Time

[chiliD]

Time, as it was released, was pretty much a "compromise" album. WB had rejected the original album that was submitted with the title Another Link In The Chain due to Christine's complete absence from the album. It was all Bekka, Billy & Dave's compositions. Christine's songs were hurredly recorded & assembled in order to comply with WB's demands that (supposedly) she was contractually obligated to appear on Fleetwood Mac albums. I'm sure that the lingering mutual dislike between Christine & Dave Mason DID have something to do with his not appearing on her songs, but it also might be that he wasn't available to do those sessions due to other obligations. Plus, since Bekka, Billy & Dave's material that was included was already completed, so there was really no need to go back and re-record those tunes with Christine...that would've been a waste of time & money.

There were promotional photos released with both Christine & Dave together with Mick, John, Bekka & Billy. So, they co-existed for at least as long as the photo session took. I think those might even have been taken after the artwork for the CD booklet was already completed.

I think whoever tracked the songs did a horrid job, basically magnifying the disjointed feel of the album. Thanks to the capability of reprogramming the running order of a CD (and now with iTunes playlists), a more flowing tracking CAN be obtained. Once again, here's what I came up with:

I DO
TALKIN' TO MY HEART
I WONDER WHY
WINDS OF CHANGE
SOONER OR LATER
DREAMING THE DREAM
NIGHTS IN ESTORIL
NOTHING WITHOUT YOU
I GOT IT IN FOR YOU
HOLLYWOOD (SOME OTHER KIND OF TOWN)
BLOW BY BLOW
THESE STRANGE TIMES
ALL OVER AGAIN

[SteveMacD]

Originally Posted by FierySequences

(If you own a copy) Check out the liner notes and the additional players listed. After each CM song, Michael Thompson – guitars on tracks 2, 5, 8, 10 & 12 is listed. And on some of the others tracks 3, 4 & 9, Steve Thoma – keyboards is listed.

Christine and Dave didn't really get along all that well. They go back to Birmingham, England, back when she was hanging around the Spencer Davis Group, for which he was a roadie.

Chris wasn't even present when they did the photo shoot

Oh really?

Whether there is any truth to that, I have no idea, but I am very curious as to why and the circumstances surrounding why Chris was not present for the other band members' recordings.

I think the liner notes give a false impression (I could be wrong) about what happened. I posted a while back that this is who I think plays on each song:

Talkin’ To My Heart: Mick, John, Bekka, Billy, Dave, and Christine
Hollywood: Mick, John, Christine, Thompson
Blow By Blow: Mick, John, Bekka, Billy, Dave, and Thoma
Winds Of Change: Mick, John, Bekka, Billy, Dave, and Christine
I Do: Mick, John, Bekka, Billy, Dave, Christine, and Thompson (note Tompson is listed as "additional guitar")
Nothing Without You: Mick, John, Bekka, Billy, Dave, Christine, and Lindsey
Dreamin’ The Dream: Bekka, Billy, and Christine (maybe Dave?)
Sooner Or Later: Mick, John, Christine, Thompson, Tackett
I Wonder Why: Mick, John, Bekka, Billy, Dave, Christine, and Thoma
Nights In Estoril: Mick, John, Christine, Thompson
I Got It In For You: Mick, John, Bekka, Billy, Dave, and Christine
All Over Again: Mick, John, Christine, Thompson
These Strange Times: Mick, John, Bekka, Lucy, Jones

So, I think all of the Bekka and Billy stuff is just the actual members of the band.

Originally Posted by chiliD

Time, as it was released, was pretty much a "compromise" album. WB had rejected the original album that was submitted with the title Another Link In The Chain due to Christine's complete absence from the album.

I still don't buy it. EVERYTHING they said in interviews during the 1994-95 period is that Christine was still in the band, just not touring. I mean EVERY interview. There was even that photo of her playing with them prior to Billy coming back. In fact, Billy even stated that the reason he had only two songs on the record was because he came back so late in the game. Now, maybe she pulled her songs at some point, but the only public statements were that she was still in the band. Actually, I wouldn't be shocked if she recorded her songs in 1993, when they were looking for a guitarist, and Thompson was just some studio guy they used.

