Rarely does Paul McCartney pull together an album of such stunning craft that: A. It is an essential album, or B. It is more properly listened to as a whole, rather than by individual song. When you get right down to it, he’s a singles artist imbued with great pop hooks and the looks to go with them. At times he’s a stunning lyricist (“Maybe I’m Amazed”) at times, embarrassing (“Let ’Em In”), at times incomprehensible (“Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey”), but always he’s ear-catchingly melodic.
McCartney is the perfect iTunes artist, and for the casual listener Wingspan: Hits And History, the two-disc collection Capitol released in 2001, plus the occasional “missing” hit single or indispensable album cut available on iTunes, will be all they need for their collection – and it will be money well spent.
Wingspan provides a full disc of each. For completists such as me, it’s not enough. I want it all, and I want it now. But there are few people like me, and almost all of them review for The Daily Vault. If the hits you know, and just a little more, is what you need, pick up Wingspan, it’s worth the money. Here’s a sample of what you get:
Hits disc: “Listen To What The Man Said,” “Band On The Run,” “Another Day,” “Live and Let Die” (my vote for best McCartney single ever…), “Jet,” “My Love,” “Silly Love Songs,” all the essential singles through “No More Lonely Nights.”
History: “Daytime Nighttime Suffering,” “Helen Wheels,” the gorgeous “Bluebird,” the wistful “Waterfalls,” “Too Many People” and enough more that you get a fine sense of McCartney’s solo career.
What else will you need for your McCartney collection? There are a couple of essentials from the years past 1984 (the time period this set covers ends with that year): “Press,” from Press To Play, “My Brave Face,” from Flowers In The Dirt, “Off The Ground,” from Off The Ground, “The World Tonight” and “The Song We Were Singing” from Flaming Pie, and a few selections of your choice from Driving Rain, Chaos and Creation In The Backyard, and his stunning new album, Memory Almost Full.
McCartney is not a true singles-only artist, but he produces some of the finest singles the pop and rock world has ever heard – as well as some of the most embarrassing. If you want to explore his back catalog — have at it. If you want to hear his hits and enough of the rest to really appreciate him, this is the collection for you.
