German Review- FAZ online

[stefan]

The following article was published by the "Frankfurter Allgemeinen Zeitung" FAZ- online. Here is the link: http://www.faz.net/s/RubF3CE08B362D2...ttype~ESP.html
The FAZ is a german-wide daily newspaper. The print version of the FAZ refuses to use images and photos- there are just articles and comments. It's (beside the "Bild" Zeitung- (shame on us- this one is like the Sun) the most famous and well known german newspaper. Here is a translation I made in english: (it starts by stating how hard it is for a band to be always compared to its own past and success and mentions "Rumours" and its follow up "Tusk") Then it goes on:


The first studio album in 15 years featuring, Lindsey Buckingham, Mick Fleetwood, Stevie Nicks and John McVie, (whereas Christine McVie only appears as a guest) already received some biting/harsh feedback from critics- which is not appropriate.

The band did not produce the greatest album of their career, although it took over 1,5 years to finish the production. But it needs not to hide behind "Mirage" (1982) and "Tango in the night" (1987)- on the contrary. The customer gets a CD of 18 tracks with a running time of 76 minutes- which would have been sold as a double LP in former years. So there's a lot of music for the money. This is surely not a gut per se, as you also easily could press one and a half hours of acoustic crap on a CD.

Not just pleasing and solid

But this is not the case. Fleetwood Mac doesn't disturb the listener with a pleasing or just solid age-group opus, for the sake and the memory of the good old times (like it is customary/usually done in that business). Nicks, Buckingham and Co rather dare to develop acoustic images, which was not expectable. Some of these tracks even seem to be experimental- and this is a connection between Tusk and Say you will.

The old concept- relying on folk-rock compositions by Stevie Nicks and melodic rock songs by Lindsey Buckingham, combined with their characteristic voices- is only valid for parts of the record. It shouldn`t irritate, that the CD opens with "What`s the world coming to" -a nice and harmless piece with slightly wannabe poetic lyrics. The second song "Murrow turning over..." wipes away the worries, that this could be a shallow product. The atmospheric and dark sounding track deals with death and violence with a fitting composition.

Nice harmonies are the exception

Nevertheless Buckingham tends to overdo the guitar solo, which you should not listen to in a state of being strained or overworked as it could provoke aggressions and invites you to skip forward to the next track- a Stevie Nicks track written as a reaction to the terror of 9/11 in New York and which is dedicated to Rudolph Giuliani the former mayor of NY. The singer -in her lyrical/poetic way- works up her emotions of what she had seen on this day of horror. She therefore untypically borrows some rap style elements.

Who is looking for harmonies and nice melodic efforts on "Say you will" will find these even more on "Thrown down", "Running through the garden" and especially on "Peacekeeper" rather than on the title track. It is generally noticed that typical radio tracks are building the minority. Also because of that "Say you will" is not an album to listen to by the way/incidentally. Looking at it that way Fleetwood Mac could have played it safer. You cannot charge them of hard-trying to hit the mainstream taste. And that is noticeable.

[Tango]

ROCK & ROLL! "you should not listen to in a state of being strained or overworked as it could provoke aggressions". THAT made me laugh. Thank you for posting the article. I believe Lindsey would smile to hear his music might be responsible for inciting aggression!

It's nice to read a review from Germany. Hopefully others on the continent will pick up some interest. Thank you for translating that for The Ledge.

[sulamith]

LMAO!

Stevie rappin' on Ill-loo-may?

BWHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!


-Sharon