*I lost all the notes I wrote for nearly half the album... I'm totally mad.
System went:
[Couple of sentences per track]
[Favourite Tracks]
[Overall impression]
[Inspirations/Visuals/Reminds me of...]
Skip the impression yo...
Overall, it's a very fun album, blending genres like rock/metal/psychedelic/ rock and roll/ pop for their sound. Favourite track is Tooting Bec Wreck for it's chaotic mix of a little bit of everything. These guys are considered Glam Metal and apparently became one of the biggest inspirations for later bands in that genre like Guns and Roses, Skid Row and Poison (according to wikipedia.) They were also Finnish! Front man Michael Monroe's voice totally fooled me!
Tooting Bec Wreck reminded me of Earthworm Jim with it's farm animals and grimey reverbed bass tone introducing the song. You can imagine the band's total lean into childish fun on stage while they performed this.
This is one of those rare albums that seems to tell a full story from first track to last, one that is deeply relatable to those who grew up the same way the character in the story did. Presumably, Dolly herself is the character, which would make sense, considering it conveys all the pain and joy of those moments through her cadence perfectly.
While it's got the distinctive country twang to it's guitar pieces, the bass on some tracks like Early Morning Breeze have real character and I wonder if "Country Bass" is actually a thing. Perhaps it's more to do with the musical composition and not the lyrics, but the album brims with optimism on every track.
It makes me think almost exclusively of that typical American Deep South visuals of small houses and big porches, stretches of dry dusty fields mixed with sand and the simple living people that reside there.
"Here I am" easily my most favourite song on the album. It makes me think of my love, Sophie x
Listened to a lot of Fleetwood Mac, but noticed I don't recognise a single track on this album! Clearly not listened to a lot of Fleetwood Mac. Really somber opening with "Over & Over", straight into a lively lead bass track that has a fun energy to the delivery of the lyrics in The Ledge. Already, this feels like a departure from the typical Fleetwood Mac album of prominent lyrics back by light - but still serious - instrumental ensemble.
"What makes you think I'm the One" sounds like it could have been a Queen song, with Lindsey Buckingham really sounding like Freddie in his delivery of the line that is the same as the song's title; that same punchy attitude that Freddie would have used to match the question being asked.
"It's not that Funny" reminds me more of David Bowie, with the fuzzy guitar songs and the subtly angry lyrics. It's clear that, around this time, Fleetwood Mac were doing a lot to experiment with their sound, which is always encouraged. The tone of the album as a whole seems to flip backwards and forwards from being quite melodramatic to playfully aggressive; "That's all for Everyone" before this track dreamily delivered by Buckingham.
"Sisters of the Moon" at the albums halfway line has near-Pink Floyd epicness with it's closing guitar solo; easily one of my favourite tracks so far. "Brown Eyes" brings everything down again with a steady bassline, dreamy lyrics and soft drums; another favourite.
Appreciated how different this was to Rumors (1977) before it. Despite this, at 20 tracks long, this felt like a drag towards the end, which is a shame, considering it's most 'iconic track', "Tusk", is second from the end.
