White Album Appreciation

[Andy Man]

Apologies if this is a redundant thread.

I've started listening to The Mac again in the hopes that I'll be seeing them in London in a few weeks (looking for some decently priced tickets for the Friday show). I must admit that my constant FM go-to albums have always been Rumours and Tusk. I always have thought of the White album as being great, but never thought it compared to the previously two mentioned albums.

However, I've been listening to it non-stop lately and must say I have severely underrated it in the past. I've always thought that it was a record of 11 great songs - however never thought much of them as a cohesive whole. And while it may not have the narrative that Rumours had, I now really appreciate how the album is structured. It is fascinating to me how a group that had three vocalists/writers (two of them being brand new the group) were able to make an record that flows seamlessly. Just like Rumours, I always feel like I'm listening to a 'band' rather than three stars (a trend that continued until around Mirage where the cohesiveness of the group began to dwindle - not that there weren't excellent moments, though).

I really have grown to admire the production of this record, especially moments like the end of Rhiannon where it fades and flows right into the beginning of Over My Head (the usage of the same drum part is quite creative, from a production standpoint). Also, the album version of Over My Head is excellent. As I usually listen to the single version of the song, which is a bit 'harsher' sounding, the album version really brings out the beautiful simplicity of the track - one of CM's best.

I've also always been a fan of the live version of I'm So Afraid and not so much the studio. However I've grown to quiet like the studio and it's interesting to hear such a quite and mysterious-esque interpretation (never really was done live).

I now hold this album in the same place as Rumours and Tusk - and there are moments where I think it outshines both of those works.

[bluefox4000]

It's got some great tracks but if I had to rate the Bucky-Nicks albums it'd go like this.

1. Tusk
2, Rumours
3. Tango
4. White album.
5. Mirage











SYW (Sans Chris so it's bottom pile)

Anyway, White album have a ton of forgettable stuff.....with nuggets of greatness.

Mick

[aleuzzi]

The White Album is one of my favs. Used to be my all-time favorite, but now I like Tusk and Kiln House as much as it.

There is something oddly magical about the 1975 release. It's a rather restrained set of songs, peppered with occasional bursts of high energy. Nothing sounds truly unleashed. If you listen to Monday Morning alongside Second Hand News you can hear a real leap in confidence and attack. Lindsey hadn't come into his own yet. Still, all the held-in tension makes for a lot of under-the-surface excitement on the White album. Christine's voice is in top form--it feels like her record more than the others. The drum-bass-piano trio are as tight as can be, too. And then there's Rhiannon. What else does one have to say?

[Ulpian]

I love the White Album.

I think there's some stuff I get tired of but I know are great songs (Rhiannon, Landslide, ISA, SYLM) but Crystal and Sugar Daddy just make that album for me. In their own very different ways, those two songs are little pieces of perfection to my amateur ear.

[louielouie2000]

I must admit that my constant FM go-to albums have always been Rumours and Tusk. I always have thought of the White album as being great, but never thought it compared to the previously two mentioned albums.

I've always thought that it was a record of 11 great songs - however never thought much of them as a cohesive whole.

I've also always been a fan of the live version of I'm So Afraid and not so much the studio. However I've grown to quiet like the studio and it's interesting to hear such a quite and mysterious-esque interpretation (never really was done live).

This has always been my issue with the White Album- HIGH quality material, but the way it all hangs together for me has always been just a bit disjointed. Lindsey doing a cover song, only 2 Stevie songs, and World Turning is awesome, but clearly a leftover of a past Mac era. You can tell there's chemistry brewing, but they're still trying to figure how to balance it all.

The production of the White Album may be flawless, but it's polished to the point where the album is lacking any grit, IMO.

That being said, I've always adored the album version of I'm So Afraid. It's so tortured, moody, dark, and atmospheric. The song is a different animal live, but I've always loved the purity of the studio version.

It's got some great tracks but if I had to rate the Bucky-Nicks albums it'd go like this.

1. Tusk
2, Rumours
3. Tango
4. White album.
5. Mirage

Anyway, White album have a ton of forgettable stuff.....with nuggets of greatness.

Mick

That's pretty much how I'd rate the White Album as well. Everything on the album is sonically flawless... but it's just so highly polished to the point that it's just safe & boring. Maybe it has to do with the fact that so many of the songs on the album are such radio staples to this day that they've been cliche for decades. I'm not really sure.

Every time I play the White Album (which isn't too often), I am always amazed at the effortless quality it exudes. It's California Pop at it's finest. But I'm also reminded of how glad I am that the band branched out from there, too. The White Album is probably why the band has long been dismissed as a breezy pop band, vs being viewed as a true rock band.

[wheart]

I don't listen to it that often but I love all the songs on it. I think Warm Ways is one of the best songs Chris has ever written! Other highlights for me are Blue Letter (that needs to return to their live set) SYLM and Crystal.

[Andy Man]

Christine's voice is in top form--it feels like her record more than the others.


I've always thought that Christine deserves a lot of recognition for this. On this record it is very evident that Christine was given so much more power in Fleetwood Mac than when Bob Welch was in the band. Lindsey and Stevie are newcomers (like she had once been in FM). Now, Christine is essentially leading the band. Lindsey may have gained creative control later down the road (certainly by Tusk), but in 1975 I think it was Christine calling the shots...

[applebucked]

This album has got to be one of my favorites as well. Great batch of songs all around from all three songwriters (if a little restrained).

Also, the White Album tour has my favorite tour setlist. A nice mix of old and new songs.

[ejb1969]

I've always liked it equal to Rumours. Whenever I hear Rhiannon and Crystal, I imagine what it was like for people to hear those tracks for the first time. Although Lindsey and Stevie were new to the Mac, Studio City was their home away from home and I think that comfort in the studio and their trust in Keith Olsen really comes through. And I believe that the album captures Christine's voice at its finest. The "Sound City" documentary made me appreciate the magic that the Neve console brought to the music of the era, not only for the Mac but for other acts as well.

[louielouie2000]

I think Warm Ways is one of the best songs Chris has ever written!

I'm glad I'm not the only one who adores this track. :) There aren't a lot of breezy, beautiful Fleetwood Mac LOVE songs, but this one is a rare exception. Warm Ways is just pop perfection: gorgeous lead & backing vocals and a beautifully spare musical arrangement. The drum parts Mick laid down for this track are particularly sublime.

[sleepless child]

This was the album that made me a fan. I loved everything about it. Especially Stevie. My favorite song is Crystal. In English class we had to interpret a poem and I choose this one. I had no idea what the lyrics meant. LOL! I said it was about realizing you had fallen in love with someone. I think Stevie says she wrote it about her dad. so I think it is really about leaving your youth behind to become and adult. Leaving your dad and going to your boyfriend. I still love hearing this record and the sound is amazing. Of course it was recorded in Sound City.

[becca]

This album was huge when it came out, almost everyone seemed to have it along with Heart's Dreamboat Annie and Nazareth's Raz-Ma-Naz. Those were the big heavy party/boogie LPs. Say You Love Me and Over My Head were monsters; always on the radio. Rhiannon was huge too but I remember some b.s. controversy where some stations wouldn't play it as it promoted devil worship blah blah blah. :shocked:

I think a lot of people don't realize how to about half the audience Rumours was really part two of the 1975 album! :nod:

[redbird]

I love the white album, I don't care if it's called real rock or pop or what, there are days that it's my favorite of the Rumours-era lineup's outputs (I certainly like it consistently more than Mirage, Tango and SYW). I wouldn't need or want every FM album to be as "easy listening" as this one but it's good at what it does and there are qualities about it that I really miss when I get to the latter parts of the line-up's catalog. It couldn't last forever but I love the classic California sound.

"Rhiannon", "Blue Letter", "Over My Head", the entire second side ... incidentally "Blue Letter" kicks off my workout at the gym every morning.

[aleuzzi]

This album was huge when it came out, almost everyone seemed to have it along with Heart's Dreamboat Annie and Nazareth's Raz-Ma-Naz....

I think a lot of people don't realize how to about half the audience Rumours was really part two of the 1975 album! :nod:

Yes, this is so true. The albums are really of a piece; they share an aesthetic, a decidedly tasteful slant on arena rock. Though Rumours is the flashier, livelier sibling, it learned its basic tricks from its slightly older, more reserved older brother.

[applebucked]

When you play the two albums side by side, it becomes even clearer.

[MacShadowsBall]

I think the white/'75 album gets overlooked so much by the great success of Rumours. When in fact the white album was very successful in its own right. It's also one of the few Mac albums that I prefer Lindsey's songs to Stevie's! :eek:


:cool:

[brickney723]

That being said, I've always adored the album version of I'm So Afraid. It's so tortured, moody, dark, and atmospheric.

