MumboWhat the f*** is this? Nothing more than a random tho energetic jam that any band could pull off on their first rehearsal together. We drop in in the middle of that jam and Paul is nothing more than screaming himself through a song. In hindsight, maybe this really wás the first rehearsal night of Paul’s new band Wings. Denny Seiwell had been playing the drums on Paul’s previous album Ram and had joined Wings after that. Linda also contributed on Paul’s albums, but was now asked to really join a band that would be on the road and play live shows. That is a huge difference compared to Linda’s role before. Mumbo, and in fact this complete album, sounds like a band trying to get things together and looking for its own sound. It usually doesn’t work to put stuff like that on a record and even in Paul’s case that is a fact. Listening to this complete album, I feel like this should’ve been kept in Paul’s private cellars and seen the daylight as an interesting bootleg. This song is going nowhere, like any jam. A terrible first song to be heard from a new band.
Bip BopThings doesn’t get better with Bip Bop. The guitar sounds awful in the start, and so does the very simply played bass. I would have fitted well on Paul’s first solo album, McCartney. And maybe that is the point with Wild Life: it’s what McCartney was for Paul solo. Nothing more than some random things that had been lying around for a day or so. Another song that is going nowhere and is therefore far too long. It goes on and on and on, without any change or progression.
Love Is StrangeI could not remember I had ever heard this song done by Wings before. I haven’t been missing much. Wings is trying some reggae rhytms here. I has a nice lick, played by guitar and bass simultaneously, plus some funny little solo (by Denny Laine?). The song has reached a point of becoming annoying even before Paul and Linda start singing at 1.36. It doesn’t improve things. Denny Seiwell’s drumming is decent as ever. I read this was the first reggae recording by a white band. Yeah, well, who cares? It’s not really outstanding, is it. Paul start singing solo at 3.10, well after the annoying border, and here one can hear that a great singer is available in this band. A singer tho that just wanted to be a part of a band, instead of really going solo. The band is trying to have some fun towards the end, but it doesn’t really show off.
Wild LifeThe song that give the album its name. If possible, an absolute low point to me. Linda’s keyboards starting at 0.09 sounds like the first lesson for beginners on the keyboard. After Denny Seiwell great opening, the song develops into a slow blues. After over six minutes, my mind was really bothering me. How could I ever manage to listen to another side of this album? Paul’s voice is not really great and tends towards screaming. Even his falsetto lets him down (2.00) and he forces it into a scream at 2.10. Are all the instruments really tuned well? The guitar solo sucks and makes it clear why a leadguitarist would be part of Wings in later years. Terrible.
Some People Never KnowA bit more like it. The acoustic guitar at the start sounds good, at least compared to all the songs on side 1. Linda’s harmonies don’t sound too convincing, but I’ll dig it. The guitar solo (at 1.55) isn’t that great and consists merely of the vocal line. Piano sounds good. Once again a song that is far too long to remain exciting till the end, but at least it shows but this band is able to.
I Am Your SingerLinda as a lead singer for the first time, in the second verse. Not very convincing, but she’s in tune. I like this song enough to not skip it when I was listening to this album over and over. The recorder is a nice little touch. Denny’s drumming is good, he almost sounds like Ringo here. Didn’t I say that before?
Bip Bop LinkYeah right. Some 45 seconds of the song from side 1, now instrumental. Played by Paul on a heavily phased guitar. Doesn’t make much sense.
TomorrowA little light at the end of this dark tunnel. The piano opening sounds exciting. Pauls sings with passion and energy but his voice has sounded better before. Effective drums once again by Denny Seiwell. And here’s the characteristic Wings background vocals! At 0.43, to go into a nice bridge. The harmonies continue into the second verse and Linda does do a good job here, together with Denny Laine I presume. Nice change of rhythm at the end, where Paul showcases the possibilities of his voice. Best song on the album, but that was not hard to achieve.
Dear FriendA song for John. Well sung by Paul. Not a bad song, but far too long. Why is Paul repeating himself again and again? Every instrumental verse should have been deleted, for it adds nothing to Paul’s message. Had it been minimalised to about two minutes, it should’ve been a far better song in my humble opinion.
Mumbo LinkAnother 45 seconds of rubbish jam.
All in all, a pretty bad album with just a few highlights. Certainly not an album I enjoyed listening to.