The McCartney Years Reviews

• Press release & tracklisting

  
  By A20EP18MTFZ9F0 on 2007-09-12
  
  
  New McCartney DVD Set for Release 'THE McCARTNEY YEARS' LOS ANGELES, CA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- On November 13th, 2007, 'THE McCARTNEY YEARS' will hit the stores from MPL/Rhino Entertainment. This first time ever DVD includes the definitive visual collection of Paul McCartney's amazing career featuring solo music videos, career-spanning live performances, personal commentary by Paul McCartney and exclusive footage that tracks his incredible musical journey as never before.
  
  Spanning four decades, 'THE McCARTNEY YEARS' is a three volume DVD collection, featuring some of the world's best-loved music that has become the soundtrack to all our lives.
  
  VOLUME ONE and VOLUME TWO contain the definitive collection of McCartney music videos. Starting in the 1970s with Paul McCartney's first solo single "Maybe I'm Amazed," the DVD includes the Wings promo video for "Band On The Run" as well as hits from the 1980s such as "Say Say Say," and the 1990s with "The World Tonight." It finishes with 2005's "Fine Line." The films can be viewed either in chronological order or as play-lists that have been personally arranged by Paul featuring his exclusive voiceover commentaries.
  
  VOLUME THREE includes live performances taken from three classic McCartney live shows; "ROCKSHOW" filmed on Wings' 1976 World Tour, new edits of Paul's seminal "UNPLUGGED" in 1991 and Paul's now legendary headlining performance at 2004's GLASTONBURY Festival.
  
  'THE McCARTNEY YEARS' is also packed with bonus features and extra never before seen footage and performances, including "Let It Be" from LIVE AID, archive interviews with Melvyn Bragg and Michael Parkinson, alternative versions of music videos and the full-length 2005 documentary "Creating Chaos at Abbey Road." Paul has recorded exclusive commentary and personal introductions for each promo video and each live concert.
  
  This collection has been meticulously restored and all films polished, re-graded and given a new lease on life in Widescreen format with re-mastered stereo audio and for the first time the original recordings re-mixed into 5.1 surround sound. 'THE McCARTNEY YEARS' includes over 40 promo videos and over two hours of live performances.
  
  DISC/TRACK LISTING DISC 1 1. Tug Of War 2. Say Say Say 3. Silly Love Songs 4. Band On The Run 5. Maybe I'm Amazed 6. Heart Of The Country 7. Mamunia 8. With A Little Luck 9. Goodnight Tonight 10. Waterfalls 11. My Love 12. C-Moon 13. Baby's Request 14. Hi Hi Hi 15. Ebony And Ivory 16. Take It Away 17. Mull Of Kintyre 18. Helen Wheels 19. I've Had Enough 20. Coming Up 21. Wonderful Christmastime Extras 1. Juniors Farm 2. Band On The Run 3. London Town 4. Mull Of Kintyre 2 5. The Southbank Show
  
  DISC 2 1. Pipes Of Peace 2. My Brave Face 3. Beautiful Night 4. Fine Line 5. No More Lonely Nights 6. This One 7. Little Willow 8. Pretty Little Head 9. Birthday 10. Hope Of Deliverance 11. Once Upon A Long Ago 12. All My Trials 13. Brown-Eyed Handsome Man 14. Press 15. No Other Baby 16. Off The Ground 17. Biker Like An Icon 18. Spies Like Us 19. Put It There 20. Figure Of Eight 21. C'Mon People Extras 1. Parkinson 2. So Bad 3. Creating Chaos At Abbey Road
  
  DISC 3 Rock Show 1. Venus And Mars 2. Rock Show 3. Jet 4. Maybe I'm Amazed 5. Lady Madonna 6. Listen To What The Man Said 7. Bluebird MTV Unplugged 8. I Lost My Little Girl 9. Every Night 10. And I Love Her 11. That Would Be Something Glastonbury 12. Jet 13. Flaming Pie 14. Let Me Roll It 15. Blackbird 16. Band On The Run 17. Back In The USSR 18. Live And Let Die 19. Hey Jude 20. Yesterday 21. Helter Skelter 22. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Extras 1. Live Aid 2. The Superbowl XXIV
  Check out www.paulmccartney.com for the latest news and information.
  
  

• Allllmost...

  
  By A1T5OK7UIIZC3W on 2007-10-23
  A good effort. More than I expected. But why is it incomplete? Why are some videos missing and instead we get incomplete concert "teasers"? Rockshow and Unplugged should simply be released on their own. Period. It's not that hard- they already exist. I don't get it. Instead of this silly third disc, we could have had missing videos, such as:
  
  1. Mary Had a little Lamb
  2. Jet
  3. Listen to what the man said
  4. Letting Go
  5. Let `em in
  6. Getting Closer
  7. Spin it on
  8. Old Siam sir
  9. Arrow though me
  10. Only Love remains
  11. Stranglehold
  12. Ou est le soleil?
  13. Party Party
  14. We got married
  15. Get out of my way
  16. Young Boy
  17. The World Tonight
  
  And while I'm at it, just present them all in chronological order. Doesn't that make more sense? But then again when have Paul's videos or concert releases ever made much sense? I might even be missing some more recent videos as well. And as far as bonuses, how about including the TV special from '73 or the unreleased film One hand clapping? Anyway, I know, I know, we should be grateful for anything they toss to us fans, but I couldn't resist pointing out how they messed things up AGAIN!
  
  
  

• Here's another fine Macca Mess!

  
  By A81P47EIXM8HA on 2007-11-11
  Got an early copy and MAN IS THIS FRUSTRATING..
  the Unplugged stuff is scary beautiful (of course they screwed with the aspect ratio and chopped the top and bottom to simulate widescreen) but it really is frustrating that ITS NOT ALL HERE! In the intro he says what a great show it was...yet doesn't bother to include the whole half hour?
  the same with Rock Show... he introduces it as the best version of the group WINGS and how ready they were musically blah blah..now here is a handful of the songs..arggghhh!
  
  The videos are fun even if they chop off portions to simulate widescreen..
  thankfully some super intelligent fan has posted the examples by the product photo so all the folks who don't understand that they are getting truncated videos can understand what an abomination this is!!!
  
  and GLastonbury 2005 is nice but the VINTAGE stuff is what we want along with the legendary Kampuchea performance we've all seen a zillion times.
  Where's the James Paul McCartney tv special and on and on. I would still give this a 5 star rating with everything missing just because of all the great stuff that is here...If they didn't chop the picture by a third!!!
  
  McCartney seems to want to re-create his past ...I guess he figures we'll only remember the stuff he releases now?
  
  

• new mccartney dvd

  
  By A1R7T571L1R0XZ on 2007-09-14
  DISC 1
  1. Tug Of War
  2. Say Say Say
  3. Silly Love Songs
  4. Band On The Run
  5. Maybe I'm Amazed
  6. Heart Of The Country
  7. Mamunia
  8. With A Little Luck
  9. Goodnight Tonight
  10. Waterfalls
  11. My Love
  12. C-Moon
  13. Baby's Request
  14. Hi Hi Hi
  15. Ebony And Ivory
  16. Take It Away
  17. Mull Of Kintyre
  18. Helen Wheels
  19. I've Had Enough
  20. Coming Up
  21. Wonderful Christmastime
  
  Extras
  1. Juniors Farm
  2. Band On The Run
  3. London Town
  4. Mull Of Kintyre 2
  5. The Southbank Show
  
  DISC 2
  1. Pipes Of Peace
  2. My Brave Face
  3. Beautiful Night
  4. Fine Line
  5. No More Lonely Nights
  6. This One
  7. Little Willow
  8. Pretty Little Head
  9. Birthday
  10. Hope Of Deliverance
  11. Once Upon A Long Ago
  12. All My Trials
  13. Brown-Eyed Handsome Man
  14. Press
  15. No Other Baby
  16. Off The Ground
  17. Biker Like An Icon
  18. Spies Like Us
  19. Put It There
  20. Figure Of Eight
  21. C'Mon People
  
  Extras
  1. Parkinson
  2. So Bad
  3. Creating Chaos At Abbey Road
  
  DISC 3
  Rock Show
  1. Venus And Mars
  2. Rock Show
  3. Jet
  4. Maybe I'm Amazed
  5. Lady Madonna
  6. Listen To What The Man Said
  7. Bluebird
  
  MTV Unplugged
  8. I Lost My Little Girl
  9. Every Night
  10. And I Love Her
  11. That Would Be Something
  
  Glastonbury
  12. Jet
  13. Flaming Pie
  14. Let Me Roll It
  15. Blackbird
  16. Band On The Run
  17. Back In The USSR
  18. Live And Let Die
  19. Hey Jude
  20. Yesterday
  21. Helter Skelter
  22. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
  
  Extras
  1. Live Aid
  2. Superbowl XXIV
  
  i cannot review it, but it looks to be a fantastic collection, and everyone knows that us beatlefans cannot ever be completely satisfied. as ricky nelson once sang " you can't please everyone , you gotta please yourself"
  
  

• (Hopefully) one of the best McCartney releases ever!

  
  By A2DKHAIUAW2VC6 on 2007-09-13
  I am really shocked there has not been more chatter within the McCartney/Beatles circles about this incredible release. While far from complete, I am still encouraged that Paul is finally getting around to doing this compilation of his music videos. Most serious fans already have these but do get them in (hopefully) crisp, clean condition....I think I am getting a little head rush. Then to also be including Mamunia on top of that is truly amazing! I remember reading there was a video made for Mamunia several years ago in Paul's Club Sandwich magazine. I'm so glad he decided to unearth it for this.
  
  My biggest hope is that this DVD will be the catalyst that will get him releasing the rest of the video material we all know is languishing in his vaults. How great would it be to see beautiful copies of Rockshow (will all the songs), Unplugged (with all the songs), Up Close (with all the songs) not to mention One Hand Clapping or even those full shows we know he has of Wings 1973 and 1979 concerts.
  
  I hope you all enjoy this as much as I will and Paul if you ever need a video researcher/librarian, I'm your man.
  
