Fleetwood Mac's "Trees" May Be "Bare", But They Still Yield Fruit
Written: Dec 06 '08
Product Rating:
Pros: It's a pleasant and consistent album with a few standout songs.
Cons: "Thoughts On a Grey Day" is weak, and a little more polish would help.
The Bottom Line: One of Fleetwood Mac's best early albums, "Bare Trees" sets a modest goal and achieves it fully, being a relaxing and rewarding listen.
floatingcity's Full Review: Bare Trees by Fleetwood Mac
Come 1972, Fleetwood Mac found itself in a rather unusual situation, having gone an entire twelve months without any of its members losing their proverbial marbles (though the band’s curse would rear its head again towards the end of the year; with Danny Kirwan being fired due to his alcoholism – not that the others weren’t enjoying hearty sips now and then). Finally afforded the stability of a consistent line-up, the band returned to the studio and recorded “Bare Trees”; rectifying the flaws that plagued “Future Games” and producing its most consistently enjoyable Kirwan-era album in the process.
Above all else, the biggest relief here is that the group has dispensed with its prog-rock aspirations, meaning that there are no longer any eight-minute ‘atmospheric’ numbers, and those songs that are a tad lengthier usually have enough ideas to justify their running times. Otherwise, the album consists of short and snappy tracks that make their points concisely, with each songwriter showcasing their own unique style, albeit with the cohesiveness that comes from a band recording as a single entity. Amusingly enough, the three main musical genres (Kirwan’s folk-rockers; Bob Welch’s ‘mystical’ explorations and Christine McVie’s pop ditties) are nearly identical to those that personified Fleetwood Mac during its commercial peak – given a little more time to hone its sound, who knows what this incarnation might have gone on to achieve, with nary a California moon-child in sight.
Now having grown fully into his leadership role, Kirwan directs most of the record, scoring half of the writing credits and showing just how much he’s developed. While still being entrenched within the soft-rock mode, his opener “Child of Mine” has a respectable chug to it, combining some reasonably gruff guitar lines with catchy verse and chorus melodies, ever-changing percussion and some tight soloing at its mid-point. The title track is a sibling of sorts, driving at a swift pace with multiple guitar overdubs and an ever-rumbling baseline. Its only real problem is the repetitiveness of the lyrics (Kirwan seems fond of writing one verse and a chorus, then repeating them over and over), an issue that bothers the feedback-initiated “Danny’s Chant” in the opposite manner; substituting a pseudo-Gothic ‘la la la’ mantra whose melody isn’t good enough to endure. However, that’s all washed away by his two ballads: “Sunny Side of Heaven” is a peaceful slice of acoustic bliss, and the melancholic “Dust” features a memorable refrain with lyrics adapted from the Rupert Brooke poem of the same name.
Elsewhere, Bob Welch continues to cement his place in the group, aiming for dark allusions on “The Ghost” while still imbuing the song with a modicum of personality, and creating one of his best works in “Sentimental Lady”. Although the track would hit the charts in the late Seventies as a disco tune, the version here is the superior one, being an initially slight ballad that grows on you more and more with each listen. Granted, a significant chunk of the melody has been pulled from the title piece on “Future Games”, but the smooth flow of the chorus – and its vocal contributions from Christine – are pretty much irresistible.
Speaking of Chris, she’s also made a lot of progress, and her two songs evince both her most surprising and most recognisable sides. The uncharacteristically aggressive “Homeward Bound” extols a preference for home life over being on the road with genuine conviction (though her voice doesn’t sound that comfortable amidst a harder background), and the excellent “Spare Me a Little of Your Love” shows the McVie pop formula falling into place – take a tasteful, warm piano-and-guitar arrangement, ensure both the verses and chorus have unique hooks, leave to simmer, and then leave everyone agape at how simple yet amazingly effective the results are.
In fact, it’s all credit to the band that there’s only one real dud present – the closing “Thoughts On a Grey Day” is a poem recited by an elderly lady (and apparent former neighbour of the group) without any accompaniment, and while it’s not atrocious, there’s no real reason for it to be on the record (despite nicely pointing to its general, autumnal theme). Still, one weak contribution to nine solid ones is a pretty good ratio, making “Bare Trees” an easily likeable listen. Although I’ve shied away from giving it a really high rating (the writing is still a tad unremarkable for my tastes), it’s definitely worthy of recommendation, and “Dust”, “Sentimental Lady” and “Spare Me a Little of Your Love” are musts for any Fleetwood Mac collection. 3 stars.
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