Wings - Greatest Hits

International edition of this collection originally released in 1978 (domestic version is long out-of-print) after London Town gave McCartney another huge hit, Wings Greatest rounds up McCartney's greatest hits from 1971 to 1978 which means it skips 'Maybe I'm Amazed' but touches on Ram. The main strength of this collection is that it contains many hits that never appeared on any album, and these are among McCartney's very best solo singles, the eccentric domesticity of 'Another Day', 'Junior's Farm', the Bond anthem 'Live and Let Die', the pile driving 'Hi Hi Hi', and 'Mull of Kintyre', a Scottish-styled folk ballad that was his biggest hit in England. And yes, it's fair to peg these as McCartney successes, since some of them were billed as McCartney, not Wings, and as such, this record is a great overview of McCartney's first decade of solo recording, containing many of his very best solo tunes. EMI.

Paul McCartney might not have been the coolest or most cosmic ex-Beatle, but none of his former bandmates could touch his knack for creating perfect pop singles. Say what you will about their "lack of depth," but the 12 songs on Wings Greatest considerably brightened AM radio playlists during the 1970s, and most of them have actually improved with age. Wings' pure rock power is ably represented by "Band On the Run," "Hi Hi Hi," "Jet," "Live and Let Die" and the underrated non-LP single "Junior's Farm," all of which positively explode from the speakers. Paul's gooey streak shows up on "My Love," "Silly Love Songs," and the bagpipe-infused "Mull of Kintyre," but only "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" still contains a high cringe quotient. Some key tracks are missing--most notably "Maybe I'm Amazed" and "Venus and Mars/Rock Show"--but Wings Greatest is still a thrilling document of Macca at the peak of his pop abilities. --Dan Epstein