50 Years Ago, Paul McCartney's Second Band Dropped a Near-Perfect Album

Paul McCartney is a legend. And, had he never made any music after the breakup of the Beatles in 1970, he would still be a legend. But he did. As the new documentary, Paul McCartney: Man on the Run details, the post-Beatles career of Macca was longer, and even more colorful than his time with the Fab Four. And, for hardcore Beatles fans, the question then and now remains the same: Did McCartney's solo years produce any albums that were on par with the best of the Beatles? The short answer is maybe, and one candidate for a great post-Beatles McCartney album is a record that turns 50 this year.

On March 26, 1976, the rock band Wings released its fifth studio album Wings at the Speed of Sound, and, in doing so, gave the world one of the most memorable McCartney records of all time.

Even for many huge Beatles fans, it may be a challenge to name the band members of wings beyond Paul McCartney, his then-wife, Linda McCartney and maybe, Denny Laine. But, in fairness, if you don't know all them members of Wings beyond those three core members, it's not really your fault. The Wings lineup changed pretty significantly from 1971 to 1981, and, as some pundits have suggested, was more or less a backing band for McCartney's various songs.

But, a closer inspection of the Wings discography reveals that assumption isn't entirely true. And, Wings at the Speed of Sound is a good example of an album that feels like it comes from a band, rather than being a collection of Paul McCartney songs that happen to have various musicians joining in on a jam session. And, Wings at the Speed of Sound also contains some of McCartney's biggest anthems, some of which rank as his best songs of all time.

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Technically their fifth studio album, Wings at the Speed of Sound features the following McCartney bangers you've almost certainly heard of: "Let 'Em In," "Silly Love Songs," and "Warm and Beautiful." Of these, "Silly Love Songs" is perhaps the most infamous simply because it demonstrates McCartney's almost punk rock belief in writing upbeat music for the sake of it, and doing it in a song that straight-up attacks his haters for the accusation that his artistry is grounded in the corny and saccharine. With "Silly Love Songs," Paul sings "what's wrong with that" and follows it up with his battle cry "here I go again." If you are somebody who thinks McCartney's best Beatles song was something hardcore like "Helter Skelter," then "Silly Love Songs" is your kryptonite; a song in which McCartney seems to say: well f*ck you if you don't like what I do, I'm going to keep doing it.

And yet, there are some deep cuts on this album that run counter to the idea that McCartney only was capable of producing dorky love ballads. Case-in-point is "Beware My Love," a slow-build song that recalls some of the edge of McCartney's iconic 1973 James Bond title song "Live and Let Die." Again, if you think McCartney can't do a darker, epic rock song, then "Beware My Love" will prove you wrong.

There's also the great song with lead vocals from Denny Laine, "The Note You Never Wrote," a tender, strange song that comes right after the album's more famous lead track, "Let 'Em In." Here, Wings at the Speed of Sound feels like real album, complete with detours and odd moments, rather than simply a bunch of filler bookended by now-famous McCartney singles. "The Note You Never Wrote" isn't exactly a song you'll want to listen to on repeat on its own ("Beware My Love very much is) but it's excellence is why Wings at the Speed of Sound is the kind of long-playing album you can simply put on, and not worry about hitting any bad songs.

Overall, if you're trying to convert someone to the church of Paul McCartney and you don't want to rely on a greatest hits collection, or any Beatles records, Wings at the Speed of Sound is a perfect place to start. It's a near-perfect album, and much better than the more famous 1973 Wings record, Band on the Run. It's not all silly love songs on this one, but when those tracks do come up, those moments are more than earned.

Man on the Run streaming date

The new documentary film, Paul McCartney: Man on the Run already had a limited theatrical debut. It hits Prime Video on February 27, 2026.