Saturday 9 September 2023

Fleetwood Mac - FLEETWOOD MAC*****

Monday Morning/Warm Ways/Blue Letter/Rhiannon/Over My Head/Crystal/Say You Love Me/Landslide/World Turning/Sugar Daddy/I'm So Afraid

One time blues-rock band Fleetwood Mac had appeared directionless after the departure of founder Peter Green. Against all the odds they would start to enjoy enormous success with the recruitment of Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks. This was the first release under the new line-up. (US:1 UK:23)

“By the end of 1974, Fleetwood Mac had seemingly come to the end of their natural lifespan. There was nowhere left to go musically, or sign of commercial success, and no great interest in the band once considered one of the greatest exponents of the blues-rock genre. But nobody could quite have expected the slow-burning success of this new eponymous album; it was seen as just another line-up change.”

“This is the first album to feature Buckingham and Nicks. Both are excellent songwriters but Nicks seems to be a bit understated here because McVie and Buckingham dominate the album in terms of lead vocals. She does contribute two of the absolute best songs the Mac ever released in Rhiannon and Landslide.”

“It seems like a long time ago that the new Fleetwood Mac hit the music scene. But when you look even further back to the blues style of the original Peter Green version, this really was a big step in a new direction. It felt like a new band had appeared with the arrival of Stevie Nicks and Lyndsey Buckingham, which all seemed to spur Christine McVie into a new vein of inspired writing.”

“With the infusion of Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham, the beleaguered Mac found their way out of the desert of mid-tempo ballads that seemed to be their lot since Peter Green and Jeremy Spencer left the group. Their impact was instant, and gave Fleetwood Mac a more vibrant, and in Nicks' case, a seductive and mystical voice. Christine McVie is at her ballad best here.”

“Mac classics abound, that began the group's domination of the airwaves. Though soft-rock in sound, there is nothing wimpy about Mac's songwriting or musical abilities. This is a must own for fans of 70s rock.”

“This is the first album featuring guitarist, vocalist and songwriter Lindsay Buckingham and his then-wife Stevie Nicks, who also brought her own songwriting and singing style to the band. Nicks's voice and stage presence brought Fleetwood Mac a solid identity that it had been missing since Peter Green departed.”

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