Poll: best song from 1988-1995

[aleuzzi]

Originally Posted by Mr Scarrott

Yeah, a half-ripe apple to a rotten orange. Peter's songs on Mr Wonderful are exactly that, they're just about about enough to make you forget the repetitive nature of Jeremy's. Of Time , only Blow by blow really grates. It's a Christine-heavy selection box,and on occasion quite fun or moody. However, as a six-piece, the band only very rarely gels (on a couple of Bekka's songs); maybe if Christine and Dave had got on, something more interesting might have come out of it- as it is they barely on the same page and only nominally seem to be bandmates. It's a much better listen than its predecessor,though.

Yes to this. Dave Mason (like Dave Walker!) appears to have been a key force in their live shows at that time. But on record his work doesn’t fit with the rest of the songs.

On Time, not only do we get five very solid Christine songs (marred only by her tinny keys—so odd, since she has historically expertly layered keys on previous albums all that way back to 1971), but we get the Billy-Becca duets, which are youthful and exuberant. The opening cut and “Got It In for You” are delights. And they balance well against Christine’s moodier tracks.

[WalkAThinLine.]

Originally Posted by aleuzzi

Yes to this. Dave Mason (like Dave Walker!) appears to have been a key force in their live shows at that time. But on record his work doesn’t fit with the rest of the songs.

On Time, not only do we get five very solid Christine songs (marred only by her tinny keys—so odd, since she has historically expertly layered keys on previous albums all that way back to 1971), but we get the Billy-Becca duets, which are youthful and exuberant. The opening cut and “Got It In for You” are delights. And they balance well against Christine’s moodier tracks.

The majority of McVie's songs are decent tracks, with "I Do", "Nights in Estoril", and "All Over Again" being my favorite songs on the album. Some of McVie's other songs on the album are a bit too long, particularly "Hollywood (Some Other Kind of Town)". The tinny keyboards add to the charm of the tracks but have aged worse than any of her other contributions to Fleetwood Mac. I'm also probably the only person in existence who enjoys "Blow by Blow". It's interesting to see the differences in opinion here. Even the band's weakest albums have something to enjoy about them.

[Macfan4life]

Originally Posted by WalkAThinLine.

The majority of McVie's songs are decent tracks, with "I Do", "Nights in Estoril", and "All Over Again" being my favorite songs on the album. Some of McVie's other songs on the album are a bit too long, particularly "Hollywood (Some Other Kind of Town)". The tinny keyboards add to the charm of the tracks but have aged worse than any of her other contributions to Fleetwood Mac. I'm also probably the only person in existence who enjoys "Blow by Blow". It's interesting to see the differences in opinion here. Even the band's weakest albums have something to enjoy about them.

So true! I don't care for Time but Nights In Estoril is so good that it makes the album worth it. Imagine BTM without Chris? She drags that album across the finish line. She could write excellent songs and none of them are bad IMHO.
I sometimes wonder if it would have been better to record BTM first and then release Greatest Hits in 1990. It would have messed up Stevie's OSOTM schedule but I think adding ALAYF and No Questions Asked on BTM would have improved it. No Questions is not great but its better than any of Stevie's BTM contributions.

[Mr Scarrott]

Originally Posted by aleuzzi

Yes to this. Dave Mason (like Dave Walker!) appears to have been a key force in their live shows at that time. But on record his work doesn’t fit with the rest of the songs.

This is perhaps a more pertinent comparison exercise: Time vs Penguin.

Both have a major holdover singer-songwriter-keyboardist from an earlier era- Christine; a relatively new guitarist-vocalist-writer- Billy and Bob Welch; the absence of a key player: Stevie and Danny; two slighly random newcomers that the band hope will succeed and point them in a new direction- Bekka and Dave Mason, Bob Weston and Dave Walker; a cameo from a legend- Peter on Night Watch , Lindsey on Nothing without you, a cover song on each album; a penguin on the covers; Mick and John.

On balance, I think I prefer Time out of those two.

[aleuzzi]

Originally Posted by Mr Scarrott

This is perhaps a more pertinent comparison exercise: Time vs Penguin.

Both have a major holdover singer-songwriter-keyboardist from an earlier era- Christine; a relatively new guitarist-vocalist-writer- Billy and Bob Welch; the absence of a key player: Stevie and Danny; two slighly random newcomers that the band hope will succeed and point them in a new direction- Bekka and Dave Mason, Bob Weston and Dave Walker; a cameo from a legend- Peter on Night Watch , Lindsey on Nothing without you, a cover song on each album; a penguin on the covers; Mick and John.

On balance, I think I prefer Time out of those two.

Certainly Time has more salvageable music than Penguin. You could take out what DOESN’T work on Time and still have a nearly full album. Penguin, on the other hand, is very short on time, even with Walker’s tunes. If there were, say, two more Welch tunes and one more Christine song, I think I would rank Penguin a lot higher. As it is, it was the first pre-1975 album I heard where I felt genuine enthusiasm for some of the songs. All of Christine’s work here is so enjoyable. And “Revelation” and “Nightwatch” are seriously good—especially “Nightwatch” with its gorgeous textures. “Caught in the Rain” is a great way to end the record.

[Mr Scarrott]

Originally Posted by aleuzzi

Certainly Time has more salvageable music than Penguin. You could take out what DOESN’T work on Time and still have a nearly full album. Penguin, on the other hand, is very short on time, even with Walker’s tunes. If there were, say, two more Welch tunes and one more Christine song, I think I would rank Penguin a lot higher. As it is, it was the first pre-1975 album I heard where I felt genuine enthusiasm for some of the songs. All of Christine’s work here is so enjoyable. And “Revelation” and “Nightwatch” are seriously good—especially “Nightwatch” with its gorgeous textures. “Caught in the Rain” is a great way to end the record.

Did you ever love me is particularly lovely. I can imagine Caught in the rain playing over me as I have my last big day out at the local municipal crematorium.

[WalkAThinLine.]

Originally Posted by Mr Scarrott

This is perhaps a more pertinent comparison exercise: Time vs Penguin.

Both have a major holdover singer-songwriter-keyboardist from an earlier era- Christine; a relatively new guitarist-vocalist-writer- Billy and Bob Welch; the absence of a key player: Stevie and Danny; two slightly random newcomers that the band hope will succeed and point them in a new direction- Bekka and Dave Mason, Bob Weston and Dave Walker; a cameo from a legend- Peter on Night Watch, Lindsey on Nothing without you, a cover song on each album; a penguin on the covers; Mick and John.

On balance, I think I prefer Time out of those two.

The connection is certainly present. They both also feature vocals from members who rarely contribute in that capacity: Bob Weston on "Did You Ever Love Me" and Mick Fleetwood on "These Strange Times". Mason and Walker also only sang two tracks each on their respective albums.

I find Penguin to be the most enjoyable of the two albums by a very large margin. Welch's songs are uniformly strong here, with "Bright Fire" being an underrated gem that does not get frequently discussed. "Caught in the Rain" is also a gorgeous way to bookend the album.