Hand of Mars

Venus and Mars, originally released in 1975, is the fourth album by Wings. The album was recorded primarily at Sea-Saint Studios in New Orleans and at Abbey Road Studios in London. The album topped US and UK charts reaching #1 on both, spearheaded by the success of lead single “Listen to What the Man Said.”…

The original 13 track #1 album, remastered at Abbey Road Studios in London; 14 bonus audio tracks (including the hit single ‘Junior’s Farm’); DVD featuring previously unreleased and exclusive content, including footage of the band in New Orleans and rehearsing the songs from Venus and Mars at Elstree Studios, and the original TV commercial for the album, directed by Karel Reisz; All set within a 128 page hardbound book containing memorabilia, many previously unpublished images by Linda McCartney and Aubrey Powell, album and single artwork and a full history of the album, including a new interview with Paul McCartney and expanded track by track information.

The Mars Volta have never taken the easy route. Their sixth album since Omar Rodríguez-López and Cedric Bixler-Zavala quit seminal post-hardcore outfit At The Drive-In in 2001, ‘Noctourniquet’ is framed around a narrative based both on Superman villain Solomon Grundy and the Greek myth of Hyacinthus. If you need refreshing, that’s the one in which Hyacinth, the (male) lover of the god Apollo, attempts to impress Apollo by catching his discus, but gets struck by it and dies. The music follows the same recondite, abstruse path as the lyrics - an ambitious, avant-garde swirl of prog, rock, post-rock and quasi-metal that carries the weight of such intense cerebral pressure. Suffice to say, there are no songs about wearing the same jeans for four days…

Band on the Run was a commercial success, but even if it was billed as a Wings effort, it was primarily recorded by Paul, Linda, and Denny Laine. So, it was time to once again turn Wings into a genuine band, adding Joe English and Jimmy McCulloch to the lineup and even letting the latter contribute a song. This faux-democracy isn't what signals that this is a band effort - it's the attitude, construction, and pacing, which McCartney acknowledges as much, opening with an acoustic title track that's a salute to arena rock, leading to a genuine arena rock anthem, "Rock Show." From that, it's pretty much rocking pop tunes, paced with a couple of ballads and a little whimsy, all graced with a little of the production flair that distinguished Band on the Run. But where that record was clearly a studio creation and consciously elaborate, this is a straightforward affair where the sonic details are simply window dressing…