Wings Over America

by

Wings

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A little bit of history first...I was lucky enough to see Wings Over America at Madison Square Garden in May 1976. I still have my ticket stub...a $10 seat in the second section up from the floor, which my cousin got from a broker for the exorbitant price of $30! How quaint that seems now.

Needless to say, everyone was jazzed up, being that it was Paul's first live appearance in the States in 10 years. I cannot begin to describe the roar within the Garden when the band started with Venus and Mars/Rock Show, and of course at the line "...long hair at the Madison Square."

And the absolute silence when Paul sang Yesterday.

Tripping the Live Fantastic, Paul Is Live and Back in the U.S. -- NONE of them compare to Wings Over America as live recordings. Maybe it's that anticipation that was in the air after 10 years...maybe it was Paul knowing he had to score a knockout back on this side of the Atlantic. Who knows? All I know is that it's a superior live recording to the others in every way.

This was an awesome live show on the original 3 LP version. Somehow the transfer to CD resulted in substantially inferior sound. I don't know if they didn't have the master tapes available or what, but the quality of the CD sound disappointed me. Also the [price] is too much; I realize that's not Amazon's fault, but at that price they should have given this the deluxe sound treatment. I think the weak sound must be why this isn't available as an American issued CD. Ok, all that aside, it's a fantastic concert, great setlist, etc. If this is as good as it gets, fine - buy this and enjoy it. But it could have been a lot better than this, I know the LPs sounded much better.