  
  
• Nearly a third of the original picture lost...
  By AEPMH5Y135GOJ on 2007-11-16
  I wasn't going to write a review because M.Chesman added one which perfectly summed up my thoughts on this DVD a few days ago. However, as others seem to rate this DVD highly I've felt compelled to in order to add my 1-star rating. This could and should have been so good - a splendid collection of videos from McCartney's post Beatles career and on the face of it, it is. The BIG issue with the whole thing though is the loss of nearly a third of the original image area of the "restored" videos and films. Why they thought that cropping everything to widescreen was a good idea I'll never know. The Directors' of the 4:3 originals must be gritting their teeth to see heads chopped off, tight framing and other areas of the original picture lost in the conversion process. Then, as if to rub salt in the wound, two videos in the extras section (they obviously escaped the "restoration" work) "London Town" and "So Bad" have been left as original 4:3 and consequently look a whole lot better! If you're not sure what I'm talking about please check the customer images. It's extremely disappointing that this decision was taken. It makes me thankful that the Beatles' Anthology was produced in the mid 90s before everyone got "widescreen fever" otherwise all the archive footage in that would be chopped down.
  
  
• C'mon...really?
  By A9T5THIE1VKIT on 2007-10-07
  Beatles/McCartney fans have been waiting years for a proper DVD release of Rockshow, and instead we get 8 bloody songs? The music videos should be a bonus feature for a Rockshow DVD, not the other way around. No one needs to see McCartney miming to his greatest (and not so greatest) hits, but 3 DVD's of the complete live shows that are excerpted in this collection would actually be something worth purchasing. But that's too logical, isn't it?
  
  Then again, when has McCartney ever been able to release JUST a live show, without tons of unnecessary "documentary" footage disrupting the music.
  
  
• Just the Start
  By A4OUAA5DOAM6T on 2007-09-27
  I am truly excited for this release. I have been hoping that he finally releases a giant, expanded (I'm think 4 disc set)of the fabled bootlegs and rarities collection Coldcuts. Now, he is finally reviewing his solo work, which really may result in us getting some of that vaulted audio. With Help being done and Let it Be coming, it is going to be a great period for McCartney fans. Now, if he'd only put away Hey Jude and Let it Be in concert and start treating us to these great Wings and solo tunes, I'll be in heaven.
  
  
• If you are a fan, you'll not be happy with this widescreen disaster!
  By APXMS4G36PHK0 on 2007-11-13
  First, beware of all the positive reviews that were placed in anticipation of this set and were filed before the DVD was available for viewing.
  
  Well Rhino blew it... or should I blame MPL. The packaging is great, the sound is superb, the selection is generous and the price is right. However, this is supposed to be a DVD and what they did to the video is unforgivable. If I had paid more for the set, I would have returned it immediately. During mastering, how could they not realize how awful these videos look cropped to fit a 16x9 widescreen display. In many of the videos your missing 50 a good deal of the action. If you remember or have any off-the-air videotapes of any of these you'll know what I mean. With care to preserve these videos in their original format, this could have been a wonderful item for the McCartney fan. It would have been a great artifact of rock era history. Instead its a throw-away item that forces the fan to hold onto or seek the videos in lesser quality from other sources. For the record, I buy a lot of DVDs and watch on a high quality widescreen set. Just because the set and players are capable of displaying widescreen, I don't want somebody putting out widescreen versions of Casablanca or the Wizard of Oz. When will marketer's realize that the purchaser of a collector's set wants the content as it was produced and not altered with someone's perceived improvements. Guess I'll have to keep watching the old VHS McCartney videos I taped off MTV years ago. Shame on you Rhino!
  
  
• Why didn't they get this right? Frustrating...
  By A2WLZD9BY669HY on 2007-12-20
  Dedicated fans of Paul have been anxiously waiting for this set for a decade. Considering that Macca's numerous concert films have all been below average (because of a ridiculous obsession with showing the audience every .05 seconds), it's no surprise this set is also seriously flawed. Is it enjoyable to watch? Of course, but it could have been so much better.
  
  First, the aspect ratio of the videos is ridiculous. None of these videos were originally filmed in wide screen, why convert them now? In every video, Paul's head is cropped at the top which might not bug the casual fan, but to people who grew up with these videos as cherished memories, it's really annoying. Instead of seeing more of the video, you see less. Whose boneheaded idea was this?
  
  Also, the box claims that all the videos were remastered and "meticulously restored." By who? Judging by the terrible, grainy quality, Mr. Magoo supervised the restoration. There's no excuse that videos like Helen Wheels, Mull of Kintyre and especially Baby's Request look like they're from the era of Buster Keaton, not filmed a mere 30 years ago. The quality of many of the videos is, quite frankly, impossibly bad. Many are washed out with colors that are dull and muted. Again, this is inexcusable. It's glaringly apparent that these videos were not restored, just transfered from some second-generation print, probably found in someone's garage.
  
  In addition, some of the videos have new mixes which aren't anywhere near as great as the original song. Check out the hideous disco-ish remix of Figure of Eight. Why isn't Paul overseeing this project to prevent such mishaps?
  
  The "extras" (heavy quotations) are also substandard. Disc one has "extras" which are merely 4 additional videos. Why aren't the extras some scenes of Wings tours in '71 or '72 on the college campuses? Why aren't the extras Paul's '79 tour where he belts out the greatest-ever version of Spin it On, which is omitted from all three discs?
  
  What should Paul have done with this set? First, include all his videos and put them in chronolpgical order. This should have been obvious from the start. For some inexplicable reason, they exclude many of his better videos, particularly in the early years. They should have included all of Rock Show, which we've been clamoring for since the early 90's. Why did they only throw in a few songs from Unplugged? Include the entire show! How difficult would this have been?
  
