[PenguinHead]

Because I was blown away by Paul McCartney's new album "New" it made me want to start exploring his prolific solo albums. Unlike with Fleetwood Mac, I never ventured too far into their solo work. I only had the Wings albums Band On The Run and their amazing live album Wings Over America, and George Harrison's All Things Must Pass. So now I've been slowly and obsessively acquiring all of Paul's solo work. For some reason, I had an impression that his solo work was inferior. How wrong and misguided I was! There is a lot of incredible material I just never knew existed. I went to a record store the other day and was e elated to find a couple of CD bootlegs of Wings. One was from 1972 show in Switzerland, and the other was a complete 1974 concert rehearsal in Nashville.

In researching his solo discography I was overwhelmed to discover how many albums he has released, first with Wings, then way beyond that period. It's a little unfair to compare his solo output in comparison to Fleetwood Mac and their solo releases, but the difference is staggering. Take pause in recalling that when Mirage was released, it was hailed as a reunion because a two-year break! Can you imagine how much more music we would have if they only took two year breaks between records?
The span of time between his consistent releases since 1972 has never been more than two years. I understand that a group is a different animal from a solo artist, and Fleetwood Mac is a convergence of very different people, with a complexity beyond the norm. But it made me think about how their body of work, even factoring their solo work, doesn't come close to matching what Paul has accomplished.

It actually pisses me off that at this late stage in their careers, they are still haggling over idea of making another album. They are so lucky that Rumours was such a success, because it sustained their audience, despite large chunks of time in dormancy. I wish they would just get on with it, along with Christine. At this point they likely don't need the money, so for concern to keep Christine comfortable, they don't have to go a massive world-wide 150 gig tour. Unfortunately, if Christine did tour with them, it would shake the world and they would be in demand like never before.