TIME - your honest meaning

[Bumperke]

Everybody seems to feel the need they should analyze some album.
We already read 'bout all albums in the LB/SN line up, but what about the TIME line up?
Was that the worst Chris (lady's first),John and Mick ever made with some talented musicians?

I mean let's face the album, i presume that this really was a miracle in the FM history ?

Tell me about it, did you have favourite tracks, was the album oke? Did Dave what was expectid, is there any magic between the voices of Christine and Bekka?

Suprise me,

Will

[chiliD]

First off, there was an already completed album that wasn't released (obviously), called Another Link In The Chain, which didn't include Christine McVie. At some point, Mick (I assume) had contacted Christine about participating in the album; therefore, Christine's tracks were done separately from the tracks with Bekka, Billy & Dave. Hence, the lack of a tight cohesion of the album; which can be somewhat alleviated for the listener by reprogramming the running order...I found this to flow the nicest:

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


Taken individually, these songs rank from "good" to "great". The division between actual participants on the album really make the album a bit "schizo". Major kudos to Richard Dashut for making the SOUND fit together, even if the songs & musician chemistry didn't.

I would rate the best of these tunes right alongside the rest of Fleetwood Mac's material.

I really think the reason that most people diss this album is the SOLE fact that neither Lindsey nor Stevie are the main songwriters. Their loss, it is actually a VERY good album on its own merits.

[wondergirl9847]

I don't own the album yet, but I do have some of Christine's songs downloaded (er, before I deleted Kazza over the RIAA scare. LOL) and I was just listening to them the other night. I love Sooner or Later the most, I REALLY dig that song, I like the melody. I like Nights in Estoril as well. All Over Again is sad but I like it too. Those are the only three I have on my computer tho.

I'll get Time....on my next CD buying spree. LOL

[Bumperke]

First i'm not critisize, it's a question.
There are a few good, powerfull numbers on the cd.

Dreaming the dream
Talking to my heart
These strange times ( with one of Mick's daughters)
Blow by blow
But Chris is not the strongest songwriter here, it least, that is what i think.

Will

[Johnny Stew]

Originally posted by Bumperke
There are a few good, powerfull numbers on the cd.
But Chris is not the strongest songwriter here, it least, that is what i think.

It's funny, because this is my favorite grouping of Christine's songs, out of all of Fleetwood Mac's releases, and her two solo albums.

I think 'Time' is a great album, that suffers a little because of the disjointed way in which it came together... but the performances and production are top-notch.

When it was released, I had some trepidations about it, because I came to Fleetwood Mac largely as a Stevie Nicks fan.
And even though I became a huge fan of FM in general, and had gone back thru and bought all of the albums pre-Stevie, it was weird for me to think of a brand-new Fleetwood Mac album that didn't feature her.
(And I guess I wasn't the only one who felt that way, given Entertainment Weekly's pithy review of the album: "Who gives a 'Tusk' about a Fleetwood Mac album without Stevie Nicks!")

Still, since I loved Fleetwood Mac, I quickly realized there was no reason why I wouldn't still love them, post-Stevie. After all, Chris, Mick, and John were still there, and I already loved Billy's stuff... so even if I hated Bekka Bramlett and Dave Mason's contributions, the album wouldn't be a complete loss.

And it definitely wasn't. In fact, not only did I LOVE Christine's stuff, but I also really dug Bekka and Dave's participation.

I also liked Bekka and Billy's chemistry so much that when they struck out on their own as a duo, I snatched up their album right away (although I was disappointed that, to me, it wasn't nearly as great as their songs on 'Time').

I'd bet money that if 'Time' had been released before Lindsey & Stevie ever joined the band, the fans' perception of it would be quite different.

[HomerMcvie]

I really think the reason that most people diss this album is the SOLE fact that neither Lindsey nor Stevie are the main songwriters. Their loss, it is actually a VERY good album on its own merits.

Yes. Absolutely. I've not listened to BTM or Time for quite awhile. I had a long vacation drive this past weekend, and listened to both, twice(once on the trip there, once back). IMO, Time kicks BTM's ass! At the very least, it's equally as strong. Bekka is SO underrated here.

[Bumperke]

Originally posted by chiliD
First off, there was an already completed album that wasn't released (obviously), called Another Link In The Chain, which didn't include Christine McVie.