  The entire third disc is pretty much a waste. For those of us who love Paul, this is still a nice set which provides many nostalgic smiles. But oh, what could have been.
  
  
  
  
  
• THE MCCARTNEY YEARS
  By A9YJSIYCA57S2 on 2007-09-17
  Will be a great dvd if the videos are all complete. We all know paul likes to talk during the begining, middle and end of songs, especially his concert films, which is alright at times, but we've all waited long enough to see these videos uninterupted and in their entirety. looking foward to it.
  
  
• Why can't we get what we want
  By A1S4NLZGOERWJK on 2007-11-05
  I am a true blue Beatles and Mcartney fan but a DVD is never put out where it is all actuall live footage of Paul performing.I don't care about seeing the Kremiln or bits and pieces of footage from individual MTV videos. Why can't you put out in order a 6 DVD set of his live concerts with no comentary. Just pure unaltered music concerts and eveninclude some footage of the Beatles. NOW that would be great.
  
  
• A real shame
  By A3HNRYBBIL3C4J on 2007-11-25
  This could have/should have been so good. Most of the footage on the menu screens is better than half the stuff they put on here. If they had to omit so much stuff (Wings rehearsal footage, Paul home movies, James Paul McCartney TV special, Rock Show, Back to the Egg, etc. etc.) they should have just dedicated three discs to 1970-80 and made this volume 1. Not to say that I haven't enjoyed this at all, but there is no reason why this shouldn't be perfect. Paul has absolute endless resources and this is the best they came up with. For a man that seems to care so much about his legacy, you would think he would want to present you with that "Legacy" in a form that gives it justice. Unfortunately this falls short. I don't get this whole argument that "It's bloody Paul McCartney. Just be thankful we got this." $25 dollars or not their is nothing wrong with expecting more than mediocrity. No reason why with all the Paul/Wings footage out there that this could not have been at least as good as "The Beatles Anthology" dvd's. All this without getting into the "cropping" of the video's issue. (Which not being into the whole HD, widescreen, etc. etc.) I'll admit to not understanding the whole problem. But just that alone is unacceptable. I Would just like to see Paul 's 70's era get it's due, and this set does little to achieve it.
  
  
• Finally, a McCartney video history!!
  By A1CRY2VNIU1B1A on 2007-09-06
  At this writing, we are a little more than two months away from the release of this Macca DVD collection and this is going to be great!! Videos, commentary, live material....who can ask for more? From Macca's wonderful "Memory Almost Full" CD to this DVD set, it's great to be alive now! Beatles forever!!
  
  
• When will Paul and EMI really get it? Never, it seems
  By A714AVUVQW8FY on 2007-11-05
  Oh well, another lost chance to do a decent job. Several missing videos and very little unreleased stuff from the vaults (there is footage of a Wings show from around 1972 which appears on Wingspan for a few seconds and its amazing quality). And then why stick on bits of live footage. Honestly - how much live material does Paul think we want? And where is the mini-film of Rockestra? And the Back to the Egg special? Or the best bits from James Paul McCartney? I get the impression that Paul is embarrased about Wings and wants to brush over it, and yet in many ways its it best solo work (with the exception of Tug of Way and Chaos).
  
  Im sure it will sell in bucket loads for Christmas, but I would really like to sit Paul down and explain how much better this could have been. The youtube promo hints about extra hidden material like the backyard tape from Abbey Road, so I guess we can pray that the missing items are actually there after all... we shall see...!
  
  
• No Complete RockShow, No $
  By A31TVVRJZI6K4J on 2007-11-06
  So I guess it'll be ANOTHER 10 years for the Wings concert to get fully released. WTF? Why does Paul hate Wings so much? Is it money sharing issues? Is it that much of a cost burden due to film transfer restoration? This is disappointing.
  
  
• WHERE ARE THE RARE PERFORMANCES?
  By A3M1EKSN23SVOJ on 2007-11-12
  I have previously posted that this DVD release is a bloody mess of poorly edited and incomplete videos. I see no reason to change this opinion. BUT--i have One question--Does anyone know the origin and name of the ONLY bit of RARE video on this DVD--the rare McCartney acoustic/guitar in hand solo Wings era songs he plays in the BACKGROUND OF THE MENUS TITLE on the promo DISCS? I have never seen this piece of film before, and of course, they did not include a proper version on the discs for enjoyment (used on as a tease). But it IS rare and I would like to know the year/source , where it was shot and if there are more songs shot like this?
  
  
  
  This is another McCartney Atrocity. Ok, first let's do away with Disc three---the 'bits and pieces" of Unplugged, and Rockshow. Why do we need a few songs from Unplugged? You can't release the entire Unplugged on its own? I have a great DVD of the entire unplugged with rehearsals, beats this DVD release to SHAME.
  
  Next, the actual 'music videos". This is another JOKE. First, they are not in year of release order which of course makes no sense. Next, it is 'selected" videos and NOT the complete collection. Where is the complete video for the under-rated song "WILD LIFE" 2/3rd of this video were released in a previous out of print McCartney VHS tape. Where is the Complete "BACK TO THE EGG" It was as if Mac tossed a bunch of videos into the hands of an editor and said "You put this together, I dont have the time, I have to go back to DIVORCE COURT". ]
  
  As with his previous DVD release, (possibly the WORST Dvd release of 2006), THE SPACE WITHIN, this seriously dissapoints. Choppy, incomplete, inaccurate music videos arranged in a hap hazard style. WHY? BTW--if anyone out there has the complete WILD LIFE video pleasee contact me!
  
