Fleetwood mac

I can't stand them.  Mainly because they never impress me.  I've never heard a fleetwood mac song and been like "hey, what a clever chord change" or "what a neat little melody".  They're just boring and not very talented.

Dick Heath wrote: Sean Trane wrote: I recently re-listened to Rumours (following Classic Rock's latest issue with a story on it) and found three good songs. Slick FM rock, bound to please the majority.    The rest is vacuous at best. The following Tusk and the previous S/T were no better, imho. Christine McVie was my fave of the five.   *I don't mind Nick's voice and looks, but I always preferred Chris McVie, both vocally and looks-wise.     Never got into the period between Green's departure and Nicks' arrival. >> Heard a few albums, but was never transported by anu of them. And they lack the good songs of the later years!!   Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac is easily their best period, but outside the outstanding Then Play On and the At Chicago (straight electric blues album), they are a band of singles as well. So I have a compilation of their stuff and the two albums I mentioned, I have no other FM album       If you can afford it (money-wise and time wise) or find it on sale, the Complete Blue Horizon Sessions is a gold mine of early Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac blues -(including the Chicago/Chess recordings - and the outtakes show Peter Green was in full charge; (IMHO, the Splinter Group is a sad shadow of this period). The "Complete" label on this boxset is admittedly a misnomer, since PGFM occasionally acted as the house band for visiting American blues artists, e.g. Otis Spann, not included here.

I'm not familiar at all with the Welch era and I grew up and thoroughly enjoyed Buckingham Nicks (particularly Rumours and the comeback album Tango In The Night), but right now I'm going through a "Peter Green is God" phase.

The Jeremy Spencer covers have their moments, and Danny Kirwan is a sadly under-rated songwriter, but it is Peter Green who simply oozes talent. Whether it's classic stuff like Black Magic Woman, Albatross and the sublime cover of I Need Your Love So Bad, or the epic Oh Well, later hits like Green Manalishi, or lesser-known but equally brilliant tunes like Rattlesnake Shake and Love That Burns (the guitar solo melts me) this era of the band was magnificent.

I'd suggest starting with Then Play On or a compilation ... bear in mind, even though Green-era Mac had just a handful of albums, there were many non-album singles spread over different labels, so it's hard to get hold of an ideal compile.

Sean Trane wrote: I recently re-listened to Rumours (following Classic Rock's latest issue with a story on it) and found three good songs. Slick FM rock, bound to please the majority.    The rest is vacuous at best. The following Tusk and the previous S/T were no better, imho. Christine McVie was my fave of the five.   *I don't mind Nick's voice and looks, but I always preferred Chris McVie, both vocally and looks-wise.     Never got into the period between Green's departure and Nicks' arrival. >> Heard a few albums, but was never transported by anu of them. And they lack the good songs of the later years!!   Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac is easily their best period, but outside the outstanding Then Play On and the At Chicago (straight electric blues album), they are a band of singles as well. So I have a compilation of their stuff and the two albums I mentioned, I have no other FM album

hmm... thems is fightin' words, but I'm too smart to take the bait, nice try 

Rumours is probably too treasured, and doesn't quite hold up after years of listenings... but don't mess with Stevie, she's the best and her solo stuff (especially that last record) is terrific pop

 

Allow me to be in the minority:

Yeah, Mac is a band that people like to deride like the Eagles for being too commercial, but you just can't argue with raw talent and songwriting.  Both groups have both in huge quantity.  Buckingham is a genius in the studio as were Henley and Frey at crafting amazing pop songs.  I don't play them much anymore but the quality and talent are hard to deny.  

The Doctor wrote: Evans wrote: Ivan_Melgar_M wrote: Great band and Rumors is the perfect album, not a single filler, I like both eras, even when i feel closer to the Buckingham & Nicks than to the Peter Green.   I can't understand how such a limited drummer like Mick Fleetwood (Has only one set of beats, if you don't believe me listen Sarah) manages to sound so good with every song, he's pure power.   Iván. Yeah, i have always thought kinda the same, it's not like Mick seems to be a monster drummer at all, but then i'm not a great drumming expert, and i don't tend to listen to drums as much as most people seem to do. Seriously, i'm starting to think that Tusk hasn't got too much filler either.. too bad that, while i found "tell me lies" was a great song and gave me some very high expectations for even the 80's output of the band, the last part of "Tango in the night" completely trashed that dream, and it seems that not even the Mac will be totally free from really lousy songs.   What did you think of Say You Will?  I loved the album, but wished that Christine had a more prominent role than just a few background vocals.

Sorry, i haven't heard it yet, only Rumours and Tusk, but i will get the first soon.

I haven't heard too much of the Bob Welch years to give an opinion, but the little I heard didn't caught my attention.

Edited by Ivan_Melgar_M - September 23 2007 at 19:42

Ivan_Melgar_M wrote: Great band and Rumors is the perfect album, not a single filler, I like both eras, even when i feel closer to the Buckingham & Nicks than to the Peter Green.   I can't understand how such a limited drummer like Mick Fleetwood (Has only one set of beats, if you don't believe me listen Sarah) manages to sound so good with every song, he's pure power.   Iván.

Yeah, i have always thought kinda the same, it's not like Mick seems to be a monster drummer at all, but then i'm not a great drumming expert, and i don't tend to listen to drums as much as most people seem to do.
Seriously, i'm starting to think that Tusk hasn't got too much filler either.. too bad that, while i found "tell me lies" was a great song and gave me some very high expectations for even the 80's output of the band, the last part of "Tango in the night" completely trashed that dream, and it seems that not even the Mac will be totally free from really lousy songs.