Band On The Run

McCartney detractors can take a flying fuck. This album is better than half of John Lennon's erratic solo career. People act like John was the true genius behind The Beatles just because he was the most outspoken prick of the bunch. People can't help but love a good quick witted, silver tongued asshole who lives out their fantasies of being an unfiltered bully and getting away with it. Don't get me wrong, I do too... And Lennon reached some unbelievable heights in his solo work - some really intense and profound music to be sure. But he also had some periods of really sloppy floundering. And just because Lennon went on this deep, soul-searching musical journey half the time he went into the studio, doesn't mean McCartney should be expected to do the same thing, nor does it detract from McCartney's brilliance as a songwriter. Yes, Paul McCartney has a softer, more light-hearted approach in his solo material. It reflects him as a person and where he was in his life at the time. He was a dad, and not a largely absent one like his former songwriting partner. So yeah, I get that he wanted to put out something more fun and playful into the world, rather than introspectively crawling further up his own asshole.

This album is Paul McCartney saying “yeah, I don’t need The Beatles to write fucking HITS!” for 41 minutes

For decades I always heard the chorus as "man on the run"... mistakes have been made

Q: How do you diminish the illustrious reputation of former Beatle Paul McCartney? A: Put an album like Band on the Run on a top 1,001 ablumns list. "Yeah, I used to smoke grass and play this while living on the nudist commune. Everything was honkey-dory in those days.” This is the album you create when you’re three years out of high-school and still can’t figure out what to do with your life so you smoke weed and drink beer hoping that a future will materialize. I found this album without purpose or inspiration, just shitty jam-band garbage with a chorus. Thankfully, Ringo Starr went on to be the lowlight of post-Beatles success and we could instead remember Paul as an incredible songwriter and performer.

pretty sure i heard a couple of these tracks on the classic rock stations. listened to this after some major mood swings and it helped calm me down. Music Notes <3 lots of cool stuff here, theres a lotta folky stuff and a few songs that have rly cool structures without it feeling too overbearing or distracting from the simple poppiness. good stuff 9/10

After being a Beatles fan for many years, "Band on the Run" was one of the first post-Beatles albums I ventured into. I gravitated towards the big, bombastic Martin-esque arrangements (the end of "Nineteen Eighty Five" is still killer), the Abbey-Road-esque suites (the title track is a classic example of "greater than the sum of its parts") and the polished, radio-friendly rock ("JET!"… enough said). It's still a great listen, but I can just about shake my bias to say it's a bit lightweight in places. "Bluebird" and "Mamunia" both have nice choruses, but "nice" is about the most enthusiastic word I can muster for them. They breeze by, meandering a bit around their verses, and then they're over without leaving much of an impression. On any Beatles album they'd have been forgettable and throwaway. It's also hard to say how much the setting of Lagos, Nigeria influenced the recording, other than the band plastering on some "exotic" percussion. Guiros and claves abound… Still, "Picasso's Last Words" is an underrated gem, with its melancholic singalong that goes through various iterations (one including some dazzling strings). While not enthralling from beginning to end, I'll always love the simplicity of the "OH- HEY HO" in "Mrs Vandebilt." And ultimately, the album still gets four stars on the strength of its best tracks: the two openers, two closers and the brilliant "Let Me Roll It" (often labelled Lennon-esque for its heavy use of echo, deployed intentionally by McCartney).

