Fleetwood Mac - Penguin (1973)



Songs: Remember Me, Bright Fire, Dissatisfied, (I´m a) Road Runner, The Derelict, Revelation, Did You Ever Love Me, Night Watch, Caught in the Rain.

Type of Music: Early Seventies Pop-Rock, sometimes served with a Prog-Rock Sauce courtesy Bob Welch.

Comments:
Danny Kirwan had left The Mac and was replaced by two vocalists what seemed unnecessary with Bob Welch and Christine McVie already on board. Dave Walker contributes with the country song The Derelict while Bob Weston gives us a superfluous version of the famous Road Runner that seems out of place here. He also wrote the instrumental filler Caught in the Rain. Neither Walker nor Weston would stay long in the band and that seems just fine to me.
After a few listens however the rest of the Album  grows on you. Christine´s Remember Me, Did You Ever Love Me (with Steve Nye on Steel-Drums) and Dissatisfied that sounds like an earlier version of Don't Stop are generic - but well written pop songs. And I´ve come to like some of the Bob Welch songs on this album, especially Revelation driven by the famous Fleetwood/McVie rhythm section and Night Watch that would have fitted well on any of the earlier Crosby/Stills/Nash albums.
This album really sounds close to Rumours and it now becomes clear why Stevie Nicks and Lindsay Buckingham would fit in so well in Fleetwood Mac. To sum it up, Penguin is simply a pleasant pop-rock album vastly underrated by both fans and critics alike.   

Who should buy this Record:  If you like Rumours, give this one a try. It might be a bit difficult to find.  

Rating: *******1/2 (7.5 out of 10)

No comments: