REVIEW: 'Band on the Run' remastered

Photo by Linda McCartney

The deluxe edition of the reissue of "Band On the Run" is lavish.

Complete with four CDs, the content is enough to keep any Paul McCartney mega-fan occupied for weeks.

The first CD provides the original nine tracks from the 1973 album, but remastered in Abbey Road Studios for an extra sense of clarity. The crisp quality may lack the personality - and the added hisses and pops - of a vinyl record, but it's a fair trade to feel like Paul, Linda McCartney and Denny Laine are jamming right next to you.

The second CD features nine more tracks, bonus audio chock-full of raw vocals and roaring guitar licks. The album kicks off with "Helen Wheels/Country Dreamer," a nice single worthy of double A-sides. But after that comes the real treasure: Seven live tracks from the "One Hand Clapping" movie, shot live in the EMI studios in the fall of 1974. A goosebumps-inducing version of "Nineteen Hundred And Eighty Five" manifests with Paul at the piano for the first half of the song, and roaring through the lyrics during the next half, not forgetting to stop for a puff of a cigarette (see screenshot).

The DVD is a mixed bag - nearly 85 minutes of rare footage, classic music videos and the aforementioned "One Hand Clapping" film.

The footage begins with a 15-minute clip of the making of the "Band on the Run" album cover and, consequently, the band actually posing for the picture (see screenshot). This footage had previously been shown on big screens during McCartney's performance on the title track on his "Up and Coming" tour.

Following the cover shoot is three minutes of Wings in Lagos, where the album was recorded. The home movies offer a behind-the-scenes perspective at the then family of five. The clips are dubbed over with an Eastern-style version of "Band on the Run." The transformation makes the tune sound like a completely different song.

Best of all, however, is the 50-minute "One Hand Clapping" movie, which had never been released on DVD before. Aside from the album tracks, the film includes "Soily," "Little Woman Love," "C Moon" and "I'll Give You a Ring." The video quality is not always great, but it's easily overlooked in exchange for the intimate, uncut portrayal of McCartney.

I have seen Paul McCartney in concert seven times within the past year or so and, generally within the first half of the show, he plays mostly Wings or solo music, including five of the nine original "Band on the Run" tracks.

Particularly, when he played "Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five," the emotion seeped through his fingers and onto the piano keys. My favorite memory is of that song. Of course, aside from being on stage, hugging Paul McCartney.


Take a virtual tour of "Band on the Run" [Deluxe Edition]: