Time, Q Review
 

From the August 2009 issue of Q (Review Reissues). There was no review for BTM included in the spread, but, of course, they don't actually "review" Time or its content at all either.

Time

It might have said Fleetwood Mac on the covr, but with no Buckinigham or Nicks, who were they hoping to kid? Recorded by a line-up consisting of Mick Fleetwood, the two McVies, Billy Burnette (who had joined for 1990's Behind the Mask), plus two brand new recruits, ex-Traffic guitarist Dave Mason and vocalist Bekka Bramlett, this lame old donkey belonged in the knacker's yard and should have signalled their finale. Minimal sales certainly suggesed as much. Time never even troubled the charts and even Fleetwood and McVie nearly gave up. Instead, just a couple of years later the full Rumours version of the band reunited for live MTV album, the Dance, and were storming up the US charts all over again. Bouncebackability, or what?

Ouch!

See, this is why I believe Christine left the band.

I believe she left the band because she was tired of touring and wanted to retire. She didn't leave because of a negative review. In Time, she was only half a band member - the recording studio half only.

Well, yes. She was saying then that after her dad pass, she really wanted to get back home. I guess she felt she'd given FM too much of her life and now wanted to share the end of it with her blood family.

However, I do think she was disheartened, alienated by what FM had become. She said she didn't know why Mick kept mending the broken vessel. She didn't leave because of bad Time reviews, but I do think she herself was personally feeling that some of the sentiments expressed therein.

Michele

You're being literal-minded & not addressing the crux of my view. There were hundreds of reviews (not to mention the overarching fan sentiment) over the decades that dismissed her very charming work, or trivialized it. It's a running theme in the archives of the band. (The critics who thought the world of her, from Robert Hilburn to David Gans to Ken Tucker, couldn't possibly stand up to the opposing onslaught.)

Chris faced, head on, a lack of widespread appreciation from all quarters for many, many years, & if that didn't hurt her feelings (especially once she hit a certain age), I don't know what did, or would.

So, yes, I believe a very big part of Christine's retirement (announced several times throughout her career with the band) was her impatience with being a session player for the Buckingham Nicks Show.

By that logic though she should have warmly embraced the Time lineup instead of being half involved. Time probably would have been more successful had Christine actually toured.

I bet if she had toured, Mick would have wanted her to sing as many of her hit songs as possible, including Got a Hold On Me.
Michele

She & Dave Mason were at odds.

Sure we have all heard that she didn't like Dave, either because she didn't fit in with the band or because she sided with Steve Winwood. However Christine was a professional, and surely she must have worked with people she didn't like over her career. I'm sure that she didn't get along well with John during their divorce.

Thinking along these lines, and maybe I'm looking too deeply into the lyrics, who do you think Blow By Blow is aimed at? I was listening to it last night and wondering if it related to his "comeback" when he joined FM?

A review from David Bowling of Blogcritics.org, November 27, 2010

http://blogcritics.org/music/article...c-time/page-2/

During the early nineties Fleetwood Mac was in disarray. Rick Vito left after only one album with the group. The real loss was Stevie Nicks who withdrew to concentrate on her solo career, which meant no Buckingham or Nicks as a part of the band. It is a testament to Mick Fleetwood and the McVie’s that they had the resolve to keep the group going.

New members Bekka Bramlett and Dave Mason joined the band, which when combined with the other holdover Billy Burnette, brought a very different approach to the group’s sound. Bramlett was the daughter of Delaney & Bonnie of Eric Clapton Fame. Her country leanings melded well with those of Burnette and they would form a duo after leaving the group. Dave Mason was an odd choice in some ways. He is a world class guitarist but his sound and style was shaped by his former group Traffic and probably would have fit the pre-pop Fleetwood Mac better. He was inducted into The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame with his former group at the 2004 induction ceremony.

Time was released October 10, 1985 and was their least successful commercial studio release as it did not even reach the album charts in The United States. The diverse personalities of the members did not mesh together, and their fan base did not respond to the disjointed nature of the album.

Christine McVie tries very hard with five songs, co-written with then husband Eddy Quintela. They may not be the best group of songs she ever produced, but they are solid pop and remain representative of her skill as a composer and singer. “Hollywood (Some Other Kind Of Town)” was an interesting throwback to her Future Games sound, but “Nights In Estoril,” “Sooner Or later,” and “I Do” are all very listenable pop songs.

I tend to think of Burnette and Bramlett as a duo and their contributions travel in a country direction which takes the group away from its strength. Bramlett is a good vocalist in her own right, but it was a stretch for her as the replacement for Stevie Nicks. Their best contribution is their own song, “Dreamin’ The Dream,” which is a gentle song which fit the bands preconceived profile well.

Dave Mason contributed two songs and he is who he is. His vocals and guitar playing are excellent and he is certainly the equal of Lindsey Buckingham, but not in this setting.

The release’s oddest track is Mick Fleetwood’s seven minute album closer, “These Strange Times.”

The album and the band just did not function as a whole in this incarnation. Bramlett, Mason, and Burnette would all be gone after touring to support the release and some old friends would return. Time remains one of the weakest albums in The Fleetwood Mac catalogue and should be explored only by hard core fans of the group.



Read more: http://blogcritics.org/music/article...#ixzz16bgzP2w9

Excuse me?:confused:

They snuck in there just before Tango.

Michele

They NEEDED an album in 1985!

Not sure what the writer means by linking "Hollywood" with the "Future Games" sound and implying the song isn't "very listenable." It was, at that point, her best performance in years.

Ahh, this makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside :D