Favorite Christine solo album

[Villavic]

Is this poll already posted? Hope not, I didn't find it (if exists, is it me or the search option is not that effective?).

I was going to include just the 2 Christine McVie sol albums, but I've included the Christine Perfect 1970 album. Now, I never got that actual album but I think the Complete (Christine Perfect) Blue Horizon Sessions I found in iTunes is almost the same. So, let's go.

[HomerMcvie]

I voted 1984, but it's almost a tie with 2004.

I love them for different reasons. 1984 is probably a stronger album, but 2004 is(was) my heroine returning to the music business.

[Macfan4life]

There was a similar thread a few years ago. It was a toss up for me too. I first gave the edge to 1984 but then changed my vote to 2004. In 1984, I loved how Chris brought someone else in to influence and write some of her songs. Some of the album almost sounds country (Love will show us how, so excited, I'm the one). It sounded so different that I liked that dare. Looking back however, I wish Chris would have stuck with her own formula. I think the 2004 album is more organic and purified product. They are all her songs and there is no padding. Each song is a treasure and you can tell the album was not rushed. Every little detail on the songs come through.

Chris never has any dud songs so that is why its so hard to pick. Even her least favorite songs of mine are still solid great songs.

One thing about the 1984 album that is so great is that it holds up. She did not embrace the cheezy 1984 sound at the time and the album still sounds fresh today.

[Villavic]

One thing about the 1984 album that is so great is that it holds up. She did not embrace the cheezy 1984 sound at the time and the album still sounds fresh today.

Lindsey kind of did it, didn't he?

[cbBen]

Lindsey kind of did it, didn't he?

I'm probably one of the few Lindsey fans here who dislikes the Go Insane album. I like "Slow Dancing" but, especially after hearing the live acoustic version of the title track, I feel that–production aside–the tempo of the album version really doesn't suit the song.

And no, I don't like all that synth.

Tango is my idea of '80's-style production that works.

[Macfan4life]

Lindsey kind of did it, didn't he?
Lindsey always embraced new wave stuff. As he calls himself a "painter" and artist. Even though he is a guitarist, he is more about the entire song than just the guitar parts. Part of me always got irked by that because my favorite Lindsey songs always had heavy guitar parts by him.
Yes, Go Insane is very 1984 and Tango is very 1987 which loses my appeal. Go Insane has my all time favorite Lindsey tune: Loving Cup.

[aleuzzi]

IN THE MEANTIME all the way. It lacks the band presence that the 1984 album has but here the songs are more original and spacey so they allow her room to stretch vowels in that way she has.

The 1984 album has "One in a Million" and "Smile"--both of which are superior to most of the work on ITM but nothing on the 1984 album has "Giving it Back," "Forgiveness," "Anything is Possible," "Bad Journey," or "Friend."

Neither of those albums have "I Want You"--which is pure late-sixties gold.

[jbrownsjr]

What Tony said. kudos for bringing up I Want You. I love the Legendary Christine Perfect album.

Also add that her voice is nice and smokey on ITM. There's a very nice flavor to it, like a smooth bourbon. I hear it in songs like So Sincere, Bad Journey, Calumy, etc.

I love when Christine sing/talks thru some of the verses. Her voice is beautiful and unique.

[BLY]

I voted 1984, but it's almost a tie with 2004.

I love them for different reasons. 1984 is probably a stronger album, but 2004 is(was) my heroine returning to the music business.


Yes I agree the 1984 album is much stronger and the production is much better than ITMT. ALL of the tracks are amazing on ITMT but lacks polish. IMO.

[HomerMcvie]

Yes I agree the 1984 album is much stronger and the production is much better than ITMT. ALL of the tracks are amazing on ITMT but lacks polish. IMO.

Well, she was a hit song maker back then, so I think it was more designed for main stream radio. 2 hits off it wasn't bad.

There's little chance that any of these dinosaurs could have a hit in this century, so I think ITMT is just a release for her. Why spend a hundred thousand on production, when there's little chance of a hit? As long as it sounds like a decent effort....

[David]

I think the 2004 album is more organic and purified product.
Good way to put it.

I voted Legendary CP. It’s a collection of fantastic memories for me. When I reach back into the early Fleetwood Mac days, it enriches and deepens the more contemporary hit songs by giving them an emotional foundation. Listening to Before the Beginning, for example, deepens the sheen on the band’s work in the eighties. The polar-opposite variety turns the group story into an epic.

[SteveMacD]

Good way to put it.

I voted Legendary CP. It’s a collection of fantastic memories for me. When I reach back into the early Fleetwood Mac days, it enriches and deepens the more contemporary hit songs by giving them an emotional foundation. Listening to Before the Beginning, for example, deepens the sheen on the band’s work in the eighties. The polar-opposite variety turns the group story into an epic.