I've always wondered what the inspiration was for I'm So Afraid.

[welcomechris]

I think the white/'75 album gets overlooked so much by the great success of Rumours. When in fact the white album was very successful in its own right. It's also one of the few Mac albums that I prefer Lindsey's songs to Stevie's! :eek:


:cool:

I agree! The White Album is awesome!

[welcomechris]

I've always wondered what the inspiration was for I'm So Afraid.

Probably Lindsey and Stevie's Failing Relationship. He's so afraid it will end

[michelej1]

I've always wondered what the inspiration was for I'm So Afraid.

Although people have concluded it was mono, Lindsey does not quite think that's what he had, because he says the family doctor never diagnosed what it was, but he was sick, probably feeling lethargic and drained, for a continued period of time and it caused them to change their Southern California plans and come back. He stayed home and Stevie said sometimes she would spend the night with him, sleeping in the living room of his parents home.

This was about the time that ISA was written and his physical condition may have contributed to the mood of the song.

Michele

[elle]

Probably Lindsey and Stevie's Failing Relationship. He's so afraid it will end

so he will slip and fall and die. must be. :p

love your ledgename!

[brickney723]

Probably Lindsey and Stevie's Failing Relationship. He's so afraid it will end

I hear you, the intensity of emotion that comes through when he plays it live makes me think he's channeling that type of pain, but then the timeline doesn't jibe..

And Michele, yeah, I knew he was sick at the time it was written, so I've thought maybe it has to do with that as well. I wonder if he's ever commented on it? If he has, I've never been able to find it.

[michelej1]

I hear you, the intensity of emotion that comes through when he plays it live makes me think he's channeling that type of pain, but then the timeline doesn't jibe..

And Michele, yeah, I knew he was sick at the time it was written, so I've thought maybe it has to do with that as well. I wonder if he's ever commented on it? If he has, I've never been able to find it.

When asked about ISA and mononucleosis, he commented on not being diagnosed.

Michele

[michelej1]

The Daily Texan April 20, 2015 at 7:43 pm By Chris Duncan

http://www.dailytexanonline.com/2015/04/20/two-albums-to-listen-to-one-much-needed-refresh-and-one-concept-album

Two albums to listen to: One much-needed refresh and one concept album

Fleetwood Mac — Fleetwood Mac

It would be unfair to say Fleetwood Mac had no pop influence before 1975’s Fleetwood Mac, but the release of its self-titled second album did mark an about-face in style. The addition of the band’s two most influential members — Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks — helped the band settle on a polished pop-country feel, replacing the worn-out blues style of previous projects. Driving the album is Buckingham’s guitar skill, but soothing vocals from Nicks and Christine McVie help bring the band’s pop sound to a new level. With over 5 million records sold, Fleetwood Mac came back from the brink of failure to become an international sensation.

Tracks to listen to: “Over My Head,” “Say You Love Me” and “Landslide”

[michelej1]

From the Record Crate: “Fleetwood Mac” (1975) – Fleetwood Mac
By Jon Winkler on July 11, 2015 The Young Folks

http://theyoungfolks.com/review/from-the-record-crate-fleetwood-mac-1975-fleetwood-mac/59516

Imagine if you will, you’re a teenage blues rock fan in 1974 recovering from the odd new melodic sound of one of your favorite bands, Fleetwood Mac. After their 1974 album Heroes Are Hard to Find was much more chart-friendly than previous outings, you start to wonder what kind of band this will become. It’s even more shocking to find out that Fleetwood Mac have apparently changed their scenery from bustling England to sunny California. More so, two new members have joined the band and when you go to find out what music they’ve done in the past, you’re shocked to find an album cover featuring a couple that look more like models than rock stars. Fast forward to July the next year as you pick up Fleetwood Mac’s brand new album. To you, the blues-rock junkie looking for dirty riffs and Elmore James covers, what you hear is a more shocking musical departure than the last record. But to someone else, say the hot next door neighbor you’ve been crushing on since pre-k with long blonde hair, sunflowers on her sun dress and rides with top down in her car, it’s the coolest album around.



Today is the 40th anniversary of the album that gave everyone a sneak peek of the sound that would turn Fleetwood Mac into superstars. It makes sense that the band’s first self-titled album (their 1968 debut) has been redubbed Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac over the years, since the 1975 self-titled album served as a new identity for the band. Hints of folk, country and FM-friendly pop rock are all over the 1975 album thanks to the presence of finger-picking Lindsey Buckingham and cooing gypsy woman Stevie Nicks. Funny enough, Nicks only joined the band as a package deal with Buckingham, as he only joined the band on the condition that Nicks (his girlfriend at the time) join too. Since bassist John McVie and keyboardist Christine McVie didn’t want to be hypocrites (they were married at the time) they and drummer Mick Fleetwood (the only man from the original line-up) brought the duo onboard and the rest is history.

