Album Review, Washington Post, March 29, 1984
HEADLINE: The Brave & the Banal
BYLINE: By Matthew Schudel
BODY:
One of the more refreshing currents in rock 'n' roll over the past few years has been the emergence of strong female singers and songwriters. Performers like the Go-Go's, the underappreciated Robin Lane and especially Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders have chipped away with intelligence and irony at rock's male-dominated view of women as victimizers or objects of desire.
To a certain extent, the bracing new release of M+M (formerly Martha and the Muffins) follows this invigorating pattern. But just when you think rock 'n' roll is ready to accept a new, egalitarian sensibility, along come two other albums--by Fleetwood Mac's Christine McVie and by newcomer Rosemary Butler--that do little but rehash musical and emotional conceits that wore out years ago.
In the mid-1970s, Christine McVie's languid, reedy voice helped define Fleetwood Mac's distinctive pop style: the music was so laid-back and California cool you could practically see the ferns growing against the exposed-brick wall. The trouble is that this comfortable, unchallenging style has become a cliche'. The 10 songs on "Christine McVie" (Warner Bros. 250559-1) sound tired. The lyrics go no deeper than "I don't mind it if you make a martyr out of me/ But there's one thing you got to know/ I'm the one, I'm the one, yeah."
Only occasionally does the music rise above the banality of the lyrics. Eric Clapton's understated guitar solo salvages the otherwise drab "The Challenge." "So Excited" motors along with a bubbly but watered-down rockabilly beat, and "The Smile I Live For" is a smooth ballad. The best work on the album comes in "One in a Million," in which ex-Traffic controller Steve Winwood teams with McVie for a spirited vocal duet. McVie hasn't shown such bluesy urgency since her only other solo album, recorded in 1969 under her maiden name, Christine Perfect.
The rest of the songs are one long soporific muddle. By album's end, you get the strange sense that the lyrics and melodies of any of the songs could be interchanged, and no one, not even the performers, would notice the difference. McVie will perform at Constitution Hall on May 24.
|