- Audio CD (7 Jun 1993)
- Number of Discs: 1
- Format: Original recording remastered
- Label: Parlophone Records
- ASIN: B00000721E
- Other Editions: Audio CD | Audio Cassette | DVD Audio | Vinyl | MP3 Download
- Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 5,544 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
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Product details |
Track Listings
| 1. Band On The Run |
| 2. Jet |
| 3. Bluebird |
| 4. Mrs. Vandebilt |
| 5. Let Me Roll It |
| 6. Mamunia |
| 7. No Words |
| 8. Helen Wheels |
| 9. Picasso's Last Words (Drink To Me) |
| 10. Nineteen Hundred And Eighty Five |
Product Description
Manufacturer's Description
music
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Pauls solo career for the 4 years post the Beatles had been a rather patchy affair. After starting off with two decent albums, he followed that up with two very below par Wings efforts that prompted much mocking of the Wings line up, particularly the inclusion of Pauls wife Linda on keyboards. Here however, reduced to the three core members, Paul, Lindaa & Denny, they produce the kind of rock/pop music that the seventies were meant for.
Recorded in Lagos, their surroundings meant that they recorded an album that had a consistent sound about it, something all Wings previous efforts had failed at. Kicking off with two of pauls best songs, Band on The Run and Jet never fail to lift you up, two of pauls finest rock songs that both follow the theme of flight and escapism that runs throught his whole album.
Bluebird is a delightful acoustic number that again follows the theme of flight, although those expecting a Blackbird part two should look eslewhere. Mrs Vandebilt one can only assume is about returning to nature with its tribal like shouts of Ho-Hey-Ho .
Let Me Roll it still stands as one of Pauls best, a song he performs today with passion and vigour, and one that has been described as out-Lennoning Lennon. The heavy riffs over an organ fuelled drum beat are fantastic, and one cant wonder if the songs lyrics were also aimed at lennon (" I cant tell you how I feel, my heart is like a wheel....Let Me Roll It to you").
Mamunia is Pauls back to nature approach again, but is more successful than Mrs Vandebilt with a delightful melody and acoustics that celebrate the rain as Paul intended. No Words was a co-write between Paul and Denny, and both take turns in shring the vocals. Probably the weakest cut on the album, it still makes for good listening.
Helen Wheels was the single that preceeded this album, and was originally only included on the American version of the album. Its a bit like The Ballad of Paul & Linda, rocking along to great effect, although Lindas vocals often seem a little harsh on the ears. Its B-Side Country Dreamer is included on the re-mastered releases, and that is a pleasant acoustic number originally recorded for red Rose Speedway but never used.
Picassos last words was written in the company of Dustin Hoffman, and recalls the great painters last hours. It works as another great McCartney character song with french sounding horns and a great melody.
The closing 1985 works as a fantastic climax to a fantastic album. This is Pauls musically most consistent and cohesive work. Great songs mix together with excellent production to produce an album that really does make wings sound like a band on the run. It would catapult the band to the kind of global succcess that only the Beatles could better. This is the album Paul had bordered on making for a few years and finally found the focus to do so. It is brimming with great tunes and creativity. Excellent.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
In '73 time was pressing for Macca; RAM and the first solo-album (let's forget Wild Life)are quite a cult-succes now, but for people who were used to the Beatle-albums in the late '60's were still waiting for a sign that McCartney was still able to make great music.
There are still very Beatlesque tracks here:
Let Me Roll It; sounds like a Phil-Spector-produced Lennon track and also it's very John-like in its lyrics.
No Words: sounds very much like a '71 George Harrison.
And these are the lesser known tracks! Jet, 1985 and the title track have a nice, luxurious rock-sound to it, Bluebird is a nice acoustig ditty, Mrs. Vanderbilt is catchy as hell!
I think this is overall the best Macca-album ever; catchy tunes, good ballads, nice rockers and no weak tracks!
There are still very Beatlesque tracks here:
Let Me Roll It; sounds like a Phil-Spector-produced Lennon track and also it's very John-like in its lyrics.
No Words: sounds very much like a '71 George Harrison.
