To my thinking 'Penguin' is the most uneven of the Bob Welch era albums, but I still love to listen to it. It's true that it's short, only nine songs, one of which is (almost) an instrumental. To my ear the two Dave Walker songs feel uncomfortably out of place, but when you think about the history of the Mac, they were constantly adding new singer/songwriters, and Dave was one they added who lasted for just a blink of an eye. "Derelict" is a good song, I think "Road Runner" is a real throwaway.
I think Chris's songs on here are particularly strong, and I think the wonderful faux-Caribbean treatment of "Did You Ever Love Me" shows the band were trying new musical ideas and branching out. The one defining characteristic of Fleetwood Mac over their history is you can't define them.
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-Joanne (from Cape Cod)
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