlooked previously.
The first disc focuses on McCartney's singles as both solo artist and in Wings duplicating most of "Wings Greatest" but it does offer a more generous and comprehensive overview of McCartney's career post-Beatles. Fans should be warned, however, that some of these are the single edits NOT the original full length songs (for example "Junior's Farm" is about a minute shorter than the original single).
The selections on the second disc are a bit more problematic. This disc allows McCartney to highlight some really good songs that were buried on crap albums or highlighting an album track that might have been overlooked on an outstanding album. Some are brilliant inclusions ("Heart of the Country", "Every Night") while others are a bit odd ("No More Lonely Nights"-Playout Version recorded for the closing credits of "Give My Regards to Broadstreet", "The Lovely Linda" which is charming but little more than a fragment McCartney made up on the spot to test his recording equipment).
The sound is pretty decent on this compilation although it doesn't sound quite as good as "Wings Greatest". The mastering here is more compressed and louder lacking the dynamic range of the earlier CDs but it is the only place to get some of the single edits and other rarities. Nevertheless this is a solid anthology and if you only want one McCartney anthology with a healthy collection of hits and some album tracks, this would be the one to get.
The two CD set also has a booklet with information on the recordings, photos, etc. The first edition comes with a lenticular cover and with the CDs housed on a cardboard hardcover cover. As other reviewers mentioned it is missing some key tracks but with only two CDs to cover a 31 year solo/Wings career, that's to be expected I suppose. There are some odd choices though on the "History" portion of the set but more often than not the McCartney gets it right as to key album/single tracks that were important to his career.
This is a pretty good compilation if all you're looking for is the hits along with key album track but if you want something with better fidelity I would go with "Wings Greatest" (for his career through 1978)and/or "All The Best" (which has its own flaws as well)first and expand from there.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Hits and album tracks
Comment: Some people may regard this as a missed opportunity, as it collects together many of Paul's hits since the break-up of the Beatles (whether solo or with Wings) but includes a selection of album tracks at the expense of several minor hits. I don't mind this approach as most of the hits that really matter are here. The most notable omissions are the duets with Stevie Wonder (Ebony and ivory) and Michael Jackson (Say say say, The girl is mine), the novelty song with the frog chorus (We all stand together) that became a a British top three hit and two other British top ten hits (Wonderful Christmastime, Once upon a long ago). With the exception of The girl is mine (a track from Thriller that has never appeared on any Paul McCartney album) and Wonderful Christmastime (which can be found on multi-artist Christmas compilations and is in any case better heard that way), all those tracks can be found on the Brithish version of an earlier compilation (All the best). The American version of that compilation only includes two of the missing tracks (Say say say, Ebony and ivory).
Given the decision to include some album tracks that were never released as singles, it would have been interesting to read Paul's explanation as to his choice of album tracks. Sadly, the booklet contains no such explanation although it contains plenty of pictures. We are therefore left to speculate as to the reason's for Paul's choices although I understand that they just happen to be Paul's favorites among the songs that weren't big hits.
With such a diverse range of material to choose from, anything other than a straight greatest hits compilation was likely to provoke fierce debate among fans and so it has proved as you can see by looking at other reviews here and elsewhere. Even a straight greatest hits isn't so simple because Paul, whether solo or as the leader of Wings, sometimes had different hits in different countries. The most extreme examples are Uncle Albert Admiral Halsey (an American number one that didn't chart in Britain) and Mull of Kintyre (a British number one that was a huge hit in many other counties but a flop in America). These tracks sit next to each other on the hits CD here. It would have been unthinkable to leave either off a set like this, though each was only included on one version of the single CD All the best, where the British track listing differed from the American version. When it comes to other hits that only charted in one country, there would be plenty of scope to argue about which ones should be included and which omitted.
Perhaps the strangest thing about this collection, given that it is not a straight greatest hits compilation, is that it contains nothing recorded after 1984. I'll admit that I haven't followed Paul's career closely since then but he has had plenty of minor hits (at least in the UK) since then and one might have expected that one or two of his later recordings would have featured on the History CD. Still, this is an interesting collection that includes most of Paul's really obvious post-Beatles hits in Britain and America.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Strange Compilation - Great Music
Comment: A very strange compilation indeed; some but not all the greatest hits, some but still missing vital b-sides and album tracks and topping it all, this compilation includes Macca material both before the formation of Wings and solo material 2-3 years after he disbanded the group. Macca also had a TV program regarding his years with Wings around the release of this project. My guess is that all this was more a thinly disguised tribute to the late Linda rather than a Wings compilation.
Being obviously incomplete in these aspects, this its still a very enjoyable album. Most of the hits are to be found here and many album tracks justify being given a second spin. The sound has been remastered and one can clearly hear the difference compared to some earlier CD pressings. Viewing this as a complete compilation and this is clearly a disaster; with an approach of a sampler and this is a great buy. Macca made great songs and a few fantastic records. He, however, also released music which should have been put aside, no such duds are to be found on this set.
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