Christine's album - Christine McVie
 

If you haven't bought this album, you should. It's got a lot of good songs on it that sound like Fleetwood Mac. I pulled this out the other day and have been listening to it since. It's a good album. Got A Hold On Me, The Challenge, Love Will Show How and Ask Anybody... are infectious. Can't quit listening to it.

I agree. Lots of subtle gems on this LP. Its a good listen at work or just passing time.

You can definitely hear where a lot of FM sound comes from.

I agree too, I have the vinyl and it's a very good, easy listening album! Got a hold on me, Love will show us how, Who's dreaming this dream and So excited are my fav songs in it! :thumbsup:

I really like about half of the album a lot. The other half seems like a missed opportunity for growth and exploration.

To my ears, the best tunes on it are "One in a Million," "Smile I Live For," "Got a Hold on Me," "Ask Anybody," and "So Excited." "One in a Million" in particular really sparks.

That's an impressive number for any solo album.

The two verses on "Love Will Show Us How" are pleasing, but the chorus doesn't work for me.

The rest is just bland easy-listening.

I DO think In the Meantime is, on a whole, a far superior bunch of songs.

The Challenge is a great song, and very Fleetwood Mac. Sorta reminds me of As Long As You Follow...

"Ask Anybody" and "The Smile I Love For" are among Chris' best songs. I also love the cover photograph of this album.

I saw one of the rare Christine McVie solo shows when she was on tour for this album. In 1984, she played The Majestic Theater in San Antonio, Texas. It was a fantastic show and most of this album was played in the set list. The other great thing about her solo show was that she included some OLD FLEETWOOD MAC SONGS (pre-Buckingham/Nicks) in the set list, like "Just Crazy Love" and "Spare Me A Little of Your Love". Her backing band was great and included Eddy Quintela, Stevie Ferrone (Drums), and George Hawkins (bass).

I saw this tour in Cleveland. The show was absolutely amazing.

The Challenge and The Smile I Live For are my two favourites from this album, but it's pretty solid across the board, I think.

The Challenge is just so godawful cheesy that I can't not love it. The moment where she sings "And you're the CHALLENGE challenge challenge..." is just way too much fun to sing.

Unfortunately I always struggle with Chris's albums as a whole and find that I get a bit tired of her style after a few songs in a row, so I do have to split these songs up and scatter them among various playlists in order to really appreciate them.

I find this to be the case with all the Mac solo albums, with the possible exceptions of Out of the Cradle and In the Meantime.

There are fine moments on every solo record but only a few of them stand up as complete albums.

So Jealous!

I've never found that with Lindsey or Stevie's solo work, actually. Most of their albums absolutely hold up for me. But I figured some people probably felt the way you do. I can't say I don't understand it.

I can listen to Bella Donna, Wild Heart, Law and Order, Go Insane, CMcVie, straight through. The rest I have a hard time. In the Meantime is great but has a few duds.

As big as a Christine Mac fan as I am, I haven't really listened to this album much. Guess I need to though! :cool:

Of the ones you mention, I enjoy Law and Order as a record the most. Love it, love it, love it. The others have great moments, and I must have listened to The Wild Heart 400 times the year it came out, straight through. But in the past twenty years or so, I've often found myself imagining what could have been if all those solo albums were combined into annual Mac projects. Those musicians really benefit from working together...

I'm interested to know what songs you feel are duds on In the Meantime. I can probably guess one or two of them. Still, that album is the one I was wishing she had made in 1984! I remember waiting weeks for the release of "Christine McVie," and then being disappointed that it was a little glossier than I wished and not as bluesy. I remember dreaming of the album I wanted and then when ITM came out I said "That's it!--that's the one!"

And "Forgiveness" is one of her best songs. Even if we never get another Christine album, we have that song, that wonderful gem.

Liar, Easy Come... other than that I love that album

Yeah--I figured Easy Come would be one of them. It's lame in comparison with the others. But, ah, what a good vocal on it!

Great vocals yes!

Easy come easy go sounds great in my car. I'm interested whether they truly used a Leslie rotating speaker or if the sound was created with a Pro Tools effect; but because of it, the song is one of my favorites on ITM.

I'll never know, but if I ever had the chance, it's one of the (20 or so) questions I'd ask Chris.