Also, THIS

[FierySequences]

Thx for the hard work and research you two put into these posts...very interesting. And of course it clears up some of the confussion.

Thx for the great pic's posted by SteveMacD, Chris and Bekka look gorgeous and Chris (although smiling) leaning forward in an apprehensive way confirms (possibly) Chris' discomfort with this line-up.

As you proved me wrong Steve, I was only speculating Chris was absent b/c I have never seen these photos, I was not posting it as a FACT.

thx again for posting

[SteveMacD]

Originally Posted by FierySequences

As you proved me wrong Steve, I was only speculating Chris was absent b/c I have never seen these photos, I was not posting it as a FACT.

I was just kidding around. But, I do find it odd that they didn't use this picture anywhere on the cover.

[MacShadowsBall]

Time isn't a bad album.

Stevie and Lindsey were gone and Christine was just there to provide five songs to the album. Billy didn't really get much attention during his Mac tenure, getting lost in the mix (if you will) essentially making him a "new" member along with Bekka and Dave. Of course Mick and John were there so yes it was still Fleetwood Mac, but they aren't singer/songwriters and the faces of the band like Christine, Stevie, and Lindsey and as Peter and Bob Welch were during their tenures.

[SteveMacD]

Originally Posted by MacShadowsBall

Time isn't a bad album.

Stevie and Lindsey were gone and Christine was just there to provide five songs to the album. Billy didn't really get much attention during his Mac tenure, getting lost in the mix (if you will) essentially making him a "new" member along with Bekka and Dave.

But Billy WASN'T a new member, and FANS (not necessarily the public) knew him. He had been affiliated with Fleetwood Mac in some way for over a decade by that point, and had been in the band for two big tours and a modest-selling album. Fleetwood Mac had several minor hits during his time.

Of course Mick and John were there so yes it was still Fleetwood Mac, but they aren't singer/songwriters and the faces of the band like Christine, Stevie, and Lindsey and as Peter and Bob Welch were during their tenures.

Some fan of Fleetwood Mac from day one in 1973: "Penguin" -no Peter, no Jeremy, no Danny...NOT Fleetwood Mac. Sure, Christine is there, but it's just NOT Fleetwood Mac.

I don't disagree that Billy wasn't exactly the face of the band at that point, but neither was Bob Welch in 1973, except for the handful of fans that were giving it a chance, regardless of who was in it.

[aleuzzi]

Time is a much better album, IMO, than Mask. Bekka and Billy sound especially good. I don't see the logic in including Dave Mason. But otherwise, the songs and performances are strong.

My only other complaint is the cheesy sounding keyboard tones. Christine's approach is fine, as is her playing. But the sound of the electric keyboard is tinny and cheap.

I like the running order of the songs. So long as Mason's contributions are removed.

[Dex]

Can I revive this thread? I'm listening to Time just now, and I really think this album (and forum, actually) need a bit more love. This isn't my favourite Mac album, but it's one of the few without a track that I dislike. I've really enjoyed reading some of your takes on it, as it's not an album that is often discussed.

I'm sorry to say, though, that I can't get into Bekka much as a lead singer. I think she's a gifted songwriter and I really enjoy her work in that regard, but her voice just doesn't pull me in, somehow. I keep imagining her songs being covered by some great country singer, and how mind-blowingly awesome that'd be. I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to be imagining what an awesome cover Singer X would do when you're listening to the original version of a song, though. Sorry Bekka!

