News

Paul McCartney / Tug of War and Pipes of Peace deluxe editions

By Paul Sinclair

Comments

71

As predicted in last week’s SDE newsletter (not signed up? click here), Paul McCartney‘s 1982 solo album Tug of War and 1983 follow up Pipes of Peace will both be reissued in October, with the former being remixed and both albums available in the now familiar multi-disc deluxe ‘book’ editions.

All physical versions of the Tug of War reissue (including vinyl) come with eight demos –  six early takes of album tracks and the unreleased Stop, You Don’t Know Where She Came From and Something Didn’t Happen. The three commercially released B-sides are also included: Rainclouds, I’ll Give You A Ring and Ebony and Ivory (solo version).

Tug of War 3CD+DVD deluxe edition

The deluxe edition is a 3CD+DVD set with the three audio discs comprising the remixed version of Tug of War (remixed from the analogue multi-track tapes at Abbey Road),  a remastered version of the standard album and the bonus CD with the demos etc. The DVD features five promo videos and an 18-minute behind-the-scenes documentary. This deluxe set features a “112 page essay book” and “a 64 page scrapbook” and also comes with the hi-res audio download.


For the first time in his archive series Paul has created Super Deluxe Edition of one of his albums. Before you get too excited the Tug of War SDE is basically the standard ‘deluxe’ edition but with a “limited edition numbered acrylic slipcase” and a few hand numbered prints. Yours for £60 more than the deluxe! Everything else is the same and in fact if you look at the photos I think I prefer the slipcase on the ‘standard’ deluxe which at least has the album cover on the front. Fair play though, because the SDE is properly limited (just 1000 worldwide).

tugofwar_sde
Tug of War super deluxe – limited to 1000 (click to enlarge)

There is a familiar two-CD special edition which includes the REMIXED version of Tug of War and and the bonus CD with the demos and B-sides. And a two-LP vinyl edition offers the same content on 180g vinyl. This means that the only place to get the Tug of War 2015 REMASTER (not the remix) is via the four-disc deluxe edition or super deluxe edition.

 pop_jacko

PIPES OF PEACE is reissued on the same day as Tug of War and comes as a two-CD special edition, a 2CD+DVD deluxe edition (pictured below) and a 2LP vinyl set. All physical editions come with nine bonus tracks, including previously unreleased demos of Average Person, Keep Under Cover, Sweetest Little Show and Simple As That; a new 2015 remix of Say Say Say; that song’s B-side Ode to a Koala Bear; Twice in a Lifetime (Paul’s theme song to the 1985 Gene Hackman film) and a track called Christian Bop. Although there is a new remix of Say Say Say, the original 12-inch and extended instrumental mix from the single are missing. There are suggestions that these may well pop-up as free downloads via Macca’s site in the near future (he did exactly this with an unheard demo of Rock Show last year) but of course they really should have been on the physical release (Laupered!)


The deluxe edition adds a DVD but no more audio content, making this a three-disc set. The DVD includes promo videos and some short behind-the-scenes footage. Perhaps the most notable content is a video to The Man, the second Michael Jackson duet on the album that was planned as a third single but ultimately cancelled.

pipesofpeace_deluxe
Pipes of Peace deluxe edition (click to enlarge)

The Pipes of Peace deluxe, just like Tug of War, comes with a 112 page essay book and 64 page photo book (about the music video for Pipes of Peace). There is no limited edition ‘super deluxe’ for Pipes of Peace and unlike Tug of War the music hasn’t been remixed, so all editions feature a 2015 remaster.

All editions of Tug of War and Pipes of Peace are released on 2 October 2015.

pre-order

Notes: The UK prices on Amazon WILL come down. The deluxe should be £45-£50. Other links to be added when they come live.

Pre-order DELUXE Book Editions

Tug of War 3CD+DVD deluxe edition

Pipes of Peace 2CD+DVD deluxe book edition

Pre-order 2-disc SPECIAL Editions

Tug of War 2CD special edition

Pipes of Peace 2CD special edition

Pre-order 2LP VINYL Editions

Tug of War 2LP vinyl edition

pop_vinyl

Pipes of Peace 2LP vinyl edition (contains all bonus tracks)

 Pre-order SUPER DELUXE EDITION of Tug of War

tugofwar_sde

Only available via McCartney’s store and SOLD OUT already!

PaulMcCartney_TugOfWar_5x5_RGB

Tug Of War

Disc 1 – Remixed Album
1 Tug Of War (Remixed 2015)
2 Take It Away (Remixed 2015)
3 Somebody Who Cares (Remixed 2015)
4 What’s That You’re Doing? (Remixed 2015)
5 Here Today (Remixed 2015)
6 Ballroom Dancing (Remixed 2015)
7 The Pound Is Sinking (Remixed 2015)
8 Wanderlust (Remixed 2015)
9 Get It (Remixed 2015)
10 Be What You See (Link) (Remixed 2015)
11 Dress Me Up As A Robber (Remixed 2015)
12 Ebony And Ivory (Remixed 2015)

Disc 2 – Bonus Audio
1 Stop, You Don’t Know Where She Came From (Demo / Remastered 2015)
2 Wanderlust (Demo / Remastered 2015)
3 Ballroom Dancing (Demo / Remastered 2015)
4 Take It Away (Demo / Remastered 2015)
5 The Pound Is Sinking (Demo / Remastered 2015)
6 Something That Didn’t Happen (Demo / Remastered 2015)
7 Ebony And Ivory (Demo / Remastered 2015)
8 Dress Me Up As a Robber / Robber Riff (Demo / Remastered 2015)
9 Ebony And Ivory (Solo Version / Remastered 2015)
10 Rainclouds (Remastered 2015)
11 I’ll Give You A Ring (Remastered 2015)

Disc 3- Remastered Album (deluxe and super deluxe only)
1 Tug Of War (Remastered 2015)
2 Take It Away (Remastered 2015)
3 Somebody Who Cares (Remastered 2015)
4 What’s That You’re Doing? (Remastered 2015)
5 Here Today (Remastered 2015)
6 Ballroom Dancing (Remastered 2015)
7 The Pound Is Sinking (Remastered 2015)
8 Wanderlust (Remastered 2015)
9 Get It (Remastered 2015)
10 Be What You See (Link) (Remastered 2015)
11 Dress Me Up As A Robber (Remastered 2015)
12 Ebony And Ivory (Remixed 2015)

Disc 4 – DVD (deluxe and super deluxe only)
1 Tug of War (Music video version 1)
2 Tug of War (Music video version 2)
3 Take It Away (Music video)
4 Ebony & Ivory (Music video)
5 Fly TIA – Behind the scenes of Take it away (18 minutes documentary)

POP_Packshot-3

Pipes of Peace

Disc 1 – Remastered Album
1 Pipes of peace
2 Say say say
3 The other me
4 Keep under cover
5 So bad
6 The man
7 Sweetest little show
8 Average person
9 Hey hey
10 Tug of peace
11 Through our love
Disc 2 – Bonus Audio 
1 Average person (Demo)
2 Keep Under Cover (Demo)
3 Sweetest Little Show (Demo)
4 It’s Not On (Demo)
5 Simple As That (Demo)
6 Say Say Say (New 2015 remix)
7 Ode to a Kola Bear
8 Twice in a Lifetime
9 Christian Bop
Disc 3 – DVD (deluxe only)

1 Bonus film (26 minutes)
2 Pipes of Peace (Music video)
3 So Bad (Music video)
4 Say Say Say (Music video)
5 Hey Hey in Montserrat (Home video 3 minutes)
6 Behind the scenes at AIR (6 minutes)
7 The Man (Home video 4 minutes)

pre-order

Pre-order DELUXE Book Editions

Tug of War 3CD+DVD deluxe edition

Pipes of Peace 2CD+DVD deluxe book edition

Pre-order 2-disc SPECIAL Editions

Tug of War 2CD special edition

Pipes of Peace 2CD special edition

Pre-order 2LP VINYL Editions

Tug of War 2LP vinyl edition

pop_vinyl

Pipes of Peace 2LP vinyl edition (contains all bonus tracks)

 Pre-order SUPER DELUXE EDITION of Tug of War

tugofwar_sde

Tug of War 3CD+DVD super deluxe edition (limited to 1000)

SuperDeluxeEdition.com helps fans around the world discover physical music and discuss releases. To keep the site free, SDE participates in various affiliate programs, including Amazon and earns from qualifying purchases.

Related Content

71 Comments

71 thoughts on “Paul McCartney / Tug of War and Pipes of Peace deluxe editions”

  1. Yeah, I’m with LedMan. I’m not buying anything (again) previously recorded on multi tracks in studio that’s not at least mastered 24/96 and discreetly (read: rather aggressively and/or “sympathetically”) 5.1!

  2. Pingback: Paul McCartney / Say Say Say Limited Record Store Day 12-inch | superdeluxeedition

  3. Just got both my Super Deluxe Editions which shipped from Canada on Monday and received in Australia on Thursday! Super fast delivery and both sets for under $170 AUD. Thx Amazon CA!

  4. Pingback: Saturday Deluxe / 10 October 2015 | superdeluxeedition

    1. The remaster of the original album sounds a wee bit different than the Paul McCartney a Collection remaster. A little more depth and detail without the use of compression. Nice DR values.

      The boxed set is nice but the remix (created no doubt so that we could have a true high def download) is bright, shrill at times. The high def Dow load improves things only slightly. This is a nice set. The bonus disc is more generous than precious sets (or at least some of them) but there were even better demos that still haven’t been released for this set.

      Unlike my Wings Over America box, this one didn’t get banged up. Kudos to Amazon for packaging this well.

  7. As we now know, “Flowers in The Dirt” is the next album to receive the Deluxe treatment. But, if only one McCartney album (per year) will get the Deluxe treatment (from now on), I question whether I will still be alive to see the completion of the series. I was 16 years old when “Wings-Wild Life” was originally released, but I’ll be 60 years old next June.

    1. I am frustrated that my favorite Wings album “London Town” is treated like it never existed. Now that I am seeing “Flowers In The Dirt” up next, it looks like “Press To Play” may also be ignored. Perhaps I am just being a fretful Paul McCartney fan.

  8. Well, in the end, I obtained the two high resolution downloads(for which I had the download card) from unofficial sources, after a frustrating experience trying to download from the McCartney website. For “Tug of War”, the main album tracks are 96Khz/24-bit, but the bonus tracks are 44.1Khz/24-bit. For “Pipes of Peace”, the album and the bonus tracks are all 44.1Khz/24-bit….barely high resolution; likely 24-bit remastering of a 44.1Khz/16-bit source. I’m left wondering why I went to such effort to obtain the download, and if I just wasted a DVD-R(I play high resolution audio from home-burned DVD-Audio discs, because I don’t trust the idea of music server boxes.)

  10. Over the course of these “Paul McCartney Archives” boxed sets, the Paul McCartney website has used several companies to administer the high resolution downloads, and none of these companies have been reliable. Some would permit you at second attempt if a download froze, but the company handling the “Tug of War” & “Pipes of Peace” downloads won’t permit you a second try. The attempt to download the 2nd & 3rd songs from “Pipes of Peace” froze, and I’m out of luck. I didn’t bother trying to download the other songs, since I wouldn’t obtain the complete album. Contact customer service? I would, but a malfunction at the McCartney website(“digital error”) stopped me from submitting my question.
    Yes, I’m sure that the high-resolution download will appear of unofficial websites within a week, I’ll get my high resolution downloads, It I’ll be happy, but this all underscores why I don’t buy music downloads. Unofficial downloads are more reliable, and the FLAC format(used by unofficial sites) downloads more easily than the WAV format used by the McCartney site. With unofficial high-rez downloads, the entire album is in one download(you get the entire album or nothing, and if the attempt freezes, you simply try again). McCartney’s website has, over the course of the box set series, alternated between whole album downloads and song-by-song downloading.
    I’ve bought all of the McCartney boxed sets(except “Wings Over America”), but for half of them, I’ve had to rely on others to obtain the High Resolution versions for me, even though I had the download coupon and was legitimately entitled to them. For “Venus & Mars” & “Wings At The Speed of Sound”, I was able to download the high resolution versions myself, but for “Tug of War” & “Pipes of Peace”, I won’t be able to.
    And, on top of that, though my dealer of choice took care to properly package my “Pipes of Peace” & “Tug of War” boxed sets(in a large carton with lots of bubble paper), that won’t help if one of the boxed sets(“Pipes of Peace”) had already been maliciously dropped on the floor at the Chinese pressing plant used by Concord Music….corner damage that went through to one of the two paperback books in the set.
    Buying music is starting to not be fun anymore.

