So in my first review for the famed I’ll Show You Mine If You Show Me Yours writeoff conceived by MattA75 I’m delving into an album recommended by TheUnknown285 aka Matt. Now my musical tastes revolve largely around hard rock and such genres, but lately I’ve been enjoying classic rock much more than before (I give Guitar Hero and my dad’s Yes CD credit for that). So Fleetwood Mac’s The Dance isn’t really too far from my preferred spectrum anyway. But hey, I’m not going to complain when there are some really high-quality tracks here.
Calling Fleetwood Mac “rock” is sometimes a bit of a stretch; many of their songs have a much more poppy or bluesy air (the emphasis on acoustic guitar helps with that). And while many bands of the time of Fleetwood Mac’s prime tried to show off musical talent in a massive solo or constantly bombard listeners with technical skill (I’m looking at you, Yes), this band is a bit more understated; the solos are long but not flashy, and a lot of the skill is found in brief spurts. The problem is a lack of diversity and depth. Alright, so many bands of the era weren’t exactly philosophers (and if they seemed so, they were stoned), but without the flash of some other bands of the era, Fleetwood Mac could have used a little more creative juice to push this album to the next level. With that said however there’s still a good chunk of stuff to like here.

The Chain starts off the album quite nicely. Building up with a slow intro and a catchy riff, the song eventually pushes into a resounding and catchy chorus: “If you don’t love me now, you will never love me again/ I can still hear you saying you would never break the chain…” For a live album this bluesy song has a strange amount of polish, and I love Lindsey Buckingham’s riffs. Everywhere is a little poppier, but the plucky main riff is irresistible, and the simple chorus of “I wanna be with you everywhere” is oddly catchy. I’m So Afraid could do with a little time trimming (7:45?), and the lyrics cross the line from blues to angsty (“I slip, and I fall, and I die…I never change; I never will…”), but the draw here is Lindsey’s soaring solo which lasts for roughly half of the song. It’s certainly a worthy listen.

Lindsey makes Bleed to Love Her a strong track as well thanks to his plucky all-over-the-place guitar playing, but Big Love shows off even more chops and in my mind is the album’s greatest moment. His speed and skill are apparent in spades, and one easily forgets everything else in the song until a comical “Ooh, ah! Ooh, ah!” spree in the bridge against even more forceful playing from Lindsey. The whole song is excellent thanks to the guitar chops. Say You Love Me starts with some plucky banjo (or is that a nice guitar effect?) playing and an almost country-esque vibe in the verse before the infectious chorus of “When the loving starts and the lights go down/ and there’s not another living soul around/ then you woo me up until the sun comes up/ and you say that you love me…” kicks in. It may not be much of a technical showcase, but it’s good for its hook.

My Little Demon is another excellent track because simply put you’ll be hard-pressed to find a catchier song. The simple upbeat guitar and bass parts keep popping up between the catchy vocal lines: “Hard as a rock, dry as a bone/ big or little, know that I will take you home…” The upbeat guitar solo only helps a stellar song. The album closes with two more strong tracks: Tusk starts off pretty fairly with a tom-heavy piece before erupting into a ridiculous drum solo and then letting the USC Marching Band take center stage with the brass mirroring a catchy guitar part. And once again the vocals can get pretty entertaining with the randomly interspersed screams. Finally Don’t Stop wraps up the album, using the marching band for the first time in this track. The chorus is wildly catchy: “Don’t/ stop/ thinking about tomorrow/ don’t/ stop/ it’ll soon be here…” The horns certainly don’t hurt this track either as they add a little diversity.

This is not to say that this album is perfect; there are certainly flaws to be found. The songs that feature Stevie Nicks on vocals tend to be the weakest not because of her voice but because the band simply fails to add an interesting background. Dreams is a very bland and unremarkable pop track while Rhiannon is simply too long for its own good; at 6:48 it could certainly use a little less repetition and a better chorus than simply repeating the title. Silver Springs doesn’t do much in its 5:41 running time either; it’s a long ballad that just doesn’t have enough emotional impact to get a thumbs-up from me. Of course there are exceptions to this rule; Landslide is quite listenable with only Lindsey’s gentle acoustic work accompanying Stevie’s strong lyrics: “Oh, mirror in the sky, what is love? Can the child in my heart rise above? Can I sail through the changing ocean tides?”. Sweet Girl is a decent track as well thanks to its catchy verse but with no thanks to a bland chorus that simply lacks the verse’s catchiness.

At seventeen tracks and well over an hour of music (well, ok, some of it is the band speaking to the crowd) there’s a lot to like here. While it’s not going to blow any minds, this is quite a worthy purchase for fans of classic rock, pop and/or blues (and if you’re a guitar enthusiast, it couldn’t hurt to hear “Big Love”). And I must thank Matt for the recommendation and MattA75 for this brilliant writeoff.

Final Scores
1. The Chain-87%
2. Dreams-75%
3. Everywhere-83%
4. Rhiannon-76%
5. I’m So Afraid-85%
6. Temporary One-86%
7. Bleed to Love Her-87%
8. Big Love-94%
9. Landslide-86%
10. Say You Love Me-84%
11. My Little Demon-90%
12. Silver Springs-70%
13. You Make Loving Fun-75%
14. Sweet Girl-84%
15. Go Your Own Way-78%
16. Tusk-86%
17. Don’t Stop-89%
4 Stars


Recommended: Yes