I have tried for a long time to try to figure out why this album, above all his other solo output, has been considered his finest recorded achievement. I am certainly not saying "BOTR" does not deserve that honor, but I like to find why things are as they are...with that in mind, I set it alongside his solo albums that preceeded it and found four factors that set it apart from those albums:
1. It was recorded in a locale, outside his comfort zone, where Macca could focus on the task at hand.
2. It was his first solo project to be engineered by Geoff Emerick.
3. All of the songs on it at least vaguely relate to the album theme, "Band On the Run".
4. Two band members quit the day before Macca was to leave England for Lagos, Nigeria, where the album was recorded.
Even though most of the tunes were already written before he left, by isolating himself and the two remaining Wings from outside distractions, Macca created an environment where all involved could devote a maximum amount of focus to the project. Granted, it was an uncomfortable locale...Lagos was not a safe place, and they got there at the end of the rainy season...but Macca was not well known there, so I would imagine he felt a great freedom not having people surrounding him and wanting a piece of him constantly.
Point two is, at least to my ears, the most important...even though the songs on "BOTR" still cover a wide spectrum of styles, Emerick never allowed the album to end up sounding like just a collection of songs. Rather, his expert recording techniques give the album a very consistent, very intimate overall feel...and that leads almost directly to....
All of the songs here sound as though they are aimed at creating a sort of travelogue, a feeling of going places, doing cool things and meeting exotic people. There are several modes of travel mentioned in the lyrics...this was truly a story of a band on the run.
Lastly, Henry McCullogh and Denny Seiwell quit just before the trip to record the album...the gauntlet had been thrown, and Macca answered the bell superbly. With his trusty bass pushed well to the forefront, Macca's versatility shines through in his fine drumming...I had no idea before this album he even played drums. He played much of what you hear, save for Denny Laine's guitars, and he did it all with an admirable dose of understatement...not much in the way of flashy solos and such. Nope, here were great songs, well played and presented with a consistency he had not shown since his days with the Beatles.
All in all, this album could be considered Macca's crowning achievement...many still feel it is. However, McCartney has continued to produce fine work over the many years since "BOTR", with some of the best just in the last few years.
