Northern Star and Calumny take that album to the next level. So good!

Hey now, hey now.... he did write Calumny.... :eek:

Without him we may not have gotten In the Meantime at all, and her vocals on that are fabulous. What happened between that and rejoining FM is one of life's great mysteries....

Christine Perfect:
I'd Rather Go Blind
No Road is the Right Road
Gone Into the Sun
Let Me Go (Leave Me Alone)
Close to Me

Christine McVie (Fleetwood Mac):
Why
Brown Eyes
As Long as You Follow
Think About Me
Come a Little Bit Closer

Christine McVie (Solo):
Got a Hold on Me
Northern Star
Love Will Show Us How
Friend
Ask Anybody

Lindsey Buckingham/Christine McVie:
Red Sun
Carnival Begin

In The Meantime was an unexpected gem. :nod:

I know. Calumny is sublime. Her aching vocals are just perfect, too.

But his annoying guitar, background vocals and sound effects, made me think most of Mean Time was produced in the eighties.

And him and his auntie giving me a liar, jack of hearts, clown and shining knight all in one song was more than I could take.

I love his guitar on many tunes. You Are has some beautiful work.

We live in different worlds, Michelej1. I thought Dan (and his auntie) did a GREAT job with ITM. I loved his spare, angular guitar work, especially on songs like "Anything Is Possible" and "So Sincere." And Liar is an awesome tune, albeit with possibly one too many repetitions. So yeah, your "offenses against humanity" are my "breath of fresh air."

Forgiveness gets better with each listen. Another tune I'm glad Linsdey didn't touch. The outro is sublime as well.

That tune, along with Giving It Back, is perfection.

It really is a killer way to wrap up that album. So good! :wavey:

For the most part, I don’t like the production on the album. Although, the superb quality of what was good outweighed the quantity of the bad.

At the time, I missed Christine so much that it didn’t matter. I was just glad to hear her.

I don't think any of her albums were produced brilliantly. Christine Perfect was too under-cooked and raw, Christine McVie was too saccharine and AOR, and ITM was too...bland.

I love your list but am surprised by one song: “Let Me Go (Leave Me Alone)” which I’ve always WANTED to like for its ultra cool groove, but I couldn’t get past the wobbly vocal. Had she sung that song five years later it would have killed.

That's a good analysis. I remember Dick Clark asked Chris in 1984 with her experience why she was not producing her album herself. Classic humor Chris responds: Its easier to blame someone.

Her 1984 album was reviewed by the Pittsburgh Press in 1984. They liked the album but claimed it lacked musical muscle. The songs were not wimpy but with the ace performers of Eric Clapton, Lindsey Buckingham, Mick Fleetwood, and Steve Winwood, the album should have shown some power.

I thought that review was a little harsh but it popped in my head after reading your comments. She claimed she wanted to please her own ears and I think she accomplished that. She's not thinking commercial stuff but just good songs.

None of her solo albums are wholly satisfying but each of them has fine moments. Of the three, I think ITM the most consistent and enjoyable. The production is clean and spare. I don’t think it bland; rather, I sense its very spaciousness is meant to allow her voice and songwriting to take center stage.

The 1969 record is like a lot of records made by women singers at that time—a hodgepodge of styles, a buffet of genres. I wish that record had more minor-key blues tunes like “I’m On My Way” and more stax-inspired R&B tunes like “No Road.” I dig half of it a lot.

I dig half of the 1984 record, too, though the middle of side 2 falls flat for me, redeemed only by “Smile.” The California gloss of most of the record blunts her hook-writing edge. Still, “One in a Million” and “Ask Anybody” are incredibly appealing.