  11. My Tug of War SD arrived today – very sturdily packaged indeed (and just as well too because Hermes lobbed it over the gate into the back garden – I had visions of shards of red acrylic).

    It does look and feel very nice, to be fair.

    Very pleased to see my personal fave PM album on the ‘Coming Soon’ card – Flowers in the Dirt next.

  12. Paul was prescient writing a song like “Stop, You Don’t Know Where She Came From” – he should have taken his own advice. Was that too low? Apologies to all…

  14. Interesting that yesterday Macca was interviewed in Dermot Oleary’s show on R2 about these releases and SSS and POP were played and then the last track played was the Frog Chorus which isn’t included on the POP reissue! Makes me wonder if either party knew….

  15. I’m just gonna say this: I still love the Beatles, with Paul being my favorite Beatle when it comes to solo material (John and George are great and Ringo is good).
    As for the forthcoming TOW/POP deluxe sets, I’m happy with the bonus content despite some omissions (the “Say Say Say” remixes by Jellybean Benitez and the solo version video for “Ebony and Ivory” to name a couple).
    I sure didn’t expect the “Tug of War” album to get a new remix, but even though it will never replace the original mix it’ll be interesting to hear and point out whatever differences are noticed.
    As for all the previous McCartney Archive sets, most of them have been great. Of course, the “McCartney” and “Speed of Sound” reissues didn’t offer much in bonus material, it at least managed to have a surprise or two in store (the semi-full “Suicide” on McCartney and the John Bonham early take of “Beware My Love” on Speed Of Sound). If I were to pick the best set, I’d say “McCartney II” because it offered a LOT. No worse sets on my end, because even if any future McCartney Archive sets don’t offer any bonus material that I expected I just take them as they are. Well, despite what any of you think.
    I’ll close it off by saying that I hope to be alive in many more years to see the whole McCartney solo catalog be out again. You know, by the rate it’s going release-wise. I’ve been patient with every waiting period in between, and I will continue waiting.
    That is all.

  16. Hi
    looking at the video ou Tug Of War unboxing at the top of the page
    0.24 seconds: first page of the book, picture of paul on a terrace, lovely by the way
    then 1:49 they open the same book from the same deluxe edition and first page is kinda different. again Paul on the terrace, but on the left you get something else.
    Am I missing something?

    thanks!!!!!!

    1. I know!! This appears to be the new Macca strategy, hold stuff back for promotional purposes. Dilute the thing you’re promoting in order to promote it!! Crazeeeeee!

  18. Pingback: Saturday Deluxe / 8 August 2015 | superdeluxeedition
  19. Pingback: McCartney deluxe price-drop | superdeluxeedition

  20. The Deluxe Editions look good – but:
    There’s offered not enough exclusive contnent. Only one CD with bonus tracks (which you get on the regular Digipak Edition too). On TOW you get the album twice and a DVD with a few Videos.
    What I really don’t understand is: Why not include the high resolution audio in PCM 96/24 on the DVD? There’s enough space.
    This is the reason why I never bought and will buy one of these McCartney Deluxe Editions.

  21. I started buying tapes.albums when Pipes of Peace and Thriller were released. So, I grew up loving Pipes of Peace without prior exposure to Tug of War.
    The threads here say Pipes was a leftovers selection from Tug of War. Little do I know, and so I have alot to look forward to. I’ve been waiting for these two albums to be rereleased in fine quality. I can’t wait. Well I can, because I have no money right now, but I can’t wait to have the money to buy these two releases.
    Then I’ll wait for Press to Play…a hidden gem.

  22. When he releases two albums at once one seems to suffer
    Pipes of Peace seems to have suffered like Speed of Sound did .
    Venus and Mars box got everything and the Speed of Sound box set was very poor .
    The DVDs on all these last sets are more or less empty .

