Christine

[stefan]

What I liked the most about Christine was her voice together with LB. I think this will be missing on the new CD.
As a songwriter in my opinion she had really great material to offer on the one hand and on the other hand some of the (to me) most boring stuff also. I absolutely just can`t stand "Only over you" from Mirage for example. Or "Mystified" from Tango cowritten by LB. Or also her great hits, which I never liked as the ones always performed on the live shows- YMLF and SayYLMe. I would have appreciated to get some of her pre- Rumours stuff on the live shows, which was not played to often
And then again songs like "Dont stop", "hold me (great sounding with LB)" or some of her Tango tunes are really great in my opinion and also had huge commercial success. Especially the cowritten ones as "Little lies" or "Isn`t it midnight" but also "Everywhere" were very interesting. It somehow seems, that she had good ideas and probably needed a little input additionally to make a song work right. After Lindseys departure some of her songs were lacking of a certain spice. And the voice combination of these two simply was great. Something that is often left aside.
Which of the CMV songs and which era of her songwriting do you like the most?

[Cristian]

Needless to say, she's my favorite Fleetwood Mac member... of all the incarnations (see avatar there <--). I have to coincide with you, though, about "Only Over You" being an absolute "down" in her carrer.

Sometimes she just delivers some incredible words joined by impressive music, and then the arrangements convert the thing into a terrific song... I don't think she had too many "downs", though. She kept her style throughout the years and, turning herself from a blues songwriter, she became a very important pop referent. In the first era she kept ballancing the material from Danny Kirwan and Bob Welch with songs filled with sweetness ("Show Me A Smile") and even with tunes more close to blues or rock and roll ("Homeward Bound"). Then she and Bob Welch formed a songwriting team that apparently never existed according to Mick Fleetwood's site (he he) and, in at least two fantastic albums (Mystery To Me and Heroes Are Hard To Find), she composed some of her finest songs. "Why", my favorite of hers, comes from MTM, for instance. In the Rumours lineup she kept her ballancing work, dominating the White Album with her sweet pop/rock melodies ("Say You Love Me", "Over My Head") and in Rumours again she became the "sweet" part in an album filled with angry/acrimonious references from the other composers. "Brown Eyes" is my favorite song from Tusk... so sexy, so sweet, so powerful. Then you have "Hold Me", which is one of the most fantastic pop songs ever written; and in Tango there are two of the most remembered songs of the 80's: "Little Lies" and "Everywhere", with very interesting harmonies, arrangements and textures. In Behind The Mask she wrote the amazingly underrated title track, which I like very much; plus her collaboration with Billy Burnette ("Do You Know") is a very interesting ballad; and still, in Time, she delivered her swan song to the band: the sweet "All Over Again".

I think she has highlights in every incarnation of the band. She mantained herself with a permanent level of artistic integrity in spite of the huge changes of styles and musical influences, and delivered her songs all the same. I don't have a favorite Christine era, then. They are all my favorites.


Song Of The Moment - I'm So Afraid (Live, Sydney 1980)

[macfan 57]

Christine is also easily my favorite Fleetwood Mac member. I think she was the most consistent writer in the band. My favorites are "Songbird" and "Why" but I love all of her songwriting periods. I think her songs during the Bob Welch years are especially underrated-"Homeward Bound", "Spare Me A Little", "Did You Ever Love Me", "Why", "The Way That I Feel", "Prove Your Love", "Come A Little Bit Closer". These are all hidden gems. She just kept getting even better during the Buckingham/Nicks years. "Over My Head", "Say You Love Me", "Warm Ways", "Songbird", "Oh Daddy", "You Make Loving Fun", "Think About Me", "Brown Eyes", Never Make Me Cry", "Hold Me", "Wish You Were Here", "Little Lies", "Everywhere", "Mystified" are all terrific. I agree that Christine and Lindsey worked great together, in my opinion better than Lindsey and Stevie together. The Tango In The Night album is really a Lindsey/Christine album. Even after Lindsey left, she still kept writing great songs-"Behind The Mask", "Love Shines", "Heart Of Stone" and "All Over Again", which was her goodbye to Fleetwood Mac.

Because of her personality, she is extremely underrated. But she wrote as many hit singles as Stevie and Lindsey did combined. And, I don't find any of her songs boring in any way. To me, this new album will not seem like a Fleetwood Mac album without Christine.

[seteca]

You Make Loving Fun, Mystified, Isn't It Midnight, Oh Daddy, Everywhere...come to mind as some of my favs. I don't really have a favourite Christine era....she was always great. So easy to listen to.

I agree that Christine's stuff pre-1975 is very underrated. I love EVERY song of hers from that era.

I'd have to say it's my favorite period of Christine. I'm not too fond of "everywhere" though...never really cared for it...actually, i heard the demo of it about 15 years ago on a radio show about FM and i taped it but it's gone. I've never come across it since. It was a real simple keyboard part with a little guitar part weaving in and out. It was very nice.

