Following up the multi-platinum release of McCartney (1970), Paul McCartney, who included Linda as a creator, issued RAM with several wonderful tracks that included the finger-pointing tune, “Too Many People”, and the breakthrough hit, “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey”. “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey”, which clocked in at almost five minutes of pure audio perfection, was too difficult to edit because of its flow. (“Too Many People” was a B-side to that hit.)
Needless to say, Ram set the stage for Paul McCartney, whose next album would come from a formed band, Wings. RAM contained twelve songs, all of which showcased a Paul McCartney that needed to be, for all purposes, a talent of his own worth, quite separated from the Beatles. RAM succeeded with its rich smorgasbord of songs.
The newly remastered album released for the series, the ambitious Paul McCartney Archive Collection, is wonderful to listen to. And if it were not for the actual presence of the added bonuses of an extra disc of tracks, and a DVD, we would be happy all the same.
The second disc includes eight more tracks, all outtakes from RAM sessions. On it you’ll will be rewarded with “Another Day”, and “Oh Woman, Oh Why” as well as a collection of new mix versions of songs. The DVD contains Ramming, an 11-minute documentary of the making of RAM, several promo films that include “Heart of The Country”, “3 Legs”, and “Hey Diddle”, and a short film entitled “Eat At Home On Tour”.
RAM is a significant title in the Paul McCartney catalogue, so much so that it is consistently remembered not only by its two well-known tracks (“Too Many People”, “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey”), but also by its iconic cover with Paul holding the horns of a ram within a ’60s-based color outlay.
This new remastered re-release of RAM is an essential pick-up, regardless of which form you regain it as (there are single CD, 2CD, LP, and a massive Deluxe Edition with bound book packages for you to choose from).
Release Date: May 22, 2012
–Matt Rowe
RAM holds up so damned well after all these years, that it’s easy to forget how badly that album was slagged, by critics, for so many years.
The two hit singles were great, but even better are some of those deep tracks… “Smile Away,” “Back Seat of My Car,” “Heart of the Country,” “Eat At Home,” great stuff. I hadn’t bought any of the previous McCartney remasters, but this one’s a no-brainer.
One of few McCartney albums that have kept my attention throughout all these years.
IMO, Ram and Band On The Run are the two best McCartney studio albums. I listen to them both equally.
I would guess that the Ram album got slagged so badly because it wasn’t a Beatles album and that’s what it was being compared to. I also think there was a lot of ill will in the press (and the general population) with the breakup of the Beatles, most of which was directed at Paul since he was the one that made the breakup official.
I’ll thrown in support for much of Paul’s more recent works: namely Memory Almost Full, Chaos and Creation In the Backyard, and Electric Arguments.
I think those rank among his very best, while both McCartney and Flowers In the Dirt are flawed but strong efforts as well (“Flowers” needed to stop with track 10). But, yeah… RAM and Band On the Run may still the very best.