This year it's the Wings canon that's receiving Sir Macca's attention. This collection of choice moments proceeds the full-on box set 'everything but the kitchen sink' treatment, scheduled to arrive later in the year.
'Wingspan' is divided into two albums - 'Hits' and 'History'. 'Hits' features the chart-toppers while 'History' delves into Sir Paul's personal favourites from the archives. Conveniently ignoring the fact that several tracks on both albums were actually recorded and released under the McCartney banner alone, both before and after Wings, the song selection is a pretty good representation of McCartney 1970-1984.
Both albums are non-chronological, so 'Hits' kicks off with the up-tempo strum and manic sax of 'Listen To What The Man Said'. 'Band On The Run' follows, featuring possibly the single greatest moment of McCartney's solo oeuvre, the mid-section orchestral overload signifying the band's break for freedom, which still sounds thrilling today.
The rest of the album is a mixture of the bold and the bland. 'Another Day' is a pleasant enough tale of domesticity, 'Live And Let Die' and 'Jet' are still strong rockers, while 'My Love' is still maudlin MOR mush. Good to see the silly glam stomp of 'Hi Hi Hi' and the classy rocker 'Junior's Farm' restored to their places in the McCartney catalogue although there's still no place for 'Give Ireland Back To The Irish' and (thankfully) 'Mary Had A Little Lamb'.
'History' rounds up the lesser-known hits - the passionate 'Maybe I'm Amazed', the daft 'Helen Wheels', the rip-roaring 'Take It Away', the dream-like 'Waterfalls' - as well as providing an insight into what Macca himself considers his best work.
There are riches to be uncovered among the album tracks - the stark supposed Lennon put-down, 'Let Me Roll It', which sounds like a 60s throwback with its echoey vocals and accompanying organ, and the gentle 'Bluebird', to name two more famous examples. The solo tracks 'Every Night', 'Junk', 'Heart Of The Country' and 'The Back Seat Of My Car' triumph in their love of the ordinary, avoiding the big gesture bombast of 'No More Lonely Nights' or the throwaway silliness of 'Man We Was Lonely', 'Venus And Mars/Rockshow' and 'Rockestra'.
Although the track selection is erratic and inconsistent, that's entirely in keeping with McCartney post-Beatles, a frustrating performer who could turn out songwriting gems at will, yet who indulged his personal whims far too often - lest we forget the cover of the theme from TV soap Crossroads - to leave a legacy as powerful as his work of the 1960s.
Having said that, of course, eclipsing The Beatles was never on the agenda. And, in striving for his own identity, McCartney certainly provided more than a few great moments, most of which are found on 'Wingspan'. It's just a pity his recording profligacy couldn't have been curbed once in a while, to leave him with a solo reputation a man of his achievements merits.