  
• Somewhat disappointed
  By A12LZLM01YRVQY on 2007-11-17
  Having had looked forward to this DVD for quite a while, I have to say that I was disappointed. I had imagined that this was going to be the definitive release of all of McCartney's videos, but that is not the case. As others have mentioned there are lots of videos that are missing from this collection. But the biggest problem that I found was the poor quality of the picture. Most of the videos look like they have been transferred from a videocassette. The so called "mastering" seems like either it was lie or that it was rushed by incompetent technicians. Even the recent videos from the 80's (Tug of War, Pipes of Peace, Take it Away) are so poor that I can't believe that the original source material was not available. They all just lack sharpness and clarity. Take a look at the recent re-release of Help from 1965 and see how crystal clear that picture is. The sound on this DVD is superb but overall this was a letdown. I'll still be waiting for the definitive collection.
  
  
• Videos: Audio, image and misses...
  By AZ2QRRN8JXR6S on 2007-11-20
  THE SOUND.
  The great advantage of this pack of videos is that the sound is enhanced for 5.1. You basically have 2 sound options: LPCM stereo, and 5.1 DTS. There's an additional track, which is Dolby Digital stereo, but you will be able to enjoy the music in this one only in those videos in which Paul is not commenting on the video (there are a few of them).
  
  The DTS audio track has been remixed (not only enhanced) for 5.1 systems, to basically put the voice in the center and most of the instruments in the front left and right, with some surround in the back speakers. The result is that you will hear the voice clearer than ever, while the instrumentation will be all around you without altering the original sound mix a great deal.
  
  A minus is that the videos included as "extras", ("Junior's Farm", "Mull of Kyntire 2" "So bad" among others), are only in LPCM stereo, not DTS. I don't see any good reason for this.
  
  Finally, talking about the commentary track, this is a good addition to know great and small details about each video and the music. It's like watching the videos with Paul by your side, telling you stories about them. If you don't want to stop listening to the music, just change to the regular audio tracks and activate the commentaries in the subtitle option (contrary to what the box reads, my dvd player only identified 4 subtitles: English, Spanish, French and Portuguese, not deutsch, Italian or nederlands).
  
  
  
  THE IMAGE
  I read beforehand the complaints about the way most of the videos were "chopped" up and down to make them "widescreen", basically meaning that originally "square" videos were made "rectangular", of course to make them more "suitable" to the new generation of screens. I was a little bit sckeptical about how much this was an issue. Sure, I thought, it would be more noticeable for those watching the videos in full screen or "square" TV's, but for widescreen Tv's, it would be an advantage.
  
  I'm sorry to say that the result is not good. Those with regular Tv's will wonder why they have to miss the superior and inferior areas of the original videos, while those with widescreen Tv's will be bother with a persistent perception of watching the images "zoomed in", that is, artificially closer. To put it in simple words, it's like being standing too close to the TV all the while.
  
  This is only natural: Old TV material (and for that matter, some old movies) is not meant to be watched that way. When you cut up and down and bring the image forth to fit the screen, you are losing the natural look of focus and detail. As a result, if we are watching a face that was supposed to be the center of a take, this kind of treatment eliminates the images in the background, and you have an unnatural close up. You no longer have the intended object as part of an image composition, but in your face, filling all the screen. And most of the videos look blurry, with lack of details.
  
  You cannot trick the brain into thinking that this is natural, and the lack of focus will be headache-inducing after a while (this is even more noticeable in "Goodnight tonight " -a "new version" included in the main playlist of the first DVD, which was enhanced to (ironically) make it look older. Somebody thought that along with some scratches and saturation, it would be even better to add a little up-and-down movement during all the video. Big mistake, as you are watching too close!. Luckily, you can find the "original version" if you play the song from the "chronological" playlist, an additional option included). At least this problem won't be an issue in non-widescreen Tv's or if you're standing very far from your widescreen set.
  
  The problem is, the very Tv's that this treatment is supposed to help, are not greatly benefited.
  
  It would have been better to leave this material alone. I guess, as movies are not supposed to be reduced to a square screens, so Full Frame or 4:3 material is not supposed to fit wide screens. Go figure !
  
  
  
  THE MISSES.
  Paul McCartneys discography is so wide, and the production of videos likewise, that there should have been an additional DVD. Titles like Young boy, The world tonight, Getting closer, Arrow through me (in fact, all the Back to the Egg special), Uncle Albert, Ebony and Ivory (solo version), Live and let die, Mary had a little lamb, Jet, and many others are not here, so they will still be circulating in bootleg DVD versions...
  
  Note: I really give this DVD 3 and 1/2 stars, but half a star is not allowed.
  
