'Band on the Run' is the Best Beatles Solo Album
It’s really quite fascinating, really, how Band on the Run became such a smash hit. Yes, of course, Sir Paul McCartney—a quarter of the greatest band in music history—is at the helm, but, before December 1973, that type of leadership on a solo quest didn’t always equate to a stroke of brilliance for the Fab Four. Just look at John Lennon’s Two Virgins or Mind Games, or George Harrison’s Electronic Sound, Ringo Starr’s Beaucoups of Blues or, even, McCartney’s first Wings album, Wild Life. In fact, that first handful of years after their breakup in the spring of 1970, the Beatles each took a bit to get their footing—well, except for Harrison, whose All Things Must Pass was an aces source of mastery composed largely of tracks he was never given the green light to put on a Beatles record when they were still together.
Band on the Run, though—not Ringo or All Things Must Pass or John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band—is the greatest Beatles solo album ever put together and, just perhaps, the greatest Beatles album ever. I say this knowing full well that virtually no one will agree with me. This is a cross I’ve made peace with bearing. If you are familiar with my writing, you are likely aware that I am a staunch McCartney stumper (I do have a tattoo of the “cute one” on my leg, afterall). Even when he released the career-low Egypt Station just a few years ago, I was one of the few listeners who came out of the woodwork to say that “Fuh You” is actually good. It’s a disease to awe over the work of one man so much, and the original title of this essay was going to be something along the lines of “Band on the Run is the Best Beatles Album of All Time.” I actually don’t think it’s a tight race, either. All Things Must Pass makes it interesting but, ultimately, falls short on account of it being a double-album when it could’ve (and should’ve) been a single LP.
Source: pastemagazine.com
