Rudolph wasn't recorded the same time as Wonderful Christmastime? I assumed it was. Thanks for the info. I'd like to have the b-side too at some point.

What's the best price on the 2-CD McCartney II? I ordered the deluxe "book" for McCartney I from Borders, but for McC II the 2-CD is enough for me (and saves space!). I was at J&R today and both were I and II were 18.99 each. The deluxe book versions were 73.99, I think.

Amazon has 13.92 for the 2CD -- anyone see it for less?

In Massachusetts, the Newbury Comics chain has the 2CD versions of these on sale this week for $12.88 and the deluxe book versions for $59.99. I think these prices are good through Saturday. I picked up "McCartney" 2CD today...haven't decided yet about "McCartney II"...would love to get the extra, 3rd CD of material, but don't think I can justify the extra major bucks for it and a book and DVD I'll likely look at just once or twice.

For those who can't wait, both "Wonderful Christmastime" and "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reggae" were included as bonus tracks on the last CD version of Back to the Egg.

Anyone here been able to redeem the download code for the deluxe versions (with hardcovers) of McCartney or McCartney II? I got both today, tried to download, and got the message that neither one can be redeemed.

McCartney worked for me yesterday (one 4 GB zip file contained all 20 tracks x 2 – "limited" and "unlimited," + a pdf file with artwork), but McCartney II did not work today.

MagicMan

Which I still have!

McCartney's solo stuff is hit or miss for me and I have most of his catalog already -- the experimental side stuff aside -- and there are only key albums I might want to upgrade, so I'm not overly excited about this reissue campaign....so far.

J&R had a store-wide 20% off all CDs sale, making them $15.19... still too much for me. I'll stick with what I have.

I'm looking forward to seeing what they do with Broad Street, though... I enjoyed that one. "Should we try Not Such A Bad Boy?" "Do we have to?" "Yeah."

LOL

Wake me up when Wings Over America comes out!

These proposed reissues are so freaking incredible that I'm willing to say that I will eat my hat if they all come to pass.

Listening to McCartney today and the sound is incredible on it.

TUG OF WAR!!! TUG OF WAR!!!

Come on with these, already...the frickin' BEATLES came out all at once, for pete's sake.

I stopped by Discorama on the way home last night (I live nearby), and picked up the 2CD McCartney II for 12.99. They had McCartney I as well. Not sure if they had the deluxe versions ... I didn't ask. My McCartney (I) deluxe version which I pre-ordered from Borders should arrive in the next few days.

That list of releases looks great!! Lots of surprises.

I got the 2 Deluxe Books yesterday. I opened McCartney right away to spin it. Very happy with the audio. Unfortunately, when I opened McCartney II today, disc 2 had a deep scratch and a white speck of schmutz I couldn't wipe off and disc 3 had some kind of oily droplet that made the disc dull when I tried to wipe it clean. I didn't even bother to play them. Back it goes to AmazWAN, with a replacement due tomorrow. So much for quality control at Concord.

The sound quality on these reissues is light years ahead of the old CD's, which were awful. The bonus track have been very enjoyable too and added value to the releases. Here's hoping that Wing's Over America includes the entire Rock Show concert film on DVD.

Got my McCartney II deluxe edition yesterday. As soon as I saw the book I thought "I have to have all of these!" Of course I don't really want the other books and I only bought this one to get the bonus 3rd cd. The book looks really cool and tugs at the completist in me, but there is nothing in it that I would call essential. The expanded track info is very cool, and judging by my 2cd version of McCartney, that info is reserved for the book. The dvd as well is nice, but not worth having spent the extra money.

So what about the 3rd cd you may ask? Well... I didn't have much of a choice. I had to hear these songs. I needed to know what the 30 seconds cut from Wonderful Christmastime sounded like, to hear how much more fabulous Check My Machine is with 2 extra minutes. For that reason I will always be happy I spent the extra money on this set, but having now heard these extended versions, I want to congratulate the good sense of the man who did the editing in the first place. Less is more in this case. In the end, there is nothing here I would have missed, not even the instrumental version of Summer's Day Song, but that's ok too.

One thing I noticed is how not-horrible this album is. I hated it at the time. Now, I find it light-weight, but kind of fun. I had forgotten what a great song One of These Days is.

All in all I'm quite pleased with this purchase, but I hope I'm not "forced" into buying further super deluxe editions in order to get all the music.

End of review.

Have a great day everybody.

Vince

McCartney II is one of several Macca albums that have improved for me only after repeat listenings.

I hated McCartney II when it was released. Maybe because I was really expecting McCartney II if you know what I mean. It was a disaster compared to that first album IMO. But I did just play it about a month ago (still awaiting my remasters) and I liked it much more. The pressure was off, I guess.

Looks like my Borders order of McCartney I deluxe will not arrive until tomorrow even though I had a free 2-day shipping upgrade and even though it is coming by FedEx from New Jersey to NYC.

I was pleasantly surprised by McCartney II. It was an album I didn't hang onto too long back in the day and hadn't listened to since. The album is actually pretty good, and different than anything else in his catalog. With the bonus content (I picked up the two-disc deluxe edition) it makes for a nice package. Another album I'm hoping for a similar experience with is Wings Wild Life.

Just got my remastered McCartney CD. I am so pissed that at 43 seconds on Maybe I'm Amazed ,Paul Clicking his sticks together has been mixed out. Revisionist History !

Rob