Venus and Mars [Bonus Tracks] by Wings (Paul McCartney)

Pros: Arguably, Paul's best effort with his band Wings, good DTS surround.
Cons: Sometimes the DTS, mostly Geoff Emerick's poor judgements

This CD is easily one of Paul McCartney's most commercial releases in the 1970s as a whole. Yet, it only spawned one top ten hit, compared to a much less mainstream effort like Band On The Run which had two top ten hits. I would say that at ...

Pros: A very solid solo album from McCartney
Cons: Some teeth-gritting moments

One knock on Paul McCartney has always been that he tends to dive into schmaltzy territory far too often. That tendency haunted him throughout his career with the Beatles, but John Lennon was usually on hand to allow him to wallow in sappy sentimentality ...

Pros: Yeah, pretty much everything except for...
Cons: ...one stinker on the original album and some lame bonus tracks.

Following up something like Band on the Run must have proved to be quite the challenge for Paul McCartney but even if its follow up, Venus and Mars, never managed to reach the same level on consistency, it lives up to its predecessor both by rocking ...

Pros: Solid through and through with several great cuts
Cons: The three bonus tracks don't add a lot and are out of place

So what do you do when you’re the most famous music star in the world?

Paul McCartney followed his Beatles years with four studio albums in the period from 1970 to 1973. The initial result was somewhat lackluster from critics and fans...

Pros: Good songs are from Mars
Cons: Bad songs are from Venus

This album encapsulates what frustrated many critics and fans when it came to Paul McCartney's output with Wings. Its a mixed bag of tepid love songs, novelty tunes that have no place on a rock record, and some really strong rock'n'roll tunes. ...

Pros: Paul's bass. Jimmy McCulloch's lead guitar.
Cons: Only that it's now a "forgotten" gem in the McCartney catalog.

Critic's acclaim for McCartney's solo career usually begins and ends with "Band on the Run". Oh sure, here and there you'll find a smattering of applause for, say, "Ram" (excellent album!), "Tug of War", or "Flaming Pie." "Venus and Mars"? Usually not...

Pros: Classic music, a few nice surround mix moments
Cons: Tragic equalisation, muddy drums, over-worked and unnecessary channel panning

It was with great anticipation that I bought this DTS disc, and having been obviously spolied with quite a few other DVD-A, SACD and DTS discs from other artists, I was APPALLED at this travesty. Now, I've always loved this album. But from a mix point ...