  23. Depending on the sound quality of this remaster, how long do we have to wait before the Blu-Ray Audio edition which includes all the contents of these potentially exciting sets are released? Am I the only one who would prefer owning a hard copy Hi Rez 2.0 or 5.1 version of many of these classic reissues? Sure I can pay a fee and download the tracks however I still would rather own the release even if it’s just packaged in just a standard Blu plastic case.

  24. I think after what was done to Ram which is probably the best box of all the Archive series, everything else will pale compared to it. The closer we get to now and the less material will be available from the vault since with all these deluxe releases and re-releases every time a new album comes out (b sides, bonus tracks, dvd material, live tracks) there can’t be much left in the end. Look at the deluxe version of the NEW album, it’s like it’s already from the Archive series…
    The DVDs from both Tug of War and Pipes of Peace could have been full of features, I’m sure Paul has super 8 movies from the Montserrat sessions and there were interviews filmed for the promotion of theses albums. If such interviews were good enough for McCartney II why is n’t it good enough for Tug of War and Pipes of Peace?? Also where has the video for solo version of Ebony And Ivory gone? The price is also quite steep for the content. Only the books seem to be the attraction of these boxes this time around…

  26. Should have included all Remixes/Edits…what a waste and a rip off…why bother if you can’t put out what fans really want???!!!

      2. paul, is it at all possible that “simple as that” is being deemed by mccartney as a “demo” (even though it doesn’t get billed as that on existing bonus-material) and therefore is appearing again in it’s “original/same” version?

  28. Compelled towards the deluxe Pipes of Peace, virtue of the video essay. But forty+ sheets is not far short of underlining the word ‘daylight’.

  29. Not sure what to say when one of my all-time favorite albums (“Tug Of War”) is released in such a “deluxe” way. Oddly, the debut single “Ebony And Ivory” was just an okay song in my opinion. It was not until the outstanding “Take It Away” was played on the radio before I actually went out and bought the album. To this day, I play “Take It Away” more than any other song (iPod play count currently sits at 1215 total plays). As for the rest of the album, I cannot wait to hear the grunts and groans of the title track and its beautiful, closing orchestration leading into “Take It Away”, or how those coins will drop on “The Pound Is Sinking”, or Carl Perkins’ goofy laughter at the end of “Get It”. I am so ready for this release, and “Pipes Of Peace” (of which I will wax poetic on a later date).

    2. Have to agree – although it isn’t my favourite McCartney song (difficult to say what would be) there is something about ‘Take it Away” that always makes me want to play it again straight after hearing it. Definitely my favourite track on the album.

      Also have to agree with the guy that mentioned McCartney II. Probably my favourite Macca solo album (although Press to Play comes close – ducks for cover…) and the deluxe reissue really did it justice. My favourite of the reissues so far.

  30. Also missing from these editions are the 7″ versions of Take it away and Tug of war as on the album the album they go into each other. I’m think The single of Pipes of peace has a clean start without the sound effects as well but I might be wrong. According to various sources Paul did loads of demos around this period including a song called Unbelievable Experience which I’ve always liked and hoped would get released. If Paul wants to continue rewriting his history then I wonder if he’s going change the ‘dustbin lid’ line in The Other Me?

    1. Both of those 7″ versions were on Wingspan of course, but given that was released 14 years ago it wouldn’t have been a big deal to repeat on this new deluxe!

  31. These look pretty good to me, Pipes of Peace is a pretty slight album so I’d be surprised if there was a huge amount of great stuff for that second disc.
    So, 6 left. I reckon Wildlife and Red Rose, London Town and Back to the Egg, Press and Broadstreet? Or maybe Press and Flowers, and he misses out Broadstreet? Off the Ground?!!?

  32. I’m not a big Paul McCartney fan but the re-releases of his earlier albums ( especially “McCartneyII” ) were really good – full of interesting bonus
    material ( with all these “full length mixes” on “MCII” ). Great!
    I was so curious about this two 80’s albums and I’m so disappointed!
    No 12″ mixes, no demo’s of the best songs like “Tug Of War”, “Say Say Say”, “Pipes Of Peace”… no alternate mixes. Arghh!
    And: 2015 remixes should not been included on original
    album re-releases
    (this it’s lauper-esque!)

