Every Wings Album Ranked From Worst To Best

Backed by Wings Paul McCartney sometimes soared and sometimes fell to Earth.

Paul McCartney Wings
Jim Summaria [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]

The 1970s was a difficult time to be a former Beatle. Each member of the band had successes but they also had various missteps and setbacks.

It’s hard to imagine the pressure. There was still an expectation to deliver Earth shattering masterpieces but they no longer had three freakishly talented mates to help lighten the load.

Paul McCartney responded by trying to go back to basics. He formed a new band with his wife, hopped in a van and toured the nation’s student unions as if trying to build himself up from nothing again.

To his credit he did manage, once again, to drag his new group to chart success, becoming a stadium rock behemoth in the process. That said, it must be a little easier when you’re already a famous millionaire rockstar.

A rotating cast, together in some form or other for nearly a decade, Wings released seven studio albums. Some of them barely sound like the same band. The rough and ready Wildlife is a world away from the careful arrangements and expensive productions on Venus and Mars. Nor is it a case of different but equal. As we’ll soon discover, some Wings are better than others.

7. Wings At The Speed Of Sound

McCartney was determined that Wings At The Speed Of Sound would show Wings off as a real band and not just the backing group/vanity project of a former Beatle. The album featured a songwriting credit and/or lead vocal for every band member. A nice idea in theory but in practice it was a bit of drag for fans who just wanted a collection of new Paul McCartney songs.

Real band or not, if your bassist is established as one of the best songwriters ever and one the world's finest pop vocalists, probably let him write and sing the songs. Paul wrote Hey Jude. Why are you giving up album space for Linda McCartney to warble Cook Of The House complete with the sound of real bacon frying on the backing track?

All that being said, Macca's contributions aren't his best this time around. Songs like She's My Baby or Warm and Beautiful feel strangely flat and uninspired. The only indispensable track here is the clever, self referential Silly Love Songs. The album's other hit, Let 'Em In, is a decent production disguising an empty song.

Contributor
Contributor

Chris Chopping is a writer, YouTuber and stand up comedian. Check out his channel at YouTube.com/c/chrischopping. His dream job would be wrestling Manager and he’s long since stopped reading the comments section.... Follow him @MrChrisChopping on Twitter.