Red Rose Speedway

『Red Rose Speedway』(1973年)は、Wingsの豊かでロマンチックなセカンド・アルバムであり、Paul McCartneyの作曲家およびバンドリーダーとしての自信の高まりを示す作品である。
ハイライトとなる楽曲には、チャート1位を獲得したバラード「My Love」、活気あふれるオープニング曲「Big Barn Bed」、そして繊細で複数のセクションから成る「Little Lamb Dragonfly」が含まれ、これらはPaul McCartneyのメロディ作りの強みを存分に発揮している。
当初は2枚組アルバムとして構想されていたが、最終的には洗練されたソフトロック・サウンドのコンパクトな作品として完成した。
『Red Rose Speedway』はWingsを商業的に成立するMcCartneyプロジェクトとして確立させるとともに、1970年代初頭のポップ・ミュージックにおける彼の支配的地位をさらに強固なものにした。
デジパック仕様1CD。

All right, he's made a record with his wife and a record with his pickup band where democracy is allegedly the conceit even if it never sounds that way, so he returns to a solo effort, making the most disjointed album he ever cut. There's a certain fascination to its fragmented nature, not just because it's decidedly on the softer side of things, but because his desire for homegrown eccentricity has been fused with his inclination for bombastic art rock a la Abbey Road. Consequently, Red Rose Speedway winds up being a really strange record, one that veers toward the schmaltzy AOR MOR (especially on the hit single "My Love"), yet is thoroughly twisted in its own desire toward domestic art. As a result, this is every bit as insular as the lo-fi records of the early '90s, but considerably more artful, since it was, after all, designed by one of the great pop composers of the century. Yes, the greatest songs here are slight -- "Big Barn Bed," "One More Kiss," and "When the Night" -- but this is a deliberately slight record (slight in the way a snapshot album is important to a family yet glazes the eyes of any outside observer). Work your way into the inner circle, and McCartney's little flourishes are intoxicating -- not just the melodies, but the facile production and offhand invention. If these are miniscule steps forward, consider this: if Brian Wilson can be praised for his half-assed ideas and execution, then why not McCartney, who has more character here than the Beach Boys did on their Brother records? Truthfully. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine