Fleetwood Mac - Rumours

 

There can't be many people of a certain generation who are not familiar with most or all of Fleetwood Mac's "Rumours", with it reportedly being the 12th best selling album of all-time globally, and the story of it being written and recorded as both Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks relationship and John & Christine McVie's marraige both ended, and Mick Fleetwood discovering his wife was having an affair. It certainly added spice to the lyrics.

It seemed the only time the couples could speak to each other was in the recording studio, and the outcome was a tremendous album in spite of it all. The four singles were all top 10 hits in the USA, although apart from "Dreams" only had modest success in the UK as the country enjoyed the punk/new wave revolution in 1977. Part of "The Chain" was famously used as the theme tune to popular UK TV show "Top Gear", whilst "Songbird" was one of the most notable songs on Eva Cassidy's posthumous release in 1998, suitably entitled "Songbird"

Side one begins in a similar manner to their previous eponymous named album, with an uptempo Lindsey Buckingham song, with "Second Hand News" being the lead-in song just as "Monday Morning" was on "Fleetwood Mac".

"Dreams" comes next with a prominent bass line and crisp drum intro and a suitably dreamy vocal from Stevie Nicks. The song was also a big hit in 1998 for Irish band "The Corrs".

"Never Going Back Again" is the shortest and simplest song on the album. At just a shade over 2 minutes long it is just Buckingham's vocals and plucked acoustic guitar, with just some backing vocals towards the end.

Christine McVie's first contribution is "Don't Stop", a bouncy piano based number with vocals shared between her and Buckingham. It has been used in a number of political campaigns, most notably Bill Clinton's.

"Go Your Own Way", the first single from "Rumours", is another track written by Lindsey Buckingham, with electric and acoustic guitar intro leading into a pop-rock song and a catchy chorus. It is the most bitter of his songs on the ending of his relationship with Nicks.

The side ends with the beautiful "Songbird", which features just Christine McVie at the piano and some faintly strummed acoustic guitar deep in the background.

Side Two opens with "The Chain" which is essentially two pieces tacked to-gether. Starting with menacing drums, bass and plucked guitar it leads into quite a bombastic song, before the familiar bass and manic guitar outro. It is the only track credited to all 5 band members.

Next up is Christine McVie's funky "You Make Loving Fun, which again has some crisp drumming and a soaring chorus.

"I Don't Want To Know" is Buddy Holly, country-rock inspired song by Nicks, and features great harmonies between Nicks and Buckingham.

The album ends with two of the slightly weaker tracks, McVie's slow and sombre "Oh Daddy" before the album closes with the overblown melodrama of Nick's "Gold Dust Woman", which for me goes on too long. It does have one of the best lyrics on the album though " Rulers make bad lovers, you better put your kingdom up for sale".

Overall, it is still a great album, and there isn't a bad song on it. 

Track Listing :

Side One :

1. Second Hand News
2. Dreams
3. Never Going Back Again
4. Don't Stop
5. Go Your Own Way
6. Songbird

Side Two :

1. The Chain
2. You Make Loving Fun
3. I Don't Want To Know
4. Oh Daddy
5. Gold Dust Woman

Released 1977
UK Chart Position : 1

Singles :

Go Your Own Way ( No 38 - 1976 )
Dreams ( No 24 - 1977 )
Don't Stop ( No 32 - 1977 )
You Making Loving Fun ( No 45 - 1977 )
 

 

Eurythmics - Greatest Hits

Released in 1991, Eurythmics Greatest Hits was almost certainly the last vinyl album I ever purchased. I had always like their singles but had never got around to buying an album. The release of a greatest hits package was the perfect opportunity to correct that.

I actually saw Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart live, but that was in October 1980 when The Tourists came to Cardiff University promoting their Reality Effect LP. It was a great concert and I bought the album afterwards, which contained the hit singles "So Good To Be Back Home" and a cover of Dusty Springfield's "I Only Wanna Be With You". The earlier "Blind Amongst The Flowers" had also been a minor chart hit. 

With Pete Coombes being the main song-writer, guitarist and co-vocalist, when The Tourists split up the probability was that it would be he that would go on to have the successful career, but instead it was the relatively unheralded Lennox and Stewart who went on to global domination whilst Coombes disappeared without a trace.

All of the tracks on the compilation shouldn't need any introduction, and unsurprisingly for a greatest hits collection I can easily recall all of the songs here.

Eurythmics breakthrough singles were the slow, hypnotic electro-pop of "Love Is A Stranger", "Sweet Dreams" & "Whose That Girl ?" but changed their style with the uptempo calypso feel of "Right By Your Side" with steel drums, horns, saxophone and carnival backing vocals, which is one of my favourite songs of theirs.

"Here Comes The Rain" is a mid-paced pop song featured synthesized rain-drops, and the first to significantly feature the electronic rhythms.

Side One closes with "There Must Be An Angel ( Playing With My Heart ), their first ( and only ) number 1 in the UK. Whilst it has a nice, happy melody, and a gorgeous harmonica solo by Stevie Wonder I always found the high pitch backing vocals slightly annoying !

Side Two begins with the feminist anthem "Sisters Are Doing For Themselves" and features Aretha Franklin. It is an old fashioned R&B song with real guitars, drums and bass and a rousing chorus ! It certainly isn't out of place with Franklin's back catalogue.

