Paul McCartney & Wings’ ‘Venus and Mars’ Gets 50th Anniversary Half-Speed Master

Share This:

Paul McCartney and Wings’ fourth studio album, Venus and Mars, is getting a half-speed master edition for its 50th anniversary. The title, from MPL and UMe, arrives March 21, 2025. Pre-order is available in the U.S. here and in the U.K. here.

From the January announcement: The special vinyl edition was cut at half speed using a high-resolution transfer of the original master tapes from 1975 by Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios. The album is presented as a meticulous reproduction of the original U.K. pressing, with recreations of the original “Venus and Mars are alright tonight” circular sticker and “comparative sizes of sun and planets” bookmark sticker and comes with two posters with photography by Aubrey Powell and Sylvia de Swaan. The iconic album artwork by Hipgnosis has been meticulously recreated and presented in a gatefold sleeve.

Venus and Mars will also be available in Dolby Atmos for the first time, newly mixed by Giles Martin and Steve Orchard.

One of the world’s most beloved rock outfits, Wings came to define the era of 1970s arena rock while dominating the airwaves with no fewer than 14 U.S. Top 10 hits and 12 Top 10 hits in the U.K. Following their 1973 masterpiece Band on the Run, Venus and Mars would represent another peak of Wings’ creative and commercial heyday. The album was released on May 27, 1975, ahead of the legendary “Wings Over the World” tour. Preceded by the U.S. #1 single “Listen To What The Man Said,” Venus and Mars hit #1 in the U.S. and U.K. (and elsewhere) and went on to sell over four million copies.

In Best Classic Bands’ Album Rewind, writer Mark Leviton notes of the LP’s lead-off one-two punch: The minute-long “Venus and Mars” theme opens the album, with acoustic guitars laying a bed for first synthesizer and then McCartney’s vocal, before it explodes into the celebratory “Rock Show.” Once there, slide guitar is prominent, and McCartney roughens his voice like his hero Little Richard, but the tempo and feel changes, and then changes again, and again.

There’s a reference to Jimmy Page, scoring drugs and a number of rock concert venues, and by mid-point McCartney’s also doing a comic recitation in a silly voice: “In my green metal suit I’m preparing to shoot up the city/And the ring at the end of my nose makes me look rather pretty.” This is the only track to which pianist Toussaint contributed. “Rock Show” is McCartney having a blast, welding song snippets to each other, including a minute-long coda of wacky improvisation.

Less than one year after Band on the Run’s release, the first recording sessions for Venus and Mars took place in November 1974 and featured a revamped Wings line-up. Following the departure of Denny Seiwell and Henry McCullough on the eve of the Band on the Run sessions in Lagos, Paul, Linda McCartney, and Denny Laine were now joined by guitarist Jimmy McCulloch and drummer Geoff Britton. After recording “Letting Go,” “Medicine Jar,” and “Love In Song” at Abbey Road Studios, Wings left London for New Orleans’ Sea Saint Studios, facing another unexpected line-up shift with Geoff Britton’s exit, recruiting Joe English to complete the album.

The 65-date “Wings Over the World” tour began in 1975 and stretched into October 1976.

The first Wings release for 2025, Venus and Mars follows 2024’s release of the rare Wings live-in-studio One Hand Clapping album as well as a 50th anniversary edition of Band on the Run. The labels promise more exciting celebratory Wings’ activities and announcements soon.

Paul McCartney and Wings’ Venus and Mars Track List

Side One
1 Venus and Mars
2 Rock Show
3 Love in Song
4 You Gave Me the Answer
5 Magneto and Titanium Man
6 Letting Go

Side Two
1 Venus and Mars – Reprise
2 Spirits of Ancient Egypt
3 Medicine Jar
4 Call Me Back Again
5 Listen to What the Man Said
6 Treat Her Gently – Lonely Old People
7 Crossroads