This deluxe edition of BAND ON THE RUN contains the original album with superbly remastered sound, a detailed booklet, and a bonus disc that features dialogue from and interviews with the band, as well as some live recordings and alternate takes of songs from the album. Includes original album artwork, song lyrics, and a color photo insert in a deluxe slipcase.

Paul McCartney & Wings: Paul McCartney (vocals, guitar, keyboards, bass instrument, drums); Denny Laine (guitar, percussion, background vocals); Linda McCartney (keyboards, background vocals).

Additional personnel: Howie Casey (saxophone).

Neither the dippy, rustic Wild Life nor the slick AOR flourishes of Red Rose Speedway earned Paul McCartney much respect, so he made the self-consciously ambitious Band on the Run to rebuke his critics. On the surface, Band on the Run appears to be constructed as a song cycle in the vein of Abbey Road, but subsequent listens reveal that the only similarities the two albums share are simply superficial. McCartney's talent for songcraft and nuanced arrangements is in ample display throughout the record, which makes many of the songs -- including the nonsensical title track -- sound more substantial than they actually are. While a handful of the songs are excellent -- the surging, inspired surrealism of "Jet" is by far one of his best solo recordings, "Bluebird" is sunny acoustic pop, and "Helen Wheels" captures McCartney rocking with abandon -- most of the songs are more style than substance. Yet McCartney's melodies are more consistent than any of his previous solo records, and there are no throwaways; the songs just happen to be not very good. Still, the record is enjoyable, whether it's the minor-key "Mrs. Vandebilt" or "Let Me Roll It," a silly response to John Lennon's "How Do You Sleep?," which does make Band on the Run one of McCartney's finest solo efforts. However, there's little of real substance on the record. No matter how elaborate the production is, or how cleverly his mini-suites are constructed, Band on the Run is nothing more than a triumph of showmanship. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

BAND ON THE RUN is generally considered Paul McCartney's strongest solo effort. The album was also his most commercially successful--selling well and spawning two hit singles, the multi-part pop suite of the title track, and the roaring rocker "Jet." On these cuts, and elsewhere, McCartney's penchant for sophisticated, nuanced arrangements and irrepressibly catchy melodic hooks is up to the caliber he displayed in the Beatles, far surpassing the first two Wings releases WILDLIFE and RED ROSE SPEEDWAY.

The focus found in BAND ON THE RUN may have to do with the circumstances of its creation: Two former members quit the band prior to recording, leaving McCartney, wife Linda, and guitarist Denny Laine to complete the album alone (with Paul writing, producing, and playing most of the instruments himself). The album has the majestic, orchestral sweep of McCartney's ABBEY ROAD-era ambition, with a wide range of style-dabbling, from the swaying, acoustic jazz-pop of "Bluebird" to the appealing, straightforward rock of "Helen Wheels" to the wiry blues of "Let Me Roll It" to the swaying, one-off pub singalong "Picasso's Last Words (Drink to Me)"). Though it lacks the emotional resonance of contemporaneous releases by John Lennon and George Harrison, McCartney's infallible instinct for pop craft overflows on this excellent release.

Q (6/00, p.64) - Ranked #75 in Q's "100 Greatest British Albums" - "...A joyous, moving, occasionally daft album, a transatlantic chart-topper which sold over 6 million..."

CMJ (3/20/00, p.28) - "...Even Lennon once called it 'a great album'. Its multi-faceted big-band rock has withstood the test of time, posturing firm like an iceberg of creative brilliance..."

Mojo (Publisher) (7/01, p.64) - "...Acclaimed as Wings' finest...and the title track is unquestionably fine..."