The Time Appreciation Thread

[billwebster]

Yes, it's time for a Time appreciation thread, or as Van Dyke Parks would say "Time was a magazine..."

For me, these songs are the hits (all in order of appearance):
-Talkin' To My Heart
-Hollywood (SOKOT)
-I Do
-Nothing Without You
-I Got it In For You
-These Strange Times

These are still good to me:
-Winds Of Change (btw is that a cover version?)
-Blow By Blow
-Nights In Estoril

I don't care much about the following
-Dreaming the Dream
-I Wonder Why (they put that on the album)
and those that I haven't mentioned because I don't really remember them.

Having gotten into Fleetwood Mac by ways of Rick and Billy's guest appearances on Roy Orbison's Mystery Girl album, which was one of my first CDs, Time was only the 5th FM related disc that I got, and to be honest, I don't care much about the old FM stuff. To further describe my background, these are the FM related discs that I got prior to time (in chronological order of purchase):
-Out Of the Cradle
-Coming Home
-Behind the Mask
-Street Angel
Having heard Bekka before I got the disc in that duet with Joe Cocker, I didn't really recognize her on Winds Of Change, because she's holding back quite a bit.
Today, Time seems to me more as a predecessor of Bekka&Billy than as a successor of Behind the Mask. The record company should have definitely not messed as much with the BTM-era FM as they have: First, they release a Greatest Hits album and promote it with 2 new members in the band who then had to cover Lindsey. It's hard to step out of anybody's shadow that way. Then came the 'debut' for the new band. And instead of a sophomore effort for the 'new band', a box set chronicling the whole band's career on from the 1960s comes out. No chance of shining on your own. That must have really ruined the BTM-era band's own career. And then, the next chapter opened with Time, and another two old members gone and replaced with new ones.
Still, I prefer Michael Thompson's guitar parts (great solo on Hollywood) over Dave Mason's. And it's good to hear Mick do a song of his own on a FM release, too.

As for the members of the Time era:
-a new solo album in the blues/pop/soul direction by Bekka would be much appreciated
-just as a new album by Billy would be that's not rockabilly, but pop. He's such a great songwriter.
-a new album from Christine would be a real treat, albeit this time with more piano and less funk guitar
-Dave Mason has retired, hasn't he?