The soulful "It's All Right ( Baby's Coming Back )" follows, and combines saxophone low down in the mix, a decent vocal and a delicate guitar break.

"When Tomorrow Comes" has a guitar intro, heavy drums courtesy of Blondie's Clement Burke , a strong hook and backing vocal, a guitar solo and more saxophone. It's a mainstream pop song.

"You Have Place A Chill In My Heart" is a decent song, but in this collection sounds a little bit ordinary.

"Sex Crime ( 1984 )", written for the John Hurt/Richard Burton film 1984 based on George Orwell's novel, is another one of my favourite all-time Eurythmics songs with a glorious melody breaking out from Kraftwerk style electronic rhythms, and the vocoder "1984" vocal.

"Thorn In My Side", not to be confused with The Smiths "Boy With A Thorn In His Side" is fair standard mid tempo song, with the saxophone solo being the highlight. There is also an acoustic guitar intro !

The album closes with "Don't Ask Me Why", which surprisingly only reached number 25 but for me is one of the best pieces the Eurythmics ever composed. A beautiful tune combined with bitter and melancholy lyrics describing the break-up of a relationship "I don't love you any more, I don't think I ever did, and if you ever had any kind of love for me, you kept it all so well hid". It also has perhaps Stewart's best guitar solo.

Track Listing :

Side One :

1. Love Is A Stranger ( 1983 - No 6 )
2. Sweet Dreams ( 1983 - No 2 )
3. Who's That Girl ? ( 1983 - No 3 )
4. Right By Your Side ( 1983 - No 10 )
5. Here Comes The Rain ( 1984 - No 8 )
6. There Must Be An Angel ( Playing With My Heart ) ( 1985- No 1 )

Side Two :

1. Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves ( 1985 - No 9 )
2. It's Alright ( Baby's Coming Back ) ( 1986 - No 12 )
3. When Tomorrow Comes ( 1986 - No 30 )
4. You Have Placed A Chill In My Heart ( 1988 - No 16 )
5. Sex Crime ( 1984 ) ( 1984 - No 4 )
6. Thorn In My Side ( 1986- No 5 )
7. Don't Ask Me Why ( 1989 - No 25 )

 

Released 1991
UK Chart Position :1

 

Emerson, Lake and Palmer - Pictures At An Exhibition

 

Pictures At An Exhibition was the first ELP album that I acquired, having liked it after borrowing from a friend and being attracted by the discounted price of £1.49 the LP was being sold at.

Loosely based around Modest Mussorgsky's composition in the 1880's, with arrangements of four pieces from Mussorgsky's suite and three original compositions, it is held together by "Promenade", giving the sense of the viewer wandering through the gallery. "Nut Rocker", Bee Bumble and the Stingers 1960's interpretation of Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker" tops it all off as the encore. The album was recorded live in Newcastle.

The introduction "We're gonna give you Pictures At An Exhibition" is greeted by huge cheers by the audience, who were presumably familiar with yet to be released the live piece.

"Promenade" opens the set with just its regal and ecclesiastical church organ, leading the way for "The Gnome". Powell's drumming opens the number, before being joined by jerky, staccato bass lines. The organ eventually crashes in before moving to a completely different moog synthesizer piece.

"Promenade" returns, this time with a gentle vocal and lasts just over a minute long. Greg Lake's "The Sage", the next track, is one of the highlights, being just acoustic guitar and vocals. Its a pastoral, folk song, with a medieval style solo, the type of which you would normally find in a Henry VIII film, leading into some Spanish guitar flamenco, before returning to the verse.

Screeching synthesizer in the style of the The Osmonds "Crazy Horses" opens "The Old Castle" followed by funky bass underneath the synth main line, which then morphs into "Jazz Blues Variation" which makes for a good ending to side One.

"Promenade" returns to open side Two but this time as a group effort with a faster tempo and violent drums. 

The Cossack rhythm's of "The Hut of Baba Yaga" last barely a minute before seamlessly moving into "The Curse of Baba Yaga", with a menacing synth, nice bass line, and a yelling vocal eventually joining in. It becomes all a bit manic, there's some over the top synth solo and I am not to sure when it becomes "The Hut of Baba Yaga" again. It all starts well, and there are some nice parts, but it is also a bit messy and extravagant at times, and its my least favourite track on the album.

The grand, anthemic "The Great Gates of Kiev" ends the piece and is a strong finish. "There's no end to my life, no beginning to my death, death is life".

With the conclusion of "Pictures At An Exhibition", the encore is "Nut Rocker", played in a honky tonk/ragtime style, with a short drum solo ( the best type of drum solo ! ), near the end.

"Pictures At An Exhibition" remains the best of the three ELP albums I have, and there probably weren't too many better live albums than this at the time of its release.

Track Listing :

Side One :

1. Promenade
2. The Gnome
3. Promenade
4. The Sage
5. The Old Castle
6. Blues Variation

Side Two :

1. Promenade
2. The Hut Of Baba Yaga
3. The Curse Of Baba Yaga
4. The Hut Of Baba Yaga
5. The Great Gates of Kiev
6. Nut Rocker

Released 1971
UK Chart Position : 3

Singles :

N/A