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Old 10-28-2018, 10:51 AM
Murrow Murrow is offline
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Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 327
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CHILD OF MINE 6/10: I mourn what became of Danny as much as anyone but on this album as well as Kiln House he seemed lyrically uninspired. Nothing ever had much more than one verse and a bridge.

THE GHOST 10/10: The first of Bob Welch's paranormal musings given wonderful atmosphere by Chris on mellotron just as Crystal and Oh Daddy would later on. Get that mellotron out again Chris it's been gathering dust for too long.

HOMEWARD BOUND 7/10: 25 years before Temporary One, Chris makes no secret of her dislike of international touring. You totally get the feeling of the sophisticated country girl she later became sitting in her rocking chair with another drink.

SUNNY SIDE OF HEAVEN 7/10: A nice little instrumental. Although it's not as good as Earl Gray a couple years earlier it speaks volumes that after a few years rest it was played on tour by Lindsey Buckingham on the Rumours tours.

BARE TREES 6/10: See Child of Mine for my opinion.

SENTIMENTAL LADY 10/10: Although the pastoral feel of this album and Future Games seemed to depart with Danny Kirwan it is most prominent here on Bob's songs. This original version of what later became a solo hit for him with 3/5 of the Rumours line-up playing on it goes perfectly with the mellow wintry feel of it all even with the gentle wind blowing.

DANNY'S CHANT 7/10: Raw feedback-drenched guitar rock, a nice contrast to the rest of the album.

SPARE ME A LITTLE OF YOUR LOVE 7/10: The first of Chris's mellow love songs to make a Mac album. You can even forgive the Aretha Franklin rip-off backing vocals (just a little).

DUST 10/10: Early 20th Century poetry really brought something out in Danny (cf Dragonfly). If things hadn't gone the way they had for him then it would have been great for him to do a whole album of that kind of thing. I can just imagine the BBC2 documentaries he'd have done if only...

A moment of silence for Danny Kirwan 1950-2018

THOUGHTS ON A GREY DAY 9/10: Yes you read that correctly. I love that poem - Mrs Scarrot sounds like a lady with some substance whom I wouldn't have minded sitting having tea and cake with as the sun set over Headley Down.

OVERALL: Although I've rated a lot of these at 7/10 the album is truly greater than the sum of its parts. It's got a much more pleasant feel than the coke-sodden Beverly Hills vibe you get circa Tusk/80s. An English country afternoon in winter captured in one album. The influence of this album on me was such that a few years back I made a little pilgrimage down to see Benifolds and the Crown pub where the band hung out. I even went in winter to get a feel similar to that captured in John's awesome cover shots. I look forward to the day I can afford to go again. Meanwhile this album and Future Games back to back represent a beautiful and slightly longer chapter than a lot of Mac's all too quickly snuffed out candles of brilliance outside of their better-known periods with Bob and Chris hitting their stride and developing the styles that would become such a hallmark of their future work with the group.
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I wish Mick would just say definitively that the group does not exist anymore. Then we can edit Wikipedia and get rid of all this crap about the surviving members of the 2018-19 lineup comprising a current configuration.

Thanks to Mick and all erstwhile members for the good times.

Last edited by Murrow; 10-28-2018 at 10:56 AM..
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