Time, Q Review

[michelej1]

Tulsa World, October 27, 1995

Fleetwood Mac - Time - Warner Bros.

If you don't believe in reincarnation, pick up a few Fleetwood Mac albums. For about the sixth time, the most durable rhythm section in popular music -- Mick Fleetwood and John McVie -- has found new life in another roundup of free spirits.

This year's draft picks include veteran Mac mother Christine McVie, though she won't be touring this time around; graceful guitarist Billy Burnette, one of two guitarists brought in to replace Lindsey Buckingham in '85; Dave Mason, who hasn't done much since his days as the prime piston in the engine of Traffic; and Bekka Bramlett, daughter of '60s high-voltage hit-makers Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett. You should see the photos in the liner notes; the whole group looks like a Benson & Hedges ad -- smooth, stylish, wearing their respective generations well. Here we go again.

``Time,'' to borrow a pun, often comes off more like news weak. Mason gets in Burnette's way a lot, and Christine McVie's keyboard parts, using lots of electric piano effects, sound like romping sitcom themes. Her voice is a timeless treasure, though, and Bramlett's vocals are a welcome respite from Stevie Nicks' sleepy, barnyard approach to singing. The songs here are all passable and well-built, but nothing reaches out to grab you (save maybe Fleetwood's eerie recitative at the end). ``Time'' is reminiscent of the tepid ``Mystery to Me'' and ``Heroes Are Hard to Find'' days before the arrival of Buckingham and Nicks. But don't count them out, by any means. The Mac always comes back.

T.C.