ChiliD, from were that knowledge, i never heard from that, why didn't they released it?
Only so Chris could contribute several songs?
Will

[Bumperke]

Originally posted by HomerMcvie
Yes. Absolutely. I've not listened to BTM or Time for quite awhile. I had a long vacation drive this past weekend, and listened to both, twice(once on the trip there, once back). IMO, Time kicks BTM's ass! At the very least, it's equally as strong. Bekka is SO underrated here.

LOL

Will

[chiliD]

Originally posted by Bumperke
ChiliD, from were that knowledge, i never heard from that, why didn't they released it?

Only so Chris could contribute several songs?

Yes...the album was delayed for almost a year, so they could incorporate Christine's material. By then, they changed the title (obviously). One of the things that probably hurt the sales of the album was that Fleetwood Mac (sans CMcVie) had already toured for 15 months prior to Time being released...the tour was already OVER before the album came out. The only two songs from Time that saw any performance on stage were Dave Mason's "Blow By Blow" and Bekka & Billy's "Dreaming The Dream", however the latter tune didn't get into the set until VERY late in the tour. In fact, Dave Mason even mentioned the album by name before they played "Blow By Blow".

When I saw them in October of 1994 (almost exactly a year to the day before the album was released), the concession stands were selling T-shirts with the album cover art on the front, and the album tracks listed on the back (along with the tour dates, too).

[face of glass]

Originally posted by chiliD
Yes...the album was delayed for almost a year, so they could incorporate Christine's material.
[...]
...and the album tracks listed on the back (along with the tour dates, too).

Wait a minute, does that mean there are outtakes from the album? That they had songs they removed so that Chris' contributions could be fit in? Or were they going to put eight tracks on one cd only?

[chiliD]

I think you could easily answer your own questions.

OBVIOUSLY, songs were removed.

Maybe in 2019 on the 25th anniversary of the album's original release, Rhino will have finally gotten around to releasing the remastered Time album with many bonus tracks. (Since it'll probably take them that long to finish re-releasing the pre-1975 Fleetwood Mac albums)

[Bumperke]

Originally posted by chiliD

Maybe in 2019 on the 25th anniversary of the album's original release, Rhino will have finally gotten around to releasing the remastered Time album with many bonus tracks. (Since it'll probably take them that long to finish re-releasing the pre-1975 Fleetwood Mac albums)

OMG, i like that humor,


Will

[SteveMacD]

I have to disagree that Christine's songs were mere afterthoughts. There was never a released statement that Christine quit the band, just that she quit touring. '

In interviews from that time (1994), Mick always mentioned that Christine was in the band, but not touring, a la Brian Wilson. The way I understand it, she recorded with other musicians while the band was on the road. Logically, it makes sense that her songs began to take a life of their own without the others, as did their songs without her, which explains a lot of differences between Christine's songs and the others.

Now, as for the change in the title, I understand that Mick and John felt "Another Link In The Chain" was becoming too close to the box set.


Are there leftovers? Absolutely. Dave Mason said he wrote a few songs for Bekka to sing, so we know those are out there somewhere. Billy did record "The Bigger The Love," so that's out there somewhere.

[Bumperke]

Originally posted by SteveMacD
I have to disagree that Christine's songs were mere afterthoughts. There was never a released statement that Christine quit the band, just that she quit touring. '

In interviews from that time (1994), Mick always mentioned that Christine was in the band, but not touring, a la Brian Wilson. The way I understand it, she recorded with other musicians while the band was on the road.

If that is true, there is no "band" feeling, so Christine left FM in 1994, instead 1997!
Will

[Cristian]

Originally posted by Bumperke
If that is true, there is no "band" feeling, so Christine left FM in 1994, instead 1997!

Well that's the main problem that I have with this album... I do not think that the individual songs are bad (except for "I Got It In For You" and "These Strange Times", mind you), but I see a lack of cohesion and chemistry between the members of the supposed band that make the album sound like a fragmented collection of solo numbers, something that had never happened with Fleetwood Mac, not even in the previous Behind The Mask lineup, which had a lot of collaboration in the making and producing of the album.

But that fact by itself is not enough to reject the album prior to hearing it! Christine's songs are impeccable; Bekka has a great voice and "Winds Of Change", "Nothing Without You" & "Dreamin' The Dream" are pretty good songs; my fave track is Billy's "Talkin' To My Heart" (SOMETHING of a band feeling after all!) and Dave Mason's "Blow By Blow" is a fantastic song too.

Don't let the reviews spoil the good music; this album is good. Not the best Fleetwood Mac album, by any means, but it's good music. Something you can always expect if Fleetwood Mac's involved.


Song of the moment - Someone's Gotta Change Your Mind