you told me to...future games

[littlewolf]

when i joined this board,my first posting was on favorite pre -75 album.
all i really wanted was for you to confirm my thought that i should buy kiln house,but no,you thought it´d be better to get future games.
now i have and here´s my opinion on it:
color of the sleeve is light green although i thought it should´ve been yellow.
maybe it´s been released on several colors.
back cover has got pictures of all members except john mcvie which is replaced by a picture of penguin,the first time?
it doesn´t include any writing credits,which is very annoying,
sleevenotes mention lay it all down as bob welch song,show me a smile christine song and including three danny songs woman of 1000 years,sometimes,sands of time. my guess is all songs are single credits,
at least danny always wrote alone and christine often.
the songs:
woman of 1000 years
lenght 5.28 not 8.20 like the sleeve says,lenghts are almost every time wrong.
opens with acoustic intro,song is build upon acoustic guitars,electric giving color,song has a spacey feeling. there´s no drums and only little percussion.
danny´s voice is either doubletracked or or with himself on backing vocals all the time.
morning rain
opens with piano,lenghty intro before christine´s voice comes on.
after about 1 minute tempo picks up and bob welch´s guitar becomes more prominent,christine plays excellent boogie piano,but it´s low in the mix.
mick´s drums are almost inaudible in the mix,you can hear cymbals and hi-hat.
what a shame
john perfect (is it chris´relative?)on sax which is the lead instrument on this instrumental. to me this sounds as if it is just a piece of jam,cut to make it as a song. muddy mix.
future games
electric guitar intro,half whispered vocals,on chorus vocals are semi falsetto and layered so that i can´t hear the words.
guitar paints wonderful atmosphere like on woman of 1000 years only this time with electric guitars.bob welch on vocals
sands of time
intro fades in,thudding rhythm,not really moving until 2 min. into the song when mick changes rhythm.
danny´s vocals seem bit uninspired,guitar work is very good throughout the song.
sometimes
country tinged intro,christine´s piano most upfront so far.
danny uses bit more power on vocals than on others.
piano and slide guitar keep country flavors on top though rhythmically it´s not a country song.
best song on the album!
lay it all down
guitar or distoted bass intro,john bass is buried under rhythm guitar.
most rocking song on the album,this is the strenght of album,when other songs stand by lesser songs,it gives them legitimacy,on singles these kinda songs would be a throwaways.
it´s good to have a faster song on the album to liven it up a bit,but otherwise not very good song.
show me a smile
christine´s electric piano is barely noticable,but i love those little bits you can hear here and there.
lyrically it´s written to a baby boy,very touching.i wonder does she have a sister who would´ve had a baby about that time?
christine´s melodic sense is already in place,but her songs are similar to danny´s.
on bare trees her own style is more developed as are her vocals.
in my opinion her vocals and songwriting and looks became evermore better as the years progressed.

so there you go,NOW then,do you think i should get mystery to me or kiln house?

[macfan 57]

That's an interesting review. In answer to a few of your questions, John Perfect is Christine's older brother and I believe Chris wrote "Show Me A Smile" for her nephew, possibly even Dan Perfect(from In The Meantime) since he was about 4 or 5 years old at that time. Also, Future Games was released with a blue/green cover & a yellow cover. I have both releases on vinyl.

By all means, get Mystery To Me. I think Kiln House is a nice, fun, little album. But, Mystery To Me is my favorite Fleetwood Mac album. Bob & Chris combined superbly on this record. I think it's the best thing Fleetwood Mac ever did.

[Gailh]

Originally Posted by macfan 57

That's an interesting review. In answer to a few of your questions, John Perfect is Christine's older brother and I believe Chris wrote "Show Me A Smile" for her nephew, possibly even Dan Perfect(from In The Meantime) since he was about 4 or 5 years old at that time. Also, Future Games was released with a blue/green cover & a yellow cover. I have both releases on vinyl.

By all means, get Mystery To Me. I think Kiln House is a nice, fun, little album. But, Mystery To Me is my favorite Fleetwood Mac album. Bob & Chris combined superbly on this record. I think it's the best thing Fleetwood Mac ever did.

I always wondered if Show me a Smile was written for Chris' half brother Cyrill? he may have been born around that time.

Gail

[fanmael]

Future Games, more than Kiln House showed me the band can carry on after the loss of Peter and Jeremy and still come up with the goods.