Band on the Run by Paul McCartney & Wings (1973 [U.S. release, including “Helen Wheels”]) I loved this album when it came out, even though my best friend hated it (I suspect he purloined my copy and found a way to throw it away—it’s the only way I can explain its later absence from my collection. Fink!). But in my high assessment of this record, I was adamant to the point of defiance. This is Paul McCartney doing what Paul McCartney does best—musically intelligent pop. But I haven’t listened to it in decades, so this was a bit of a journey into the past. And what a nice trip. And yes, that is James Coburn with his hand on Christopher Lee’s shoulder on the campy cover photo. The ‘band’ Wings at the time this album was recorded consisted of only (1) McCartney, (2) wife Linda, and (3) vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Denny Laine. That’s it. Lyrically playful, consisting of near-mindless mini narratives and sweet emotings, there’s nothing serious here, with words simply carrying the tune and providing a means to prompt the melody into becoming the primary ping on the listener’s sonar. But the vocal arrangements are highly entertaining, and the compositions develop wonderfully shifting moods, a McCartney speciality. This album is very instructive at helping the serious fan of The Beatles to sort out what McCartney’s specific contribution had been to the fabulous quartet. Listen to Abbey Road immediately after listening to Band on the Run, and you’ll hear both albums in a new way. The first two tracks, “Band on the Run” and “Jet” and the added track for the U.S. release “Helen Wheels” became top 40 hits because they tapped into the subconscious of the English-speaking world. In 1973 we were ready for a break from all the seriousness. Nixon cancelled the draft (a little too late for me, but it was still a relief. And in retrospect, four years in the U.S. Navy wasn’t a total waste of time). Let’s put on some Paul McCartney and take a deep breath before going back to Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon. “Let Me Roll It” is Paul McCartney doing a John Lennon-style composition with a Paul McCartney-style arrangement. In my view, this song is the nearest thing we’ll ever hear like a post-Beatles ‘Beatles’ sound. I’ll let other Beatles fans ponder this suggestion. I had forgotten how much I loved the elaborations on the chord progression toward the end of “Nineteen-Hundred and Eighty-Five”. Play it loud, man. The bass playing is, of course, exquisite. And fat in the mix to boot. Go Paul. The genius of this album is in the incorporation of suitable sounds from unexpected regions of the available soundscape. Paul McCartney knew how to hook the listener. Well, me at least. 4/5

Essential Wings album. Haven't listened to too much of them, so I enjoyed hearing this album in it's entirety. Noticed a line that Dave Matthews must have lifted for "Dancing Nancies" in the song "Mrs. Vandebilt": 'what's the use in worrying, what's the use in hurrying" Highlights: Band on the Run Jet Let Me Roll It

Great album, had heard the singles before and liked them even more with the rest of the album. Felt very complete from front to back

Recorded in 1973! Listening to this makes realize how far music has changed with the advances of computer generated sounds. Give me some simple harmonics, bass line, simple drum kits and let the lyrics and vocals steal the show. Great Album

Wings? They're only the band The Beatles could've been! ............. Someone else will write this.

Why is this on the list? Why did this even get recorded? If this man hadn't been a Beatle I wager that neither would have happened. It's sentimental trash with very few redeeming qualities at all. I'm worried peeople will see on me that I listened to it, I need to scrub it off.

I was raised on this album so I came in with immense bias but looked for every reason to dock it a few points. More or less came up empty handed and ruled that Band on the Run, Jet, Let me Roll it, and Helen Wheels all have stood the test of time.

One of the greatest albums ever made. After the Beatles, McCartney made a couple of solo albums, combining leftover songs that would probably have ended up on the follow up to Let It Be, with ditties, jams and experiments. He then formed a band, but the first two Wings albums found his songbook running a little dry - although he still managed to compose two of his most perfect songs (Dear Friend and My Love). But he was still, essentially, writing songs that could have gone on Beatles albums. Then his band breaks up - Paul, Denny Laine and Linda head to Lagos, to find a barely useable studio and a hostile reception from the locals. Amidst the chaos, Paul finds a new sound - combining his outrageous gift for melody with influences from staudium rock, prog, reggae and soul. Epic, theatrical songs like Band On The Run merge with catchy pop (Jet) and gorgeous ballads (No Words), all arranged perfectly. There is even a throwback to the Abbey Road medley with the singalong coda to Picasso's Lasts Words. The album ends with one of McCartney's best ever songs, Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five. A masterpiece!

5 stars. My first album by a member of the fab 4, and this one is a classic. Band on the run is an amazing introduction song, then jet kicks it into high speed. Love this album

Fantastic production and catchy melodies, definitely Wings' best album. Not as varied as RAM or as bold in its creative process as McCartney, but definitely the ultimate blockbuster in Macca's long and winding career post-Beatles.

