Somebody say "Peter Green"??? (that's like the Bat-signal for me!!
)
For someone who has just gotten into Fleetwood Mac, yes, I can understand how the various incarnations sound dissimilar. Especially if you listen to "Mr. Wonderful" and then "Tusk" back-to-back. However, you also have to understand that they didn't make those changes overnight...they were all gradual changes...they kind of faded from one to another, rather than abruptly changed. Why change the name? The two guys who the band is named after have been there (for the most part) all along.
Like John alluded to, the only real stretch in "sound" is from the blues years to the pop sound. "Kiln House", their first album without Peter Green, for the most part, really isn't that far away from the Rumours sound...the subsequent album "Future Games", despite another personnel change, again is even CLOSER to the "Rumours' sound, etc, etc. Christine's tunes have been extremely consistent since she joined..."Show Me A Smile" isn't a far stretch from "Songbird"; "Dissatisfied" (from Penguin) isn't that far off in sound from "Don't Stop", etc.
That's the fun of being a long-time Fleetwood Mac fan...I can listen to nothing but Fleetwood Mac, and it sounds like I'm listening to 5 or 6 different, but in some ways, similar sounding, bands!
Again, I agree with John, "Time Traders" or "Destiny Road" would be good starting places for Splinter Group material...even "Soho Session" is a good live album...they play both new & old material on that one. But, really the best is to start at the beginning with the first PGSG album; and get them in chronological order...that way your ears grow with Peter as he makes his comeback. His style, though still blues based, is significantly more reserved than how he was playing when he left Fleetwood Mac.
I'm really looking forward to "The Cold 100" album...the growth of the band as a whole, and Peter himself, between "DR" & "TT" was something to behold. From what I've read, Peter's playing even BETTER now, he's been even blowing away his own band members!
For his older post-FMac material, I'd recommend either "In The Skies" or "Little Dreamer" first...they are the most "accessible" sounding of that era. There are SO many compilations and reissues of that 1977-1981 era it'll make your head spin...but one of the better compilations is called "Green & Guitar"...a good sampler from the era...but I still recommend getting the full albums, since some of the better material, for some reason, doesn't seem to show up on most of the compilation albums.
I'd recommend holding off from getting "End Of The Game" until the end, it is a VERY "acquired taste" compared to his later solo works. IF you like the "Searching for..." and "Fighting for..." Madges on "Then Play On" and the extended jams of the live "Boston Tea Party" shows, then you may enjoy it sooner rather than later.
In summary,
, here's two suggestion lists as to the order to get Peter Green's post-Mac stuff, one for his 1977-1981 material, one for the PGSG stuff...actually, both lists are in chronological order:
1977-1981:
In The Skies
Little Dreamer
Whatcha Gonna Do
White Sky
PGSG:
First PGSG album (what I affectionately refer to as "the Blue Album" )
Me & The Devil Blues (a reissue of both "Robert Johnson Songbook" & "Hot Foot Powder" together...which, logically, is the way to go)
Soho Session
Destiny Road
Time Traders
Blues Don't Change (at this point, is only available from the PGSG website)
Reaching The Cold 100
If you really get the "completist" bug, then, go back & get:
End Of The Game (another reason I'd put this one off is that I've read where there's talk of reissuing it as a 2 disc set with an entire second disc of "outtakes", which one person who heard the stuff said that there is stuff that DIDN'T make the original album that was actually MUCH better than most of the material that DID!!)
Blue Guitar (only place you can get the single version of "Apostle" on CD)
Legend (has songs that weren't released on other 1977-81 era albums)
Kolors
Katmandu
Happy listening!!
