[.ca] Wingspan

From Amazon.com:
While his fellow ex-bandmates busied themselves with various high-profile projects (John Lennon with Imagine and a series of high-profile media events; George Harrison with All Things Must Pass and The Concert for Bangla Desh), Paul McCartney climbed into a van with his wife and a few journeyman players and gigged at university student unions for what amounted to spare change. Of course, by 1976 they were one of the biggest draws in rock, having the last laugh--if not necessarily the final word. Gathering the cream of their recorded output on a generous double-disc sampler-cum-TV-special-soundtrack seemed a promising effort at historical revisionism, but Wingspan itself is a distinct misnomer: fully 17 of the 40 tracks here hail from various pre- and post-Wings McCartney solo albums. Completely overlooked are unheralded B-sides such as "Oh Woman, Oh Why," "Little Woman Love," "Country Dreamer," "The Mess," "Walking in the Park with Eloise," "Sally G," and "Girl's School"--some of McCartney the bandleader and solo artist's scrappiest and most interesting work. All the expected hits are here and more, ranging from spunky rockers and hook-rich bubblegum to syrup-drenched ballads. What's lacking is a fresh and less myopic perspective. --Jerry McCulley

Horrible Remastering:
I love the music but the remastering has way way to much high end. Very much like tin. I a-b'd these with the remasterers from the UK and the Gold disc and this set is NOT GOOD. It's so strange that the CD was rematered by Geoff Emerick. Some are barely listenable and painful in headphones. At first I was wondering if I had a deffective one. Again, who could argue withe music but I can't listen to this one. I stick with the originals.

Wingspan: Hits and history:
Okay, so the CD dosn't sound like tin! I own about 30-40 CDs and it has the best sound quality of them all! It is more fun having the actual CDs (Band on the run, McCartney), but this rolls all of the best songs together. It also includes a breif history of Wings, and has a picture album. On disk 2, (History) It has an awsome line up, 1)Let me roll it 2) Lovley Linda 3) Daytime nighttime suffering (Which has good sound quality too) 4) Maybe I'm amazed 5) Helen wheels. If you are thinking about buying it, take my word on it, BUY IT!

Macca's hits, not always his best music:
Serious or even marginally serious McCartney fans will already have all these songs on various other albums and greatest hits packages. But it's convenient to have all of these songs on two CD's, especially if you're listening to the music in a car. It's impossible not to give such wonderful music 5 stars, but there are some serious omissions and problems with this collection. 1. There are seven songs edited for brevity. A casual listener will never notice the changes, but to all of us who grew up in the 70's and memorized every downbeat and nuance, you will most definitely notice. It's very irritating to hear Junior's Farm butchered by more than two minutes and Venus and Mars cut to shreds. There are other glaring examples. As explained on the liner notes, these are the "single edits" released to DJ's of the era, but there's no excuse for these versions appearing on a quasi-offical collection, selected by Paul himself. The playlist contains all of Wings hits and even sneaks in some solo Paul work from the early 80's. Since they include Take it Away and Pipes of Peace, why do they neglect much superior songs from the same years, such as the beautiful Here Today, or Average Person? There are also some curious inclusions which should never have seen the light of the day on a greatest hits package: Bip Bop, Man We Was Lonely and Tomorrow should have been replaced with Sally G., Girls School, I'm Carrying and Nineteen Eighty Five. McCartney fans will always quibble about such things, but rest assured, you'll get your money's worth on this eclectic, fantastic collection. No one in the history of popular music could consistently write so many catchy tunes. If you're new to the solo years of McCartney, this is *the* disc to buy first.

• Listen To What The Man Said
• Band On The Run
• Another Day
• Live And Let Die
• Jet
• My Love
• Silly Love Songs
• Pipes Of Peace
• C Moon
• Hi Hi Hi
• Let 'Em In
• Goodnight Tonight
• Junior's Farm
• Mull of Kintyre
• Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey
• With A Little Luck
• Coming Up
• No More Lonely Nights
• Let Me Roll It
• The Lovely Linda
• Daytime Nightime Suffering
• Maybe I'm Amazed
• Helen Wheels
• Bluebird
• Heart Of The Country
• Every Night
• Take It Away
• Junk
• Man We Was Lonely
• Venus And Mars/Rockshow
• Back Seat Of My Car
• Rockestra Theme
• Girlfriend
• Waterfalls
• Tomorrow
• Too Many People
• Call Me Back Again
• Tug Of War
• Medley: Bip Bop/Hey Diddle/I Am Your Singer
• No More Lonely Nights