Digitally remastered reissue of their hit 1976 album, which spent seven consecutive weeks at #1! Features the #1 smash 'Silly Love Songs' and the #3 'Let 'Em In', plus three bonustracks: 'Walking In The Park With Eloise', 'Bridge On The River Suite' and 'Sally G'. 14 tracks total. 1993 EMI release. The original album was released on EMI/ Parlophone. Album Description
The most popular Wings' lineup makes mid-'70s pop, with many pretty but somewhat forgettable songs. Unique to this album is that everyone in the band sings a lead--even the drummer, Joe English, and Linda, to mixed effect.
The two huge singles (Let 'Em In and Silly Love Songs) are just as annoying as you remember them, good examples of Paul's sometimes poor ability to be more self-critical.
On this disc are three bonus cuts, including a catchy and credible country tune, Sally G.
If you like Paul, this is a must-have.
September 12, 2008This is one of Sir Paul's weakest albums, in fact, of his 70's albums only Red Rose Speedway & Wildlife are weaker. The CD includes the hit "Let 'Em In" which is one of his WORST songs. I would bet that at sometime John Lennon swore that McCartney would write a song about someone knocking on the door! The CD also has the hit "Silly Love Songs" which might be schmaltzy but is a good song nonetheless. It contains one of his greatest bass lines. Of the remaining songs I'm impressed with "Beware My Love" & "Wino Junko". The latter song was composed by his lead guitarist Jimmy McCulloch who also does the lead vocal.
The worst song on the CD is "Cook of the House", vocal by Linda. This is one song that should have never been recorded. There's a Denny Laine composition "Time to Hide" that's okay. The drummer Joe English does the vocal on the McCartney composition "Must Do Something About It"; the vocal is pretty good, it's the song that's weak. There are also three bonus tracks that are "Walking in the Park With Eloise" (an instrumental written by Sir Paul's father James), "Bridge on the River Suite" (another instrumental written by Sir Paul that is light jazz!) & "Sally G" (a country song).
Proceed at your own risk unless you're a serious Paul McCartney fan.
February 21, 2008I owned this record as a teenager and haven't heard it in a long time. It was like becoming reacquainted with an old friend. Hadn't heard a lot of these songs in years. Brought back a lot of memories. I think this is the only album where the members of WINGS actually sing lead vocals. I enjoy the diversity.
July 18, 2007As with many Macca albums, this is patchy. There are fantastic songs, such as 'warm and beautiful', a gorgeous piano ballad. 'Let em in' is just genius. Catchy and original. 'Silly love songs' has received much flack, but is a clever soft rock song, with a great driving bass line. 'Beware my love' is the only rock song on here. It is very good, except Linda is doing out of tune harmony vocals, that really take away from the main melody. Linda also sings lead on 'cook of the house', and this has to be the most dire recording in the Macca catalogue. She is out of tune, the melody is non existent and the lyrics are awful. I also find Denny's 'Time to hide' tuneless and boring. It is a hit and miss album.
October 7, 2006 |  | The bass player in this band is sick! |  |
1976's "Wings at the Speed of Sound" displays a McCartney who is experimenting with new sounds as he always had; in this case, one of the new sounds is disco. The fact that there is virtually no hard rock pretense on this album rubbed a lot of narrow minded rock critics the wrong way. These are the sort of people who don't find any value in a Burt Bacharach composition. Even the rocking "Beware My Love" is more a rock/disco hybrid; sort of Paul's punchy answer to Donna Summer's "Could It Be Magic". The pop side of McCartney was just as honest a part of him as the rock side. And "Speed of Sound" is far more honest in its disco influence than any of the songs rock acts put out post-Saturday Night Fever, in which they threw on generic disco bass just to score a quick hit. Every bass line on this album is pure McCartney, which brings us to "Silly Love Songs". The one thing that everyone compliments "Silly Love Songs" on is Paul's superb and funky bass-line. Yet, so many critics want to still dismiss the song. It goes to show you, how underappreciated bass is as an instrument. The bass is the driving instrument here; it's the main hook. Saying you like the bass on "Silly Love Songs" but not the song is like saying you like the guitar on "Foxy Lady" but not the song. And I think it's more disingenuous of an artist to embellish a mid-tempo rock song with a timely bass-line (like The Stones did with "Miss You", when they clearly didn't dig disco), than a musically eclectic artist like Paul McCartney, who whole-heartedly embraces the many aspects of the music while gifting it with individualistic touches. Paul experimented with disco bass and took it to a new place; he had already created the standard disco bass-line back on "1985" (the last track on "Band on the Run"). That song was released in 1973, before anyone even heard of disco, yet Paul is already groovin' to that beat. Paul plays up the funky side of his bass playing throughout "Speed of Sound". Even a bit in his song writing; "She's My Baby" sounds like the kind of easy-funk Stevie Wonder knocked out. And what's wrong with Linda's vocals on "Cook of the House"? It's just a fun novelty song and her singing suits it. If she was the keyboardist in some punk or indi-rock band, no one would complain about her limited range. And yes, this is the Wings' album that has a lot of songs from the other Wings guys. But don't believe the hype; they're not the best songs, but neither are they crap. All the songs are pretty tuneful. "The Note You Never Wrote" (sung by Denny Laine, but written by McCartney) is especially nice with a stark and moving production. "Wings at the Speed of Sound" isn't going to rock your world; it's just an enjoyable, top-notch, musically impressive pop record. And what's wrong with that?
December 18, 2005More reviews at Amazon.com ...
(27 reviews)
