Paul McCartney: 'The McCartney Years'

Spanning four decades, 'The McCartney Years' is a three volume DVD collection, which claims to be a complete retrospective of McCartney's post Beatles output from the Wings and Band On The Run projects in the 1970's through to the 80's solo career that has endured to the present day. It's maybe understandable that Sir Paul's memory gets a little selective in the latter era, where risible musical choices such as duets with Michael Jackson ("The Girl is Mine") and the Frog Chorus "We All Stand Together" are absent.

Perhaps what is most disappointing about the release is the commentary from Macca, limited to only certain songs and we get such wonderful insights as "here's a shot of Linda with the kids", "this was filmed in Scotland" and then acres of silence. Whilst a warts and all expose was never expected, something a little more contextualized would perhaps give us an insight into the man. Similarly the extra interviews from The South Bank Show and Parkinson are mere minutes as opposed to their original extended running times.

However, the third disc does redeem proceedings with an excellent choice of songs from the Glastonbury 2004 set and various other landmark performances, allowing the most successful musician and composer in popular music history to exercise his lungs in a more unleashed setting rather than the staid videos presented on the first two discs.

Extras: The South Bank Show and Parkinson interviews, Creating Chaos At Abbey Road, MTV Unplugged, Glastonbury 2004, Live Aid and The Superbowl XXIV.

Released on 12th November 2007 by Warner Music Entertainment.

Written by Simon Cole.