Wings – Wings at the Speed of Sound Review

At their most commercially successful, Wings were their absolute worst. John Lennon may have hit out at Paul McCartney for the latter’s necessary writing, the churn of pop music, but it never rang true until Wings at the Speed of Sound. A lopsided project which has a few moments of interest, but the bulk of it is dead on arrival. Decades on and it still sounds relatively loose and tame compared to the efforts McCartney, along with Linda McCartney and Denny Laine, had offered listeners. Band on the Run is very much the peak of the group’s artistic credibility, but that is not to say they did not offer similar, extraordinary experiences later in their discography. Back to the Egg does what Wings at the Speed of Sound cannot, conjure fun from light thrills and loved-up lyricism. This is McCartney offering the group a chance to sound off, and what a mistake it turns out to be. 

Credit where it is due, McCartney was not wanting to be the core source of instrumental and lyrical appeal. Advertising yourself as Paul McCartney and Wings for the first few years does not help the cause, but he looks to right this on Wings at the Speed of Sound. The ever-changing Wings collective is given new opportunities to express their artistic credibility, but each of them wasted. From the postcode lottery song to the miserably dense Cook of the House, each song relates to domesticity. Nothing new for McCartney, whose Ram release found brilliant comfort in sharp assessments of romance, in intimacy. Wings at the Speed of Sound does not have that. McCartney sounds sluggish at times on Wings at the Speed of Sound. Even his lowest solo pop efforts had a kick, an energy to them, which many of the songs here are lacking.  

Even the jolliest moments of this Wings release feel washed out of their vibrancy. That feeling was easy to find on preceding releases because McCartney is the core of that creative process. Here, the band tries to deal out a darker sound, a story-driven, mellow pop sound on The Note You Never Wrote remains likeable but unconvincing. Denny Laine has a nice voice, not strong enough to receive the torch passed on by McCartney, but nice enough. The same cannot be said for Wino Junko or Must Do Something About It. Those vocal workings from Jimmy McCulloch and Joe English respectively, are no shade close to what McCartney would offer the band. The Wings frontman feels like a spare part in his own band here, and it is the major reason Wings at the Speed of Sound feels so lopsided. There is no consistency for what barebones theme can be presented, and it stunts the tempo, the lighter sound is not strong enough to survive these changing parts.  

Wings at the Speed of Sound does hold some moments of sincerity, though. Beware My Love is the heavier vocal rock McCartney had shown he was competent at making, while Warm and Beautiful is a suitable album closer that makes up for the filler of the B-side. Beware My Love is certainly a standout, and while Let ‘Em In may be the popular choice given its release as a single, there is little else worth listening to on Wings at the Speed of Sound. Very, very light listening for the days when an album with more depth would prove too taxing for a mind suffering a heatstroke, hangover, or both. McCartney would specialise in this floaty, friendly sound for the decade of pop-chasing changes, but it would sound a little more compact than it does on Wings at the Speed of Sound.