STACK Nov #133

100 / 126

visit REVIEWS MUSIC
Then Play On (1969)
The third album as a British blues band, the last with
legendary guitarist Peter Green and the first with
guitarist Danny Kirwan (they played together on the
instrumental hit Albatross); here they were stretching
beyond blues covers (Closing My Eyes), and the version to get
is the 2013 remastered and expanded edition (with Oh Well, The
Green Manalishi and World In Harmony). It's Mac, Jim. But not as
you know it.
Heroes Are Hard To Find (1974)
Californian guitarist Bob Welch was an important
five year-conduit between the band’s British blues
to American pop-rock sound (although wasn't
acknowledged when they were inducted into The
Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 1998). He convinced them to come
to the US, and introduced them to Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie
Nicks. For this album, Mac were a four-piece: Welch was peaking as
writer/player, and Christine McVie stepped up with great songs. A
much ignored cornerstone in their catalogue.
Fleetwood Mac (1975)
We presume you have the follow-up Rumours (50
million sold) but this was where global success
started. Welch left and in came Buckingham and
Nicks, so with Christine McVie the group now
had three excellent writers, two female vocalists, and, in singer
Buckingham, an innovative guitarist-writer. It sprung Rhiannon,
Landslide and Say You Love Me (among others). The start of the
most successful phase of their long career.
Tusk (1979)
After you've sold 50 million of Rumours you get to
make an adventurous, different, sometimes edgy
and extremely expansive double album. Helmed
by Buckingham who had his ear on New Wave
and punk, Tusk – which took over 18 months to record and cost
about US$1 million, the most expensive album ever produced at
that point – hatched hits (notably Nicks' sublime Sara), but mostly
pushed back the slick and successful sound in favour of a leaner
Mac attack. Stands up well.
Tango In The Night (1987)
Back in hit-making mode, this second biggest seller
of their career (Little Lies, Big Love and others were
chart singles) is to date the last by the classic re-
formed line-up now touring. As enjoyable as Fleetwood Mac and
Rumours (which were two sides of the same coin).
And: So many albums, so many phases to consider.
Cheaters will go for the cheap but comprehensive four CD box
set 25 Years; The Chain. The double disc The Essential Fleetwood
Mac (2007) usefully compiles their early blues incarnation in Britain
(Black Magic Woman, Albatross, Need Your Love So Bad ).
For more from Graham Reid visit
100 NOVEMBER 2015
You Am I
Porridge And Hot Sauce
(Inertia)
Five years since their last album,
and You Am I (26-years-young)
aren’t afraid to bolt from the gate
as though they’ve only just started.
Opener Good Advices is distinctly
harder, thicker and more aggressive
than expected, designed to clutch
your attention; Bon Vivants grooves
between Rogers’ melodic see-saw
and a Stonesesque swagger. That
morphs into mid-American beer
barn territory on Two Hands, and
a lick of the classic Springsteen/
Rogers fable from the pulpit on
One Drink At A Time. A varied
album with much to like (Davy
Lane's vocals on Out to the Never,
Now are amazing); this a great
‘ol band who still confidently
create ‘new’.
(Inertia) Chris Murray
Various Artists
100 Greatest Australian
Singles Of The '60s
If you want to find out what
Australian music sounded like in
the ’60s, this four-CD collection
is essential. In fact, it’s the year’s
most generous compilation. A
companion for David N. Pepperell
and Colin Talbot’s book, it
features 100 songs, presented in
alphabetical order. From pioneers
such as Johnny O’Keefe and
Normie Rowe, to legendary bands
– The Easybeats, The Masters
Apprentices and The Seekers – to
beginnings for the Bee Gees,
Johnny Farnham, Ross Wilson
(The Pink Finks), Glenn Shorrock
(The Twilights), Bon Scott (The
Valentines) and Russell Morris
(Somebody’s Image). From Axiom
to Zoot, it’s all here.
(Warner) Michael Dwyer
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard
Paper Mache Dream Balloon
Prolifsters KG&TLW turn yet another sharp right-
angle with album #7 and decide to unplug a bunch
of their gear. The Melb lads launch immediately into
the clarinet-led Sense – any well-heeled hipster
joint near a beach will be blaring the b’Jesus out of
this come summer, trust me. Happy powerpop a la
Dandy-Warhols-for-toddlers fires through on the infectious Bone, while the
fluty Dirt blends somewhere between the two. Trapdoor offers the signature
urgency-and-stutter repetition from earlier material we all know and love. Still,
the concentration on natural instruments pays dividends to the band’s obvious
talent and super-honed skill at being just that – a real band. One could hope
that based on the aesthetics used in PR for this album, the old-school cover
and just the right amount of strategic genius from Remote Control (are you
listening?), the band could have a limited and extremely lucrative run on the
live kids' circuit over the holidays. Seriously, they would go off and the little
buggers would lap it up! Add this to their earlier release Quarters getting a Best
Jazz Album nom for the ARIAs (it’s true – WTF!?) expect an entirely new and
understandably confused audience soon to be welcomed into the Gizzard fan-
throng… it was all just a matter of time. (Flightless/Remote Control) Chris Murray
Five By The Famous Five (Or Four)
Given the big Mac family tree has many branches and short
blooming buds (the BobWelch years), it's hard to whittle their
vast catalogue down to essentials… but here goes. By Graham Reid
FLEETWOOD MAC