Merv it's funny that Paul said that about being in a band, because of the Beatles it was Ringo and George that really managed to be in real bands. Ringo's All Star Bands had everyone contributing and George also with the Willburies although they never toured it was definitely a real band where they all worked together. The closest John got was Elephants Memory but John I don't think wanted to be in another band and Paul's Wings was obviously not a real band like the Beatles, I'm sure he could have got a group of people together to make a band, who would have said no to Paul McCartney?
Greg, I didn't really get into Wings until after they broke up so I didn't have that experience. Wings in the 70s I think did have quite a different identity than the Beatles, they didn't play many Beatle tracks, but subsequently I think Paul became more associated with the Beatles again.
I got Off the Ground when it came out, The opening guitar is such a great sound, the album is also probably McCartney's most new agey album, with trippy songs like Golden Earth Girl & Winedark Open Sea. It has one of his most hard hitting political song on animal cruelty Looking for changes and there are these Utopian songs Hope of Deliverance that you mentioned, Peace in the Neighbourhood and C'mon people. For me the album flows well, much better than Flowers in the Dirt.