McCartney Remasters

As I mentioned previously, good ol' Macca is releasing his remasters slowly, and out of order.  The first record out of the gate was Band on the Run, which of course is technically a Wings album.  Last week saw the release of not one but two more reissues, McCartney I and II.  Inserts that come with these CDs indicate that several more are on the way, including Ram, and Venus and Mars.

I'm not really sure what, if any logic is being applied to this process.  Band on the Run is probably the most recognizable of Paul's post Beatles work, so it makes sense as a first choice.  And the two self titled albums which just came out share a similar thematic bent, in that he made them entirely by himself (minus some backing vocals from Linda).  As for the rest, I'm stumped.  I'll be curious to see in what order they are released.

One of the striking aspects of McCartney's remasters is how - I don't know a better term to use, so I'll go with this - "money grubbing" they are.  Each of the three that are out have been released in multiple versions.  You've got basic and special editions CDs as well as massive $80-$90 versions containing extra discs, DVDs, and books, none of which looks to be worth all that scratch.  And yet here's the rub - if you don't spring for the $80 mega editions, you're shit out of luck when it comes to retrospective and historical content.  The plain old CD's contain no notes, no interviews, nothing of the sort.  This is true even with the two disc McCartney I/II reissues  (though the presence of a second disc means that there's at least some bonus tracks).  Call me cynical, but this feels like an attempt to get you to buy the expensive one, in order to get the "best" experience possible. The Jimi Hendrix remasters were a few bucks cheaper, and had nice little DVDs with them.  It's not impossible to do.

On the other hand, a part of me feels as if these basic releases are a good thing in their own way.  What you're getting is, essentially, what people got when these records were first released.  The same songs, with the same kind of artwork.  You're left to judge the music yourself, without anything coloring your perspective.  Compare this to the Lennon remasters.  Nice as those are, their liner notes would have you believe that every one of his solo works was a masterpiece.  That kind of revisionism can be bothersome, and while Paul doesn't completely shy away from it, his output can only be available in super deluxe editions that will be purchased by the biggest of diehards.  Lennon's gospel, on the other hand, is written into even the basest of his reissues.

Reviews of the albums themselves should, hopefully, come soon.