I used to point to this album as a sign of Paulie's total lack of direction at this time...Macca said that he had read that Dylan cut his records in three days or so...and decided to try that approach with this one. One critic at the time said, "What passed for Dylan as 'rough-hewn', translated as 'half-arsed' for "Wild Life". The anti-McCartney sentiment at the time was high and the man released this album. Bad timing, to be sure.
After all that, I have to admit that I never even owned this album until about three months ago....so who was I to point at this album as the end-all of lousiness? The general consensus was on my side, so I never need bother with the particulars of why "Wild Life" was putrid. As usual, my guitar bud D set me on the path to acceptance, asking me why I hated this album with such ferocity. I was ashamed that I could not give him a concrete answer, and decided I would find out why it was so.
"Mumbo"....title sounds so dumb, right? Yeah, but it rocks...so what if the lyrics might have been ad-libbed by someone at a karaoke bar? "Bip-Bop"....another idiotic title, but the tune sounds like something that, if it were not released on this collection, might have fitted snugly on "Mac II". "Love Is Strange" has an easy reggae charm, better than the original. Next is the bluesy title track, with Macca screaming along in a most unsettling way, but having fun along with me. "Some People Never Know" is a nice, if kinda insubstantial tune, as is "I Am Your Singer". A throwaway reprise of "Bip-Bop" is next, followed by two decent Paulie tunes, "Tomorrow" & "Dear Friend". The original record closed with another toss-off reprise, this time of "Mumbo".
What really set this CD off, for me, was the inclusion of 4 bonus tracks, 2 of which I had never heard, "Little Woman Love" & "Mama's Little Girl", both quite fetching pieces of music, especially the former.
In a discography as extensive as Macca's, figuring out what's 'best & 'worst' is entirely subjective...what I like probably won't be identical to your taste...this CD is not in my Macca Top 10, but has risen several spots out of the cellar, thanks primarily to the bonus dips.