Posted on: January 8, 2008 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

Paul McCartney – The McCartney Years / 2007 Rhino / 180 Minutes / http://www.paulmccartney.com / http://www.rhino.com /

For anyone that wondered exactly what all Paul McCartney did after leaving The Beatles need to pick up this DVD set, released by Rhino. This 3 DVD set collects an exhaustive amount of music videos, live performances, and even interviews with McCartney eirself to piece together the nearly forty year period since ey went solo.  The one thing that is the most shocking with me on “The McCartney Years” is the fact that, even when the footage is nearly the forty year old mark, that the video and audio provides is typically as sharp as anything else that may be present on television in the current period.  Couple that with the fact that the DVD set can be found on a number of retailers’ web sites for under $25, and individuals will be able to dedicate quite a few hours to this set before it gives up the ghost. This value is only increased with the inclusion of a track like “Take It Away”, which features McCartney along with Ringo Starr and George Martin on piano. 

The only thing that I am wondering is why the third disc is dedicated to different specials, whether it be “Rockshow” (a Wings performance from 1976), a 1991 performance on MTV’s Unplugged, or the 2004 performance that McCartney did in Glastonbury. Rhino could have conceivably dedicated the third disc to providing individuals with the fifteen or so videos that are excluded from The McCartney Years as currently compiled, videos such as “Jet”, “Listen To What The Man Said”, “Only Love Remains”, and “Young Boy”. What may be something to do in the future for Rhino would be to split “The McCartney Years” into 2 3-DVD sets, to allow a greater specificity in the footage that is present.

It would allow individuals that want a general overview to pick up the original version, while completists could pick up the 1970-1990 and 1990-2007 sets to gain a few more hours of footage that currently is missing from this version of the set. Regardless, Rhino is doing the right thing and put onto DVD some things that would normally have rotted away given any more time in the vaults where they lay. Everything may not be present on this 3-DVD set, but this is a good start, especially for those individuals that are attempting to get into Paul McCartney after eir time in The Beatles.

Rating: 8.0/10

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