Very few early '80s recordings stand up for me because of the heavy hyanded production style at the time. I remember hating it then on things like Vacation by The Go-Gos or anything by Billy Ocean, Jonathan Cain era Journey, or Lionel Ritchie. Over processed. Maybe where things are even more processed today though with auto tune and voice correctors as well as the clap/drum machines and uninteresting layers of synths they might sound good in comparison. I still don't get it, and feel bad when there is a good song buried under all the razzle dazzle clutter. Som e groups like Rush used synths well at that time but most just troweled the effects on to the point where the Pointer Sisters (Jump, So Excited) became the Pointless Sisters, and Van Halen became where's the actual famous guitar sound hidden in this hit (Jump, Panama)?

Just Chris and a piano (ala Songbird) sounds better to me than all the stuff on her 2nd album and Tango. A lot of tv commercial music is irritating to me but it's designed to get your attention and memory. Just because I remember many early '80s songs doesn't make them enjoyable, at worst like they are branded into the brain so you never need to hear them again. I'd love a set of demos, sans overdubs, of Christine's '80s recordings along the lines of the Beatles' Let It Be, Naked edition. Or better yet like the Sandy Denny demo material that went into her Rendezvous album, so much better than the big label release back in the day with all the strings and other business on top.

My problem with a song like Bad Journey is that it sounds like it was produced in the eighties. It seems like a nod to the Manhattan Transfer (jazz era, late seventies) or something.

Michele

The CM album is my third favorite of Chris's three solo albums. I like it, just not as much as the others. To my ear it's too mainstream sounding. I worship the song "One in a Million," but my opinion of the rest is good, not great. But you know, I haven't listened to it in a long time. I oughta give it a spin and see how I feel about it today.

I also saw her solo tour, in Boston. I was absolutely thrilled when she played those two pre-B/N tunes, because I am a big fan of her earlier (more raw) material.

I do like the álbum, though I expected a bit more from Miss Christine. Yes it sounds very Fleetwood Mac and I do like that. But compared to In The Meantime, I found this last álbum more interesting.

Anyway yes it is worth it, you must include it in your collection.

Hey, I saw her too! It was great!:nod:

My pet peeve of Fleetwood Mac in the '80s!

(see my rant here: http://ledge.fleetwoodmac.net/showpo...7&postcount=13 )


I bought the CD of the CM album (I had already worn out the LP) at a rock music convention in downtown LA in the early '90s. About 2 minutes after buying it, I looked up & saw Sara Fleetwood...had her sign the cover. (I also bought the CD single of "In The Back Of My Mind" which had a couple of live tracks as the "B-side" tracks...unfortunately, due to my frequent relocations back in the day, that CD single has vanished)

Have always thought that "One In A Million" had a very Bob Welch air about it.

"The Smile I Live For" with Lindsey's guitar solo, just might as well BE a Fleetwood Mac track. (as well as "Got A Hold On Me"...could've been on Rumours, Tusk or Mirage without anyone even having a clue that it didn't fit.)

If Eric Clapton hadn't done the guitar solo (as wimpy as it is...his only wimpier solo is on Stephen Bishop's "Save It For A Rainy Day"; both very unlike Eric to be so cheezy) on "The Challenge", I don't think I'd be as enamored with the song as I am.

"So Excited" with Billy Burnette was a glimpse into the future of Fleetwood Mac. Why they didn't ressurect this song into the concert set while Billy was a member of Fleetwood Mac, I'll never know.



One of my favorites on the album is the Todd Sharp tune "I'm The One". (How Todd Sharp never ended up ever even being ASKED to join Fleetwood Mac still boggles my mind...he was with Bob Welch's French Kiss era touring band from '78-'81; played on Mick's The Visitor album, played on Christine's album & subsequent tour...jeez, what's a guy gotta do to even be CONSIDERED??)

And there's a pre-tour interview where Christine said that they probably would do it too.

Michele

OH, I have dreamed of this kind of album from her. Wouldn't it be fantastic if she just sat at a piano and played arrangements of all kinds of songs--her classics, popular songs from various eras, new material....I'd welcome anything like this.

You're not the only one. This would be PERFECT (pun intended). I love her piano playing style so much.

Same here, I love her style.

