Category Archives: Reviews

Lindsey Buckingham, Original Content, Release Info, Reviews, Solo Activity, UK Articles, Video Clip, Website Content

Lindsey Buckingham: Out Of The Cradle – Album appreciation…

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It seems as though the first ‘real’ solo album from Fleetwood Mac’s Lindsey Buckingham is not getting the love and attention that this album deserves, recently deleted from the UK iTunes store, no official release of the four music videos and limited appearances of live tracks in Lindsey’s recent solo live shows.

It’s our opinion that it’s about time that this fine collection of songs was re-visited and re-appreciated, but first, here’s some brief history…..

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Out Of The Cradle was released in 1992, five years after Lindsey had departed Fleetwood Mac to concentrate fully on his solo career and could be considered as his one and only true solo album where he was not a member of Fleetwood Mac (all other solo albums were recorded and released whilst he was juggling being a member of the band and releasing solo albums at the same time).

The solo album sessions actually began in the mid-eighties and the early tracks that these sessions produced morphed into what would become the Fleetwood Mac comeback album ‘Tango In The Night’, that was released in 1987, tracks such as Big Love and Family Man were originally recorded for Lindsey’s next solo album with Lindsey and longterm co-producer ‘Richard Dashut’ co-producing again, these tracks were turned over to the wider group effort, as the Tango sessions consumed Lindsey completely as vocalist, writer, guitarist, producer and arranger, the third solo album was put of the back burner whilst the Mac returned to it’s glory days with ‘Tango In The Night’. Continue reading Lindsey Buckingham: Out Of The Cradle – Album appreciation… →

Fleetwood Mac, Mick Fleetwood, Reviews, Tour Info

Mick Fleetwood illness cuts Fleetwood Mac concert short | Lincoln Journel Star

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Lincoln Journel Star – Ground Zero
kwolgamott@journalstar.com

Midway through Fleetwood Mac’s Pinnacle Bank Arena concert Saturday night, drummer Mick Fleetwood suddenly became ill.

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“Mick is really sick,” Stevie Nicks told the crowd, adding that Fleetwood was backstage throwing up. “We feel terrible, but we can’t really make him play. Give us a minute, and we’ll figure out what to do.”

That turned out to be playing two more songs.

A drum tech named Steve took over Fleetwood’s kit for “Go Your Own Way,” which is usually the song the band plays before two encores.

Then, after a short break, Christine McVie returned to the stage at a grand piano, playing and singing “Songbird” accompanied by guitarist Lindsey Buckingham.

“Poor old Mick is really sick,” McVie said. “I sing this for him and for all of you.” Continue reading Mick Fleetwood illness cuts Fleetwood Mac concert short | Lincoln Journel Star →

Mick Fleetwood, Original Content, Reviews, Website Content

Mick Fleetwood – Play On: Now, Then, and Fleetwood Mac: The Autobiography Book Review

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Book Review: Play On: Now, Then, and Fleetwood Mac: The Autobiography by Mick Fleetwood

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Nice, reflective memoir from Mr Fleetwood

I enjoyed this book, nice to see that the Fleetwood Mac story (from Mick’s perspective) brought up to date, the book did allocate the nearly fifty percent to the early years before Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks joined the band and really over covered the years post-1990 in the last third of the book, this was a surprise as Mick’s previous book covered up to 1990, but I guess he felt that he needed to tell this story again.

The pre-1990 section could be seen as a duplicate, but I felt that the story was told with a fresher sense of perspective, probably as it included information from Mick’s first wife Jenny Boyd that took the story in a slightly different direction with more emphasis on regrets and acknowledged the dysfunctional family life as opposed to the just being focused on Fleetwood Mac.

The later section that dealt with the post-1990 band was a little rushed, many years were skipped and as this timeframe is really lacking in print, this was a missed opportunity, the book was finished bang up to date with Christine McVie re-joining the band and Fleetwood Mac being out on the road again.

All in all, a good read for a fan of the band, or for a casual observer of Fleetwood Mac and Mick Fleetwood.

Four Stars out of Five

Purchase this book via Amazon

Original Content, Reviews, Solo Activity, Stevie Nicks, Website Content

Music Review: Stevie Nicks – Beauty and the Beast (live 1986 Radio Broadcast)

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Album Review: Beauty and the Beast (live 1986 Radio Broadcast) by Stevie Nicks

Poor Sound, but it is a bootleg after all….

71rTySi5VRL._SL1064_I was gifted this CD as an Xmas present and was curious hear the quality of this set, I did not expect a stellar live recording and my fears were as expected fully justified, the sound quality is poor for a ‘supposed’ official release (would rate this a B+ in the bootleg world) and the packaging is pretty average.

If you want to hear Stevie singing live I would suggest the official Soundstage set from 2009 is worth your hard-earned money, not this set that is really only a bootleg and i do wonder how the publishers get hold of these recordings and are allowed to sell them via Amazon, I suspect Ms Nicks sees nothing of the royalties here. Also bear in mind that if you look hard enough online or engage with Stevie Nicks fans online, I dare say that this recording (and others) exist as bootlegs that can normally be sourced for free.

Two stars out of five

Track List

1. Outside The Rain
2. Dreams
3. Talk To Me
4. I Need To Know
5. Beauty and the Beast
6. Leather and Lace
7. Stand Back
8. Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around
9. How Still My Love
10. Edge of Seventeen
11. Rhiannon

Purchase here via amazon

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Reviews, Solo Activity, Stevie Nicks, UK Articles

Album review: Stevie Nicks – 24 Karat Gold (Songs From The Vault) | London 24

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07 November 2014
by Stephen Moore

Stevie Nicks – 24 Karat Gold

Old, half-finished songs picked up, dusted down and fully realised by Nicks in all her croaky, wizened glory.

With her first LP since 2011’s In Your Dreams, Nicks has decided to revisit some old demos to give them the full studio work-up.

Comprising songs almost exclusively written between 1969 and 1987, what could have been a rushed cash-in is instead a crafted, worthwhile document.

Raking over her earlier songwriting chops proves a canny move, and there’s plenty here that will appeal.

Her now gently burnished vocals lend appropriate weight to the weary, wistful casino worker in The Dealer, in which downcast guitar and piano back lines like “If I’d have known a little more I’d have run away,” while she croakily dispenses some hard-won wisdom from a scarred heart over gritty guitar in Hard Advice.

Although it outstays its welcome at 15 tracks, the range is wide enough to take in freaky Hammond organ solos on Starshine – the album’s galloping, bittersweet opener – intimate, stream-of-consciousness frustration and exasperation in Mabel Normand and a hard, funky guitar riff that Rage Against The Machine wouldn’t sniff at (the six-minute barnstormer I Don’t Care).

Her intimate delivery frequently disarms, be it alongside Mac-style vocal harmonies in Carousel, recorded for Nicks’ mother, or the soul-baring uncertainty of Lady, a simple acoustic ballad with plodding piano.

A slinky, upbeat Mississippi bar feel excites in Cathouse Blues and there’s an elegant drive to the title track.

In spite of its length, these reshaped, refined offcuts only serve to bolster Nicks’ impressive catalogue.

Rating: 4/5

Reviews, Solo Activity, Stevie Nicks, UK Articles

Album review: 24 Karat Gold: Songs from the Vault by Stevie Nicks | Yorkshire Evening Post (UK)

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Yorkshire Evening Post (UK)
by James Nuttall

Fleetwood Mac may have just started a mammoth tour of the United States, their first with songbird Christine McVie in 17 years, but Stevie Nicks has still managed to release a new solo album, this month.

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24 Karat Gold: Songs From the Vault, is a collection of 14 songs from Nicks’ enormous back catalogue of demos that never made it onto her records- songs which were written between 1969 and 1995.

Recorded over a three-month period, Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart was once again on production duties. After producing her last album, In Your Dreams, which was something of a let-down both musically and lyrically compared to 2001’s Trouble in Shangri-La, 24 Karat Gold makes much more of a statement than both of the aforementioned releases.  Continue reading Album review: 24 Karat Gold: Songs from the Vault by Stevie Nicks | Yorkshire Evening Post (UK) →

Reviews, Solo Activity, Stevie Nicks, UK Articles

Stevie Nicks: 24 Karat Gold | The Times

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Stevie Nicks: 24 Karat Gold – Review

The Times
Album Reviews
Joe Clay
October 4 2014

2/5 Stars

The eighth solo album from the Fleetwood Mac songbird is subtitled Songs from the Vault. It’s a collection of spruced-up versions of demos that Nicks recorded between 1969 and ’87. From the uptempo Starshine to the ploddy AOR of The Dealer it all feels rather half-baked, with only the title track having an ounce of the Mac’s magic. It’s not solely a vanity exercise (Nicks’s raw, nasal delivery is still distinctive), but as with most of these endeavours, there’s a reason why they were originally left in the vault. (Warner Bros, out Mon)

Stevie Nicks 24 K Gold advert

Fleetwood Mac, Reviews, Tour Info, UK Articles

Fleetwood Mac play full gig with Christine McVie for first time since 1997 | NME News

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By Lisa Wright
October 2, 2014 8:35
NME News

The band played the Target Centre in Minneapolis

Fleetwood Mac have played their first full show with original band member Christine McVie since 1997.