  33. I would have liked to see the 70s albums finished off, but I’ll still pick up the iTunes versions of these.

    This is an odd era of McCartney for me. These albums have one of my all-time favorite McCartney songs (Say, Say, Say) and one of my least favorite songs of the decade (Ebony & Ivory… too sappy for me.) I probably like half the songs on both albums and totally disinterested in the other half.

    So, I’ll be buying, but I’ll be more looking forward to whatever is coming next. (London Town, please… and let’s not wait so bloody long for the next reissues!)

  35. Judging by iTunes the new 2015 remix of Say Say Say clocks in at 6.58 min. Could this be a newly constructed 12″ mix since the original was 5.40 min?

  36. Im a massive McCartney fan, and I love both these albums-but I never ever thought I would see the day that Pipes of Peace would have a £64.99 deluxe version (on Universal’s store). And weirdly, Im more excited for Pipes of Peace than Tug of War!

    I do wish that McCartney and his team would think that maybe they should produce much more for the money they charge. Proper outtakes, ALL mixes and remixes and the like, on the DVD should be a newly recorded interview with Paul like those Genesis interviews from 2007 or make a decent documentary about the two albums. What would have made more sense would be to combine the two releases.. 30 mins of bonus audio and a 15 minute DVD is just too pricey.

    That being said, the Archive packaging is fantastic.

  38. Pingback: Saturday Deluxe / 1 August 2015 | superdeluxeedition

  39. Oh dear, no “Say, Say, Say” 12inch version. It looks like I will have to keep playing the original vinyl. This has put me off from purchasing this reissue because the track could have and should been included.

  40. Say Say Say 12″ mixes would have sold me on Pipes… I already have the iTunes release, and consider the main album good, but not worth purchasing twice on its own.

  42. Seriously going to have to dip into the wallet for the 3 CD+DVD Tug of War, one of my favourite McCartney albums. The pleasure I felt at him rediscovering his Mojo on this album however, evaporated upon the release of Pipes of Peace…ah well, just how many brilliant albums can one man make?

  43. When I saw the original announcement on his website, because of the way it was worded I though at first they were saying that Pipes Of Peace was being included as a bonus disc to Tug Of War… which would have made some sense, actually, since it’s mostly Tug Of War rejects anyway IIRC.

    What’s all this remix business though? I don’t recall the original mixes being especially bad.

  44. See the thing is, I’m kind of interested in the deluxe book version Pipes of Peace because of the stuff about the video, but it’s a lot of money, and the DVD content is hardly must have.

    I am also disappointed (and surprised) that the Say, Say, Say remixes, and the alternate Koala Bear were not included – let alone the cancelled b-side of The Man and any 12″ related bonuses to it. This is a shame – especially when so many bonuses were on Venus & Mars.

  45. mmm Tug Of War, yes ok, but Pipes Of peace…errr… I get its a companion piece (more like Tug Of War outtakes !), I have all the other Super Deluxe Editions I guess I will get both for the sake of completeness, but really I would have preferred a London Town/Back To the Egg or a Wildlife/Red Rose Speedway double shot to complete the 70’s archives first. Hey Macca have a word with your mates Pages and Plant about the timely release of Zep archives, triple shots in quick succession keeps you fresh in the market and collectors on their toes…at the rate your going with McCartney archives collectors will be retired and/or have forgotten what and why they were collecting LOL

  47. Standard carrot (You won’t be happy with that)
    Bigger carrot (You could upgrade some more…)
    Deluxe carrot (You’re almost there…)
    Super Deluxe carrot (The only way to get what you really want)

    No thanks! F*** right off Paul McCartney with your greed.

    1. The 12″ version of “Say Say Say” is on a Spanish various artists compilation CD called “I Love Black And White 80’s” released in 2013, which you can get on Amazon or eBay.

      It’s much better than waiting for Paul McCartney to give us what we want without waiting an eternity and then having to jump through hoops.

      1. Do people really want to purchase a whole compilation CD just to get the “Say, Say, Say” 12inch version when it should have been included on these Deluxe Editions? It seems ridiculous to have left it off considering they are full of other tracks and ones that were not even hits. I would rather have 12inch versions included than boring demos.

Leave a Reply