Much as was expected the Paul McCartney camp has announced there will be a commemorative 50th anniversary edition released this year of Wings’ fourth studio album, Venus and Mars. Also as expected it will take the form of a Half Speed Master, out on March 21, 2025.

The special 50th-anniversary vinyl edition will be 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 will be presented as a meticulous reproduction of the original UK pressing, with recreations of the original “Venus and Mars are alright tonight” circular sticker and “comparative sizes of sun and planets” bookmark sticker. Just like the original it will come 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. 

Intriguingly, the official press release says “The first Wings release for 2025, Venus and Mars follows 2024’s theatrical release of the rare Wings live-in-studio performance film One Hand Clapping……”

And, “More exciting celebratory Wings’ activities and announcements are soon set to follow”, clearly implying that there are other Wings goodies in the pipeline for 2025.

Could this mean the LONG awaited London Town and Back to the Egg archive box sets are not far off?

The other 50th anniversary Half Speed Masters released in this series are Wings Wild Life; McCartney’s RAM; the classic Band On The Run; McCartney; and Red Rose Speedway.

For more information on just what Half Speed Masters are, watch Miles Showell himself explain the process:

Also this article All You Need To Know About Half Speed Masters is good too.