I’ll start: “Magneto and Titanium Man” is more than fair — it’s quite excellent! I dig the pumping organ, the harmonies, the occasional rock squawk from the guitar, the balanced pop underpinning — all of which does a good job overpowering the incredibly retarded lyrics. Well done, and good call!
I don’t have a problem with this at all. It’s Paul doing something he’s extremely good at – singing harmless and catchy pop while entertaining a crowd. See a master at his craft.
Man, the sweet, sweet weed McCartney and his mates must have been scoring at this time really went well with gently pumping numbers like this and “Junior’s Farm.” I’d never heard this song before, but I’m a sucker for almost any song with a gently pumping rhythm like this one. (Billy Swan’s “I Can Help” may be the ultimate in minimalist pumping rockers with my favorite post-Pet Sounds Beach Boys song, “Do It Again” close behind.) The related genre of chooglin’ songs is also a surefire rhythm for me, with the power to overcome sins as great as Canned Heat.
Fair! Nostalgia perhaps, but I like the period of Paul/Wings right about to this point best. I was poking around on Youtube and the concert footage from the Wings Over America tour shows the band to be a well-oiled machine rocking the joint. http://youtu.be/z57qdtcmETw
(I remain amazed that Google can host and publish such vast catalogs of obviously unauthorized copyrighted material.)
Even though I believe the album version of this song was recorded in my old neighborhood, I can’t really call it fair. Sure the groove is cool enough, but come on, the song is ridiculous. The arenafied version lacks the precision of the studio version, to say the least, but at least it has an energy to make up for the messiness. On the other hand the polish of the studio version gives me a toothache. Sorry, but the cute one is extremely problematical for me.
Even as a Beatles-loving and Band on the Run-loving kid a lot of solo Beatles stuff made me squirm. if this was on Venus and Mars I did hear it once. Andyr or chickenfrank played it for me once and I hated the album in general.
“Then, after the Rockettes, a guy came out in a tuxedo and roller skates on, and started skating under a bunch of little tables, and telling jokes while he did it. He was a very good skater and all, but I couldn’t enjoy it much because I kept picturing him practicing to be a guy that roller-skates on the stage.”
—J.D. Salinger’s Holden Caulfield in The Catcher in the Rye
I say Foul – especially this version. This “live” version has “touched up in the studio” all over it. I have never heard live vocals with that effect. Very hard to do in a stadium setting.
I really did only own it on 8-Track, and I’m quite certain I was not carting an 8-track player around post-high school. I remember liking that album, but didn’t it include 2! songs by other members of Wings. Medicine Jar, anyone? Yeah, sure Paul, it’s a real band.
I think of Paul’s solo stuff largely as cotton candy. Fluffy, sticky sweet, full of air, zero nourishment, and a steady diet would be very bad if not fatal. But it’s OK as an occasional treat. Plus I think Band on the Run is only exceeded by All Things Must Pass and Lennon’s Plastic Ono Band for great Beatle solo records.
Fair on nostalgia points alone. Wings Over America was one of my earliest LPs and a Middle School friend asked why Magneto was on the album sleeve (http://www.brazilcult.com/Brazilcult/Imagens/Listings/lps/paul_mccartney_wings_over_america/02.jpg behind drummer Joe English??). I was never a comic book kid but I pointed out the song title. I wonder what moved him to write this (beyond pot consumption)?
Fair, surprising no one. HVB nailed all the musical things that work about it, and I’ll add on the sort of stomping bit that I assume represents the Titanium Man rumbling during the bank robbery that goes on in the song.
I also give McCartney credit for throwing in two at least moderately obscure comic book references (Titanium Man and The Crimson Dynamo, who just couldn’t cut it no mo’), to earn himself some comic book nerd cred. Not that the idea of Paul and the rest of Wings sitting around stoned reading comics is all that hard to believe. There’s a follow-up story to the song, where Wings was playing a show in LA and Jack Kirby – who co-created Magneto – met him backstage and probably didn’t really care much about McCartney or the Beatles. Kirby and Stan Lee were, essentially, the Lennon and McCartney of comic books, so this was probably one of those rare later-day cases with a Beatle meeting someone they admired more than the other way around.
I am going on record now predicting that Venus and Mars will be the next McCartney album to get a (non-RTH) critical upgrade, on the heels of the recent Ram, McCartney and McCartney II rebirths.
I never heard it before. I’ll say fair, but similar to Ladymiss’ opinion, I reserve the right to change my vote if I ever hear the lyrics. I can usually ignore bad lyrics if the music is good enough but I have my limits.
alexmagic, I just may take that and run with it. I think Venus and Mars is quite all right tonight or any other night. Not great, but quite good. I’ll need a little time on it, though.
I was definitely not a comic book kid and in fact had NO IDEA that this was about comic book heroes until I was in college or later and someone told me. I just thought it was stuff he made up.
The live version here, which I’ve only just checked out, is nothing great. Really not a great live song. The lp version is good, though.
I’ll start: “Magneto and Titanium Man” is more than fair — it’s quite excellent! I dig the pumping organ, the harmonies, the occasional rock squawk from the guitar, the balanced pop underpinning — all of which does a good job overpowering the incredibly retarded lyrics. Well done, and good call!
I say fair. If this harmless pub rock shuffle had come out the Brinsley Shwarz camp, this discussion would be moot.
I don’t have a problem with this at all. It’s Paul doing something he’s extremely good at – singing harmless and catchy pop while entertaining a crowd. See a master at his craft.
