1984 album - thoughts?

[Dodfather]

Hi guys,

I finally got a copy of Christine McVie on vinyl and am getting to know the album properly. I of course did before but at the moment I'm playing it non-stop. I just wondered what everyone's favourite songs were etc, least favourites too of course...

[RickRobert]

This album is amazing! The Challenge is my favourite by far - Clapton's solo, Lindsey's great really low singing, and that piano riff... mmm mmm mmm! Love love Who's Dreaming This Dream aswell. Most of the album is amazing, except for maybe Ask Anybody, I'm The One, One In A Million...

[Dodfather]

Have to say that so far the only song that seems like filler to me would be I'm The One, so I'd have to agree there. The rest veer between pretty great 80s pop (which is completely what the album is) and reasonable album tracks.

[chriskisn]

Now most people on here know I'm not the biggest CM fan, I really don't like her FM work that much, especially from rumours onwards.

However I do find the 1984 album quite enjoyable (certainly more than her other two solo efforts). It does have a good 80's pop feel as Dodfather said, but I think it also benefits from not being constrained by Fleetwood Mac.

While most of the songs could have been easily slotted into an FM album, they were significantly better IMHO than what she did actually produce within the confines of FM.

[nailatixela]

It sounds a bit dated but I still like it. The Smile I Live For is actaually my favorite solo Chris song ever. I also like The Challenge a lot. This album also has my least favorite Chris song of all time - So Excited. bleh.

[michelej1]

Originally Posted by nailatixela

This album also has my least favorite Chris song of all time - So Excited. bleh.

I like that one. Makes me want to bop along. It has a sense of silly fun that I think Sugar Daddy was trying for and never achieved.

Michele

[holidayroad]

Originally Posted by nailatixela

It sounds a bit dated but I still like it. The Smile I Live For is actaually my favorite solo Chris song ever. I also like The Challenge a lot. This album also has my least favorite Chris song of all time - So Excited. bleh.

I also don't care much for 'So Excited'. I have tried to re-listen to it many times and still haven't changed my mind. I listened my cassette copy the other day and thought about how beautiful 'The Smile I Live For' is. Overall, it's a great album. I've heard others say it's 'boring'. I don't think it's boring, but when I listen to it, something always seems to be missing from it, even though I can't figure out what it is. Anyone else have any ideas??

[louielouie2000]

Originally Posted by nailatixela

It sounds a bit dated but I still like it. The Smile I Live For is actaually my favorite solo Chris song ever. I also like The Challenge a lot. This album also has my least favorite Chris song of all time - So Excited. bleh.

Wow, we actually agree for once... and I agree with everything you said!

So Excited definitely has to be my least fav Chris song of all time too. I'm not a fan Billy Burnette especially, he just lends a cheesy air to anything he touches. And Christine should never, EVER do country. Barf. If there is one redeeming aspect of this one, you can tell Christine is genuinely having fun singing it. I've always heard you can hear a smile when someone sings... and that is definitely the case with this one. I still think the song is a turd, though.

I really like The Challenge, too. I think it's Lindsey's backing vocals towards the end of the song that make this one for me. Those two have always harmonized together so well, and Lindsey's smokey/sultry vocals take this song to the next level, IMO.

Interestingly enough, I really didn't like this album for years. I thought it was just '80s pop fluff garbage. The song that changed my mind was "I'm The One." I liked it's straightforward rock sound.

I also really, really like One In A Million. That Clapton guitar riff couldn't go any better with Christine if it tried! Christine just has the perfect cadence for bluesy songs, they fit her so well.

And for my guilty pleasure: Ask Anybody. It's like Christine's version of "Alice." Both are horrendously dated pieces of Adult Contemporary trash, but I wholeheartedly adore both, and listen to them in secret!

[David]

Originally Posted by Dodfather

Hi guys,

I finally got a copy of Christine McVie on vinyl and am getting to know the album properly. I of course did before but at the moment I'm playing it non-stop. I just wondered what everyone's favourite songs were etc, least favourites too of course...

It's always great hearing Chris McVie sing, so the album comes out ahead right there.

But the lack of pop shaping on these tracks is a bummer. These songs would sparkle & jump out of the speakers at you if they were edited by a great editor, a Caillat, for example. Take I'M SO EXCITED. Great little ditty, but the engineers don't ****ing know what to do with it. The bridge keeps repeating until you're sick of it, & the instrumental breaks--repeated too much, as well--lack dramatic or narrative meaning. You can almost hear the musicians telepathically communicating with one another, "How should we end this thing?"

The outro on GOT A HOLD ON ME lasts too long, with too many repetitions of the chorus hook. If you ram the hook down us 100 times, that's at least seventy-five times too many, even if it's a great hook--& this one isn't. By comparison, one of her greatest hooks, the chorus of YOU MAKE LOVING FUN, is only done TWICE on Rumours. You want to hear it again! When you're listening to the chorus over & over of GOT A HOLD ON ME, you sure as hell aren't saying to yourself, "I want to hear this again!"

[aleuzzi]

Originally Posted by David

It's always great hearing Chris McVie sing, so the album comes out ahead right there.

But the lack of pop shaping on these tracks is a bummer. These songs would sparkle & jump out of the speakers at you if they were edited by a great editor, a Caillat, for example. Take I'M SO EXCITED. Great little ditty, but the engineers don't ****ing know what to do with it. The bridge keeps repeating until you're sick of it, & the instrumental breaks--repeated too much, as well--lack dramatic or narrative meaning. You can almost hear the musicians telepathically communicating with one another, "How should we end this thing?"

The outro on GOT A HOLD ON ME lasts too long, with too many repetitions of the chorus hook. If you ram the hook down us 100 times, that's at least seventy-five times too many, even if it's a great hook--& this one isn't. By comparison, one of her greatest hooks, the chorus of YOU MAKE LOVING FUN, is only done TWICE on Rumours. You want to hear it again! When you're listening to the chorus over & over of GOT A HOLD ON ME, you sure as hell aren't saying to yourself, "I want to hear this again!"

David I agree with this. On that album the production and arrangements are problematic, but her songwriting skills are solid and in tact. If you listen to the earlier version of YMLF, it was a bit labored and dragged on because of too many repetitions, too. I think Christine in general writes great hooks and sings well; but she needs a producer to help her shape those assets into a viable pop tune. It is partially for this that I prefer In the Meantime to the 1984 record. ITM songs are generally mixed better, less glossy productions and--with the exception of a couple cases--there aren't too many repetitions. "Anything is Possible," "Forgiveness," "Giving it Back," and "Bad Journey" are exquisitely produced and shaped.

As far as the 1984 album, "The Smile I Live For" and "One in a Million" are excellent. The verse portion of "Love Will Show Us How" is good, but the chorus is awful. "So Excited" is fun, but like Dave said, it's not treated especially well.

[SapphireSister]

Never posted in here before, never thought to but I've just discovered how much I love Chris' song Got a Hold on Me. It's a gem with lots of soul. I even downloaded it from iTunes. JTIS. Peace from the Stevie forum.