One could call Fleetwood Mac the rough draft for their 1977 blockbuster Rumors, as many elements of the latter are found in the former. Buckingham’s driving picks and plucks of the guitar help songs like “Monday Morning” and “Blue Letter” chug through. Christine McVie knows how to move hearts with her delicate vocals and soft balladry (“Over My Head,” “Say You’ll Love Me”), while still matching with McVie and Fleetwood’s tight rhythm section. Even the mystical groove of “Rhiannon” might as well be a demo for the Rumors cut “Dreams.” Of course, the X factor here was Stevie Nicks, with her low but warm vocal delivery that was both bittersweet yet enticing. There’s a reason that everyone from The Dixie Chicks to The Smashing Pumpkins have covered “Landslide,” because all are still trying to match the simple beauty of Nicks’ contemplation of the future.



What’s most interesting on Fleetwood Mac is how, despite each band members bringing different elements to the table, there are moments where they all click together. Take “Sugar Daddy” for example, where Christine McVie’s soft vocals manage to match the groove of her husband John and Fleetwood’s rhythm, along with Buckingham’s springy guitar work. The same unity is heard on closing track “I’m So Afraid,” and Buckingham finds his place amongst the tight rhythm section on “World Turning.” “Rhiannon” is another example, where each band member seems to match up with the sensual soul in Nicks’ vocal performance and swirl around her like magic.

Granted, Fleetwood Mac isn’t perfect due to its reliance on Christine McVie’s ballads that lose its kick after a while. Regardless, the album has aged pretty well 40 years on. People like Fleetwood Mac for the same reason they like The Eagles, in that they combine the most popular pieces of American music in the 70’s. Merging folk, country and pop into an organic rock formula. The band just came off of a successful reunion tour (with the return of Christine McVie) and plan to release new music together, so it’s just a question of if they can recapture that magic. Perhaps it wouldn’t hurt to look back at this album and review their formula. It was given a field test on Fleetwood Mac, and the big synthesis was just two years (and two breakups) away.

[FuzzyPlum]

The White Album has been given a place in the Grammy Hall of Fame

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2015/11/18/us-music-grammyinductees-idUKKCN0T72A520151118

Music by Grateful Dead, Fleetwood Mac among Grammy Hall of Fame inductees

Music by rockers the Grateful Dead and Fleetwood Mac, jazz greats Miles Davis and Louis Armstrong and singers Blondie and Roberta Flack will be enshrined in the Grammy Hall of Fame, The Recording Academy said on Wednesday.

Grateful Dead's 1970 album "American Beauty," named one of Rolling Stone magazine's 500 greatest albums of all time in 2012, will be inducted after the band ended its 50-year-run this year with a final tour.

Fleetwood Mac's 1975 self-titled record, which includes the hits "Rhiannon" and "Say You Love Me," will also be placed into the music vault, as well as "The Basement Tapes," the 1975 album by Bob Dylan and The Band.

A total of 26 albums and songs across all genres that are at least 25 years old, were selected by a committee put together by the Recording Academy - hosts of the annual Grammy Awards - to be inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

The selected music is considered to have either "qualitative or historical significance."

"These works have influenced and inspired both music creators and fans for generations and we are proud to induct them into our catalog of distinguished recordings," Neil Portnow, president and chief executive officer of the Recording Academy, said in a statement.

Among the jazz and blues inductees this year are "Miles Smiles," the 1967 album by jazz great Miles Davis and his quintet, Roberta Flack's 1969 record "First Take," and Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong's collaborative 1956 album "Ella and Louis."

Punk new-wave band Blondie's disco-influenced "Heart of Glass," the song that helped push the band into the mainstream, will also enter the Grammy Hall of Fame, along with Little Eva's 1962 pop song "The Loco-Motion" and Joan Jett & The Blackhearts' raucous "I Love Rock 'N Roll."

[Villavic]

This week the album reached #1 in 1975.

https://64.media.tumblr.com/e05c2aca301532379d3cb0e99a2d4844/tumblr_mn982tnUDF1qcaugio4_400.jpg