This is another one I have on vinyl. The title track is an opus, and like Paul's Beatles songs, really plays with genre and rhythm. This album sounds like it was tons of fun to make. Like so much of it is celebration and silliness, but in the best way. I love it. I love how Paul sounds, I love the instruments, the drums, the comradery, and the tone. It's also quite brilliant with songs like Let Me Roll it. Great record.

Actually enjoyed this more than I thought I would. Band on the Run is such a great track, and Iwas nervous about the first half overpowering the second, but I actually enjoyed the whole thing.

McCartney’s intention to show he could do it himself without The Beatles or Lennon, BOTR is full of invention and despite what had gone before, plenty of ambition. Classic rock, pop, whatever; there are moments of genius all over this album.

Genre: Pop Rock 4/5 It took 79 albums(!), but lo and behold, I finally got my first Beatles/Beatles-member release. Band on the Run, an album I've listened to all the way through without skips at least 25 times, is a decent place as any to start in terms of Paul McCartney's solo discography for a casual listener. I'm a true Macca-head, and I've listened through his discography more times than I'm willing to say on a public forum. All I'll say is that it's not his best solo album (his best solo album, Ram, isn't even in the book which is OUTRAGEOUS), but it's a damn good rock album that had some big-time hits for him and his group, Wings. Him and John Lennon always had a musical competition amonst themselves, one would drop a hot single, another would drop a hot album with a diss track, then the other would do the same. It was an exciting time in pop music, for sure. That competition is apparent here as well. The Lennon/Phil Spector effect is felt big time, as the saxophone plays a big role here in a lot of tracks, an instrumental layer that Paul had really yet to fully dive into until this album. The product made here, regardless of sax use, is really clean and exquisite, the hallmark of a Paul McCartney production. The title track, Jet, Let Me Roll It, and Nineteen-Hundred and Eighty-Five are four of Paul's best, and they're perfectly placed throughout the album. The filler in between aren't pop masterpieces (Mamunia, No Words), but they aren't duds either. A very enjoyable, rather unpretentious effort from Paul here. The hard work and manicuring is there, but Paul and co. are having quite a bit of fun.

I don't think I've ever sat through a full solo Macca/Wings album. This is pretty good as it goes, although it gets a bit ropey towards the end. I wish the 2nd segment of the title track was longer, it's quite intriguing and seems to exit before it gets really good. Jet is my favorite post-Beatles song from any of 'em, such a great pop tune and so weird ("Jettttt..."). Macca's lyrics across this period are quite Gilbert and Sullivan-y, perhaps because they make for neat rhymes? Even if it's nonsense it's still very enjoyable. Diving into the history of Wings it makes sense why this album is so highly-rated in context. Can't deny it a 4, RIP Denny Laine

Band on the Run is another haunting from childhood, almost entirely from the first two tracks and the cover, which was double-stitched into the old image library by its surreal chiaroscuro comedy, though I did not know the participants, assuming Christopher Lee, Michael Parkinson et al were band members, Coburn the drummer, and holy hippy cabbage, he's stoned right down to the last hair of that massive moustache, five stars for that image alone. Returning, I loved the title song and Jet, which are filed away with that cover as fond pre-teen paraphernalia, and expected the rest out would fall way below the mark, as evidently either my parents never deigned to play beyond Jet, or the album was otherwise forgettable; so most of the rest getting reflex nods and foot wiggles is like getting a free meal with a glass of something decent. The synth parts are rad, and most of the songs have structures that keep me on the toes, without progging into tedium, and it has heft at times - any whiff of music hall is blitzed with guitars, the aforementioned whacked out synth, and the odd visiting horn. If I ever meet it, I will insist on buying a drink for the guitar riff on Let Me Roll It, which is up there with the opening double-salvo. I reckon this is the 200th record Simon and I have heard on this run, enough to be confident of a trend: I'm consistently loving 70's this sort of yacht rocky, smooth AOR. Heck, apparently even Lennon rated this.

Comical and professional!

