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In 2010, Paul McCartney released the first in an ongoing series of Archive Collection releases, Band On The Run. Ostensibly, the series was designed to offer the definitive versions of whichever album was being highlighted. However, it became immediately apparent that Paul McCartney (and his team) had different ideas from most fans as to what material needed to be included on his sets. There was no attempt whatsoever to make these sets “complete” or “definitive” by any stretch, as countless important tracks (both released and unreleased) went left by the wayside, leaving vast amounts of real estate on the bonus CDs unused. Nine titles into the series as of late 2015, and for many the series has been a disappointment. It has become a popular game on some forums to guess what Paul & Co. will leave off the next release. It was into this ongoing disappointment that The Paul McCartney Ultimate Archive Collection was born. The goal of the series is a simple one: to issue versions of every Paul McCartney album (including side project albums such as McGear and Holly Days) that will include, as bonus tracks, EVERY song / mix / edit that was released from that particular era, including an extremely healthy dose of unreleased tracks thrown in to provide insight to Paul’s recording process for a given album. The idea is to present these albums as Paul should have done with his Archive series. Paul McCartney is arguably the single greatest composer who ever lived. While his work with The Beatles will always be rightfully praised and held up as the gold standard for the possibilities of recorded popular music, his solo catalog should also be given the respect that it deserves. That’s the basic premise of this series. With that in mind, it opens the door to a lot of fun musical treats along the way. Songs that may have gone unheard by a large number of Paul McCartney fans simply due to their rarity. Once finished, the series will offer a complete and comprehensive collection of Paul McCartney solo recordings, including every rare song, mix and edit that has been issued somewhere in the world. Sound quality is also very important to this series, and the discs do not disappoint in the slightest. Every track has been sourced for the best quality available. Vinyl rips have all been done with the care and attention to quality that this series demands. Simply put, these songs have never sounded better. Care and attention to detail has also been given to the packaging, with original front and rear covers replicating the original LP, and the discs themselves utilizing the original vinyl LP labels. Over the course of this series, several albums have been created to document important moments in Paul’s career (such as the One Hand Clapping soundtrack, the MTV Up Close performance from December ’92, or The Space Within Us – an audio document of Paul’s 2003-2005 live performances). For these titles, appropriate cover artwork and disc labels have been created so that they could stand alongside the released albums. The series began with Flowers In The Dirt in May 2015. Eight months later, there are 30 titles available. The series is expected to wrap up in May 2016, with a multi-disc Rarities set to incorporate any leftover tracks that couldn’t fit onto their respective titles due to space considerations. This is a series that was long in the planning stages (various permutations of this series have been planned for close to twenty years). It is with great pride that we here at Voo-Doo Records are able to make this series a reality. - Dave