3 keepers
keeper avg .250
Fleetwood Mac's eighth album is noteworthy for two things. It's the second and last to include guitarist Bob Weston, who didn't contribute any songs (on his own) but did contribute to the sound of the album, most conspicuously with some slide guitar. The second is the gloriously eerie AOR classic "Hypnotized"*****, a lush synthesis of pulsating rhythm section, layers jazzy guitars, and ghostly vocals. Besides being probably Bob Welch's best song ever, I'm in awe of Mick Fleetwood's ability to keep up a continuously hyperactive kick pattern that makes the song propulsive and trippy at the same time.
This is also the first album with Bob Welch undisputedly at the helm, with Welch receiving writing credit and singing lead on more than half of the songs. Welch's "Emerald Eyes," which is kind of halfway between "Future Games" and his later hit "Ebony Eyes" (and sounds similar to Steely Dan's "Dirty Work") opens the album. Maybe because of his limited vocal range, Christine McVie actually sings the acrobatic lead on his surprisingly disco-y "Keep On Going," which closes side 1. On side 2 Welch's songs are surprisingly mainstream rock; the fast boogie "Miles Away" comes off as watered-down Foghat, while the punchier "Somebody" is like a slightly more sophisticated ZZ Top. "The City"****, which is clearly based on the Don Nix / Freddy King blues classic "Going Down," is a mean blues rocker, mostly due to Christie McVie's driving piano and (somebody's??) nasty envelope-filtered lead guitar.
On side 1 Christie McVie contributes two pleasant rockers similar to "Say You Love Me" (which was to come in another two years), and two ballads on side 2. Though I don't think she's reached her songwriting stride yet, at least two of these aren't to be overlooked; the dramatic coda at the end of "Believe Me"**** and the orchestral conclusion of album's closing ballad "Why" are two of the best moments on the album. Especially in all the best songs I've mentioned, it's clear the album is at its best when Welch and McVie are equally invested; McVie's vocal and keyboard contributions are essential to Welch's best tracks, and though it's impossible to tell whose guitar is whose the lead work on the album is exceptionally tasteful.
Mystery To Me is rounded out by two misses, a respectful but uninspired cover of "For You Love" (as popularized by The Yardbirds) and the experimental ditty "Forever" (credited to Bob Weston, John McVie, and Welch); it sounds like someone got a new toy, specifically drum machine, and decided to create the most annoying track I can think of by Fleetwood Mac. Though there is some great playing throughout the album and a few stellar moments, for some reason Welch and McVie alone just didn't seem enough to carry the whole songwriting load; being between the albums with Danny Kirwan and the arrival of Buckingham and Nicks there seems to be some ingredient missing to complete the mix. It's a shame Welch and McVie didn't get to develop into a more potent combo before the power couple (Buckingham and Nicks) swept everything that came before off the table, or that Welch would have been one too many cooks to stick around in the kitchen of the 1975 Fleetwood Mac, as by comparison his career in general is criminally underappreciated.
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