  
  
• Worth every penny, so shut up!
  By AEKL3JANBCC7Z on 2007-11-22
  For me, I'm sick and tired of all the McCartney nay-sayers blasting this latest Macca release. Is it perfect? Absolutely not. Does it have every possible McCartney video rarity that's out there? Again, no. Did they mess around with the old video to make it look like it was filmed in the modern age? Sure, they did. The bottom line is that this is such a wonderful collection of Paul's life's work since the Beatles split, that none of this matters. It's bloody Paul McCartney, so shut up!
  
  
• How this mess happened.
  By A3NUA12GI8OFU1 on 2007-11-26
  McCartney: "For a long time people have been saying to me, 'When can we get a hold of that video?' or 'Is that video available? Is that released?' And I just sort of thought, 'No ...' I was always a little bit like, 'One day, yeah, I'll do it. Don't worry.' But then a couple of guys got in touch with me and said, 'Look, we think it's time. We want to work on it. Let us put forward a proposal of what we would do for you to look at.'
  
  "It took a long time to put together. They started cleaning it all up, and then they cleaned the sound mixes up and then they started showing me, and that was like, 'Jeez, I've never heard it like this. I've never seen it like this.' So I started to get excited and I fell for the whole idea. I just said, 'Go to it boys, let's do it.'"
  
  I just read that previous Reuters interview excerpt above today--oh how telling, and so sad. Imagine how different and improved the outcome would have been if better suited guys had contacted McCartney? Maybe for instance the people behind The Who's "The Kids Are Alright" dvd, or Disney's video restoration experts (totally unlikely as that would be). But, you sure don't see Disney chopping Dumbo or Snow White into widescreen when they weren't done that way originally. Should be no different with these videos. If they wanted to offer widescreen versions as a bonus, that would have been fine as long as the original was there also. Macca probably would have "fell for" that whole idea too had it been presented to him.
  
  You also don't see Disney--or basically anyone else--releasing a 5.1 dvd in DTS only! What is up with that decision (along with Help! unfortunately)??? Everything else I buy has both Dolby 5.1 and DTS, and if it only has one choice, it's always been Dolby. More people have Dolby overall because it's been available longer than DTS in home systems. I have a sweet top-of-the-line 5.1 receiver from right before DTS came along--why should we all have to buy a new system AGAIN to hear these so-called "wonderful" remixes? No good reason at all these are only DTS.
  
  It's pretty funny, and typical, seeing all these 5-star "perfect" ratings for a Macca release, just because it's a Macca release. They go on to say there are numerous things that are wrong with this set--but it's still 5-star perfect?! Get real.
  
  This set so easily could have been perfect--and should have been. ALL the videos made, provide them in original format, end of story = everyone happy. Volume 2, or a larger set, with the complete live material and TV shows. The resources were freely available to them to do it. Yet another example of long-time fans being screwed over in favor of Johnny-come-lately flavor of the day appeal. Another HUGE wasted opportunity for McCartney to do a dvd right for a change. Seems that will never happen unfortunately, unless better people approach him for projects.
  
  
• "Main mateial" vs. "Bonus features" - 2:5.
  By A2V4LF64Q95VCF on 2007-12-02
  "Hm, nice package!", I said while opening the box from Amazon with several DVDs inside. "I am going to start with this one".... But what I found inside was really nice package and really painful representation of what I was waiting for to have in a decent form.
  
  Right from the start on all the discs come the impressive menus/submenus with embedded bonus materials. "Good start! Move on!". Audio commentaries, ability to select the chronological order of tracks - excellent! (5-star review was already being composed in my mind)....
  
  But what came next strongly disappointed me. All of the videos in the main body of all three discs are cropped on top and bottom! Well, such butchering is a result of the contemporary marketing rules. The same things happened to the movies when they were cropped on the sides to be released on VHS videos to fit concumer's TV screens. Now we have the opposite situation: what WAS filmed in full-frame and was intended to be screened on 4:3 screens is cropped "to fit our 16:9 TV sets". Who cares about the product itself??!! Even letterboxed images are being cropped at a tighter matte, we all know about that, but the result looks very poor. The same thing happened to this promising (at first glance) set.
  
  FORTUNATELY, bonus materials are not cropped! So we have London Town, Band on the Run and some other stuff in excellent quality.
  
  After I ran through this set I got back to my old amateur dvd-s with the same videos but the picture untouched (well, call them bootlegs, if you like, but they aren't in fact: I got them from people who do not buy or sell stuff, only swap copies). Here when I calmed down. "No", - I said, - "I won't get rid of you. Here is the real stuff".
  
  One more surprise: I haven't found the Southbank Show bonus on Disc 1, instead there is a piece where Paul is talking about creation of Eleanor Rigby/Eleanor's Dream sequence for Broad Street sessions. If this is a mistake - this is not a bad mistake and I don't complain about that. Or maybe this is my mistake and this IS the Southbank Show? Correct me if I'm wrong.
  
  Finally, this is definitely not a complete set of Paul McCartney videos.
  
  Resume: an unjustified waste of money? Well, if one doesn't have another source to get that stuff from - it's not a waste of money, but the consumer remains deprived anyway. Hence minus three stars for ripping people off.
  
  
• Dissapointed
  By A37GNH94TW4KJP on 2007-11-15
  The only reason I bought this is because the box said DVD 3 included the Wings concert film "Rockshow" finally after all these years.
  
  Once I unsealed it and put the dvd into the player, I was surprised to see that there were only a handful of songs from the film included!
  
