Wingspan Hits And History [Original recording remastered, Best of]

The first CD consists mostly of the songs I remember hearing on the radio in the 1970s. There are fantastic songs such as "Listen To What The Man Said," "Silly Love Songs," and "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey." The listener also has the beautifully mellow "Mull Of Kintyre" paired up with the ever so aggressive "Live And Let Die" from a James Bond movie.

The second CD offers the beautiful "The Lovely Linda," "Maybe I'm Amazed," and "Venus and Mars/Rockshow" (from the album Venus and Mars).

Overall, this is an excellent retrospective for the newcomer or casual fan who wants to hear more of Paul's work or have a small encapsulation of his work with his peers. However, as many other reviewers have noted, even a relative newcomer like myself knows that there can be no way that 2 CDs alone can TRULY be a thorough retrospective of what Paul and the other great artists together have produced. Thus a complete retrospective this is not. Because I can't give 4  stars I give this 2 CD set 4 stars and hope along with many others that a FULL set of Paul's work is released for his fans soon!

This two-cd set's release, launched by a highly publicized and highly forgotten ABC interview with his daughter Mary, sold more due to hype than actual content. Sure, you get all the hits, but I have yet to meet a McCartney fan that likes all of his hits. He's just too broadscale to appeal to everyone in the same way. For instance, I don't care if I never hear the lounge lizard stylings of "Goodnight Tonight" or the aggrivatingly hoarse yelping of "Coming Up" ever again. Some people probably can't stand "Silly Love Songs" or "My Love," so I'll like both for them.

Now, certainly, I'm pleased with this collection in general, but I don't understand the inclusion of boring "Waterfalls" or the awful remix of "No More Lonely Nights." I do love that he included my favorite of all his songs, the beautifully jazzy "Take it Away" and the great Smokey Robinson flavored "Girlfriend." What's missing here, though, is a lot of great material that can't be covered by a two-disc compilation. I would love to see great songs on here like "Arrow Through Me," "Baby's Request," "Only Love Remains," "Ballroom Dancing," and "Somebody Who Cares." There are more that I can't think of right now, but other people have their favorites as well that have nothing to do with mine.

Yes, this is a good collection for all practical purposes, but I think I speak for lots of Macca fans when I say we want more.
Since he took liberties and included material that had nothing to do with Wings, is it asking too much for his next collection to include twice as many cd's? In the meantime, get yourself a copy of his 1982 album Tug of War and hear what a very nearly perfect McCartney disc is all about.