Time (1995)
1. Talkin' to My Heart
2. Hollywood (Some Other Kind of Town)
3. Blow By Blow
4. Winds of Change
5. I Do
6. Nothing Without You
7. Dreamin' the Dream
8. Sooner or Later
9. I Wonder Why
10.Nights in Estoril
11.I Got It in For You
12.All Over Again
13.These Strange Times
 
Talk about perseverance. After the
lukewarm Behind the Mask that this band
completed after the exodus of Lindsey Buckingham, they now found
themselves without Stevie Nicks as well. Rick Vito had also departed,
but no one really cared since he was only featured on one album anyway.
So Christine McVie was the only singer/songwriter still in the band.
In the place of the departed ex-members were
guitarist Dave Mason and Bekka Bramlett to fill the void.
The only reason I can think of Bramlett joining was because they needed
another "strong female" to vacate the place left behind by Nicks. She's
actually quite an awesome singer, and it's her songs that resonate the
strongest on the album. Sadly, it would be impossible for her, or
anyone else, to step into Stevie Nicks' shoes since they would
ultimately find themselves under
the microscope. She didn't sound or look like Nicks, so in most
people's mind, they gave her a "fail" without even listening to what she
had to offer. Her singing on Dreaming the Dream and Winds of
Change are both quite beautiful, and once one stops the "comparison"
aspect of the situation, they may find they enjoy her songs quite well.
The other choice, Dave Mason is a bit of disappointment. His style is
too generic and forceful to be welcome here. By the time we hear his
first song, the third track Blow By Blow, we're already
scratching our head as to what he's actually doing here. His other
track, I Wonder Why really isn't any better. And one wonders
about the irony of the song title. Not since Dave Walker's "cameo" in
1973's Penguin has a member of Mac seemed so
out of place. It's not surprising that most people never missed him
after this album, or didn't know about his existence at all.
Which leaves us to Christine McVie, the only familiar voice in this
whole cacophony. She could always be counted on to give us a handful of
very good songs, and the same is true here. The problem is we were now
used to hearing her being accompanied by Stevie and Lindsey, so no matter
how good her songs are, we feel we're sadly being ripped off somehow,
and the songs, though good, sound as though they could have been much
better had they been on one of those great, earlier albums.
I guess we shouldn't forget Billy Burnette. Yes, the "other half" of the
Burnette/Vito "combo" is still here, although most people were probably
oblivious to this particular fact. He sings two songs, the album opener
Talkin' to My Heart and I Got it in For You. There both
so-so, and sadly, like everything else here, sound too mediocre and too
much unlike what we're used to from the "name" Fleetwood Mac, that we're
left feeling as though no discernible impact has been had on us.
Ironically, or maybe "predictably", the most "Fleetwood Mac" sounding song
here is written by none other than Mick Fleetwood himself. Strange
because he was not a songwriter. He even sings, rather "speaks" through
the tribal sounding These Strange Times. These were
indeed strange times, and it's a bit refreshing to hear this "prayer",
as it were, that Fleetwood chants to find some inner peace in the midst
of everything he'd been experiencing both professionally and personally
throughout his career.
This album was predictably a failure. Simply no one had any interest in
hearing a "reformed" band with its two key members gone. They (at least
this incarnation) went on a small tour as a support act, but called it
quits shortly afterwards and we never really heard of Billy Burnette,
Dave Mason or Bekka Bramlett again.
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