If one were to listen to the first two Chicken Shack albums and the CP album, it’s easy to hear how her music paralleled what was going on in Fleetwood Mac (which makes sense, given her intimate proximity to the band).

[jbrownsjr]

If one were to listen to the first two Chicken Shack albums and the CP album, it’s easy to hear how her music paralleled what was going on in Fleetwood Mac (which makes sense, given her intimate proximity to the band).

I've always thought the same thing. It's as if it were suppose to happen. And the transition from CS, to CP album, to Fleetwood Mac is like 1, 2, 3. Just the most of natural progressions.

[BigAl84]

My favorite album of hers is:

"In the meantime...I'll be a spineless idiot and drive the bus over a band member that bent over backward for me"

Carry on...

[aleuzzi]

If one were to listen to the first two Chicken Shack albums and the CP album, it’s easy to hear how her music paralleled what was going on in Fleetwood Mac (which makes sense, given her intimate proximity to the band).

Yes. The first two albums by both groups are squarely rooted in the blues and have a conservative take on that genre. Interestingly, both groups approached their second albums as an occasion of laughs. MR. WONDERFUL is full of raucous carousing with the occasional somber moment. Christine's piano on the Green compositions (1/2 the album) further tie the two groups together, though I would argue that her work on WONDERFUL surpasses either of the first two CS records because the surrounding band is much stronger. In CS, Christine and Steve Webb were the instrumental stars--and even then Webb was no Green or Kirwan. The support system was comparatively lackluster. Webb's guitar prowess was considerable but he was a genuine goofball sans Jeremy-Spencer sex pranks.

Webb's jokes on OK KEN were tiresome and intrusive. I was glad Blue Horizon reissued the albums in the collected package without the speeches and voices.

[aleuzzi]

My favorite album of hers is:

"In the meantime...I'll be a spineless idiot and drive the bus over a band member that bent over backward for me"

Carry on...

One would be hard-pressed to call her an idiot with any degree of validity.

Lindsey was the creative soul of FM and she was right there alongside him. I doubt his firing is something she took lightly or wanted. But she chose to go the route of least resistance rather than fight for him. Was this spineless? Possibly. Though I see her actions as more calculated and money-motivated. Is this despicable? Well, Fleetwood and the McVies are capable of that (consider Bob Welch RRHOF). But whether we like her decisions or not, Christine is her own woman.

[BigAl84]

LOL you know what? you're right. Let me correct that statement!

My favorite album of hers is:

"In the meantime...I'll be a spineless, calculating, money-driven, shallow, back-stabbing human being, while I hop on the bus that will run over a band member that bent over backwards for me. But hey, time marches on"

There, much better!

https://media.giphy.com/media/i9PFlkmUFJnZS/giphy.gif

[FuzzyPlum]

Though its small numbers, I'm pleasantly surprised by how even the vote is.
The Christine Perfect Album for me all the way... that album is just so sexy. :nod:

[jbrownsjr]

LOL you know what? you're right. Let me correct that statement!

My favorite album of hers is:

"In the meantime...I'll be a spineless, calculating, money-driven, shallow, back-stabbing human being, while I hop on the bus that will run over a band member that bent over backwards for me. But hey, time marches on"

There, much better!

https://media.giphy.com/media/i9PFlkmUFJnZS/giphy.gif

Save that energy for the spineless, calculating, money-driven, shallow, back-stabbing human being that deserves it.

But seriously, glad you like ITM. Didn't know you liked her solo work.

[BigAl84]

Save that energy for the spineless, calculating, money-driven, shallow, back-stabbing human being that deserves it.

But seriously, glad you like ITM. Didn't know you liked her solo work.

In all seriousness, my vote would actually go for the Christine Perfect album, love it!

I like ITM, however I remember preferring some of this “acoustic” bonus tracks better than the album version. I think there was one for “friend”. We’re those iTunes bonus tracks? I don’t remember.

When it comes to Christine, simplest is best.

[HomerMcvie]

In all seriousness, my vote would actually go for the Christine Perfect album, love it!

I like ITM, however I remember preferring some of this “acoustic” bonus tracks better than the album version. I think there was one for “friend”. We’re those iTunes bonus tracks? I don’t remember.

When it comes to Christine, simplest is best.
I have acoustic Friend on an old computer.... somewhere.

[aleuzzi]

I have acoustic Friend on an old computer.... somewhere.

It was a limited iTunes exclusive. It is amazeballs.

But now that and the rest of ITM have completely disappeared from iTunes. Not sure why.

[jbrownsjr]

It was a limited iTunes exclusive. It is amazeballs.

But now that and the rest of ITM have completely disappeared from iTunes. Not sure why.

I can send it to you guys if anyone wants it. Of course, I'll have to go find it. But, I know I have it. You too BIGAL... just cuz you're here in the CM boards. :wavey: