2 new In the Meantime reviews

[deribish]

Barnes & Noble
Since bowing out of Fleetwood Mac a few reunion tours ago, Christine McVie has flown under the radar more effectively than a trained Air Force pilot. But on this, her third solo album -- and first since splitting from her longtime mates -- McVie reveals neither burnout nor rust. In point of fact, her singing voice is every bit as mountain-stream pure as it was during the Mac's heyday. Some of In the Meantime's dozen tracks recall that era vividly. The easygoing rocker "Friend," for instance, could readily be played back-to-back with something like "Say You Love Me"; "Sweet Revenge," on the other hand, transposes one of McVie's signature melodies onto a more modern, angular set of rhythms. She also proves willing to venture out of her comfort zone with regularity. The languid "Northern Star" skates into the icy-cool soul territory that Annie Lennox has inhabited for ages, while the darkly resonant "Calumny," on which McVie explores the lower range of her vocal register, has something of a late-'60s Brit-folk air about it. In the Meantime proves Christine McVie is in possession of a rare skill -- that of subtle reinvention, an ability to move forward without throwing the baby out with the bath water. David Sprague

All Music Guide
Christine McVie opted out of the reunited Fleetwood Mac's return to the studio for 2003's Say You Will, and listening to her 2004 solo album In the Meantime, it's easy to see why. She simply didn't want work on such a grand scale as Fleetwood Mac, she wanted to make a low-key, intimate, mellow record that's more about atmosphere than songwriting. It makes In the Meantime an unassuming return to recording -- it's hardly a big splash that some might expect after a 20-year wait between solo records -- and it's not bad. It's not particularly memorable, since the songs are so low-key that they tend to float by one by one, sustaining the friendly, relaxed vibe, but not going much beyond that, either. Yet, there's a certain charm in that, especially in comparison to the big-budget, widescreen epics of such Mac albums as Tango in the Night, where each track was meticulously arranged and assembled piece by piece. Here, McVie is comfortable, playing with a sympathetic band, and sounding at ease for the first time in years. It's nice to hear her so relaxed and while it's hard not to wish that it was easier to remember the songs once the album was finished, it's hard not to enjoy In the Meantime as it's playing. Stephen Thomas Erlewine