Paul McCartney
Band On The Run

Can a rockstar like Paul McCartney, leading his Wings, after a high-level career (I won’t go further, I don’t want to offend anyone) with the most famous band in history, produce something that can eclipse that glorious past? Let’s take a look: After the Beatles, McCartney churned out songs in abundance and was quite popular, but often it seemed he missed the artistic advice of someone like Lennon, who could curb his tendency to settle for mediocrity. The rustic and rough debut (fans of a rawer McCartney love it, though) Wild Life and the blossoming but too self-indulgent (pardon for the rhyme) AOR of Red Rose Speedway seemed like the prelude to a low-grade artistic career, with only a few sappy, commercial singles charting. Fortunately, McCartney began to regain favor with a couple of excellent singles, both from 1973: Helen Wheels and the assertive chart entry of the James Bond theme, Live And Let Die. Unfortunately, Sir Paul's determined and dominant attitude and his insistence on imposing his non-musician wife on stage didn't sit well with the new members Henry McCullough (formerly of Grease Band) and Deny Seiwell (guitar and drums), who left the supergroup just before the tour in Nigeria, which was plagued (as if that wasn't enough) by criticism from the famous African musician Fela Ransome Kuti and an armed robbery. Really terrible precedents for a true gem like Band On The Run, don't you think? The critics, who until then had done nothing but sharpen their knives after the heavy provocations of "Give Ireland Back To The Irish," "Hi Hi Hi," and "Mary Had A Little Lamb," were enthusiastic, calling it: "An album that has been sorely needed for some time." Even John Lennon (whom Paul considered a deity since the Quarry Men days, to be disturbed only to teach him some new chord), who had criticized and mocked the 'Cute Beatle’s' previous works, called it a great record. Initially conceived as a concept album reminiscent of the medley on side B of the immortal Abbey Road, the album is a tangible vibe: Paul’s confidence is finally satisfied. It's the eponymous track that opens the dance, a tour de force over three themes, with its captivating plucked guitar groove, magnificent and insubordinate: -The first theme describes the protagonist’s frustration and claustrophobia turned into music -The second is a cry that shakes the earth and scratches the walls of the heart, declaring a visceral desire to be free -In the third, the protagonist transcends this material reality and contemplates the world in all its forms. Jet is the rock piece that more than any other mirrors and surpasses the ghosts of the past from Back In The USSR from the White Album, boasting an excellent and gritty vocal performance from Macca; Bluebird is as irreverent as it is sweetened, a mockery of Paul’s acoustic ballads; Let Me Roll It, with its repeated riff, manages to transform into an enchanting melody; The engaging power pop of Mrs. Vanderbilt, with guitars reminiscent of Another Day and a cheerful brass section, perfectly ties together with the pulpito from the Apocalypse of Nineteen Hundred And Eighty Five. The big question mark over the lyrics, which might hide something under the above-mentioned 'allegories' (my personal thesis), even if it is most likely pure nonsense (initially taken by everyone as idiocy; but then this idiocy becomes what we need to escape this hell) resolves in the beautiful ode to rain, Mamunia. Picasso's Last Words is a valid hypothesis to the thesis concerning Paul’s ability to prevent an incomplete piece from destroying an album like Band On The Run. It was Dustin Hoffman who challenged Paul to write a song about the great Spanish painter, whose last words were: "Drink to me and my health. You know, I can’t drink anymore." Denny Laine co-authored that splendid harmonic obelisk that is No Words, whose hoarse tones vividly recall the vocal parts of the Moody Blues. The album cover, amusingly parodied in the animated film Madagascar, which, besides the Wings, features: Michael Parkinson (journalist) Kenny Linch (actor and singer) James Coburn (Hollywood actor) Clement Freud (English MP, novelist) Christopher Lee (English actor, Saruman and Dracula) John Conteh (Liverpool boxer) Danny Laine’s declaration regarding shared authorship of the disk among him, Paul, and Linda is fanciful. Even Paul describes it as an 'almost solo' album. But the public, being the best critic, won’t hesitate to keep a copy in the room near the hi-fi.