Venus and Mars (1975)
1. Venus and Mars/Rock Show
2. Love in Song
3. You Gave Me the Answer
4. Magneto and Titanium Man
5. Letting Go
6. Venus and Mars (Reprise)
7. Spirits of Ancient Egypt
8. Medicine Jar
9. Call Me Back Again
10.Listen to What the Man Said
11.Treat Her Gently/Lonely Old People
12.Crossroads *
13.Zoo Gang *
14.Lunch Box/Odd Sox *
15.My Carnival *
* CD Bonus Track
Coming off the back of the hugely acclaimed Band on the Run, one might have expected McCartney to try and replicate that winning formula with Venus and Mars. He didn’t. Instead, what emerged was a more conventional set of tracks — a serviceable and, at times, engaging record that plays its cards closer to the chest. Where Band on the Run soared, this one merely cruises.
To his credit, McCartney had now assembled something more closely resembling an actual band. Wings, for once, looked and sounded like a unit — even if it remained abundantly clear who was in charge. McCartney's grip on the wheel was as firm as ever, but the expanded lineup did introduce the occasional surprise. Chief among these was Medicine Jar, a track not sung by McCartney at all, but by guitarist Jimmy McCulloch. It’s a competent performance, though it sticks out awkwardly — less a band contribution than a permitted detour.
The album opens with the twin title tracks, Venus and Mars and Rock Show, which segue into each other with tempo shifts and rhythmic change-ups clearly echoing the structural ambition of Band on the Run. The closing section, a riff on 'rock stars in the seventies', is the strongest moment, but the song as a whole never achieves liftoff. It charted well enough at the time, but it’s faded in both relevance and reputation.
The clear standout here is Listen to What the Man Said, a breezy, radio-ready slice of McCartney pop that deservedly topped the charts. Catchy, cheerful, and irrepressibly optimistic, it’s vintage Paul. The production sparkles, the saxophone solo (courtesy of Tom Scott) adds just the right touch, and it remains one of the few songs from the album still in rotation today.
Elsewhere, Venus and Mars offers a little bit of everything McCartney is known for: the whimsical, the nostalgic, the gently eccentric. You Gave Me the Answer is the obligatory twenties pastiche, complete with period vocal affectations and a music hall bounce that’s so unabashedly charming one hesitates to admit liking it. McCartney has always had a soft spot for this sort of thing — Lennon, famously, didn’t — and while it may not be fashionable, it’s undeniably well done.
The remainder of the album is pleasant without being particularly memorable. No real missteps, no cringe-worthy experiments, but equally, no great revelations. It’s a professionally assembled LP by a man who knows exactly what he’s doing — which, ironically, may be its greatest weakness. The bonus tracks included in later editions are largely disposable, and their inclusion only serves to dilute the album’s modest but cohesive identity.
Sadly, this album is hardly essential either. Venus and Mars occupies that vast and shadowy middle ground of the McCartney catalogue: competent, sporadically inspired, and ultimately overshadowed by the brilliance that came just before it.
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