I guess i'm not ecstatic about "Only Over You" or "Wish You Were Here" either. Everything else is ok...Her songs seemed to get a little bit of a jump during Tango and Behind the Mask which was cool.

I really hope she comes out with an album soon. It'll be nice to hear some new stuff.

[The Tower]

"Over an Over" and "You Make Loving Fun"

'nuff said.

[chiliD]

For me:

Morning Rain
Homeward Bound
Dissatisfied
Remember Me
Believe Me
Why
Heroes Are Hard To Find
Bad Loser

and ALL of her 1984 solo album.


I think my only Christine favorites from the "wonder years" are:

Isn't It Midnight
Mystified
Brown Eyes

[Jen77]

I LOVE Christine!! There isn't one song i don't like that she has written...

My two absolute favorites are Why and Oh Daddy.

Jen

[chiliD]

There isn't one song i don't like that she has written...

Yeah, same for me, but those I listed are my faves of hers.

[becca]

I'll be the one then to say then that Only Over You is a real favorite of mine, but maybe because I like singing it myself. I liked The Mirage album a lot when it was new out and some of it really brings back specific personal flashes from then. I didn't really play Wish You Were Here back then for some reason but I have come to really love that one since I got the CD. I think I like Christine's songs so much because they are singable for me, from the early ones to the later ones. I can sing Stevie best when I first wake up and am raspy maybe. :^) Christine is more interesting in her phrasing; those little surprises but which fit perfectly. I kind of relate her to Karen Carpenter sometimes actually in how she approaches her songs. It sounds effortless but there is a lot of intelligence or talent in how it's done.

[Phil]

How diplomatic these Christine fans are - all these platitudes concerning the "Perfect" one's rather modest merits: "so easy to listen to"; "very relaxing"; "she had good ideas" etc...
How about insanely boring; uninspired; uninvolving; undemanding; dull; tedious; mind numbing; treacherously bad? This woman knows no bounds when it comes to contrived; trite; formulaic; made-to-order; dial-a-hit; by-numbers dross.
Funnily enough, I'm actually quite fond of the ol' girl and shall miss her presence oh so very much. Goodbye darlin' - missing you already!

Originally posted by Phil
Funnily enough, I'm actually quite fond of the ol' girl and shall miss her presence oh so very much. Goodbye darlin' - missing you already!

what do you like about her?

[estranged4life]

has the best female singing voice in all of music...Forget all those mindless,talentless & brainless corporate drivel "divas" on the "Gawd-Awful" radio, Christine McVie has the talent & skill that they will NEVER have in an "eon"...Brian "Chrissey Hynde Rules!!!" J.

ps-I agree, I have yet to hear 1 song Christine has written or sung that I didnt like...I can't even say that about Stevie.

[CarneVaca]

Originally posted by Phil
How diplomatic these Christine fans are - all these platitudes concerning the "Perfect" one's rather modest merits: "so easy to listen to"; "very relaxing"; "she had good ideas" etc...
How about insanely boring; uninspired; uninvolving; undemanding; dull; tedious; mind numbing; treacherously bad? This woman knows no bounds when it comes to contrived; trite; formulaic; made-to-order; dial-a-hit; by-numbers dross.
Funnily enough, I'm actually quite fond of the ol' girl and shall miss her presence oh so very much. Goodbye darlin' - missing you already!

Ah, Phil, and with that, I hand to you the Most Outspoken Member of The Ledge baton. Speak your mind, my friend. It might not make you popular, but it will cleanse your soul.

Your assessment, though short on diplomacy, [yeah, yeah, it's like the pot calling the kettle scorched!] is long on accuracy. The reason Christine doesn't ignite the passions of this Ledge gang the way Lindsey and Stevie do [Can you imagine getting away with the kind of blunt remarks you just made if they had been directed at Stevie? Why, you'd be crucified, vilified, emulsified...well, you get the message.] is because she is rather bland. Her music often was uninteresting, and her lyrics cliche. But, man, when she writes a catchy song, she sure does it right. I'm thinking of "Over My Head," "Don't Stop," "You Make Loving Fun," "Little Lies," "Why" and "Everywhere," none of which have lyrics to write home about but they sure stick to ya. And of course "Songbird" is her masterpiece.

I like Christine's stuff well enough, but she is not the reason I became a big Fleetwood Mac fan. The reason was Stevie, then Lindsey, and now primarily Lindsey. I wouldn't buy a Christine solo album, but there's only very few of her songs I skip when I listen to Fleetwood Mac.

[nae]

My favorite Christine song is Why? & I must say that even though she isn't my fav. member of the Mac, I certainly don't think of her as boring. I have the feeling that I'm going to miss her alot on the upcoming tour, just as I did Lindsey during his little hiatus.

Nae