White Album Appreciation

[Andy Man]

Apologies if this is a redundant thread.

I've started listening to The Mac again in the hopes that I'll be seeing them in London in a few weeks (looking for some decently priced tickets for the Friday show). I must admit that my constant FM go-to albums have always been Rumours and Tusk. I always have thought of the White album as being great, but never thought it compared to the previously two mentioned albums.

However, I've been listening to it non-stop lately and must say I have severely underrated it in the past. I've always thought that it was a record of 11 great songs - however never thought much of them as a cohesive whole. And while it may not have the narrative that Rumours had, I now really appreciate how the album is structured. It is fascinating to me how a group that had three vocalists/writers (two of them being brand new the group) were able to make an record that flows seamlessly. Just like Rumours, I always feel like I'm listening to a 'band' rather than three stars (a trend that continued until around Mirage where the cohesiveness of the group began to dwindle - not that there weren't excellent moments, though).

I really have grown to admire the production of this record, especially moments like the end of Rhiannon where it fades and flows right into the beginning of Over My Head (the usage of the same drum part is quite creative, from a production standpoint). Also, the album version of Over My Head is excellent. As I usually listen to the single version of the song, which is a bit 'harsher' sounding, the album version really brings out the beautiful simplicity of the track - one of CM's best.

I've also always been a fan of the live version of I'm So Afraid and not so much the studio. However I've grown to quiet like the studio and it's interesting to hear such a quite and mysterious-esque interpretation (never really was done live).

I now hold this album in the same place as Rumours and Tusk - and there are moments where I think it outshines both of those works.