Venus and Mars by Wings (Paul McCartney) Album Review

The album starts off with the slow title track, “Venus and Mars.” The song is short but it soon bleeds into the upbeat “Rock Show,” which is about five and a half minutes, while the first track was only one. About half way into the “Rock Show”, there is a strange (yet strange is something normal for anyone who was in The Beatles) spoken part by McCartney. After this ends, the song goes back to a fast paced song, which also had a live Wings concert film of the same name. The song starts to fade out. The next track, “Love In Song” is a quiet ballad. Paul’s sorrowful song is simple yet powerful. Next, the song after this begins with someone in the studio coughing. Then, we hear a happy short piano solo. “You Gave Me The Answer” is a much more positive love song than its predecessor on the album. The track has a sort of old fashioned feel to it. “Magneto And Titanium” is oddly partially spoken, with electric piano in the background. The song, based on comic book characters, seems to be, well, about the characters. After this, we hear “Letting Go”, which begins with a guitar riff from ex- Moody Blues member Denny Laine. This instrumental part lasts for roughly the first forty seconds of the song. Overall, this appears to be a fairly boring, yet not horrible, song, though the occasional trumpet is heard. It is somewhat dull, though I have heard much worse from McCartney (Ob-la-di Ob-la-da). A final note on “Letting Go”, again, this is by no means a bad song, but it is just so long, even though it is only four minutes. I would give the first half of this album a 7.5/10. The album’s second half kicks off with a reprise of “Venus and Mars”, though weirdly enough, it’s longer than the original. This version features more vocals than the first. “Spirits Of Ancient Egypt” is the first, and only, song on the album with lead vocals by Denny Laine. For some part, this seems to be a very bluesy song, but at times it can be psychedelic. Up next is the only song on the album song by Jimmy McCulloch. “Medicine Jar” reminds me of Pink Floyd’s “Money” to some extent. “Call Me Back Again” like a few other songs on the album, has obvious blues roots, with some jazz, too. The next song is probably one of the most well known songs off of Venus And Mars. “Listen To What The Man Said” was the first single from the album. This fast paced, upbeat hit, again has various jazz instruments on it. The final song on the album (not including the instrumental “Crossroads Theme” which finishes up the album) is titled “Treat Her Gently - Lonely Old People.” This song features piano from the infamously multi-instrumental Paul McCartney. The second half of this album gets a 8/10, while the entire album of Venus and Mars would get a 7.5/10.