[chiliD]

Paris: Definitely that first Paris album was a left turn from what Bob was doing with FMac. Being that I was on the tail end of my LZ fandom at the time, it really wasn't all that welcome, but I did enjoy the spacier tunes on that first album...especially "Le Porte Etroite" & "Starcage"...I groaned a little when I first heard "Beautiful Youth" and repeating his own riff from "Born Enchanter" on Heroes Are Hard To Find. "Religion" just sounds WAY to close to LZ's "Black Dog" for comfort. "Black Book" was really good and I was glad to hear him keep that in his concert set for a number of years even after the success of French Kiss.

Big Towne, 2061: For me, this album was a sigh of relief, backing off of the heavy LZ influence and more into a blend of his heavier side as well as a continuation from his FMac era stuff. "Slave Trader", "Pale Horse, Pale Rider", & "Blue Robin" sounded as if they'd have been tunes on the next FMac album, had he stayed with the band. "Heart Of Stone" is just a balls-out rocker, loved that one. Didn't care for "Money Love" until I saw him play it live, then I couldn't get enough of the song. The title cut was just awesome...someday I'll save up the cash to pay the big bucks to get a copy of this on CD...my LP is just full of pops & crackles from all the years of trying to drop the tone arm on specific songs over & over.

French Kiss: Wasn't completely enamored with the new version of "Sentimental Lady", but it grew on me. Took me a bit to get into the album, except for "Outskirts" which I loved immediately. When I saw him in concert just after the album's release, he opened his show with "Mystery Train" & "Hot Love, Cold World"...smokin' hot versions which have to this day carried over into my listening of the album...I really dug the three completely different takes on "Lose Your/My Heart". And, oh yeah!...of course, "Ebony Eyes" had that killer hook riff that was immediately accessible.

Three Hearts: To me, this album was French Kiss II...in a good way. Despite being a Beatle snob, I liked his take on "I Saw Her Standing There". The album version of "Precious Love" was killer, but the overly disco-y 12" dance version turned me off. Finally hearing "Don't Wait Too Long" (the long awaited retitled remake of the last minute banished song from Mystery To Me) was a pleasure, as was the eerie "Ghost Of Flight 401". Also liked "Church" a LOT, especially live. Was glad to finally hear Bob's own version of "China" after a couple of months of hearing Sammy Hagar's cover. "Devil Wind"...what can you say? Todd Sharp's amazing acoustic guitar intro just set the stage. "Come Softly To Me" was the greatest "inside joke"...with Bob & Christine ex-Fleetwood Mac'ers covering a song originally done in the '50s by "The Fleetwoods"...I still get a good chuckle over that; but, in all honestly, Bob & Christine's version smokes the original by a mile! "Little Star" is a great closing song....the guitars recalling and echoing a bit of the Paris sound

The Other One: Like FMac's Tusk, this album tossed all the bells & whistles aside and came atcha with no frills. "Rebel Rouser" (I was expecting the Duane Eddy hit when I first put the platter on the turntable) blasted it's way out. Took me a while to get used to the "naked" Welch...but, my "spacey" expectations were satisfied with "Watch The Animals" (the lyric within contained the album title). Wasn't completely satisfied with the album upon original release, but it has a few of my favorite Welch songs that have remained so through the years.

Man Overboard: Being that it was his last album for Capitol, for decades I thought it was just a patchwork of outtakes from his previous albums, since each song sounds like it could seamlessly fit on one of his earlier works. An assumption that Welch himself quelched during his first Q&A here on The Penguin. So, I've been trying to go back & reacquaint myself with this album on that basis, that all songs were MEANT for this album instead of being leftovers. Since, "the revelation", it has been a tougher task to enjoy the album as a whole, rather than just individual tracks.

Bob Welch (1981)...(aka "The Yellow Album"): From the first listen of "Two To Do", I was hooked...the short but ever so sweet guitar solo in the middle still ranks in my top 10 guitar solos. Sure, the album was a blatant attempt at commerciality, there's no tunes of the "Hypnotized/Bermuda Triangle" ilk here, but after "Two To Do", the songs just didn't stick with me...until about 15 years later. Going back and listening to the album in 1996, I loved it all, especially "It's What You Don't Say", "You Can't Do That", "To My Heart Again" ...great stuff, just ahead of its time...sure, "Bend Me, Shape Me" was as corny as all get out...so was the original, but at least Bob added "class" to the song in buckets. (and Welch's revelation in the Penguin Q&A that he HATED even recording the song!) The little 15 second ending track "Drive" made me want it to last a whole lot longer!

Eye Contact: Now here's an album that, for me, was like a fine wine...and 1983 was definitely NOT its time. I just was SO disappointed with this album upon original release that it sat in my collection, played MAYBE twice, until about 1999...it was that year that I finally was able to open my ears enough to "get" this album. And, now it's one of my fave Welch albums (as a whole)...granted, the "whole" is better than the "sum of the parts". This group of songs were meant to be together and don't sit well outside of the group. Can't even name my favorite tracks due to that...they just blend into one complete project.

Bob Welch Looks At Bop: Loved this album upon first play...it's one of those rare CDs that doesn't satisfy just playing it through completely once. Every time it goes in the player, it gets played through in its entirety at least 3x's. Even with the supposed "jazz left turn", there's the track "Telepathy" that attaches this album to his previous material. Plus, there's the contemporary hip-hopish sounding revamping of his Heroes Are Hard To Find song "Silver Heels", retitled as "The Hustler". Even the outtakes of the album (which were released on Liquid Audio as individual tracks only at the time of the album's release) are great...especially the track titled "Pier 42" (a version of which Bob now has on his website titled as "Swing Thing").

Fleetwood Mac Years & Beyond 1 & 2: To be honest, I was VERY afraid of these albums because of my emotional attachment to the original recordings. I did like his remake of "Oh Well" (I like just about any version of the song)...mainly loved that he also took on Part 2 which was rare...of all the covers of the song, only one other artist (that I've found to date) has attempted Part 2 (Bassist Billy Sheehan). His "new" song on the first "Mac & Beyond" album "Like Rain" was just simply BEAUTIFUL. Haven't heard anything from the second "Mac & Beyond", but I STILL plan to track both albums down, just to satisfy my "completion complex".

Live At The Roxy: I remember seeing this concert on either MTV or HBO "back in the day" (1981) and just thought it was the best thing. FINALLY, it's released on CD...have to check this one out again. Being that the Roxy is a local club (within 30 miles), I "would've been there" had my own band not been galavanting around western Canada on tour at the time this concert happened.

I just think its great that Bob has set up his website to accomodate his fans by making available his new material sans cost...with the sheer numbers of new tunes he has available, we can make up our OWN "albums" of his new material...and there's definitely a treasure trove to choose from!