Paul McCartney The Boys of Dungeon Lane 2026

 

I haven't seen a Paul McCartney record get this much hype since New, and this is much better than that one. You've probably read enough about it already, but I'm excited about it, so here goes.

There's at least eight very good to great songs here. The opener, As You Lie There, is one of Paul's best songs maybe ever. It's nostalgic, but it rocks, and it's just everything, all at once. Lost Horizon is a good mid-tempo rocker. Days We Left Behind is classic McCartney nostalgia, it's pretty. It's great even if it sounds like McCartney could do this all day. The guy can write a melody. Another decent rocker follows in Ripples In The Pond. The story of Paul and John hitchhiking in Down South is both nostalgic, a fine story, and another excellent McCartney melody. Come Inside is another solid rocker. Home To Us features a duet with Ringo, and it is an irresistible melody again. First Star of the Night is a little of that too sweet Paul, but it scores despite itself. 

I'm not as wild about the end of the record as several other reviewers. There's a good chance you'll like Salesman Saint and Mamma Gets By more than me. There's four others that are at least OK, but let's not put the bar too high. My first three times through it, I was quite happy listening to every song. That doesn't happen all that often. 

My Top Five Paul records: Band On The Run, Chaos and Creation in the Back Yard, Venus and Mars, The Boys of Dungeon Lane, and One Hand Clapping. I really want to love Ram and Wild Life, and I'm working on it. Memory Almost Full and Driving Rain get honorable mention. All this is recent for me. I'm one of those "I gave up on Paul after Venus and Mars" guys Sal at Burning Wood complains about, but I've gone back and explored the whole catalog. 

Both the Wings 2025 compilation and the The 7" Singles 2022 (159 tracks!, including the B sides) will provide endless entertainment and demonstrate how much excellent music Paul McCartney has made.

My friend Sal over at Burning Wood just reviewed this, and so has everyone. Sal's review is well worth checking out.

Paul McCartney Band On The Run (Underdubbed Mixes) 2024, One Hand Clapping 2024

I have an ongoing love/indifference relation ship with Paul McCartney. I think some of his songs are great, and I think much of his music is just OK.

Let me make one thing clear. I'm no Paul denier. First and foremost, if he never wrote a song or played some amazing bass part, he's still worthy of great fame just for his singing. He's a really great singer, right there with, well, anybody. As a bass player he is unique. He played bass with the Beatles like it was another lead instrument, not just foundational. Sure, others have done the same, but there are some McCartney bass lines that it seems no one but he could create. Drive My Car comes to mind, but there are tons of them.

Then there's songwriting, and Paul is a gifted songwriter that leans a bit too far toward the sentimental sometimes. I often think that if he had produced one record every six or seven years, they could have included only his best songs, and every one of them would be untouchable. Of course he'd need a producer to cut the wheat from the chaff, as it were. But if he had done so, his work and reputation would be different from what we have. I haven't listened to some of his records more than once, but again, there's always something there that's darn good. 

We don't need to compare him to Lennon, and as circumstances will have it, that's not very fair. But for all of  Paul's lesser output, there's Some Time In New York City, the most god-awful dreck released by any ex-Beatle. So Paul made some mistakes along the way. And he made some gems. One of those gems would be Band On The Run, regarded by many as the pinnacle of Paul's solo work. I know there are other opinions, but face it, it's in the top three no matter how you cut it.

And that brings us to the recent Paul McCartney releases, both associated with Band On The Run. The first is Band On The Run (Underdubbed Mixes). As fantastic as Band On The Run is, it may be even better stripped of some of it's, well, production. This is a fun listen, and if you love Band On The Run, you should get to hear it. It reveals a lot about the record in some fun and exciting ways, and it strips the veneer off of a record that apparently didn't require it. It is only available in a 2 CD or 2 LP deluxe Band On The Run, or streaming.

Then there is One Hand Clapping. Basically the soundtrack to a "Let It Be" style video of the band, made shortly after the release of Band On The Run, in studio. The recordings are of McCartney and crew playing recent Wings songs, Beatles hits, oldies, and odd covers. The set is just killer. If anybody thought that Wings were not an actual band, and just Paul's boys, this should set the record straight. There are some twee moments, but not many, and there's a lot of rocking. The recording is very good, clear and clean. Like a live recording without an audience. In fact it sounds like a tour rehearsal much of the time, and that's good.

Chaos and Creation in the Backyard may be his strongest recent work, but these gems from the golden days of Wings are great bonbons for his fans.