After the poorly received
Red Rose Speedway (1973), McCartney, as an ex-Beatle, had something to prove again. The omens were bad when, during rehearsals for a follow-up, two members dropped out of his new band Wings. Paul, his keyboard-playing wife Linda and guitarist Denny Laine eventually left for Lagos to work at a local E.M.I. studio. Things didn't always work out there either; for example, the
… McCartneys were threatened with a knife on the street and robbed, while the studio barely met their needs. In London, they ended up doing a lot of grinding on Band On The Run, which was released in November 1973. It is rightfully counted among McCartney's best work after The Beatles and even has almost the allure of (an) Abbey Road (1969), with strong and typical McCartney songs as sophisticated as they are sing-alongs like Bluebird, Mrs. Vandebilt, Jet and the suite-like title track. This anniversary edition has little more to offer than an extra CD of rough mixes. The remastered original album sounds better than ever. (MR)more