Originally Posted by chiliD

I think whoever tracked the songs did a horrid job, basically magnifying the disjointed feel of the album. Thanks to the capability of reprogramming the running order of a CD (and now with iTunes playlists), a more flowing tracking CAN be obtained. Once again, here's what I came up with:

I DO
TALKIN' TO MY HEART
I WONDER WHY
WINDS OF CHANGE
SOONER OR LATER
DREAMING THE DREAM
NIGHTS IN ESTORIL
NOTHING WITHOUT YOU
I GOT IT IN FOR YOU
HOLLYWOOD (SOME OTHER KIND OF TOWN)
BLOW BY BLOW
THESE STRANGE TIMES
ALL OVER AGAIN

Thanks for this tracklist! I'm excited to try it out. I agree that the tracklisting is particularly jarring on this album. Talkin' To My Heart is probably one of my favourite Mac tunes of all, and a really strong album opener, and then it doesn't really feel like it has an album to follow it at all. The whole album really feels like someone hit "shuffle" in a playlist with (at least) two different albums in it.

ETA: Also, can I gush over the cover? It might just be me, but I find something beautifully simple and clever about it. Could've become iconic if the music within had been better received.

[holidayroad]

Originally Posted by Dex

ETA: Also, can I gush over the cover? It might just be me, but I find something beautifully simple and clever about it. Could've become iconic if the music within had been better received.

I always liked the cover, too.

The album does have one of my fave songs by Christine: 'Sooner Or Later'.

[SteveMacD]

"Talkin' To My Heart" is one of the Mac's best ever. (So was "Inuition" ...)

They could've been great, but they chose the chicken sh*t (don't ban me, bro -at least this time) way out.

[Dex]

Originally Posted by SteveMacD

"Talkin' To My Heart" is one of the Mac's best ever. (So was "Inuition" ...)

I'm glad it's not just me who loves that song. It's really something wonderful, isn't it?

I actually quite like the SYW-lineup of the band, but it is always interesting to imagine what might/could have been, if the band had just been more comfortable completely rebooting itself at that point.

[Villavic]

Originally Posted by chiliD

Time, as it was released, was pretty much a "compromise" album. WB had rejected the original album that was submitted with the title Another Link In The Chain due to Christine's complete absence from the album. It was all Bekka, Billy & Dave's compositions. Christine's songs were hurredly recorded & assembled in order to comply with WB's demands that (supposedly) she was contractually obligated to appear on Fleetwood Mac albums.

According to Wikipedia, This album was also the first that failed to make the charts in the US. With no Stevie and Lindsey, and a barely presence of Christine, I guess nobody was enough interested in releasing a single, but I thought the record company always try to sell a record, so a single should always exist, or so I believed.

But no single was released, was it? At the Wikipedia page of this album, there is no single mentioned. Don't know how reliable are its sources.

And if any song was intende to be a single, I guess the record company would have selected a Christine song, don't you think?

[SteveMacD]

Originally Posted by Villavic

According to Wikipedia, This album was also the first that failed to make the charts in the US. With no Stevie and Lindsey, and a barely presence of Christine

Christine sang lead on FIVE songs, more than Billy Burnette and Dave Mason COMBINED! She DOMINATED that record.

I guess nobody was enough interested in releasing a single, but I thought the record company always try to sell a record, so a single should always exist, or so I believed.

"I Do" was released, and I think "Winds of Change" was, too.

By the time it was released, Christine was out and Mick was working with Lindsey. The record company would likely rather have paid a large advance on a Lindsey-Mick record than on promoting a new Fleetwood Mac album knowing Christine McVie was no longer in the band.

What always kills me is how people talk about how it was such a huge failure (and it was), but fail to mention that Stevie and Lindsey also hit the skids in album sales around that time, and they promoted and toured behind their albums. The "Time" band was basically done by the time the album was released.

[Tusky]

Originally Posted by SteveMacD

"I Do" was released, and I think "Winds of Change" was, too.

The promo single is on Ebay with spooky Dennis Wilson rose garden-like cover!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/FLEETWOOD-MA...item3ca43fdaab

[Johnny Stew]

Originally Posted by Tusky

The promo single is on Ebay with spooky Dennis Wilson rose garden-like cover!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/FLEETWOOD-MA...item3ca43fdaab

The German CD single for "I Do" is absolutely worth tracking down. It features the radio edit, plus "Talkin' To My Heart," and the extended & dub versions of "Little Lies."

I've never found a promo single for any of the other 'Time' tracks, but I'd love to find one if it's out there.