Man, the sweet, sweet weed McCartney and his mates must have been scoring at this time really went well with gently pumping numbers like this and “Junior’s Farm.” I’d never heard this song before, but I’m a sucker for almost any song with a gently pumping rhythm like this one. (Billy Swan’s “I Can Help” may be the ultimate in minimalist pumping rockers with my favorite post-Pet Sounds Beach Boys song, “Do It Again” close behind.) The related genre of chooglin’ songs is also a surefire rhythm for me, with the power to overcome sins as great as Canned Heat.
Like!
Foul. Far, far too earnest.
Yes, one doesn’t always have to pump hard – sometimes one should pump gently….
I have not listened to the song since I lost access to an 8 track player to pop Venus and Mars into. It’s no Rock Show, but I still like it. Fair!
I don’t think I’ve listened to it since you had it on 8 track, either.
You’d never heard this before? That’s kind of weird.
Fair enough for me. Not one of my faves on the record–a record I like a lot and have liked since I was a kid–but it’s quite ok.
What? It’s an intentionally goofy song based on Marvel Comics. Fair!
I always liked this song…still do
Fair! Nostalgia perhaps, but I like the period of Paul/Wings right about to this point best. I was poking around on Youtube and the concert footage from the Wings Over America tour shows the band to be a well-oiled machine rocking the joint.
http://youtu.be/z57qdtcmETw
(I remain amazed that Google can host and publish such vast catalogs of obviously unauthorized copyrighted material.)
Even though I believe the album version of this song was recorded in my old neighborhood, I can’t really call it fair. Sure the groove is cool enough, but come on, the song is ridiculous. The arenafied version lacks the precision of the studio version, to say the least, but at least it has an energy to make up for the messiness. On the other hand the polish of the studio version gives me a toothache. Sorry, but the cute one is extremely problematical for me.
Most assuredly foul.
Even as a Beatles-loving and Band on the Run-loving kid a lot of solo Beatles stuff made me squirm. if this was on Venus and Mars I did hear it once. Andyr or chickenfrank played it for me once and I hated the album in general.
“Then, after the Rockettes, a guy came out in a tuxedo and roller skates on, and started skating under a bunch of little tables, and telling jokes while he did it. He was a very good skater and all, but I couldn’t enjoy it much because I kept picturing him practicing to be a guy that roller-skates on the stage.”
—J.D. Salinger’s Holden Caulfield in The Catcher in the Rye
That’s the least choogling choogle that has ever choolgled.
Linda seems to really dig it, though.
Enjoyable, but that may because I can’t understand any of the lyrics. They all appear to be primary members of the Good Attitude Club.
Looks like you’ve rollerskated past the capability to enjoy this song right into jaded cynicism.
You’re really not missing much. Like lots of solo Paul’s lyrics, they don’t bear close examination.
Chicken – I thought you also had the record.
I say Foul – especially this version. This “live” version has “touched up in the studio” all over it. I have never heard live vocals with that effect. Very hard to do in a stadium setting.
I really did only own it on 8-Track, and I’m quite certain I was not carting an 8-track player around post-high school. I remember liking that album, but didn’t it include 2! songs by other members of Wings. Medicine Jar, anyone? Yeah, sure Paul, it’s a real band.
There’s nothing to enjoy. Listening to solo McCartney is like eating chicken wings: a lot of effort for very little meat.
I think of Paul’s solo stuff largely as cotton candy. Fluffy, sticky sweet, full of air, zero nourishment, and a steady diet would be very bad if not fatal. But it’s OK as an occasional treat. Plus I think Band on the Run is only exceeded by All Things Must Pass and Lennon’s Plastic Ono Band for great Beatle solo records.
Fair on nostalgia points alone. Wings Over America was one of my earliest LPs and a Middle School friend asked why Magneto was on the album sleeve (http://www.brazilcult.com/Brazilcult/Imagens/Listings/lps/paul_mccartney_wings_over_america/02.jpg behind drummer Joe English??). I was never a comic book kid but I pointed out the song title. I wonder what moved him to write this (beyond pot consumption)?
Fair, surprising no one. HVB nailed all the musical things that work about it, and I’ll add on the sort of stomping bit that I assume represents the Titanium Man rumbling during the bank robbery that goes on in the song.
I also give McCartney credit for throwing in two at least moderately obscure comic book references (Titanium Man and The Crimson Dynamo, who just couldn’t cut it no mo’), to earn himself some comic book nerd cred. Not that the idea of Paul and the rest of Wings sitting around stoned reading comics is all that hard to believe. There’s a follow-up story to the song, where Wings was playing a show in LA and Jack Kirby – who co-created Magneto – met him backstage and probably didn’t really care much about McCartney or the Beatles. Kirby and Stan Lee were, essentially, the Lennon and McCartney of comic books, so this was probably one of those rare later-day cases with a Beatle meeting someone they admired more than the other way around.
I am going on record now predicting that Venus and Mars will be the next McCartney album to get a (non-RTH) critical upgrade, on the heels of the recent Ram, McCartney and McCartney II rebirths.
I never heard it before. I’ll say fair, but similar to Ladymiss’ opinion, I reserve the right to change my vote if I ever hear the lyrics. I can usually ignore bad lyrics if the music is good enough but I have my limits.
alexmagic, I just may take that and run with it. I think Venus and Mars is quite all right tonight or any other night. Not great, but quite good. I’ll need a little time on it, though.
I was definitely not a comic book kid and in fact had NO IDEA that this was about comic book heroes until I was in college or later and someone told me. I just thought it was stuff he made up.
The live version here, which I’ve only just checked out, is nothing great. Really not a great live song. The lp version is good, though.