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The show took place at the Target Centre in Minneapolis, Minnesota this week (September 30) and comprised a career-spanning, 24-song set including ‘The Chain’ and ‘Gold Dust Woman’.

McVie was introduced by the band, saying “our songbird has returned”, while the keyboard player also took lead vocals on ‘You Make Loving Fun’ and a closing ‘Songbird’ among others.

Fleetwood Mac previously reunited without McVie, who left the band in 1998, for a large-scale tour including several dates at London O2 Arena in September 2013. At one O2 performance, however, McVie joined the band on stage for a rendition of ‘Don’t Stop’.

The show kicks off Fleetwood Mac’s On With The Show tour, which will travel across the US and Canada throughout the remainder of 2014.

No UK tour dates have been announced yet, however the group lead the bookies’ favourites to headline Glastonbury festival next year. Fleetwood Mac are tipped at 4/1, while other favourites to take the Pyramid Stage top billing include Muse, AC/DC and Kate Bush.

Fleetwood Mac, Reviews, Tour Info, UK Articles

Fleetwood Mac is back: Christine McVie sings again as the tour starts anew | The Guardian (UK)

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Dylan Hicks
theguardian.com
Wednesday 1 October 2014

Though Stevie Nicks and the band are older, they opened their first reunited show in 16 years with the hallmark brilliance for playing off each others’ strengths

Stevie Nicks sings at a Fleetwood Mac show in London in 2013. Photograph: Christie Goodwin/Redferns via Getty Images
Stevie Nicks sings at a Fleetwood Mac show in London in 2013. Photograph: Christie Goodwin/Redferns via Getty Images

The key selling point for Fleetwood Mac’s On With The Show tour, which opened on Tuesday at Minneapolis’s Target Center, is that it’s the first in 16 years to include keyboardist and singer-songwriter Christine McVie, lately relieved of her fear of flying and sprung from her doggy English countryside redoubt.

All of the band’s members except taciturn bassist John McVie, Christine’s ex-husband, paid vocal tribute to her over the course of a spirited two-and-half-hour set. “Our songbird has returned,” said drummer Mick Fleetwood during an extended encore. Continue reading Fleetwood Mac is back: Christine McVie sings again as the tour starts anew | The Guardian (UK) →

Fleetwood Mac, Original Content, Reviews, Tour Info

Fleetwood Mac: Live at the O2 London, 27th Sept 2013

A personal account of the Fleetwood Mac show at the O2 in London on Friday 27th Sept 2013 as well as the meet n’ greet with Mick Fleetwood before the show commences…

Mick Fleetwood – Meet & Greet

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The meet n’ greet was scheduled at 17.00, waited for the outside the hall for the longest time whilst the band completed their sound check (supposedly there were having technical issues), so after about hour we get led into the hall and take our seats at the foot of the stage, Mick comes out and welcome us, apologies for the lateness and invites us all up on the stage for a chat and photos, for some reason I was first in the queue (of about 40 people), so I took the stage, stood in the corner by his drum kit, right next to the set list!, which of course hadn’t changed . One thing I noticed straight away was how beautiful Mick’s drum kit is, all brass and well polished, a thing of beauty. Mick then starts talking, a little rambling, mainly talking about his ‘new’ love of coffee as he asks his assistant for a refill, he talked about preferring coffee now instead of alcohol and that for many years his body rebelled against coffee, but now his body lives for coffee, also told us a nice story about when he was trying to court Jenny Boyd back in the mid-sixties that he used to wait for her to finish school whilst he sat in a coffee shop! The photos then start so I am first, walk over to the drum kit with Mick, I thank him for taking the time to do this and he thanks me for coming, two shots and then the next person, so I exit the stage and take my seat. Mick’s assistance is now collecting items for Mick to sign, I hand over two CD booklets, others have their VIP laminate and someone had the Tusk LP. Once Mick has finished the photos, he then comes down to the floor at the foot of the stage to start signing and taking questions. Again I am first with a question…….

Me: “As Chris appeared at the last show, did you record the show and will you release the show on DVD and audio, as we will buy it!”
Mick: No, he rambled about HD and that the audio was recorded and something will end up on YouTube, but no official recording will be made available”

Other questions were taken, one question/comment stayed with me and that was please tell Lindsey that he needs to tour the UK, Mick replied that it was intended, but the backing guitarist was very poorly and they couldn’t reschedule, and that was that.  We were given back our signed items and led out the main concourse ready for the show.

To sum up this section of the night, Mick came across as very likeable, genuine and interested that we had a good time, I felt is was defiantly worth the money as a potential one time only event, now to roll on the show…….

Photos from Show

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Continue reading Fleetwood Mac: Live at the O2 London, 27th Sept 2013 →