Monday, 8/25/97 Soundbites
Fleetwood Mac "The Dance" (Reprise) Before you start getting all
cynical, recalling how you’re still broke from paying $100 for that
awfully-contrived Eagles "Hell Freezes Over" reunion tour, let’s
give Fleetwood Mac a chance to explain themselves. The original,
"Rumours" era line-up has kissed and made up for "The Dance," a
17-track concert taped over three days in a Burbank soundstage
(ahem, like the Eagles) for an MTV special. It has money written
all over it, you would think, especially when the biggest group of
the 1970s reforms to bring back the magic that enabled their
"Rumours" album to sell 17 million copies in the United States
alone. Surely after all the break-ups this band endured, all the
drug problems band members suffered, only big bucks could get these
five troubled souls onstage again, right? Just ask the Sex Pistols
and the Eagles … there’s no need to cover up the financial
motivations. Well, Fleetwood Mac have decided to use "The Dance" to
tell their story, and what a beautiful story it is. Singer Stevie
Nicks, guitarist/singer Lindsey Buckingham, singer/keyboardist
Christine McVie, bassist John McVie and drummer Mick Fleetwood have
flawlessly re-created the pain of the past, thrown in a lot of hope
and have come full circle in an emotionally charged concert which
genuinely aims to confront and conquer old demons. Fleetwood Mac’s
live "reunion" album, unlike those bankable, thrown-together live
albums of their ’70s contemporaries, is an epiphany brilliantly
captured, unmatched in its honesty and harmony this year, save U2’s
spiritually euphonic "Pop" or Radiohead’s thematically sweeping "OK
Computer." The album’s opener, "The Chain," is a gritty – and
perfect – opener (with Buckingham and Nicks earnestly proclaiming,
"And if you don’t love me now/ you will never love me again/ I can
still hear you saying/ we will never break the chain"), full of
delicious irony in light of their pre-"Rumours" break-up. The
mellow yet potent "Dreams" follows, with the raspy-sounding Nicks
convincing you with her every perfectly hit note that this is for
real. In fact, Nicks’ clear and soaring vocals almost steal the
show from her bandmates, if only they didn’t do such a damn fine
job in musically complimenting her passion. "Landslide" (and you
thought it was a Smashing Pumpkins song) is a mesmerizing duet
between Buckingham’s subtle acoustic guitar and Nicks’ touching
coming-of-age prose and near-tears vocal delivery. The chilling,
stunning "Rhiannon" is even more passionate than the album version,
displaying both Nicks’ glowing vocal variations and amazing
songwriting skill that climaxes with urgency. The optimism on the
album pops up mostly in Christine McVie’s songs, like the
pleasantly-poppy love song, "Everywhere" and the old favorite, "You
Make Loving Fun." The real emotion, though, comes in on her new,
jangly "Temporary One," which fantastically characterizes the
break-up and reunion with its realized lyrics ("The river goes on
and on/ and the sea that divides us is a/ temporary one/ and the
bridge will bring us back together"). And what about those "new
songs?" Well, they kick ass too. "My Little Demon" is a spunky
little number, which takes the theme of confronting haunting pasts
in a more lighthearted affair. Nicks’ sincere "Silver Springs"
(actually a "Rumours" outtake) glistens with feeling. "Bleed To
Love Her," the Lindsey Buckingham solo work that helped initiate
the reformation of Fleetwood Mac, is a folky and upbeat number. And
in "Sweet Girl," Nicks’ perfectly melodic voice highlights her
richly personal lyrics. Lindsey Buckingham has a few rock-tinged
contributions on "The Dance," like the Pink Floyd-esque "I’m So
Afraid" and the darker "Big Love," where eerie and intense guitars
offer a change from the sunny folk-pop of their bigger hits.
Buckingham comes full throttle with "Go Your Own Way," a soaring,
anthematic song which sounds even better live, proving the members
of Fleetwood Mac may have gone their own ways but this time the
bitterness is replaced by respect and understanding. It is at the
end, though, where "The Dance" is at its most celebratory (if you
can separate the fact that the marching band in the background is
from USC). "Tusk" is a percussion standout, a battle cry for
Buckingham and Fleetwood Mac that roars and drives. The album ends
and climaxes with the crowd-pleasing classic, "Don’t Stop," with
the band promising "it will be better than before …" Usually,
live albums don’t flow with an understood backdrop or theme like
"The Dance," save Nirvana’s "Unplugged in New York" or maybe U2’s
"Under a Blood Red Sky." Fleetwood Mac tackle what drove them apart
and to the brink, yet the universal themes of break-up, personal
anguish and eventual reconciliation which apply to all of us. The
moods weave in and out with brilliant contradiction, from one
extreme ("Go Your Own Way") to the other ("Don’t Stop"). What truly
makes "The Dance" work as a story with a happy ending is the band’s
earnest interactions, both musically and lyrically. You can feel
the smiles and the tears through the chorus of harmonies and
rhythms, which rarely works in a live setting on an album. "The
Dance" works as a colorful, musical textbook, telling the history
of a band finding redemption and hope through reflection,
uncertainty-plagued imagery and mature revelation. But most of all,
it is a stirring piece of musical work that moves the listener with
its enthusiasm, unpretentiousness and tunefulness. Hell has frozen
over, indeed. Mike Prevatt A+ Paul Weller "Heavy Soul" (Island)
Paul Weller, ex-Jam member from the ’60s-’70s, remains one of the
few artists who has not heeded the calls of modern music. In stead,
"Heavy Soul" symbolizes extreme, ’60s classic rock in the ’90s.
With a sound that might be described as a British Neil Young,
Weller plays low on emotion but can still write great songs. The
title track is a good example of Weller’s easy-going guitar rock,
which he compliments with his killer prose ("We’re words upon a
window/ written there in steam/ in the heat of the moment/ at the
birth of a dream"). His ballads ("Driving Nowhere") strum nicely
and his rockers ("Brushed") borrow from all the old British rock
acts (the Who, the Jam). String arrangements and some soulful
R&B flavors accentuate other songs in what comes across as
hippie nostalgia. Weller symbolizes the aging poet still kickin’ it
with style and class. Mike Prevatt B