I learned that it's "Band on the Run" and not "Man on the Run." Otherwise, it's a fun listen but not something I'd come back to with any frequency.

I’d always thought that McCartney’s solo stuff was mostly pretty naff and middle of the road. Listening to this album hasn’t changed my mind.

In my mind I try and dissociate Wings and the Beatles I can't reconcile the two. This was , I think their biggest album and brings up a feeling akin to car sickness. Which I suppose is apt as I remeber my dad playing these songs on car journeys. Paul tries all the old beatles tricks and fails fails fails. Songs like Jet and Band on the Run are the most famous and probably the most tolerable. I can't understand how someone can write Yesterday and Hey Jude could write this arse. Most bands have a difficult second album whilst Paul had a difficult second band. It's a 1.5

The best of them

Nice

Indeputiably wonderful

cuando son muy buenos me estresa puntearlos y me salté uno ayer

Super bien.

classic

band on the run and jet are all time classics, the rest is pretty solid with only a couple exceptions

heyy paull!

The most important album made by a Beatle after The Beatles.

Easy 5 stars.

Loved it

Great album, first album oldest daughter liked

I love band in the run, best wings album, I’ve played this for every girlfriend I’ve had on my record player lol

Mastapiece, Wings>Beatles

Solo hace falta escuchar la canción homónima para decidir la calificación de este disco. De lo mejor de Paul en su carrera post-Beatles.

Great, as one could expect!

Brilliant!

Again def the best ever. Will be played at the funeral.

Nice

Brilliant

I've always loved this album. Solid gold 5/5

Tolles Album! So gut wie die beatles aber erwachsener und mehr normale Musik!

Very good. Fun. Variety in each song.

Still great 50 years later. McCartney is incomparable....

I own this record on Vinyl. Don't need to listen to it to know it's great.

Love this album. Have listened since I was a child.

Dit is genieten. 100% must listen en 100% opnieuw beluisteren

great album!!!

Baller! Nothing to dislike here, many instant classics

Paul lives. Classic.

This album was amazing. I can't get over how good it is, I loved every single song so much. I had listened to a few songs previously but the new ones i have discovered are now in my library and I know I'm going to revisit this album again and again. 5/5 stars.

Fantastic album! 5 stars all round

Wonderful

With Band On The Run, the best Beatle has created a brilliant piece of music filled with catchy, diverse, and organic sounds that blend extremely well together. Tracks like Band on The Run feel like you are escaping from a life filled with responsibilties to go on a great adventure, which is exactly what Wings did by recording this masterpiece thousands of miles away in Nigeria. It's just so energetic, emotional, personal, catchy, and epic that I can give this a 5/5 without hesitation.

Wow, this is really good. Almost like a lost Beatles album. 4.8/5 stars

This is probably the best album Paul made in his post Beatles career. It features some of his most iconic hits and a wide variety of delectable deep cuts that keep the listener invested until the final refrains of the title track after 1985 finishes

Very good. Favorite tracks are probably "Band on the Run", "Mrs. Vandebilt", and "Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five".

Классный, отобрал несколько треков на сэмплы

Rating: 9/10 Best songs: Band on the run, Jet, Mrs Vandebilt, Nineteen hundred and eighty five

🙌

Loved this, although it is quite top heavy. Band on the Run, Jet and Bluebird are the best tracks. Also love Mamunia. Do think Paul had the better career after the Beatles.

This was so good! JET!! Need to explore the Beatle's other work, this did not disappoint

How have I never listened to this album? I know the two big radio hits, but Mrs. Vanderbilt, 1985, how do I not know these songs? They are fantastic songs. Paul is on my top three songwriters list. I was gonna give this one a four, but on my second listen I think it's a 5.

Love love love

Incredible album. Like George's All Things, but McCartney plus old timey pub with wooden paneled walls plus a hint of ABBA in the best possible way. Let it roll. Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five is honey in my ears

I appreciate that Wings might be a bit naff to some people, but this is top notch.

Топ

Test

great album, got nothing to say

I love this album! Had been listening to it not two weeks before 1001 presented it to me. Jet is one of my all time favorites, but the whole album is superb!

