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.

[michelej1]

Concert Review

San Diego Union Tribune, April 18, 1984

BYLINE: Mikel Toombs

BODY:


After opening the second show of her current tour Monday night with "Say You Love Me," Christine McVie declared, "I'm glad to be in San Diego."

She must have been relieved to be out of Fresno, the site of her first concert, because the sparse Fox Theater crowd of about 800 surely was not much to be encouraged about. McVie has come to expect better from her days with Fleetwood Mac. The British songstress contributed a number of memorable songs to the group's "Fleetwood Mac" and "Rumours" albums, lovingly crafted works such as "Over My Head" and "You Make Loving Fun."

Monday night she delivered those songs in her distinctively warm way, her bluesy voice giving them just the right subdued feeling. Unfortunately, one woman's subdued feeling is another woman's bore.

When she sang the title of "I'm So Excited" in her almost blas'e fashion, she somehow made it sound convincing, but on other material she wasn't so lucky. Songs such as "Got a Hold on Me" and "The Challenge," both from her current solo album, sounded pleasant enough, but neither held any challenge for either McVie or her audience.

Even more disappointing was the simplistic "Ask Anybody," which she co-authored with the once-great Steve Winwood. McVie was on safer ground with her Fleetwood Mac material, reaching as far back as "Crazy Love" (from the "Mystery to Me" album) and "Spare Me a Little" (from "Bare Trees"). She was most effective when at the piano -- although she mostly played organ -- singing heartfelt numbers such as "Your Smile" and "For You," the show-closer that found her accompanied only by an acoustic guitar. In these moments, when she was closest to her folk roots, she evoked the spirit of the late great Sandy Denny.

McVie, however, has always shied away from the ambitious material that made Denny's work with Fairport Convention and as a solo artist so often moving. Besides the uneventfulness of some of the music, the concert was also a bit lacking in the visual department.

The huge keyboard motif used as a backdrop was nice, but watching someone with considerably less flamboyance than Little Richard or Jerry Lee Lewis play the instrument wasn't exactly thrilling. (At times, it would have helped to have Stevie Nicks around to take a few twirls around the stage.) McVie's band was a solid one, achieving a strong, familiar tone.

The spotlighted musician was lead guitarist Todd Sharp, who also co-wrote many of the songs on McVie's current album.

His tastefully aggressive playing was, not surprisingly, quite similar in style to that of Mac guitar man Lindsey Buckingham. Opening for McVie was singer-guitarist Baxter Robertson.

An amiable but slick performer, Robertson had all the cliches of the medium-tempo rock genre down pat. (His lead guitarist did him one better, though, striking a picture of foolish cool in red sneakers and sunglasses-after-dark while performing solos with lounge-band intensity.) Introducing his puzzling hit "Silver Strand," Robertson did make points with his knowlege of San Diego geography -- although someone should tell him that there is no beach in Escondido. Toombs is a free-lance writer on the arts.

[michelej1]

San Diego Union Tribune April 17, 1984, Concert Review

HEADLINE: McVie juggles old, new at Fox

BYLINE: Marlee J. Ehrenfeld

BODY:


In Fleetwood Mac, Christine McVie appears as the stable Earth-bound performer balanced against Stevie Nicks' wild flights of fancy and unfocused demeanor.

The rock vs. the roll. McVie's balancing number is more than just an act.

She is a solid performer on her own as well, as her quiet take-control attitude indicated last night at the Fox Theater. The sparse, sedate crowd seemed to have the same quiet respect for McVie's work as did the performer herself.

The applause was frequent but controlled, and when McVie performed some of her early '70s music, the loyal fans sighed in remembrance. "Say You Love Me" opened the set without much fanfare.

McVie played keyboards and other than a few hellos and intros to the songs was silent and determined as she switched from old tunes to songs from her latest album. Fleetwood Mac brought her to prominence and McVie was wise enough to know the crowd wanted to hear the Mac hits.

Once the audience became receptive she launched into some of the songs off her solo album. The Christine McVie album has the talents of Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Lindsey Buckingham and Mick Fleetwood contributing vocals and instruments. "Ask Anybody," co-written with Winwood, was well-received as was the slightly countrified "So Excited."

Both songs were flavored a little differently than the standard McVie love ballads. It is the sameness of her songs that is McVie's short suit.

Almost all the tunes are about love -- happy love -- and most have the familiar Mick Fleetwood drum emphasis. Steve Ferrone plays drums on her album and on tour.

The surprising difference is that on the album the beat becomes monotonous.

Last night, his drumming gave a tougher rock sound to many of McVie's numbers. Guitarist Todd Sharp was a vital toehold for McVie, saving many numbers from degenerating into bland white-bread rock 'n' roll. Sharp co-wrote several songs on the Christine McVie album and his guitar playing adds a much-needed bite to the music. This was not a hard-rocking type of concert, yet McVie conveys a tougher image than her soft ballads would suggest.

One of her classics, "Spare Me A Little," proved a powerfully tight song that received spontaneous applause. However, a new, mellow love tune, "Your Smile is All I Live For," fell flat.

