Fleetwood Mac Time

Fleetwood Mac: Bekka Bramlett (vocals); Billy Burnette, Dave Mason (vocals, guitar); Christine McVie (vocals, keyboards); Mick Fleetwood (guitar, drums, percussion); John McVie (bass).
Additional personnel: Lucy Fleetwood (vocals); Michael Thompson (guitar); Fred Tackett (trumpet); Steve Thoma, John Jones (keyboards); Scott Pinkerton (programming); Lindsey Buckingham (background vocals).
Producers includes: Fleetwood Mac, Richard Dashut, Christine McVie, Dave Mason, Billy Burnette.
Recorded at Ocean Way Recording, Hollywood, California.
Personnel: Mick Fleetwood (vocals, guitar, drums, percussion); Bekka Bramlett (vocals); Michael Thompson (guitar); Fred Tackett (trumpet); Steve Thomas, John Jones (keyboards); Lindsey Buckingham (background vocals).
Recording information: Ocean Way Recording Studios, Hollywood, CA; Sunset Sound, Hollywood, CA.
The formidable Fleetwood Mac lineup of Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Nicks, Christine McVie, Mick Fleetwood and John McVie emotionally imploded in 1987 after the release of TANGO IN THE NIGHT. After twelve years of endless touring, romantic melodrama, substance abuse and internal spats, the band deflated when Buckingham quit. Nicks, Fleetwood, Christine and John McVie pressed on, touring with guitarists Billy Burnette and Rick Vito. In 1990 the sextet released BEHIND THE MASK, but Nicks soon abandoned ship, no doubt alleviating the band's costume costs, but leaving a creative hole.
In 1995 Fleetwood Mac struggled back with TIME, featuring Christine, John, Fleetwood, ex-Traffic guitarist Dave Mason, Burnette, and vocalist Bekka Bramlett (daughter of Delaney and Bonnie). Although Christine's crisp songwriting and the steadfast Fleetwood-McVie rhythm section remained, the absence of Buckingham-Nicks is notable. Bramlett is a fair singer but lacks Nicks' potent individuality and though Burnette and Mason wing some crafted Buckingham-type guitar flourishes, they lack Buckingham's dramatic eccentricity. Yet the magic remains on Christine McVie's songs; the keyboardist's beautiful "I Do" and "All Over Again," awash with wistful vocals and lush harmonies, are worthy of any classic Mac album. Mick Fleetwood actually closes TIME "singing" the Bob Geldof-like spoken reverie "These Strange Times."

• Format: CD
• Genre: Rock and Pop