REVIEWS:
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(reviewed by Nick Karn)
This is one of those albums that the pop sellout side of me secretly digs quite a bit. Of course, despite the deceptive title, this certainly isn't the band's debut (not even their first self-titled album either), but going by the musical direction here, it might as well be. This shift in sound from their bluesier roots had a lot to do with the addition of two key members that Mick Fleetwood asked to join the band - guitarist Lindsey Buckingham and vocalist Stevie Nicks, the addition of which gave one heck of an identity to the band. Sure, a good amount of this is radio friendly pop to the extreme, but at its' best, the hooks are incredibly well-developed, and there's a real sense of distinct personality that elevates this material well above your average generic crap. As a result, the several hits (at least five to my knowledge) on here continue to be standards of classic rock radio, and they really deserve it.
Nicks, with her very distinctive husky voice and inventive lyric writing abilities, contributes the two best songs on the album, both of them smash pop classics. "Rhiannon" in particular is the absolute highlight here - the melody and guitar part of this song sound truly timeless and graceful, and her vocals really go well with a track like this. The counter-melody ('would you stay if she promised you heaven...') is just about as great as the main one, and the overall tone is just spectacular and ultra-memorable. The acoustic ballad "Landslide" is almost as great - stripped down to just her voice and the brilliantly poetic, introspectively personal, lyrics with a very, very nice melody, she creates another towering highlight. Her last contribution "Crystal" (a holdover from the album with Buckingham that led both to join the band in the first place) is really not so good, though - the only thing that sticks out about it is the nice acoustic/keyboard 'like a magnet to the sea...' refrain, but even that acoustic part becomes the most annoying portion of the song when it gets repeated endlessly at the overlong fadeout.
Speaking of Buckingham, while his contributions might not be as great on the whole as Nicks' stuff is, they're all fine and memorable. The opener "Monday Morning" is probably the most blatantly pop-oriented song on the whole album, but it's good - a nice, snappy, summer-like way to begin things. "World Turning" is also fairly pleasurable - the guitar parts and overall tempo may not be the most exciting thing in the world, but that refrain ('worrrrrrrrrld turnnnnning') will most likely get stuck in your head, which makes it all worthwhile. The closing "I'm So Afraid", though, is definitely his best contribution to the album, as it has a much darker and 'final' sounding tone than anything else, and the melody certainly has a dramatic feeling to it as well. What I love most about it, though, are the fantastic guitar breaks after each chorus and the acoustic guitar sound that comes right after the chorus starts. Great stuff.
Besides the fun rocking cover version "Blue Letter" (which sounds exactly like something The Eagles would do), the remaining numbers are all written by the songwriting 'veteran' Christine McVie. "Warm Ways" and "Over My Head" are both nice romantic songs that definitely have a peaceful beauty to them - the harmonies in the former's chorus and the latter's tasteful keyboard embellishments work in particular. The fairly big hit "Say You Love Me" (which I've heard quite a lot on the radio for awhile and never knew who it was) is her highpoint, as it's really addictive piano pop with one of the most memorable melodies here (though "Sugar Daddy" is a blatant rewrite of it, only without much of a hook, making it an obvious low point). And that about rounds out the album. Spectacular songwriting in places, slightly inconsistent in others, but almost always pleasurable. But if you think things were going well for the band at this point, think again...
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(Casey Brennan's review)
Fleetwood Mac not only hit it big, but became one of the best-selling groups of all time with this commercialized release. The sales of this album are approaching twenty million as I speak, which is no small wonder. For a band that's been around for almost a decade already, first as a blues-rock outfit, poppier band, and then radio-ready pop on here, it is amazing that they eventually did hit such a stride. It's really easy to see why too. The three main writers for this album, which include newer members Lindsay Buckingham and Stevie Nicks, along with Christine McVie, were highly competent song-writers who had fine pop sensibilities and a talent for making an instantly memorable melody.
What they came up with during the torturous sessions (it was a hard album to make with all the mixed emotions flowing about) was a bunch of lightweight pop/rock songs that are accessible, well-crafted, and immediately perfect for AOR radio. At least nine of the eleven songs on here are regularly played on the radio (seven of them heavily played), so it's more than likely that you have heard at least half of these songs before. That's unless you are living in a hardened dinosaur egg about three-thousand feet deep below the surface (which I hope is unlikely). Just about all of these tunes are excellent in their own right whether it's Lindsey Buckingham's fast-paced pop-rocker "Go Your Own Way", McVie's famous hooky chorus on the hard-hitting "Don't Stop", or the group's oh-so powerful collaboration "The Chain".