Danny Kirwan shined the most on Future games. Bob Welch said Woman of a Thousand Years was Danny at his best.

The highlight of the album for me is Danny's moving Sands of Time. The lyrics to this track are so evocative and filled with imagery and the music goes through several tempo changes. My fav part of the track is around the 5.20 mark after Danny sings "we will go right down to the sea" and the opening riff returns. Brilliance!

While Bob and christine more than held there own on Future Games, it is Danny who makes this album!!

[sharksfan2000]

I agree with fanmael that Danny's songs make this album - arguably his three best post-Green songs (hard to compare his songs from the two periods, they're so different). And I also love that passage in "Sands Of Time" - Danny's guitar work between about 5.20 to 6.00 into the song is really beautiful.

Now when are we ever going to see a remastered CD?? The muddy mix on this album has always annoyed me - it could be so much better with cleaner sound!

[HomerMcvie]

Originally Posted by fanmael

Bob Welch said Woman of a Thousand Years was Danny at his best.

I agree. Woman of a Thousand Years is my favorite song on the album.

[becca]

My Future Games sounds great to me... it seems to be the regular U.S. copy too. The vocals are all clear but I can see how this could easily come out muddy. The times listed all seem correct within a couple of seconds too. Strange...

I like Sands Of Time best myself with Future Games not far behind. Basically this would be a good pre 1975 intro album only if you are big on Yes and King Crimson and prog rock in general. I will always think of this as their prog-rock album. Probably Mystery To Me is the best one to steer people who are big on Buckingham-Nicks to, while And Then Play On for me would be a good place for older listeners familiar with R&B to begin but who haven't been into purer blues. Heroes Are Hard To Find might well appeal greatly to say Metallica fans.

There is such a variety to the albums from 1969-1974 that there are several entry points and to pick one as a favorite is more like saying what kind of music you're into listening to at this time.

I guess the penguin in place of John's face might mean he was at the zoo a lot. That's the first penguin appearance I know of.

[wondergirl9847]

Originally Posted by HomerMcvie

I agree. Woman of a Thousand Years is my favorite song on the album.

It's my favorite Danny FM song. The vocal is so amazing and the music is very soothing. I adore it.

[joshywashy377]

Originally Posted by fanmael

Danny Kirwan shined the most on Future games. Bob Welch said Woman of a Thousand Years was Danny at his best.

The highlight of the album for me is Danny's moving Sands of Time. The lyrics to this track are so evocative and filled with imagery and the music goes through several tempo changes. My fav part of the track is around the 5.20 mark after Danny sings "we will go right down to the sea" and the opening riff returns. Brilliance!

While Bob and christine more than held there own on Future Games, it is Danny who makes this album!!

Thats a good way to put it. Danny absolutely shined on this album. Woman of 1000 years is calm perfection and sands of time is another awesome one (i like the same part you do, the we will go.... its very catchy!)

[ThePenguin]

Originally Posted by Gailh

I always wondered if Show me a Smile was written for Chris' half brother Cyrill? he may have been born around that time.

Gail

I think he was born in 1973. (In a 1987 interview, Chris said he was 14 and an aspiring composer. )

-Lis

[Gailh]

Originally Posted by ThePenguin

I think he was born in 1973. (In a 1987 interview, Chris said he was 14 and an aspiring composer. )

-Lis

Oh maybe not Cyrill then! He wouldn't even have been a twinkle in his dad's eye!

Gail

[aleuzzi]

Originally Posted by littlewolf

NOW then,do you think i should get mystery to me or kiln house?

Okay, litttlewolf, go buy Mystery. It is, as MacFan says, excellent in almost every way. But I also need to put a plug in for Kiln House which remains one of my favs in the whole band catalog. It stands alone insofar as there's very little in the band's prior history (1968-early 70) that suggests this sound would emerge. I suppose one could say all the evidence for Jeremy's sun sound parodies and his earnest tributes to Buddy Holly could be predicted by listening to his first solo album, but in terms of Mac albums, Kiln House was a first. And after it, you get Future Games, which is as removed from Kiln House's earthy, unpolished, occasionally blistering rock as the more mysterious, atmospheric feel of Heroes are Hard to Find is from Mac's rock-pop crossover white album a year later.

In my opinion, Kiln House does effortlessly what the Rolling Stones's "Exile On Mainstreet" tries to accomplish more deliberately: it presents a virtually ego-less suite of stripped-down rock and roll. Buy it!