Paul McCartney & Wings - Red Rose Speedway (1973/2018)

All right, he's made a record with his wife and a record with his pickup band where democracy is allegedly the conceit even if it never sounds that way, so he returns to a solo effort, making the most disjointed album he ever cut. There's a certain fascination to its fragmented nature, not just because it's decidedly on the softer side of things, but because his desire for homegrown eccentricity has been fused with his inclination for bombastic art rock à la Abbey Road. Consequently, Red Rose Speedway winds up being a really strange record, one that veers toward the schmaltzy AOR MOR (especially on the hit single "My Love"), yet is thoroughly twisted in its own desire toward domestic art. As a result, this is every bit as insular as the lo-fi records of the early '90s, but considerably more artful, since it was, after all, designed by one of the great pop composers of the century. Yes, the greatest songs here are slight – "Big Barn Bed," "One More Kiss," and "When the Night" – but this is a deliberately slight record (slight in the way a snapshot album is important to a family yet glazes the eyes of any outside observer). Work your way into the inner circle, and McCartney's little flourishes are intoxicating – not just the melodies, but the facile production and offhand invention. If these are miniscule steps forward, consider this: if Brian Wilson can be praised for his half-assed ideas and execution, then why not McCartney, who has more character here than the Beach Boys did on their Brother records? Truthfully.

by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Tracklist:

Album :
A1 Big Barn Bed
A2 My Love
A3 Get On The Right Thing
A4 One More Kiss
A5 Little Lamb Dragonfly
B1 Single Pigeon
B2 When The Night
B3 Loup (First Indian On The Moon)
Medley :
B4a Hold Me Tight
B4b Lazy Dynamite
B4c Hands Of Love
B4d Power Cut
Bonus Audio :
C1 Mary Had A Little Lamb
C2 Little Woman Love
C3 Hi, Hi, Hi
C4 C Moon
C5 Live And Let Die
C6 I Lie Around
D1 Thank You Darling
D2 1882 (Live In Berlin)
D3 The Mess (Live At The Hague)
D4 Jazz Street
D5 Live And Let Die (Group Only, Take 10)