Wings тобының «Back to the Egg» альбомы және телеарнаидағы көрсетілімі

the television special about the album

Back to the Egg is the seventh and final studio album by the British–American rock band Wings, released in June 1979 on Parlophone in the UK and Columbia Records in North America (their first for the label). Co produced by Chris Thomas, the album reflects band leader Paul McCartney's embracing of contemporary musical trends such as new wave and punk, and marked the arrival of new Wings members Laurence Juber and Steve Holley. Back to the Egg adopts a loose conceptual theme around the idea of a working band, and its creation coincided with a period of considerable activity for the group, which included making a return to touring and work on several television and film projects. Recording for the album began in June 1978 and lasted for almost a year. The sessions took place at Spirit of Ranachan Studios in Campbeltown, Scotland; Lympne Castle in Kent, London's Abbey Road Studios, and Replica Studio – the last of which McCartney built as an exact replica of Abbey Road's Studio Two when the latter became unavailable. Wings returned to Abbey Road in March 1979 to complete the album, before filming a series of promotional videos in Lympne and elsewhere, for what became the Back to the Egg TV special. Back to the Egg received unfavourable reviews from the majority of critics, with Rolling Stone magazine deriding it as "the sorriest grab bag of dreck in recent memory". With the new line up – Wings' sixth since its formation in 1971 – McCartney intended to record a raw rock and roll album and return to touring, for the band's first concerts since their successful Wings Over the World tour of 1975–76. McCartney also hoped to realise his longstanding plan of making a film adaptation of the Rupert the Bear cartoon series, for which he owned the commercial rights, and commissioned English playwright Willy Russell to write a feature film starring Wings. Holley and Juber were recruited by Wings co founder and guitarist Denny Laine, who had appeared as a guest on The David Essex Show in 1977 when Juber was working as a guitarist in the house band. Holley, a neighbour of Laine's, joined Wings in time to appear in the promotional video for London Towns lead single, "With a Little Luck", having turned down a position with Elton John's band. According to Wings biographer Garry McGee, Juber and Holley were each paid a weekly sum less than one fifth of that paid to McCartney, his wife Linda (the band's keyboard player) and Laine. This was the first time Wings recorded with an outside producer since their 1973 single "Live and Let Die", which George Martin had produced. After working with the Pretenders and the Sex Pistols, Thomas brought a punk rock and new wave influence to Wings' sound, matching McCartney's desire to reflect contemporary musical trends.

Back to the Egg received predominantly negative reviews on release; Timothy White described it as "the sorriest grab bag of dreck in recent memory" and lamented that none of the songs were "the least bit fleshed out", with the listener instead given "an irritating display of disjointed images and unfocused musical snapshots". After opining that, since 1970, "this ex Beatle has been lending his truly prodigious talents  to some of the laziest records in the history of rock & roll", White wrote: "Who, one felt compelled to ask, is in charge here? Back to the Egg provides the final, obvious answer: no one." Billboards reviewer gave Back to the Egg "Spotlight" status (meaning "the most outstanding new product of the week's releases and that with the greatest potential for top of the chart placement") and commented: "The music features typical McCartney fare of late with nothing here that will distinguish it as one of his classics. The arrangements, though, are interesting, encompassing a variety of styles." In a more positive assessment, for Creem magazine, Mitchell Cohen highlighted the album's second side as "a collection of McCartney performances that string together like abbey roadwork", and praised McCartney's vocals relative to his past work, writing: "all of the current tracks are terser, sung better, have less of what I suppose would be called the recording artist's equivalent of camera consciousness." To NME critic Bob Woffinden, the attempt at an album wide concept was "a pretty half baked one" and Hipgnosis' cover photo was "easily the album's strongest point". AllMusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine views Back to the Egg as "a set of [McCartney's] most undistinguished songs" that "have no spark whatsoever", and bemoans "the weak sound of the record and Wings' faceless performances". Among McCartney biographers, Vincent Benitez writes that the songs are "uneven in quality",