Track Listing

1. Venus and Mars
2. Rock Show
3. Love in Song
4. You Gave Me the Answer
5. Magneto and Titanium Man
6. Letting Go
7. Venus and Mars (Reprise)
8. Spirits of Ancient Egypt
9. Medicine Jar
10. Call Me Back Again
11. Listen to What the Man Said
12. Treat Her Gently/Lonely Old People
13. Crossroads

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #56932 in Music
• Released on: 2006-10-17
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.com
Released in the glow of Wings' biggest and best album, Band on the Run, Venus & Mars found Paul McCartney in his element--a working rock star, being screamed at again, cheerfully riding the last rays of his youth. Adulation always brought the best out of him, and Venus & Mars is nearly the equal of its more lauded predecessor. McCartney never strays from his favorite themes (sex, drugs, rock & roll, and marriage), but his confidence is high as he mixes gorgeous, airy production numbers like "Listen to What the Man Said" and "Letting Go" with the ribald and hilarious. "Rock Show" matches the Who's "Long Live Rock" as the finest and funniest of those self-celebratory '70s stomps. McCartney's effortless marshalling of melody and arrangement hoists the blander material out of trouble, and the best stuff's powered by genuine, rediscovered verve. Facile and frivolous, but not at all bad. And their version of the "Crossroads" theme is wicked. --Taylor Parkes

Customer Reviews

What the . . . ?
Look, this album is one of McCartney's unsung masterpieces--frivolous perfection from start to finish, pure candy-coated bliss. But the DTS--who did this thing? For starters, the song order has been shuffled, which wouldn't be an issue on other albums but which matters entirely to this album, which was sequenced with the care of Abbey Road and Dark Side of the Moon, the two albums it directly quotes, both visually and musically. Also, the versions of "Letting Go," which appears as track 3 (why?) and "Rock Show" sound like remixes or something. They're not the album versions, that's for sue. FOr all of that, the album's triumph, the linked pair of "Listen to What the Man Said" and "Treat Her Gently," sounds positively magnificent. The latter track particularly benefits from the 5.1 mix: the orchestra plays throughout here, with luscious harps and cellos buried in the original mix. So a precursor to what we can expect when McCartney himself oversees an SACD remix.

Looking for surround? STAY AWAY
This sounds like an amateur (maybe Paul) mixed it in his basement. A very very sorry DTS recording! Shame on DTS for letting this one out! First he's behind, then for no reason in front, to the sides, awful! Just AWFUL!! Who do they think they are kidding? If you don't believe me, or want just about the worst surround disc ever made, put this high on your list. It's just AWFUL!!

I love McCartney, and this is one fine album, but get the stereo version, this compressed and uneven disc is DOA!!

Skip the DTS version
I won't address the songs themselves, but this DTS version is a novelty item at best. The instruments come through as half bright and half muddy and the DTS recording engineer, no doubt named Todd or Dave, seemed to think it was funny to move the voices around from speaker to speaker to speaker in classic "Hey, watch this; this is cool" mode. Bad call, Ripley. I just hope the remastered CD sounds better than this. I would not buy it again.