And these are the lesser known tracks! Jet, 1985 and the title track have a nice, luxurious rock-sound to it, Bluebird is a nice acoustig ditty, Mrs. Vanderbilt is catchy as hell!
I think this is overall the best Macca-album ever; catchy tunes, good ballads, nice rockers and no weak tracks!
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Where do you start with this album? I suppose one way to start is to say that I may not be alone in saying that it is up there with some of the best albums ever made. There is not a bad track on it, including the superb singles: 'Band On The Run', 'Jet' (the name of his Labrador puppies - a link to 'Martha My Dear' from The Whit Album, in that it is about a dog) and 'Helen Wheels'(McCartney's nickname for his Land Rover, the story of a trip down the M6, citing Glasgow, Carlisle, Liverpool and Birmingham) ; as well as fantastic album tracks such as 'Picasso's Last Words', 'Mrs Vandebilt'. Although all the songs are superb, I prefer the non-singles, especially the Lennon pastiche 'Let Me Roll It', the sublime 'Mamunia' (meaning safe-haven in Arabic) and the fantastic final track 'Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five'. The album is one of the best post-Beatles albums, up there with 'Imagine' and George Harrison's 'All Things Must Pass'. If you are someone who loves The Beatles and is interested in expanding to their later solo efforts, this would be a perfect place to start, and 'Band On The Run' should be a part of everyone's record collection. Furthermore, the excellent and original front cover (including the likes of Michael Parkinson) is symbolic of the quality of the music inside. Conisdering the events in which McCartney recorded this, that he and his wife were almost murdered in Lagos (where the record was recorded), had their demo tapes stolen, and 2 members of the band left shortly before the album, meaning that McCartney had to do most of the playing of all the instruments, then this is a tremendous effort. A fantastic album from a superb artist, which deservedly won a pair of Grammy's in 1975 and was Britain's best-seller in 1974. It's one of my favourites of all time - make it one of yours!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
One of greatest albums ever
Simply one of the best albums of all time. As good as the Beatles.1985 is possibly the greatest closing track on any album ever.
Published 19 months ago by J. Charles
Simply the best
I personally believe this is the very best ever to be produced from Paul McCartney. All the songs are exceptional.
Published on 21 Mar 2010 by Denise Hales
BAND ON THE RUN
THIS ITEM ,WAS 8 DAYS LATE ,BUT WAS O K ,WHEN IT DID COME,,
Published on 20 Jan 2010 by Stephen Parry
Missing Bars
I agree with all the other positive comments, but what happened to the opening bars of the title track ?
Published on 9 Jan 2010 by K. G. R. Carpenter
Am I relly that old?
The answer must be yes!
A great album, sounds as good today as it did a zillion years ago.
A very good addition to any collecton.
A great album, sounds as good today as it did a zillion years ago.
A very good addition to any collecton.
Published on 1 Nov 2009 by I. Howell
"I hope you're having fun..."
"Band On The Run" is largely regarded as Paul McCartney's best post-Beatles album. Although I'm not sure that I can agree with that wholeheartedly, I do concur that it is... Read more
Published on 30 April 2009 by A. Sweeney
Band on the Run - keeps on running!!
Brilliant! I had this album on vinyl many moons ago and bought the CD whilst taking a trip down memory lane. It's every bit as good as I remembered.
Published on 23 April 2009 by Looby Lou
As good as anything The Beatles did
Let's start on a bold claim: The standout tracks of this album - Jet, Band on the Run, Bluebird, Let Me Roll It - are as good as anything that the Beatles did. Read more
Published on 7 Feb 2008 by Alister King
Excellent, one of Sir Paul's Best
This is a great sounding album with excellent songs; for some reason my copy includes 'Helen Wheels', which makes the disc even stronger. Read more
Published on 15 Jun 2007 by Geoffrey Millar
If we ever get out of here
Old Macca tends to get a lot of stick, and the comment, 'he's never really done anything that good since the Beatles though has he?' will no doubt be familiar to most! Read more
Published on 16 Sep 2005 by KPA Lowe
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