Paul McCartney releases five albums as extra-packed apps
Five Paul McCartney and Wings albums have been released as apps that are packed with extras for less than their iTunes equivalents. Thumbs up!
Paul McCartney has released five of his earliest post-Beatles albums as bonus-packed apps, complete with a look behind-the-scenes of the LPS recorded on his own and with Wings.
The former Beatle and proponent of the thumbs-up has released "Band on the Run", "McCartney", "McCartney II", "Ram", and "Wings Over America" as iPad apps packed with extras.
The apps include all the original artwork, interviews with Paul and other band members, a history of each album, and rare behind-the-scenes photos and videos taken by those who were there including Clive Arrowsmith and McCartney's wife Linda.
By buying the albums in app form from the App Store, you're also saving yourself a few quid: the apps are £5.49, while the remastered albums in iTunes range in price from £7.99 to £10.99. If you already have any of the albums in audio form you can select and play it within iTunes and then return to the app with the music still playing in the background.
The apps include Macca's first solo album, "McCartney", released in 1970 after the Beatles split up, and his second LP, "Ram", recorded with Linda and released the following year.
From the back catalogue of Wings, the band he formed with Linda and a revolving line-up of other musicians, comes 1973's "Band on the Run." The app includes behind-the-scenes videos of the cover shot featuring legendary actors James Coburn and Christopher Lee as well as British chat show host Michael Parkinson. Also recorded under the auspices of Wings -- memorably hailed by Alan Partridge as "Only the band the Beatles could have been" -- is live triple album "Wings Over America" recorded during the band's 1976 tour.
The line-up is rounded out by Macca's second solo album "McCartney II", released in 1980.
For a long time the surviving Beatles held out from making their music available in digital form. Aside from odd experiments like a £200 apple-shaped USB stick and a Fab Four-focused 2009 spin-off from video game "Rock Band", if you wanted the Beatles on your iPod you had to buy a CD and rip it. The mop-topped 60s stars finally came to iTunes in 2010, which remains the only online outlet for the band's back catalogue.
Some of McCartney's later work, including "Band on the Run", is available online from services such as Spotify.
The redoubtable Macca is still playing live, having resumed his "Out There" tour in New York this month following postponement because of illness.