The Problem with "Time"
 

So, I'm on my way home from work at 4 am this morning and "Blow By Blow" starts playing on my iPod. I'm listening to this song and I'm wondering what it is that it's missing, musically that is. Then suddenly, it hits me!!! John's bass. It's barely noticeable.

My question is then, "Is this what's wrong with the Time CD?" Not a good enough mix? Not enough John? Not a good blend of the classic rhythm section that we all know and love?

Obviously there are more problems with this CD than just the mix. Some of the material isn't that great either, but my main question is in regard to the mix and why John doesn't seem to be mixed in as well as on other Mac CD's.

Comments, complaints? Slings and arrows? Praise? I'm interested to hear others opinions.

Time.........well, I think it would have been better if it had been shorter, with more Christine and No Dave Mason. The addition of him to Fleetwood Mac was just odd to me, not a good fit at all. I also noticed that John's bassline was not as prevelent on a lot of songs. By far, the best thing out of that album is "Sooner Or Later". It is a song I loved from the first time I heard it.

My issue with Time is that it doesn't feel like everyone is involved in everyone's songs. Dave isn't on Christine's songs and vice versa and it doesn't seem like they're on Bekka and Billy's songs and vice versa. I also feel like Dave's contributions were weak but I still love Time.

Matt

There wasn't any problem with Time. The problem was with the narrow minded Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham fans who didn't give the new lineup the chance it deserved. Oh, that and the absence of Rick Vito.

I hate standing up for Dave M as I really don't like his music that much (and I have all his solo albums - :lol:), but he doesn't do a bad job on the album, although I know he can really rock out on guitar when he wants to, which he didn't here. I think he fitted quite well into Fleetwood Mac despite Christine's reluctance.

However as Rick Vito is my second fave FM member after Stevie (third fave being Dave Walker - :lol: @ sjpdg) I wish he had stuck around for the album, I would have loved the Bekka/Billy/Rick combination.

All in all though, there isn't anything wrong with the album, sure it isn't Rumours, but then again, neither was pretty much the rest of FM's back catalogue.

If there is one criticism to be had, it is that none of the artists seem to be at their best. Billy, Dave and Bekka have all produced fantastic work since Time. If they had brought that energy to the album it would have been brilliant.


EDIT: Matt is right in the above post too, there isn't enough involvement in each other's tracks, obviously Christine/Dave being the worst case of this.

Time isn´t so bad album I think. I´m not a huge fan of that country, which Bekka and Billy played, but Christine´s songs are awesome there (espacially Nights In Estoril - just amazing song).

It would be awesome if BTM line up continued, released some combination of King Of Hearts, Street Angel and Time and toured like they toured in 94-95 (many concerts in Europe :)) ... that would be really great!

Then why do you have ALL of his albums??

Some people have no sense of humor!!!!:laugh::laugh:

I agree with you and most of the other posts on this thread. My biggest issue with the album is that it just doesn't feel like a collaborative effort. It feels like they all put their parts together separately, got it mixed and packaged up for sale. Some of the material just sounds weak. I agree too that with Rick included (instead of Dave) then the material might have been better and all together a different album.

Any opinions on "These Strange Times" from Mick?

Personally, I find it interesting to listen to. Sort of a personal retrospective of his career with FM up to that time. Also seems to explore faith as well. Loss of faith, faith regained.

Certainly not a great song that should go down in history or anything. I'm not that big a fan of it! I just think it's an interesting piece of material and am curious to see what others think of it.

Any other thoughts?

What is it with you and people named "Dave" that have been in this band??!! LOL!!:]:]

:lol::lol:

Because I have ALL the FM solo albums...its just something I do... :)

Its a track I skip every time...although I have to admit compared to the Lizard People single its fantastic. What annoys me is that it isn't a song and it isn't poetry, it falls somewhere between. Either read it like a poem or sing it like a song, don't try to do both.

I totally agree with everything you've said. It sounds more like a bunch of solo songs than a collaborative effort imo.

Oh, them's fightin' words, dearie! :lol:

I think it's unfair to compare the Time band with the Rumours band; yes, it kinda looked like Fleetwood Mac from a distance... but upon closer inspection it was merely a drooling zombie version of what they used to be. Almost everything that made Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac was absent- the quirkiness, the divine harmonies, the haunting mysticism, the romantic/musical tension, and most definitely the passion. Other than the divine contributions from Mrs. Perfect McVie Quintela, this was pretty much generic, gutless, soulless middle-of-the-road adult contemporary pop that would not have been out of place on a made-for-Lifetime-Television movie soundtrack. I tried to give it a chance. Really. But on a perfectly objective level, there is no way I would have ever subjected myself to this tediously uninteresting music if they didn't slap the ol' "Fleetwood Mac" label onto it.

That being said... "Nights in Estoril" gets mad respect from me- I blow kisses in its general direction. :xoxo:

You're right. There were more people who bought and listened to this album because of the Rumours line up than there were people who overlooked it because of them.

I know that people love Nights in Estoril , consider it one of her all time best, and I'm kind of partial to Hollywood myself. Christine nonpareil.

Michele

Maybe...25 million (or so) copies of Rumours sold, 35,000 (or so) copies of Time sold. I think that would mean most of the Rumours era fans wouldn't touch it with a 10ft pole...

Sure Time wasn't the greatest album that FM ever released, but the same could be said about Then Play On, Penguin (one of my favourites), Mirage, etc.

In my opinion the failure of Time wasn't directly linked to the quality of the album or the lack of talent in the band at that time. The SN & LB fans were never going to accept it, I seem to remember the general level of dislike directed towards Bekka for singing Stevie songs. For those people who were fans back then, correct me if I'm wrong but the newsgroup and forums of the day were full of complaints about Bekka's voice (and let's be honest the girl can sing).

Additionally the record company didn't want to promote the album without its two main attractions.

Anyway, thats my two cents worth (and that isn't worth a lot post-GFC)