The Ledge - Are You With Me Baby?

Just got Billy's "Are You With Me Baby" CD. By far, his best album, I think.

Again, when hearing how good his albums & Rick Vitos albums are, it just makes me :mad: that neither of them could get CLOSE to these sounds on a Fleetwood Mac album; yet, there are a good four or five tunes on this album from Billy that would've fit Fleetwood Mac very well.

From the subtle changes the band has gone through from blues and experimental rock sounds of the Peter Green era, to the semi-folk/rock sound of the Danny Kirwan era, to the space/jazz of the Bob Welch era, to another era of folk/rock mixed with the California pop sound growing through the raw experimentation on Tusk reverting to a pop sound of Mirage to the kind of techno 80's sound on Tango of the Lindsey & Stevie era...yet from then on, Fleetwood Mac attempted to plug the new foks into the "Rumours" mold instead of just letting THEM define the sound of Fleetwood Mac...as they had done for the 20 years previously.

Had Billy & Rick been given more creative control, I think, the sound would've gone to more of a "roots rock" style that would be the middle ground between the of both of them, as well as given the band a fresher sound than the pompousness of their 1987-90 incarnation as it was.

Anyway, I digress...sorry...back to Billy's "Are You With Me Baby"...

The title cut roars to a great opening number for the album, setting the stage for what's to follow. The remake of his dad & uncle's tune "Believe What You Say" is true to the original, yet given that sonic blast of modern "fire". "What a Woman Feels" would've been a great Fleetwood Mac tune...time changes, bizarre chord structures, yet all with a commercial tone that would be a wonderful vehicle for Stevie & Christine background vocals. Even his updating of one of his own older tunes "Gimme You" sounds fresh as sun dried laundry on this album.

All-in-all, this album is up-beat, and made to give off that "good time feeling".