Yes, I suppose they did the best they could under the circumstances... but the album is a mess. It is easily Christine's weakest collection of songs for an album. This album is full of the kind of filler you would normally put in amongst better quality filler. And "Safe Harbour" has easily got to be the must unnecessary, perfunctory two-chord piece of crap ever to receive the "Fleetwood Mac" label. And WTF is up with the sound quality of this recording? It sounds like it was recorded in a vat of molasses.

Regarding the year 1974, I really can't come up with any landmark albums that came out that year. Even the Rolling Stones, The Who and Led Zeppelin sat out that year. Bob Dylan released a meh album that year. Queen, Neil Young and Yes also released meh albums too. And that's when Paul McCartney started to suck badly. All of the great bands that emerged in the sixties were still in transition to either becoming seventies burnouts or bad parodies of themselves. 1974 was a bit after hippie flower power died out, but a little bit early for punk and the second British Invasion. Classic middle child syndrome.

Just about the only decent album I can think of from 1974 is Joni Mitchell's Court and Spark, which is still a ridiculously overrated album for what it was. Yes, it's notable for being Joni's breakthrough in the jazz-pop realm, but it's certainly not her best collection of songs- that would be 1975's Hissing of Summer Lawns.

My least favorite Chris song is easily "So Excited" I pretty much hate it, an I can't say that about any others.

I agree with the person who cited "Hollywood" as a cheesy '80s sitcom theme.

I am no longer friends with jbrownsjr, who cited the great "Temporary One" as a loser.

The title and the vocal line are sooooooooooo boring...

you mean "the great jbrownsjr" and the bland Temporary One...

beside it doesn't fall into your little 1967-1982 box... so in theory you don't care for it either...

:shocked::lol::):woohoo::thumbsup::eek::cool::]:p:shrug:

I love Mystified.

Hollywood is my favorite song on the album. I like that song better than Nights in Estoril:shocked:.

I like So Excited, but recognize it for what it is. I consider it my guilty pleasure.

Think About Me is my favorite Christine song on the album, but Honey Hi comes in second. I wish there had been some way to get her and Mick centerstage together with the other players almost in shadow and the drummer and singer could have done this little treasure intimately, almost as a duet. The fact that the words are so sparse and basic seems to make the simple message penetrate more, the rhythmic beat tapping feelings that dwell beyond the grasp of words. Actually, it reminds me of a calypso or reggae song, in that sense.

I have to say that the songs I dislike aren't necessarily bad songs. I just grew wary of them due to the repetition. Oh Daddy, for example. If that song had gone away and left me in peace, I would never think to disparage it, as I never really have a bad word to say about Sugar Daddy. But unlike the reclusive Sugar, Oh followed me around and stalked me for decades, 'til I just feel: yuck.

Michele

I love love love Sooner or Later from Time...

wow!!

wish Mick would have done a better job on the drum solo at towards the outro....

he could have really ended that one with a bigger splash...

Ok...I see that we're not even in the same universe regarding Heroes..., so it's best we just "agree to disagree"...:thumbsup:

Again, we're not ever going to be in the same ballpark on '74, either (and especially in regards to your inflammatory remark about Sir Paul!! :eek: ). Thought we might have a meeting point with Joni and Court & Spark , but you shot that down before the sentence was finished. :cool: Nope, the Stones released It's Only Rock & Roll in '74, Zeppelin didn't release anything because they were touring the world in '74, Deep Purple was prolific that year with Burn AND Stormbringer...John Lennon released Walls & Bridges....and Dylan?

Again I ask: Were you even THERE in '74 or are you looking back on the year as some "historical reference point"? Because some of your comments really don't seem to come from a place of somebody who LIVED in that era...that they're from somebody looking back on a time before their own.

I graduated HS in '73, so that whole 1973-76 span just blends into one big blob of time for me (even moreso the longer time passes)...I don't really even count individual years in that era...for me, that was MY era musically

PERSONAL "Landmark" albums of that era 73-76 (if my chronology is correct):
Paul McCartney/Wings - Band On The Run
Paul McCartney/Wings - Venus & Mars
John Lennon - Mind Games
John Lennon - Walls & Bridges
George Harrison - Dark Horse
Ringo Starr - Ringo
Ringo Starr - Goonight Vienna
Fleetwood Mac - Penguin
Fleetwood Mac - Mystery To Me
Fleetwood Mac - Heroes Are Hard To Find
Fleetwood Mac - Fleetwood Mac
Buckingham Nicks
Deep Purple - Burn
Deep Purple - Who Do We Think We Are?
Deep Purple - Stormbringer
Steely Dan - Pretzel Logic
Steely Dan - Katy Lied
Steely Dan - Royal Scam
CSNY - Four Way Street
Eric Clapton - 461 Ocean Blvd
The Who - Who By Numbers
Rolling Stones - It's Only Rock & Roll
Rolling Stones - Goat's Head Soup
Alice Cooper - Billion Dollar Babies
Alice Cooper - Muscle Of Love
Led Zeppelin - Houses Of The Holy
Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffitti
Bob Dylan - Planet Waves
Bob Dylan - Before The Flood
Bob Dylan - Blood On The Tracks
Leon Russell - Leon Live
Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Brain Salad Surgery
Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Welcome Back My Friends...
Poco - Crazy Eyes
Poco - Cantamos
Eagles - Desperado
Eagles - On The Border
Eagles - One Of These Nights

And, more that I don't have time to list. To me, those early/mid 70's were a "cup runneth over" with great music...'74 being right there in the middle of it all.

While I agree Hissing of Summer Lawns could arguably be the best album from the decade... Court and Spark albeit more pop... it's still crisp and off the charts in creativity and sound.. tell me you don't get goosebumps while singing "breaking like the waves of malibuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu... "

and then

Hmm...I was just thinking that too chiliD! Ok so Planet Waves has a few not so great songs but Before The Flood Was Great...

Plus Planet Waves had Forever Young and The Wedding Song (which I had at my own wedding ceremony).

This is also the one I dislike! (Pretty much the only one!)

'Sooner Or Later' was the definite standout on that album!!

Well, as someone who experienced the music of 1973-76 as a big "blob," I would like to bring the topic back to 1974 specifically. Other than Joni, I can't think of any "classic" albums from this year. There were many amazing albums released in 1973, 1975 and 1976, but I'm singling out 1974 as being particularly weak.

And for what it's worth, I was alive, albeit very young. But even still, AM radio was definitely a part of my daily life from early on, so, yes, I did experience this year firsthand.

Don't get me wrong- CaS is a great album, but it's far from being at the very top of Joni's oeuvre. Unfortunately, Joni sets such a high bar that I think CaS is rather middling for her. While she stretches creatively, and there are some great songs on there, e.g., "Free Man in Paris," she seems to be trying too hard to throw everything out there; it's a bit schizophrenic and is really lacking cohesion. I much prefer the cohesion and heart of albums like Ladies of the Canyon, Hejira and even Turbulent Indigo

Yeah, Temporary One put me to sleep, although I have sentimental feelings for it. I thought they had definitely lost it when I heard Sweet Girl and Temporary One. Luckily, they redeemed themselves collectively, even if on separate albums.

Michele