Band On The Run (Coll. Ed) (Rm) [NTSC, Original recording remastered, Special Edition, Import]

There are so many reissues on the market lately and Paul McCartney's "Band On The Run" is one of the latest, being offered in several different combinations. Considering that this was a #1 record breaking album and a real critical and commercial success for McCartney and Wings, it bears to get any great treatment. This version has the original album carefully remastered at Abbey Roads Studios without too much compression and not a complete removal of original album hiss, to truly produce a fine sounding, original recording that comes as close to vinyl as possible.

Although "Band On The Run" and Jet " were chosen for the singles, there is little doubt that every song qualified. Paul Gambaccini provides extensive sleeve notes about the recording including, Paul's history from leaving the Beatles and progressing to this album. Like the songs, this album is an adventure. The liner notes describe which songs were chosen and why, the songs history, the trip to record in Lagos, Nigeria and more. Want to know who those strangers on the cover really re? Paul G. fills you in.

The second CD contains the hit, "Helen Wheels" and "Country Dreamer", all sounding fantastic. The remaining seven songs are from a special called "One Hand Clapping" and although these are live recordings with slightly different arrangements, the sound quality is remarkably good. That brings us to the DVD or `bonus film". Remembering that this audio and video is over twenty-seven years old does not diminish the enjoyment or aesthetic quality. At a running time of 1 hour and 24+, minutes, there is a lot to celebrate. Most of the videos are artistic/psychedelic in nature and surprisingly, not as dated as one would think. Included are song videos, promos and the full version of the special, "One Hand Clapping".

Amazon does not provide all the songs, so here is the set:

Band On The Run (music video)
Muminia (music video)
Album Promo with, `Band On The Run', 'Mr.'s Vandebilt', `Nineteen Hundred And Eighty Five' and `Bluebird'.
Helen Wheels (music video)
Video clip called, "Wings in Lagos" (surreal)
Video history filming of `Osterley Park' (all the album cover members)
The "One Hand Clapping" show including:
`Theme'
`Jet'
`Soily'
`C Moon'
`Little Woman Love'
`Maybe I'm Amazed'
`My Love'
`Bluebird'
`Let's Love'
`I'll Give You A Ring'
`Band On The Run'
`Live And Let Die' (hilariously filmed with an odd orchestra reacting in an irreverent manner)
`Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five'
`Baby-Face'

Of course, all of Linda McCartney's Polaroid snapshots are here looking a bit dated, but still a good account of who was there and what was happening. This collection was a lot more than I expected - it's a deal and an experience!

Band on the run is definitely a collector's item for those of us who enjoyed Paul and Wings as much as the Beatles!

Most people agree that this is a classic rock album, so I'm not going to spend time discussing the music itself. It's been released in various forms so I'll just be discussing this Collector's Edition, with 2 CD's and 1 DVD.

CD 1 is the remastered album; CD 2 is the bonus tracks, also remastered, including the single "Helen Wheels"; the DVD features footage from the album cover photo shoot, some videos for the songs, and a McCartney TV Special from the early 1970's with great footage of Wings rehearsing songs from this album, plus "Live & Let Die" and more... Paul's voice is immaculate, he's at a peak.

In terms of sound quality, the previously remastered version of this CD already sounded very good indeed. This remastering sounds even better.

I received this as a gift. I was hesitant to buy it, as I felt the price was high and I wasn't sure whether I'd like the bonus stuff enough to feel I "need" them. I'm a McCartney fan but I often feel cheated by his releases, and I wasn't willing to gamble.

With regards to this collection, I feel all the songs on the bonus CD could fit onto the main CD, which could help keep the price down. I also feel the only good thing on the DVD was the TV Special. I'd much rather see more footage of Wings, especially in concert (especially Wings Over America, Rockshow Concert For Kampuchea, etc.). This was Paul's peak and the footage exists and some has been previously released on VHS or laser disc, so I was hoping for more of that.

I've seen this go on sale for half price, and I'd recommend it then. If you don't already own "Band on the Run", this is a worthy purchase. Otherwise, only a big Wings fan would want to spend the extra money to upgrade to this version.