Track Listing

1. Let 'Em In
2. Note You Never Wrote
3. She's My Baby
4. Beware My Love
5. Wino Junko
6. Silly Love Songs
7. Cook of the House
8. Time to Hide
9. Must Do Something About It
10. San Ferry Anne
11. Warm and Beautiful

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #19495 in Music
• Released on: 1993-06-08
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Import, Original recording remastered
• Dimensions: .19 pounds

Album Description
Digitally remastered reissue of their hit 1976 album, which spent seven consecutive weeks at #1! Features the #1 smash 'Silly Love Songs' and the #3 'Let 'Em In', plus three bonustracks: 'Walking In The Park With Eloise', 'Bridge On The River Suite' and 'Sally G'. 14 tracks total. 1993 EMI release. The original album was released on EMI/ Parlophone.

Customer Reviews

Digitally Remastered, not improved?
For some reason, most of the 1970-1990 McCartney/Wings catalogue is now available in two versions: the Capitol CDs and the British remastered "McCartney Collection".

The British CD's offer, in many cases, more bonus tracks than the Capitol CD's, on this release they are the same though. Why not include Junior's Farm???

The remastering of the British series is, to my ears, NOT a bonus. The signal has been compressed in such a way, that the average level is louder than on the Capitol CD's, although the peaks are not. The balance has changed: low frequencies have been boosted, resulting in a somewhat muddy sound and a less focused midrange. This has also affected the stereo image. To me, the Capitol CDs are sonically superior and closer to the original LPs.

I found the remastered sound a disappointment, not doing justice to the obvious care that went into the original production!

The bass player in this band is sick!
1976's "Wings at the Speed of Sound" displays a McCartney who is experimenting with new sounds as he always had; in this case, one of the new sounds is disco. The fact that there is virtually no hard rock pretense on this album rubbed a lot of narrow minded rock critics the wrong way. These are the sort of people who don't find any value in a Burt Bacharach composition. Even the rocking "Beware My Love" is more a rock/disco hybrid; sort of Paul's punchy answer to Donna Summer's "Could It Be Magic". The pop side of McCartney was just as honest a part of him as the rock side. And "Speed of Sound" is far more honest in its disco influence than any of the songs rock acts put out post-Saturday Night Fever, in which they threw on generic disco bass just to score a quick hit. Every bass line on this album is pure McCartney, which brings us to "Silly Love Songs". The one thing that everyone compliments "Silly Love Songs" on is Paul's superb and funky bass-line. Yet, so many critics want to still dismiss the song. It goes to show you, how underappreciated bass is as an instrument. The bass is the driving instrument here; it's the main hook. Saying you like the bass on "Silly Love Songs" but not the song is like saying you like the guitar on "Foxy Lady" but not the song. And I think it's more disingenuous of an artist to embellish a mid-tempo rock song with a timely bass-line (like The Stones did with "Miss You", when they clearly didn't dig disco), than a musically eclectic artist like Paul McCartney, who whole-heartedly embraces the many aspects of the music while gifting it with individualistic touches. Paul experimented with disco bass and took it to a new place; he had already created the standard disco bass-line back on "1985" (the last track on "Band on the Run"). That song was released in 1973, before anyone even heard of disco, yet Paul is already groovin' to that beat. Paul plays up the funky side of his bass playing throughout "Speed of Sound". Even a bit in his song writing; "She's My Baby" sounds like the kind of easy-funk Stevie Wonder knocked out. And what's wrong with Linda's vocals on "Cook of the House"? It's just a fun novelty song and her singing suits it. If she was the keyboardist in some punk or indi-rock band, no one would complain about her limited range. And yes, this is the Wings' album that has a lot of songs from the other Wings guys. But don't believe the hype; they're not the best songs, but neither are they crap. All the songs are pretty tuneful. "The Note You Never Wrote" (sung by Denny Laine, but written by McCartney) is especially nice with a stark and moving production. "Wings at the Speed of Sound" isn't going to rock your world; it's just an enjoyable, top-notch, musically impressive pop record. And what's wrong with that?

The hipsters are finally coming around
(3 1/2 stars of 5)

For years I have heard/been told to avoid AT THE SPEED OF SOUND, because, afterall, McCartney actually 'allowed' the other members of Wings proper to have space on the album. I'm kicking myself for being so easily duped by those supposedly 'in the know.'

First and foremost, this is not a McCartney masterpiece, like RAM is, or BAND ON THE RUN, or FLOWERS IN THE DIRT, or McCARTNEY, or CHAOS AND CREATION IN THE BACKYARD or VENUS AND MARS. No, the lyrics are not as relevant as those aforementioned albums, and yes, other members of Wings get the spotlight, but in the end, AT THE SPEED OF SOUND is thoroughly enjoyable taken on its own merits.

There are several hidden and long lost McCartney gems found here. It's a sin that the absolutely rocking, throaty and gutsy "Beware My Love" has been forgotten by Paul when it comes time for things like the WINGSPAN album, which looks back at old career highlights. "Warm and Beautiful" is a melancholy McCartney ballad that ranks up there with his best '70s work, and I defy anyway to not listen to "She's My Baby" and not have it in your head for the next week or so.

Elsewhere, I really enjoyed the contributions of the other Wings members. Linda McCartney is quite enjoyable on the appealing "Cook of the House," where you can tell that Paul is playing upright bass. Take it for what it's meant to be, and it's great. Longtime Wings member Denny Laine shines here too, on the rocker "Time to Hide" and McCartney's own "The Note You Never Wrote", both of which I play just as much as the McCartney-sung tracks found on this album. Drummer Joe English surprisingly shows he's the second best singer in Wings with the very cool "Must Do Something About It" (also written by Paul), and Jimmy McCulloch contributes the airy and still fresh sounding "Wino Junko."

After all the years of being told to avoid this album, I should have looked at the facts. It was a #1 album for a very long time in 1976, sold loads of copies, and had two huge #1 singles in "Silly Love Songs" and "Let 'Em In." Only recently have I really appreciated the value of these two singles in the McCartney cannon. The latter song is just really cool---sublime and addictive in its presentation. And Paul's right...what exactly is wrong with a silly love song or two? "Silly Love Songs" is great based on the fact alone that it's Paul shouting out a big "F... you" to the critics (not literally, but you know what I mean.) I'll say this---these two singles hold up way better than anything John Lennon did after the IMAGINE album, and I go back to this Wings album more than, say, John's WALLS AND BRIDGES. So yeah, it's nice to see (from reading articles on the internet and overall chatter amongst those rediscovering the solo work of the individual Beatles) that the so-called hipsters are finally coming around to this album and some other forgotten McCartney works (like RED ROSE SPEEDWAY, which I just rediscovered myself).

Taken on its own merits, AT THE SPEED OF SOUND is highly enjoyable and well worth the money. Another highlight is the fact that Paul's awesome bass work is mixed pretty well up to the front on these tracks, and it really adds to the overall punch of the album. Bonus track "Sally G" (the b-side to the hit Wings single "Junior's Farm") is yet another long lost McCartney classic, increasing the value of this purchase.