Description

Have you ever wondered what guitarists do when they leave Fleetwood Mac? Well, unlike Peter Green and Danny Kirwan who both, literally, disappeared without trace, Bob Welch comes up with a sublime debut album at a time when he quit the band because he was allegedly burnt out through touring and the stresses of being in Fleetwood Mac.The opening song on the album "Sentimental Lady", dates from 1972 and if ever there was a Fleetwood Mac track that got away this is it. I say that because it features Lindsey Buckingham, Christine McVie and Mick Fleetwood amongst its personnel. It is one of the mostmore… romantic West Coast School of Soft-Rock ballads you will come across, it is absolutely divine and worth the cost of the album alone. Needless to say it was a huge single Stateside when released in 1997.The album also knows how to rock and the remainder of the tracks from 1977 do that with ease and comfortably demonstrate why Bob held the post of riffmeister in one of the best rock and roll bands in the world, and the variety of styles is as ingenious as it is sometimes wryly tongue-in-cheek as no particular avenue is left unexplored, as Bob blends guitar-driven riffs with disco-esque strings (well it was recorded at the height of the disco boom!).The second track "Easy to Fall" is a Joe Walsh-type chugger, whilst "Hot Love, Cold World" has a multi-track acoustic guitar opening sequeing into a funky riff which could have been lifted straight from K.C. & The Sunshine Band. "Lose My Heart" is a 60's style vignette straight out of the Surfin' School of the Beach Boys, and is the opening track of a recurring theme about love running through the album (more of which later). "Outskirts" is the perfect combination of styles of guitar heroes, Welch's onetime stablemate Steve Miller meeting Joe Walsh in a decidedly edgily-paced chugger about the perfect crime and it would have made a good TV police series theme, too! The next track, is for me, the other standout item, and the second single from the album, "Ebony Eyes", which again received huge success in the USA. Imagine an Eagles track but with a Fleetwood Mac chugging rhythm and those disco strings and you have got the flavour of the track but it works oh so well. "Lose Your.." the second of the triology within the album is a melodic Sixties style funky tune and is only three-quarters of a minute long. "Carolene" tries to trade in on "Ebony Eyes" but the key doesn't suit Bob's voice quite so well. "Dancin' Eyes" sees Bob move into full String-drippin' Funk Mode and the track really cooks thanks to some ethereal vocals from Mr. Welch, this seques into "Danchiva" which as you would expect from the title opens with some Russian string passages which dissolve into another guitar riff-laden track as Bob again slips effortlessly in to Steve Miller mode.The closing track "Lose Your Heart" opens with yet another big string tune this time overtly romantic so reminiscent of any Nat "King" Cole/ Nelson Riddle hit before changing into a well-crafted tune which doesn't quite have a reggae backbeat, a plaintive questing song about love with the lines "You made me lose my heart but did you lose your heart to me" in essence the punchline as it were to the recurring theme mentioned earlier.To sum up, the album works really well despite the quaintness of the scoring and the limitations of Bob's voice, which was never as strong as Lindsey Buckingham's, being occasionally exposed. It also makes a fascinating adjunct to the Fleetwood Mac story in its own rightIt is an album which I wore out on vinyl while at University, the CD transfer is exemplary and the set is worth buying for the two singles alone, especially, as a not-so-old romantic, for the glorious opening track. Do give it a listen.

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Category:

Music > Albums

Case Type:

CD

Release Type:

Retail

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Cover Info:

Title:

Bob Welch - French Kiss (2001) Retail CD

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CD

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800 x 800 px

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09/04/07 by allcdcovers

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