Product Description

The work of Paul McCartney presents a quandary to the anthologist--on one hand, it's hard to pick a period of his legendary career that didn't produce something which is now ingrained in our global consciousness. On the other, try fitting any of that onto one, two, or ten CD's and calling it "comprehensive". ALL THE BEST does a great job of narrowing down McCartney's post-Beatles hits, presenting an album of, as thename implies, some of his finest moments, both solo and with Wings.
ALL THE BEST concentrates heavily on Wings material--from the opening, multi-part "Band On The Run" and the energetic "Jet" to the closer, RED ROSE SPEEDWAY's airy, romantic classic "My Love". In between, hits like the epic "Live And Let Die" and the relaxed, charming "Let 'Em In" are nestled alongside solo gems (the sprightly "Coming Up") and superstar collaborations (Michael Jackson co-penned "Say Say Say", Stevie Wonder lent his unique voice to "Ebony And Ivory").

Track Listing

1. Jet
2. Band on the run
3. Coming up
4. Ebony and ivory
5. Listen to what the man said
6. No more lonely nights
7. Silly love songs
8. Let'em in
9. C Moon
10. Pipes of peace
11. Live and let die
12. Another day
13. Once upon a long day
14. Say Say Say
15. My love
16. We all stand together
17. Mull of kintyre

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #16959 in Music
• Released on: 1987-11-02
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
Truth-in-packaging regulations are strained to the breaking point--some previous work with a former band was pretty darn "best" too--but if we're talking about Macca the Singles Artist, this compilation does highlight the many sides of a celebrated melodist, bandleader, and hit-maker--from the banalities of "My Love" to the electrifying buzz of "Jet". It won't win any stylistic cohesion awards, and followers will miss album tracks like "Picasso's Last Words" and "That Would Be Something". But All the Best collects the more popular Wings hits and throws in some necessary rarities ("C-Moon", one of many great B-sides that McCartney has thrown away), star duets (former friend, now-Fabs copyright-holder Michael Jackson on "Say Say Say"; Stevie Wonder on the inevitable "Ebony and Ivory"), live cuts (an un-Chipmunked "Coming Up"), and soundtrack odds and ends, like the freaky Bond theme "Live and Let Die". --Don Harrison

Customer Reviews

All The Best? Not really!
Pro: All the songs you know and love
Con: Misses out 21 years of his career, not a lot of songs on this CD

Don't get me wrong. I have been into Paul McCartney for 20 years now. This album is a great introduction to him and his solo career, but an even better "Best Of" is Wingspan, which was released in 2001. It has more songs on it, and has a few more obscure songs on there. Furthermore, this album was released in 1987, and he has done 21 years of new material since then so you're missing out a sizeable chunk of his career. I do like all the songs on this album, but for me, I feel his best songs are his more obscure ones. My favourite Macca albums, which I will review all of on here over time are: McCartney, Off The Ground, Band On The Run, Flowers In The Dirt and Flaming Pie. Because you can pick these CDs up very cheaply on Amazon, I'd suggest you buy these instead, or if you do only want an overview, then I'd choose Wingspan over this album any time; better value for money as it's a double album.

Summary: For an introduction to Macca's solo career, buy Wingspan instead.

Greatest British hits collection
None of the ex-Beatles achieved the same level of success as solo singers that they had achieved while together but Paul's solo career was very successful by any other standards. Paul recorded mostly ballads but he could rock too, as he showed with songs like Jet and Band on the run.

It is not possible to include all of Paul's hits on a single CD but all the tracks here were British top ten hits. Eleven of them made the UK top three including three number ones (Mull of Kintyre, Pipes of Peace, Ebony and ivory),while others peaked at number two. Uncle Albert / Admiral Halsey topped the American chart but, like Maybe I'm amazed, didn't chart in Britain so isn't included here.

Some UK top ten hits were left out for lack of space, including Mary had a little lamb, With a little luck (a top five UK hit and an American chart-topper), Goodnight tonight, Wonderful Christmastime, Waterfalls and The girl is mine (with Michael Jackson). Also missing are Paul's top twenty UK hits including Give Ireland back to the Irish, Helen wheels, Junior's farm and Take it away.

So it would have been easy to fill a double CD with Paul's hits but his more recent compilation, Wingspan (a double CD) missed that opportunity, instead containing one hits CD and one CD of mostly album tracks with a few hits. Nevertheless, the hits selection on Wingspan is different and the most obvious omissions from this set can be found there.

Of the tracks that are here, my favourites are Mull of Kintyre (complete with bagpipes), No more lonely nights (a superb ballad), Let 'em in, Pipes of peace, My love, Another day and his duet with Stevie Wonder, Ebony and ivory. Also worthy of note are Say say say (with Michael Jackson), Silly love songs (possibly an attack on those who criticize Paul for doing mostly ballads?), Band on the run and the James Bond theme, Live and let die.

Considering the many great tracks that have been omitted, some people will be disappointed at the inclusion of We all stand together (complete with frog chorus) but although it's not one of my favourites here, its place is justified - it was a British top three hit, after all, so a lot of people DO like it - and it's not meant to be taken seriously anyway.

Originally released in 1987, this compilation provides an excellent overview of Paul's solo music. Although he has made some interesting music since 1987 (even including classical music), it is the music he made prior to 1987 (especially with the Beatles) that ensures his place in history.

Falls short
I'm a huge Beatles fan, let me say that first off. Then let me also say, didn't Macca really lose his way back there for a while? For me, this album encapsulates what i mean. Jet's awesome, i think Mull of Kintyre is actually pretty good and gets a bad press, Live and Let Die is a mighty effort. But look past that and you get a lot of not very good, average material. Wouldn't say it was awful, but its just not good. You'll find better stuff on more recent albums, wait for the next 'best of' release.