Fleetwood Mac - Bare Trees
Arguably the first consistently strong album Fleetwood Mac ever
recorded — all the way back into the Peter Green/Jeremy Spencer era,
the Mac's albums had previously consisted of individual moments of
brilliance in a sea of uninspired filler — 1972's Bare Trees is also
the album where the band finally defines its post-blues musical
personality. Low-key but less narcoleptically mellow than 1971's sleepy
Future Games, Bare Trees is a singer/songwriter album in the
traditional early-'70s style, backed up with just enough musical muscle
to keep from sounding like weedy soft rock in the manner of Bread or
Cat Stevens. This is the one Fleetwood Mac album on which
singer/guitarist Danny Kirwan is the dominant figure, writing five
songs to Chistine McVie and Bob Welch's two apiece. Impressively, all
three writers get off a small masterpiece on side two; McVie's "Spare
Me a Little of Your Love" sounds like a dry run for the string of hits
she would start writing with 1975's Fleetwood Mac, and it's her first
really good pop song. By comparison, Kirwan and Welch's best songs are
all-time career highlights. Kirwan's "Dust" combines a gentle, gliding
melody with resigned, melancholy lyrics and his most memorable chorus.
Welch's "Sentimental Lady" was, of course, his first solo hit in its
1977 re-recorded version, but this original take is far superior, and
one of the great lost pop songs of the early '70s. Outfitted with a
terrific vocal melody, hooks galore, and an impressive tremolo guitar
solo, "Sentimental Lady" is perhaps a little trite lyrically, but it's
a heartfelt and lovable tune regardless, and the best thing Fleetwood
Mac did in the years between "Albatross" and "Over My Head." The rest
of the album is less magical, but the instrumental "Sunny Side of
Heaven" and the downright funky "Danny's Chant" are impressive in their
use of atmospheric arrangements and so point toward the subtle but
effective production choices that would make Fleetwood Mac and Rumours
among the most listenable albums of their time. Bare Trees isn't in
that league, but it shows that after five years of false starts and
failed experiments, Fleetwood Mac were finally on their way. ---Stewart
Mason
Tracklist:
1. Child Of Mine (5:27)
2. The Ghost (4:02)
3. Homeward Bound (3:24)
4. Sunny Side Of Heaven (3:10)
5. Bare Trees (5:04)
6. Sentimental Lady (4:35)
7. Danny's Chant (3:18)
8. Spare Me A Little Of Your Love (3:47)
9. Dust (2:41)
10. Thoughts On A Grey Day (1:42)
Year : 1972
Bitrate : 128K/s 44100Hz Joint Stereo
Total Playing Time: 37:15
Total Size : 34.1 MB