It was the final Wings album—a sprawling, ambitious, and often misunderstood rock opus that found McCartney trying to reconcile punk’s raw energy with his own stadium-filling legacy. When the Archive Collection finally got around to Back to the Egg in 2020 (delayed slightly due to the pandemic), it wasn't just a reissue. It was a full-scale historical correction, turning a "difficult fifth album" into a visionary masterpiece.

The 2-CD/Blu-ray Deluxe Edition is non-negotiable. The Underdubbed Mixes alone are worth the price of admission, offering a secret history of how these songs were built. The Rockestra jams are the loudest, funniest, most muscular music McCartney ever made.

Furthermore, this release is a eulogy for Wings. Listening to the buoyant "Baby’s Request" (a 1920s-style ballad that closes the album) while watching the documentary about the band’s brutal 1979 tour—where fights broke out and Linda was booed—is heartbreaking. By the time Back to the Egg arrived in stores, Wings were already dead. McCartney just hadn’t announced it yet. For casual fans: The single-CD edition (just the remastered album) is perfectly adequate. It’s the best the album has ever sounded on streaming.