The 2010 reissue of Band on the Run marks the first in Hear Music/Concord Music Group’s series of deluxe reissues of Paul McCartney’s back catalogue. The packaging of this set is beautiful and recreates the experience of owning the original album. The set comes in a tri-fold cardboard package and contains a booklet with song lyrics and photos, which were part of the original vinyl release, along with a reflective essay by Paul Gambaccini, who had interviewed Macca for Rolling Stone at the time of the album’s original release. The sound is crystal clear but I can’t comment on how this compares to any of the previously issued CD versions of Band on the Run as I never replaced my vinyl version. To provide a frame of reference for the audio purists, the remastering was supervised by the same team who remastered the Beatles catalogue last year.

The first disc of the set is the nine song UK version of Band on the Run. The song “Helen Wheels”, which was always part of the US pressing, has been moved to disc two. The other studio tracks on disc two are the non-LP b-sides “Country Dreamer” (b-side to “Helen Wheels”) and “Zoo Gang” (b-side to “Band on the Run”). The remainder of disc two is comprised of six tracks from Macca’s previously unreleased TV Special “One Hand Clapping” which was filmed live in the studio at Abbey Roads. While it is great to finally see the often bootlegged “One Hand Clapping” get a legitimate release, I would have loved to have seen all fifteen tracks from this session included in the audio portion of this set.

The DVD includes the original pre-MTV music videos for "Band on the Run", “Helen Wheels and “Mamunia”. As a side note, I don’t think I’ve ever seen the “Band on the Run” video prior this release and was intrigued with the use of “Yellow Submarine-ish” Beatles imagery within the video. Also on the DVD is a video promo for the album, silent B&W footage from the recording sessions in Lagos which is backed by an alternate version of “Band on the Run” and the complete “One Hand Clapping” TV Special.

There are a number of different versions of this release which include a 3-CD/1-DVD Deluxe Edition where the additional CD contains an audio documentary originally produced for the album's 25th Anniversary release in 1999. The Deluxe Edition also comes with a 120-page hard-bound containing photos by Linda McCartney and Clive Arrowsmith.



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Paul McCartney