Wow, McCartney is maccartismo (idk y google keyboard claims this is a word). Anyhow, great album with sum unexpected power moves like the distorted synth/bass on Jet.

Absolutely stuffed with absolute bangers

There's a reason this album is so solidly regarded. Most of the songs on this album show up on later Wings retrospectives. Up until this point, Paul's solo works had not done well, but this has so many great things going. McCartney definitely needs that foil to write off of (in this case, Ronnie Laine). His own solo albums never really strike me as much as these. Perhaps that's why I like the solo album he did with Elvis Costello so much. The title track... I used to love this track a lot more, but there's something about it that bothers me now, maybe that it just sounds like a lot of riffs strung together before we get to the main chorus. I mean, they did that on "Abbey Road" with a bunch of short songs. Still, even those small pieces are so damn catchy. "Jet": who knew that this song was about his dog? Well, now you know. "Bluebird" is pretty good as well, but then the album starts to meander as well. But just on the strength on the first two songs ALONE this a damn good album. Sure, some of the other songs have a bit of head-scratching moment's like "Picasso's Last Words" but I still dig it. I'd probably give this 4 1/2 stars, rounding up to 5.

When I think about the career of Sir Paul I can’t help but wonder how can an artist go back to the well of creativity over and over again and keep producing amazing hit music? Yes, there are some less than stellar tracks on this album, but songs like Band on the Run, Jet, and Let Me Roll It still tower over most other artist’s best efforts.

A recent goal of mine is to properly go through the McCartney back catalogue since Band on the Run was the only one I knew. It's been hard to top it because Band on the Run is exactly the kind of album I love. So much so I listened to a lot of it yesterday after listening to the album from this site. I adore this album from start to finish. Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five is a top 5 McCartney composition for me, including his massive Beatles hits. Absolutely flawless album for me and learning about the whole recording story in Nigeria and them getting robbed during the recording is interesting too.

Beautiful

the album is a masteriece!!amazing

Great album and particularly enjoyed the title track, Jet and Let Me Roll It

Omg straight up to my top 5 albums so far! So goooood 🥰

I really enjoyed listening to the album Easy listening!!!

Nunca mais, dissemos de mãos dadas Talvez um dia, foi unânime abraçados Nem todas as ideias são boas, fomos génios de cabeça encostada Hoje não, hoje não, suplicámos a quaisquer deuses que nos descolem os corpos já depois de acordar.

arggggh c’etait cool ca fait du bien

A beautiful collection of catch Faul McCartney pop tunes. Let me roll it

For my money better than any Beatles album (sorry)

Reminded me of guitar hero

Classic! Short but sweet.

A bardzo elegancki albumik, serdeczna piąteczka. McCartney to McCartney, huh?

Aż sam się nie spodziewałem, że aż tak mi się to spodoba. Na 9 utworów 4 to sztosy, a reszta trzyma wysoki poziom. Album akurat trafił się na weekend i mogłem więcej czasu na niego poświęcić i finalnie przesłuchałem go chyba z 8 razy.

A really fun record. Tracks seem laid-back, but created with full commitment and utter entertainment from the musicians. As a result. Band On The Run is envigorating, but also rich in the sound department. Overall, a pleasurable surprise. Highlights: Bluebird, Picasso's Last Words (Drink to Me), Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five (love the experiments with electronics here)

Iconic album. Reminds me of childhood. Not a bad song on the album.

J'adore Paul McCartney, J'adore les wings et j'adore Band on the run. Toutes les chansons sont classiques et tellement bonne. Vive the Wings

Not only is this album full of hits, it features McCartney's songwriting at its apex post Beatles. The front half of the album is anchored by the title track and the heavier 'Jet' and 'Let me Roll It,' while the back half progresses to longer more suite like songs ending with the fantastic 'Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five' which references motifs from earlier tracks on side 1. This ties the album together and leaves the listener feeling as though they have listened to a whole work rather than just a collection of singles, which this album very much is.

the first time i’ve listened to this full album and i’m so glad i did

I love this album, side A is perfect and side B is pretty good. Macca at his best.