  If you're looking for the FULL Rockshow film, it's not in this set!
  
  
• Highlights of Sir Paul's videos and live performances
  By AFJFXN42RZ3G2 on 2007-12-31
  The McCartney Years are an exceptional collection of Paul McCartney and Wings videos and live performances that are captured on three separate discs. However, this is not a complete collection of all his videos and live performances, and may be somewhat of a tease for diehard McCartney fans because ROCKSHOW and MTV UNPLUGGED are not in their complete form. For those who were glued to the TV during MTV's heyday, they will remember seeing most of the videos in their original form. But on this DVD some have been tainted possibly for artistic reasons.
  
  Despite the tainting, the videos speak for themselves. With wife Linda accompanying him through his musical and video journey, McCartney continued his versatile musical craftsmanship and uncanny on camera performances without the Beatles. This may be seen with the playlist of 42 videos, extras on disc one and two, and the live shows and extras on disc three. The enticing part of this unique package is the rare footage that is displayed on each of the discs on the menu page such as on disc one where McCartney is singing Buddy Holly's "I'm going to love you too," a short snippet of the rehearsal of "Rockestra," and other surprises. But it is the videos that many viewers may not have seen in years or at all, such as "I've Had Enough," "With a Little Luck," the torch song-like "Baby's Request," "Once Upon a Long Ago," and the very touching and most heart wrenching song, "Little Willow," from the FLAMING PIE album that makes this a must see collection. In addition, the live performances at Glastonbury and at Superbowl XXXIX are a treat.
  
  For a look back at Paul McCartney's visual musical career, The McCartney Years offers a sample of what fans or those who are now just beginning to discover the amazing performances by one of rock and roll's legends may have missed. This is a highly recommended collection.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• The Career Renaissance of a True Modern Renaissance Man
  By A17QJB4U2HWW7R on 2008-01-17
  Renaissance Man: A man of multiple and diverse accomplishment, a person with eclectic abilities, a multi-culturalist. These words certain fit the former Beatle Paul McCartney from an artistic view. Paul McCartney has been enjoying a career resurgence since the release of Flaming Pie (1997) and continuing with Run Devil Run and Working Classical (1999). This unexplained late career rebirth has continued into the new millineum with the release of Driving Rain (2001) though some may have considered it a bit of a misstep. Certainly Paul's career "comeback" hit full throttle with Chaos and Creation in the Backyard (2005) and Memory Almost Full (2007).
  
  Pretty good run for someone whose solo career has been ridiculed and derided for so long. Now just in time to remind us of all the great and far reaching music he has produced in the last 38 years since the Beatles went separate ways, the McCartney Years DVD retrospective comes along screaming for the attention of all of those who thought Paul's solo career had nothing to offer.
  
  It is simply amazing to see all these great songs interpreted in video form in one collection. Many of the videos were produced long before the MTV era. The live disc is also worthwhile. While some vidoes are not as elaborate or high budget as the later ones, all are satisfying in that they remind you of the level of genius this man possesses. And they are not all silly love songs. The breadth and scope of the songs Paul sings in this collection remind you of the important things that are valued in McCartney's world: the importance of home and family (Heart of the Country, Put It There, Once Upon A Long Ago, Mull of Kintyre), romance (Maybe I'm Amazed, My Love, Beautiful Night, So Bad, No More Lonely Nights), the joy of life (Goodnight Tonight, Wonderful Christmastime), the sorrow and sadness of life (Little Willow, I've Had Enough), optimism and overcoming adversity (Hope of Deliverance, With A Little Luck), war and peace (Tug of War, Pipes of Peace), politics and activism (C'mon People, Wild Life, Ebony and Ivory), religion and inner reflection (All My Trials, This One) and just plain fun (Band on the Run, Listen to What The Man Said, Spies Like Us, Say Say Say).
  
  Its all here and its all worth playing again and again. Each time you see a video, you notice something you missed the first time through or you find new meaning in the thoughtful lyrics. And you never tire of McCartney's ageless melodies. It's a must have for any music lover. And most importantly it puts Paul's solo career in a new light. It brings your appreciation up the level that it always should have been, late career renaissance or not. The rock press never gave Paul an even break during the 1970s and beyond after John Lennon's death. Instead it favored other former Beatles, some of whom villified Paul in song and in print. Now after so many years the tide has turned. In a song John Lennon derisively said of Paul: "pretty soon they'll see what you can do". And John was right. With enough perspective we see Paul for the great artist he is. No other, not Elvis, not John Lennon, not Michael Jackson has been associated with as many beloved recordings as Paul first as a Beatle and now as a solo artist. McCartney is the Prince of modern music and a modern artistic Renaissance Man.
  
  
• Great value for the money
  By A500D9W0BENQ5 on 2007-11-16
  I won't review the dvd disc by disc song by song like some but just want to add this is a great collection for the price. Think of this would you just want to have videos? Or just have one concert, here your getting a great sample of alot of different concerts and videos, to not be more than enthusiastic about this release is absurd. The listing says it's 3 hours but i'm sure it's more with all the bonus stuff even if it's not this is great vintage stuff, great videos, great concert footage, for 25$ or less which is less than so much in today's economy and i'm sure you'll reach for this collection more often than any musical dvd if your an even decent McCartney fan, I hope no one will be dissuaded by the bad reviews because this is really a great collection and at a more than great value, oh by the way the sound is more than fantastic, i just saw the unplugged segment and was just blown away by it, sound, performance, just incredible previously i watched a few videos and you have to understand that the times they were recorded in, of course the 70s videos will have a grainy appeal to them, not the sound however.
  