In turn, Stevie Nicks shows her powerful voice in the great ballad "Dreams", which has one of the most perfect atmospheres that I've ever heard on a pop record, and in the heart-breaking "Gold Dust Woman", which has an air of mystery in its' simple guitar melody. "I Don't Want To Know", her third contribution, is not as great, but as bouncy, fun, and light-hearted as it is, it's a minor and ultimately satisfying addition to this set. The snappy "Second Hand News" and beautiful singing found on "You Make Loving Fun" (funnily, I still think the choruses sound vaguely like Freddie Mercury sings them - as a wee boy I used to actually think that it was him) are the last of the great classics, while "Never Going Back" is a short little ditty with very tuneful acoustic guitar-playing. Gotta love it.
The only reason that I can't give this the highest possible rating is because of two Christine McVie numbers that to my ears pale in comparison to everything else. No matter how many times I listen to it, the piano ballad "Songbird" escapes me every time; unlike the other numbers, this one is pretty unmelodic and hookless. Not bad, but mediocre. "Oh Daddy" is a little bit better, but pretty unmemorable as well (one point for her singing though). If you listen to the radio often (or even sometimes) you might complain that most of these songs are overplayed and that it has destroyed your enjoyment for this album, but you can't deny the great hooks and melodies that these songs have!
Yeah, ok, this one is slicker than Bill Clinton in an intern scandal. But is that necessarily such a bad thing in this case? Nein is my answer (that's German for "no" in case you're language-impaired like my mom). This is the 3rd era of Fleetwood Mac; they'd gone through a blues-rock period and a soft-rock (I think) period before Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks joined the band. They brought a new sound to the struggling band. Both of 'em were pretty good songwriters (as opposed to Christine McVie, who is quite adept at producing more sap than pine tree), and both also suffered frm very personal romantic issues and/or drug addictions. Add some marital friction between Christine McVie and her bassist husband John, plus Mick Fleetwood's eventual involvement with Stevie just after she and Lindsey called it quits.....there was a lot of tension, suffice to say. And this is what they were recording/writing at the time.
They took almost a year to church this baby out, but it really was time well spent. Everything sounds ultra-professional (and also ultra poppy and slick), but there's also a lot of sincerity about, especiallly in Buckingham's contributions. He was an emotional kinda guy, so his songs are emotional kinda songs. But you wouldn't guess it after he so happily calls himself second-hand news in the lead-off song. He sounds freakishly happy for such a declaration. It's a cool little song, though. I rather enjoy the guitar parts at the end. It's a nifty solo. Not show-stealing, mind you. Just good. Too short though. For that matter, it isn't a solo so much as an embellishment. Silly semantics.
Anyways, Stevie gives us the next song, and it's pretty good. It's called Dreams and it's one of her famed ballads that's about 50% atmosphere. However, Stevie's the queen of atmosphere. It's followed by a folkish throwaway. The next ditty is one every voter in 1992 is probably quite familiar with. Yes, it's Der Schlickmeister's campaign song. The tune that represented Comrade Clinton's first run for office. Despite that and the fact that it's almost a proto-adult contemporary song, I like it. It honestly does sound like the perfect campaign. Catchy, appropriate lyrics, unoffensive....no wonder ole Uncle Bubba liked it. Hope you, the reader, isn't a Democrat.......
Oh well. The next song is my favorite and an a pop-rock masterpiece known in some circles as.........Tim. Ok, lame Monty Python jokes aside, Go Your Own Way is very well known, has some pretty cool guitar lines, and really heartfelt deliveries and lyrics. This one is the song that got me into Fleetwood Mac...OK, that's too strong a term. The one that got me to buy the CD on sale. The next song is a watered-down, piano-based sapfest. I skip it, cause I like The Chain a lot. Anthemic singalong pessimistic popsong. Then, Boosty Collins does a duet with them. Not really, but they honestly try to get "funky" with You Make Loving Fun. Fleetwood Mac is about as "funky" as Lawrence Welk, so this one doesn't go over well with me.
I used to hate I Don't Want To Know, but now I like it a lot, especially a lot more than the MORONIC song following it, Oh Daddy. I'm not much of a songwriter, but Judas Priest! This one blows with the force of a mighty gale. They end on a high note with Gold Dust Woman. I think it's about cocaine (hence the spoon reference). So, I'll end on a high note, too. Good album. Not perfect, but good. Now the high note-----how about one from Mozart's Queen Of The Night aria?
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COMMENTS
My mother has this album and used to play it 24/7 when i was growing up, so needless to say i am not that fond of it. But if you are a fan of the band, this album is indeed consistant. "Go Your Own Way" and especially "The Chain" still get my foot tapping even though ive probably heard them oh, about 6 trillion times. I think "Second Hand News" while having decent riffage, has a incredibly laughable bridge/chorus with i guess Lindsay trying to fit the word "down" to every beat of that part. Its really silly. The slower numbers like "Oh Daddy" and "I dont want to know" dont really grab me. For me, it rates about a 6, but please bear in mind that i really cant stand the band. So thats a very high rating, comparitively.