3.5 - When an artist is given free reign to produce whatever he wants, without his former bandmates there to break his balls, does it enhance or detract from the final product? In the case of "Band on the Run", absent of John Lennon and his former co-creators, I'd say Paul's product leans too heavily on playful jokiness and I end up missing an emotional connection with these songs. Clearly, Paul's beautiful and unparalleled ear for melody is here. What's also here is some of his hokier and more childish instincts - writing about cartoonish characters (think Rocky Raccoon, Bungalow Bill, etc) and composing music that to me comes off as kids music. Like Raffi on an extreme sugar high. All of it is good but it's hard for me to take songs like "Jet" and "Bluebird" too seriously. Does this guy ever have a bad day, or is he just constantly farting rainbows?