After last year’s highly successful Band On The Run expanded reissue, Paul McCartney is is it again, offering up this year with the same treatment for both 1970′s McCartney album and it’s 1980 sequel McCartney II. Both albums will be re-issued in CD Special Edition, CD+DVD and 2-LP packages.
McCartney LP, released 1970
The McCartney album has been marked as the definitive end of The Beatles because advanced copies of it were included in the press release where, for the first time, Paul answered simply “no” to the question “Do you foresee a time when Lennon/McCartney becomes an active songwriting partnership again?” Paul recorded the album in his home studio with no one else contributing to the record other than a few backing vocals from his wife Linda, the inspiration for the included classic Maybe I’m Amazed. There was also a great deal of conflict over the release date of the album as the other Beatles feared it would interfere with the following month’s release of the final Beatles album, Let It Be.
McCartney II, released 1980
Ten years later in May of 1980, McCartney II was released. In a 2009, BROW post here, I discussed how it was originally to be a double album. Like the first McCartney album, this one was recorded at home and has Paul on all the instruments with additional backing vocals by Linda. Additionally, as the first McCartney album signified the end of The Beatles, this one signified the end of Wings. In the upcoming expanded version, it is likely we will hear some of the material that was left off of the original 1980 release.
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I'm Happy Nat and I'm glad you dropped in! Feel free to listen to the latest BROW (Beatles Rarity Of The Week), watch the latest VOW (Beatles Video of the Week), and join the discussion by leaving comments or 
I'm really torn about this method of releasing bonus tracks.I think I would prefer to have an Anthology type package filled entirely with rare material. Sadly, and this may just be me, I really don't listen to McCartney or McCartney II all the way through very often any more. I can appreciate a fresh, vibrant remastering job, but I am not likely to frequently go through disc one of these sets. I can guarantee however, that I will be listening with attention to the bonus cuts. Truthfully though, I was entirely underwhelmed with The Band on the Run remaster, the bonus material had all been pretty much released in one form or another and didn't reveal anything about the artist or that project.
I realized this with the recent reissue of Exile on Mainstreet. I gave the main disc a cursory listen but it was the extra disc that was what I truly sought. I suppose that this is a way to continue generating sales on older material. Combining old albums with new tracks likely makes better business sense than a stand alone expensive multi-disc compilation of rarities. I think Dylan does this archival thing best - Some of the Bootleg Series compilations have been put together so well that they can stand up against original official releases - they become part of the cannon.
I heard about a year ago that Paul was thinking about a "Cloud" type delivery system of rarities. I think that may be a bold approach.
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