Mystery To Me (1973) 


 

  1. Emerald Eyes
  2. Believe Me
  3. Just Crazy Love
  4. Hypnotized
  5. Forever
  6. Keep on Going
  7. The City
  8. Miles Away
  9. Somebody
  10.The Way I Feel
  11.For Your Love
  12.Why

 

By 1973, Fleetwood Mac had become experts in weathering internal upheaval. After the short-lived and frankly ill-judged Dave Walker experiment on Penguin, the band elected—wisely—not to repeat the mistake. Walker was quietly shown the door, and the remaining members pressed ahead with a renewed sense of cohesion. The result, Mystery to Me, was not only their most commercially successful release to date, but arguably the most polished and accessible of their “lost years” period.

What makes Mystery to Me so intriguing is how confidently it embraces pop-rock clarity without entirely abandoning the idiosyncrasies that had come to define this particular incarnation of Fleetwood Mac. Bob Welch, by now the group’s unofficial frontman, is in particularly fine form, contributing a number of the album’s most distinctive and enduring tracks.

Foremost among them is Hypnotized, a mesmerizing, slow-burn groove with one foot in mysticism and the other in radio-friendly sophistication. It’s the kind of track that slowly envelops the listener—cool, cryptic, and impeccably arranged. It may well be the finest Mac song of the pre-Buckingham/Nicks era, a status made more impressive given its relative obscurity outside of the band’s most dedicated followers.

Welch’s other contributions are nearly as strong. Emerald Eyes opens the record with understated grace, its shimmering guitars and breezy tempo setting the mood with elegant restraint. His take on For Your Love (the old Yardbirds number) is reimagined as a swirling, psychedelic lament. Not all of Welch’s experiments land equally well—Miles Away and The City veer into slightly manic territory, more paranoia than poetry—but even these detours add to the album’s surreal charm. Welch always flirted with the cosmic fringe, and here, that sensibility is given ample space to breathe.

Christine McVie, meanwhile, continues to be the band’s emotional anchor. Her songwriting rarely aims for the metaphysical, but her melodic sensibility is unparalleled. Tracks like Just Crazy Love and Believe Me are deceptively simple—uncomplicated, tuneful, and endlessly listenable. She provides the necessary counterweight to Welch’s abstractions. And her crowning moment on the album, Why, is nothing short of exquisite. A gentle, orchestral ballad that closes the record, it’s McVie at her most affecting—a quietly devastating conclusion to an album filled with graceful contradictions.

Production-wise, Mystery to Me is cleaner and more focused than its predecessors. Gone are the patchwork experiments and odd man-out tracks. This is a band that, for once, sounds as though all members are pulling in the same direction. The rhythm section of John McVie and Mick Fleetwood remains rock solid, as always, and newcomer Bob Weston fits in well enough, even if his guitar contributions rarely step into the spotlight.

In retrospect, Mystery to Me stands as one of the finest entries in the Mac’s “middle period”—a bridge between the scruffy blues of their origins and the soft rock superstardom just over the horizon. It’s also a reminder that Fleetwood Mac, even before their meteoric mid-’70s rebirth, were capable of crafting thoughtful, intricate, and frequently beautiful music.

The irony, of course, is that few listeners heard it at the time. With limited label support and no obvious hit singles, Mystery to Me flew largely under the radar. But for those willing to explore beyond the greatest hits, this record rewards handsomely. It’s not only a “thumbs up”—it’s a sleeper gem in one of rock’s most chaotic and misunderstood discographies.


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