Out of the Cradle 30th Anniversay

[aleuzzi]

My encounter with OOTC was entirely unexpected. I’d pretty much given up on FM by then. BEHIND THE MASK embarrassed me and TANGO struck me as a very calculated record—successful, yes, but largely planned as a successful record, which is different than making a great record that happens to be successful.

Before I knew of OOTC’s existence, I saw the Wrong video and thought “Who cares about Lindsey Buckingham right now?” The song underwhelmed me. But when I happened on the cd in a used bin a year or two later, I listened to it then and there before taking it home. I was astonished. Every song was so fresh and crisp. I even liked Wrong in the context of the other songs. To this day, OOTC remains my favorite solo album by any FM member. For what it’s worth, my second favorite is LAW AND ORDER, so there’s that.

Right around the time of OOTC’s release came Love Shines and Heart of Stone, both of which are as good as the best work on OOTC and easily better than anything on BEHIND and TANGO (or even MIRAGE). Again, I wasn’t expecting that kind of quality from FM at that point. Imagine what Christine and Lindsey might have done together! Paper Doll, on the other hand, is as bad as the worst Stevie material on the previous two albums…