Even Sharp's guitar bridge on this song was trite and one-dimensional. Though McVie's writing tends to fall into the top-40 genre, she brings a living fire and zest to her performance that is missing from her albums. Ehrenfeld is a free-lance writer.

[michelej1]

Album Review, Washington Post, March 29, 1984

HEADLINE: The Brave & the Banal

BYLINE: By Matthew Schudel

BODY:
One of the more refreshing currents in rock 'n' roll over the past few years has been the emergence of strong female singers and songwriters. Performers like the Go-Go's, the underappreciated Robin Lane and especially Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders have chipped away with intelligence and irony at rock's male-dominated view of women as victimizers or objects of desire.

To a certain extent, the bracing new release of M+M (formerly Martha and the Muffins) follows this invigorating pattern. But just when you think rock 'n' roll is ready to accept a new, egalitarian sensibility, along come two other albums--by Fleetwood Mac's Christine McVie and by newcomer Rosemary Butler--that do little but rehash musical and emotional conceits that wore out years ago.

In the mid-1970s, Christine McVie's languid, reedy voice helped define Fleetwood Mac's distinctive pop style: the music was so laid-back and California cool you could practically see the ferns growing against the exposed-brick wall. The trouble is that this comfortable, unchallenging style has become a cliche'. The 10 songs on "Christine McVie" (Warner Bros. 250559-1) sound tired. The lyrics go no deeper than "I don't mind it if you make a martyr out of me/ But there's one thing you got to know/ I'm the one, I'm the one, yeah."

Only occasionally does the music rise above the banality of the lyrics. Eric Clapton's understated guitar solo salvages the otherwise drab "The Challenge." "So Excited" motors along with a bubbly but watered-down rockabilly beat, and "The Smile I Live For" is a smooth ballad. The best work on the album comes in "One in a Million," in which ex-Traffic controller Steve Winwood teams with McVie for a spirited vocal duet. McVie hasn't shown such bluesy urgency since her only other solo album, recorded in 1969 under her maiden name, Christine Perfect.

The rest of the songs are one long soporific muddle. By album's end, you get the strange sense that the lyrics and melodies of any of the songs could be interchanged, and no one, not even the performers, would notice the difference. McVie will perform at Constitution Hall on May 24.

[michelej1]

Album Review, San Diego Union Tribune, March 4, 1984

BYLINE: George Varga, Free-lance writer

BODY:


CHRISTINE MCVIE, Christine McVie, Warner Bros. Records. Christine McVie's bittersweet ballads and lightly buoyant rockers are marked by a gentle lyricism and quiet strength that provide Fleetwood Mac with many of its most appealing qualities.

On her first solo outing since joining the group in 1970, the British-born musician barely deviates from her by now patented approach, and while "Christine McVie" is a warm, engaging album, it doesn't tell us anything about its maker that we didn't already know. Accordingly, most of the seven songs that McVie wrote for this record could easily be placed in the midst of any recent Fleetwood Mac album without attracting much attention.

Still, if "Christine McVie" rings with the sound of deja vu, it is not without its pleasures, and McVie is an accomplished tunesmith with a knack for producing compelling, if not especially daring, music. "Love Will Show Us How," the record's sprightly opening track, is the most uptempo selection presented, and any differences between it and McVie's work with Fleetwood Mac are so slight as to be virtually undetectable. More intriguing are the R&B-tinged "One In a Million," on which she energetically trades vocals with Steve Winwood, and another Winwood-McVie collaboration, "Ask Anybody," wherein her sonorous singing recalls that of Joni Mitchell.

Apparently, McVie does best when she has a musician with abilities commensurate with her own to serve as a foil to her.

It is for this reason that the two numbers featuring Winwood stand out from the album's other, more homogenized offerings. Elsewhere, the blonde vocalist-keyboardist glides easily through several restrained rockers, reaching her emotional peak on "The Smile I Live For," a tender, evocative love song that ranks with her best work.

The instrumental accompaniment by McVie's supporting musicians is predictably polished, and the presence of Mac guitarist Lindsey Buckingham on six cuts adds further to the record's air of familiarity. Hopefully, McVie will assume a broader, more daring approach next time around, although -- in lieu of a new Fleetwood Mac album -- "Christine McVie" is virtually assured of success. o o o

[David]

Reviews are fun to read, especially when they're written by the first-stringers at major metro dailies.

Do you have the L.A. Times review of "Christine McVie"? If memory serves, it was written by either Connie Johnson or Kristine McKenna. (Whoever it was, it was the other one who reviewed the June 15 Universal Amphitheatre gig.)

[michelej1]

Originally Posted by David

Do you have the L.A. Times review of "Christine McVie"? If memory serves, it was written by either Connie Johnson or Kristine McKenna. (Whoever it was, it was the other one who reviewed the June 15 Universal Amphitheatre gig.)

I don't think I do have it. I like the old reviews and articles, because we know how the story ended.

Michele