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The McCartney Years

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Editorial Review:

Studio: Wea-des Moines Video Release Date: 11/13/2007 Run time: 266 minutes

It's rather incredible to ponder the fact that with the release of The McCartney Years in late 2007, Paul McCartney has now been making recordings in various mediums for the better part of 40 years--and that's not even including the decade he spent as a member of the world's greatest band. And while some may quibble about certain details of the content and presentation, this three-disc set, packed with videos, concert footage, interviews, documentaries, and more, will surely satisfy the vast majority of Sir Paul's loyal subjects. The dozens of videos, occupying the first two discs and spanning the years from 1970 ("Maybe I'm Amazed," ten years before the emergence of MTV) to 2005 ("Fine Line"), can be viewed in either chronological order or as programmed by Macca himself. Ranging from straight lip-synced performances to various conceptual films, they are a decidedly mixed bag. In some cases (e.g. "London Town"), the songs are superior to the clips, while in others, the reverse is true ("Coming Up," a lightweight tune but a delightful video in which McCartney portrays everyone from Buddy Holly to Sparks keyboardist Ron Mael). Sometimes both the song and the video are terrific ("Take it Away" features Ringo Starr on drums, producer George Martin on piano, and a cameo by actor John Hurt; "Band on the Run," a creative pastiche of photos, film effects, and other media, suggests that the band in question was the Beatles, not Wings), while some fail on both counts (John Lennon might have had the likes of "C-Moon" in mind when he referred to McCartney's '70s output as "all pizza and fairytales"). Of the three concerts included on Volume Three, the best (and shortest) comes from a 1991 Unplugged show and features lovely versions of "Every Night" and "And I Love Her"; Rockshow spotlights Wings on tour in '76, and the 2004 gig in Glastonbury, England features McCartney's excellent current band (a good show, but the playlist isn't nearly as adventurous as, say, 2005's Live in Red Square). Extras include McCartney's commentary on several of the videos; footage from Live Aid in '85 and the Super Bowl in '02; and, accompanying every DVD menu, various raw and unreleased live and studio performances of obscurities like "Blackpool." The late Linda McCartney is featured throughout, of course, and if The McCartney Years is a de facto tribute to his first wife, as one reviewer has suggested, it's a more than fitting one. --Sam Graham

Customer Reviews:

• Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0

• Very nice, but more could have been great
  This is a very nice 3 DVD set. The music videos are all great to see and hear. Most of them are very nicely reproduced and cleaned up (one or two could have used more). Only a couple of the videos I could live without (the one with Michael Jackson . . . but I just don't like him after the jackson 5, Ebony and Ivory, and London Town) but there are really kewl ones on here. Some of them are Maybe I'm Amazed, Coming Up, No More Lonely Nights, Pipes of Peace, and Fine Line (there are secretly 2 versions of this... more info

• A clear view.
  If you want great resolution, here it is.
  Lots of extras too. Don't expect any
  surprises here, Paul controls the content,
  start to finish.
  The commentaries are still enlightening.

• DVD a must have for McCartney fans
  A very excellent DVD of McCartney, showing live clips of his performances with Wings, and other scenes. The DVD quality is excellent, and it shows the brilliance and sagacious insight of the quality of his music. A must have for all McCartney fans.

• DVD Packaging
  Hi,
  I bought this "new" and sealed from eBay, from a shipper in Thailand, and each of the 3 discs were encased in a sleeve (inside the box) and there was no insert of any kind in the box (i.e. booklet).
  Can anyone confirm if this is the official packaging or some cheap knock-off I bought?

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