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WhenFleetwood Macwas released in 1975, its success was not immediate.
),and the tenth biggest album of 1977.
Among its many listeners, it was a common belief thatFleetwood Macwas the bands first record.
It was their tenth.
Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks romantic and musical partners joined the band in 1974.
Why might fans of Fleetwood Mac have so little interest in the albums that predate Nicks and Buckingham?
Perhaps it would be like listening to the two Doors albums recorded after Jim Morrisons death.
The earlier records are concerned with a different kind of craft.
Writing a hit song seemed to be an afterthought, with many tracks skewing experimental and long.
Slide guitarist Jeremy Spencer was Fleetwood Macs fourth member.
At times,Peter Greens Fleetwood Macsounds like a live record.
What this record lacks in compression and flawlessness is more than made up for by sounding totally in-the-room-with-them.
Wonderfulfeels like a step backward.
The songs, which are strictly Chicago bluesstyle, become indistinguishable after a short time.
Then Play On, 1969
Fleetwood Macs third record is an absolute stunner.
This is an album that utilizes the recording studio in a way the previous two do not.
Nearly every song features harmonized guitars, which, especially in the instrumental My Dream, are beguilingly emotive.
Note: There are five different track listings between the records initial U.S. and U.K. release.
Kiln House, 1970
Peter Green left Fleetwood Mac in 1970 as his mental health fell apart.
Greens absence gave Jeremy Spencer room for some retro tracks like This Is the Rock and Buddys Song.
Theyre not terribly hokey, but they are pretty boring.
(Spencer, like many a cult member, was accused of systematic child abuse but never charged.)
There are elements of California bands like the Eagles and Crosby, Stills, and Nash.
This is another album that features much less ornamentation than in the bands earlier years.
Theyre not juggling more than one thread per song.
The melodies are streamlined and theres less conversation between instruments.
It seems like the goal is for the sound to be as sealed up as possible.
Bare Treespicks up the pace fromFuture Games.
The opener, Child of Mine, has a soft rhythm section but Kirwans lead guitar flexes.
His Sentimental Lady is like nothing youve heard before on a Fleetwood Mac record.
The wah-wah pedal on Dannys Chant is glorious.
Kirwan never recovered from a yearlong battle with pneumonia and died at 68 in June of this year.
Dave Walker was recruited to replace Kirwan and vocalist Bob Weston would join the band for this album only.
His Caught in the Rain, with its harmonica and banjo, is stylistically tone-deaf.
Two of the best pre-1975 songs are on this record, both belonging to Christine McVie.
Heroes Are Hard to Find, 1974
Heroesis Bob Welchs last album with Fleetwood Mac.
(Peter Green, Danny Kirwan, and Jeremy Spencer were all admitted, though.)
Fleetwood Mac was the pinnacle of Westons career.
He died of intestinal hemorrhaging and cirrhosis at the age of 62.
Its infectious and one of the albums best songs.
This, once again, is a record of powerhouse McVie songs.
Prove Your Love is one of pre-1975s best.
Its more of her supernatural ability to make extremely relaxed, gorgeous pop-rock songs.
Its a song that could have only been written in the 70s.
He seems incredibly comfortable in the trite, stock landscapes he creates.
