[michelej1]

Los Angeles Times, November 29, 1975

At Santa Monica Civic, by Richard Cromelin

Fleetwood Mac's Elusive Identity

The venerable Fleetwood Mac has undergone fewer personnel changes than several other groups, but each one has signaled a vast upheaval in musical direction. The latest lineup, apparently the most commercially successful. Thursday night headlined a Santa Monica Civic concert, in which discrepant musical tendencies refused to meld into a solid identity.

The influence of American guitarist and vocalist Steve Nicks on the British outfit seems to be the crux of the matter. How else does one explain this formerly R & B/hard-rock outfit suddenly sounding like Ronstadt jamming with the Eagles.

The songs in that mold (which earned the most vigorous audience response) are a nice cross between country rock ambience and hard pop sensibility, but they suffer from a blandness only slightly relieved by surface catchiness. Nicks' lead guitar is competent but unremarkable and is accompanied by incongruously showy moves, a combination whose effect is blustery rather than powerful.

It's fortunate, then, that Christine McVie is on hand to lend dignity and musical dimension to the proceedings. Her rich keyboard work and superb singing imbue all the band's music with a sense of quality which is its real saving grace. On the slightly accelerated ballads that are her forte, the music attains a grace and character which further highlight the mainstream of the Mac's other side.

Also exciting is the contagious energy of drummer Mick Fleetwood, but these considerable assets are not dominant enough to fully unite the plethora of loose threads.