It's not flashy like a lot of other piano players, but with her style you feel the piano even if it's mixed down to oblivion at times.

To oblivion is right!!

That's actually my problem with her last two solo albums. The piano got buried under the polishing and production (1984 album) and the guitar (ITM). Though at least with ITM I could till hear even a tiny bit of that.

Thank goodness for The SMile I Live For

That song is one of the most beautiful things to come from that album. :nod: It's such a great album closer

I agree and the guitar is not even good. We start to get some great piano at the end of Northern Star and it made me wish I could hear that song live or at least hear it with an extended ending on the studio recording.

Michele

And Chris was complaining about 'a tad too much guitar' on SYW! Well, you do have to tread carefully when family is involved. :laugh: Northern Star is beautiful. There's quite a bit of piano on Forgiveness and So Sincere too. Also, while Dan isn't the best guitarist or producer (he needs lessons from Lindsey!), his songwriting is top-notch.

Maybe someday someone can reissue these '80s recordings with all the studio polishing removed kind of like the Let It Be version before Phil Spector layered his so-called wall of sound on top? I remember hating '80s music in the '80s... Pointer Sisters, Van Halen with David Lee Roth, Billy Ocean, Yes, Roxette, Jefferson Starship, Go-Gos (on Vacation)... everything seemed to get layers of processed crap festooned upon it instead of real playing being allowed to be heard. Maybe it sounded good if you did lines or something? I was into other substances, have never done that stuff and didn't get along with people hyped up on it. We are right back to that now with the auto-tune and voice processing gimmicks applied to freaking everything! Seems like ecstacy is the new coke. I liked early Jamiroquai at the time but didn't care what effects neon colours performed under the influence.

I would love to see the 1984 album AND Tango in the Night stripped down.

Monday, January 27, 2014, Martin Maenza Blog

http://mcmaenza.blogspot.com/2014/01...ine-mcvie.html

Christine McVie - Christine McVie

Today (January 27th) marks the thirtieth anniversary of Christine McVie, the self-titled solo album from the Fleetwood Mac singer. The 1984 release went to number 58 on the UK charts and number 26 on the US Billboard Album chart. It was her first and only solo album in the 80's; her previous solo effort was 1970's Christine Perfect.


Besides vocals, McVie also played keyboards and percussion. She was assisted by Todd Sharp (guitar and vocals), George Hawkins (bass and vocals) and Steve Ferrone (drums and percussion). Lindsey Buckingham provided backing vocals on three tracks and guitar on three tracks as well.

Side one opens with "Love Will Show Us How"; as the second single it peaked at number 32 on the US Billboard Adult Contemporary chart and number 30 on the US Billboard Hot 100. The song features a bouncy rhythm to it that fully supports the lyrical optimism.

"The Challenge", a song about moving on alone after a life-changing break-up, features Eric Clapton on lead guitar.

"So Excited" has a rousing guitar rhythm, courtesy of Buckingham, and a jaunty piano riff.

"One in a Million" has a nice rock edge to it musically. However, for me, McVie's vocals fall slightly short of that edge. Luckily she has guest Steve Winwood sharing the lead vocal duty here to help it overall. Their two voices work well together.

Mcvie's band mate Mick Fleetwood plays drums on "Ask Anybody", a gentle ballad co-written by McVie and Winwood.

Side two begins with "Got a Hold on Me", the album's first single. It charted at number 10 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 1 on the US Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. It opens with a very catchy keyboard melody that carries along the entire track.

"Who's Dreaming This Dream" is next. The rolling mid-tempo tune is a little bland for me; there was not much that stuck with me after the fact.

"I'm the One" is about that person someone turns to every time something goes wrong in his life. McVie comes across though as someone who is tired of being that crutch, and that adds an intriguing element to the song.

"Keeping Secrets" has a different kind of opening, very mysterious. It is a refreshing change-up.

The album closes with the piano ballad "The Smile I Live For".

Back in 1984, I was very familiar with the hit singles from Christine McVie and liked them well enough. The rest of the record is a pleasant, light-rock collection of tunes. This review was my first listen to the entire record. I would have liked a bit more variety but I realize that McVie has a wheel-house she is most comfortable in. These songs represent that area well.

I need to pull out this album. Been listening to, "Meantime", a lot lately.