![]() |
Tripping The Live Fantastic |
Produced by Paul McCartney, Bob Clearmountain & Peter Henderson | |
Released on November 6, 1990 | |
UK CHART POSITION #26 . . . US CHART POSITION #16 | |
Find it at GEMM | |
CDP 7 94778 disc one cover [high resolution scan] |
S omehow I only managed to get the first of this two-disc set; in retrospect, it was a blessing in disguise. The state of Paul McCartney’s voice is terrible from the onset, and it doesn’t get any smoother over the course of the show. The arrangements from the band are pedestrian at best, outclassed at every step by earlier versions from Wings (which one wouldn’t think was too high a hurdle to clear). Thus old gems like “Band on the Run” and “Jet” run out of gas early. The more recent McCartney material is a notch better, as it’s fresh in everyone’s mind. In fact, “We Got Married” and “Put It There” get the most sympathetic treatment from Paul and the band on disc one. There are, of course, the old Beatles tracks, which is what generated interest in the tour (nobody was that fired up about Flowers In The Dirt). A fine reading of “Got To Get You Into My Life” notwithstanding, these classics suffer from Paul’s cracking voice. “Birthday” gets rushed, “The Long And Winding Road” comes off mawkish, “Fool On The Hill” is hampered by the inexplicable use of Martin Luther King’s voice in the middle, and even “Can’t Buy Me Love” can’t bring back the magic. There are brief sections where the old pop pixie dust appears, including the opening of “Maybe I’m Amazed” (where I could actually feel a lump form in my throat) and the unsinkable Sgt. Pepper’s. Unless Paul got his voice back AND fired his backing band during the intermission, disc two is probably more of the same. As generous as it is, Tripping The Live Fantastic is a ticket to nowhere. If you must go idol gazing, the single-disc Highlights seems to capture the show’s most flattering side.
![]() |
CDP 7 94778 booklet gatefold |
TRACK LISTING
CREDITS
PAUL McCARTNEY --
LINDA McCARTNEY --
ROBBIE McINTOSH --
HAMISH STUART --
CHRIS WHITTEN --
PAUL "WIX" WICKENS --
Jeff Cohen -- engineer
Bob Clearmountain -- mixing
Peter Saville -- art direction
Peter Saville Associates -- design
Donald Christie, Shoichiro Kataoka, Ross Halfin, Alan Silfen, Dave Modell, Jorie Gracen, Guido Harari -- photographers
REGION | RELEASE DATE | LABEL | MEDIA | ID NUMBER | FEATURES |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
UK/GER | November 1990 | Parlophone | 3LP/2CD | PCST/CDPCST 7346 | |
US | November 6, 1990 | Capitol | 3LP/2CD | CDP 7 94778 | booklet |
SPA | 1990 | Parlophone | 3LP | 182 79 4778 | booklet |
For more discographies visit...
© 2006 Connolly & Company. All rights reserved.