Video Album Reviews

[michelej1]

This is an album review, by David Hugh Smith

Christian Science Monitor, June 12, 1984

Christine McVie: ''Christine McVie.'' (Warner Bros. 25059-1) - The cover photo enchants us to give this record a spin. Christine McVie gazes in revelatory splendor from her piano - atop a mossy mound in some rolling English countryside. But from the moment the needle starts rubbing across the vinyl it's clear ''Christine McVie'' is not an ethereal offering but a pop tour de force, abundant in songs that would brighten top-40 radio. Enriched by a songwriting alliance with Todd Sharp, McVie's first new solo LP in about 15 years wears well - which is more than you can say for the fellow Fleetwood Mac-er Stevie Nicks and her affected ''The Wild Heart'' last year. The cuts aren't ones, necessarily, that will impress you with theme: They're unabashedly pop, retreading well-worn love motifs. On ''So Excited,'' a cut with a smooth country accent, we learn: ''Well, I'm so excited / My baby is on his way / I just can't wait /I can't wait another day . . . .'' Yawn! Yet as sung by McVie, it's vigorous, almost fresh-sounding. Masterly - if not far from routine - guitar work by Todd Sharp on most cuts gives the music a clean, untampered-with sound. And both Lindsey Buckingham and Eric Clapton take turns on lead guitar for a couple of songs. - D. H. S.