  
• great value, entertaining, well produced!
  By A1HTL0SF1NELMK on 2007-11-21
  I got the McCartney years and I have really been enjoying it. It is well produced, and a great value. There is a lot of good material on these three dvds. You can watch the videos in either chronological order or arranged by Paul. I've done it both ways and I can say I really like Paul's mix. The concert footage is fun. Like another reviewer, I would have liked to see the video for Arrow Right Through Me, cuz it's a cool song, but there is hope for another release in the future, because Paul has some more good stuff he could release! Anyway, try it you'll like it!!! :)
  
  
• A fine line between chaos and c-moon.
  By A85AS1GBB54GP on 2007-11-28
  There's plenty wrong here, as many reviewers have noted here. For me, personally, my biggest gripe is the commentary. "I decided to comb me hair the other way," reveals Paul for "Waterfalls." Moments later comes the amazing insightful discovery that "I'm wearing a home-made sweater." Such is the public face of Paul McCartney. And, as frustrating as that can be, it's what we get.
  
  However, the sheer mass of material allows one to re-gain an appreciation of McCartney's post-Beatle days in a manner that his tours have long since disregarded. Who else in the industry can trip through the proto-reggae of "C-Moon" to the epic "Mull of Kintyre" to the daft and fun "Coming Up" to the conflicted and passionate "Maybe I'm Amazed" to the balls-to-the-wall rock of "I've Had Enough" to the touching "Little Willow"?
  
  The answer is, of course, no one.
  
  This set is easy to criticize, but it's just as easy to enjoy it. Which side of the fence we land on is up to us.
  
  
• Widescreen? Yuck!
  By AXV7KDQ5AHFSR on 2008-01-08
  As a few others have mentioned, yes by cropping the original 4:3 masters into a "faked" widescreen seriously detracts from the videos' effects. So many times heads are cut off and you can't see if Paul (or whoever else) is holding a guitar or not. The worst case of the bunch that immediately comes to mind is the "Spies Like Us" video in which Chevy Chase joins Paul in the studio during the song...in the 4:3 version Chevy is trying to be funny and "rock out" however in the "new" widescreen version all you see is Chevy make goofy faces and it makes you wonder what he's really doing to the mic stand.
  Seriously please let's preserve the integrity of the 4:3 masters and offer replacements or a follow up with the additional videos that were ommitted. Hopefully this won't be the only chance the fans get at these wonderful classics.
  As far as the audio quality I have nothing but all-out praise for the remastering and DTS remixing of the audio tracks. Superb!
  Had it not been for the widescreen blundering I couldn't give this a high enough rating.
  
  
• Historic!
  By AWPODHOB4GFWL on 2008-06-03
  This three disc set covers over forty years of Paul McCartney and Wings with studio video, live performances and extras that you probably have never seen. All the songs have been cleaned up and most are in 5.1 surround sound. Paul also contributes valuable and interesting voice-over commentaries for much of the material, if selected.
  
  Don't let the first disc fool you into thinking that all the videos will be the same. Some of the storylines and video may be a bit dated looking and fuzzy, but the sound is perfect. "Ebony & Ivory" is a bit saccharin for my tastes, but Mac makes up for that with great video renditions of, "Mamunia", "Maybe I'm Amazed", "Mull Of Kintyre" and of all things, "C-Moon", which sounds great.
  
  The second disc covers videos of Paul's work in the eighties and nineties with crisper videos and great sound. There is new life breathed into, "Pipes Of Peace" and "Fine Line". It's a nice grouping of songs that were not as popular as the Wings ear, but just as creative and important. This disc also has interesting extras, including the documentary, "Creating Chaos At Abbey Road", which is not to be missed.
  
  The third disc is much better in visual clarity and covers seven songs from the seventies with the classic "Wings" performing in fantastic form with great sound and a spectacular light show. The second `unplugged' section with studio musicians in a small theater is perfect with the amazing dexterity and clarity from an acoustic performance. Paul and band mates perform four gems here. This is followed by the concert at Glastonbury, which looked like an amazing event with Paul performing nearly a dozen songs, including great renditions of, "Let Me Roll It", "Flaming Pie", "Hey Jude" and a mournful, Yesterday".
  
  The extras on this disc are great with Paul's "Live Aid" contribution of "Let It Be" and friends. Paul overdubs the problems with sound and how there was no rehearsal or sound check. The sign of a true professional. Superbowl XXXIX is a visual and sound-ful knockout with - "Baby You Can Drive My Car", "Back In The U.S.S.R.", "Live & Let Die" and closing with, "Hey Jude". The crowd is completely taken with him.
  
  Paul is alive and although this collection is exhaustive, he shows no sign of slowing down his recording of marvelous material. Don't forget about the extensive booklet, either!
  
  
  

• Help!
• Memory Almost Full - CD/DVD Deluxe Edition
• Photograph: Very Best of Ringo Starr (CD/DVD)
• Liverpool 8
• Wonderful Tonight: George Harrison, Eric Clapton, and Me