Fleetwood Mac - Japanese Mini-LP Collection (1969-1974) [7x SHM-CD '2013]

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Fleetwood Mac - Japanese Mini-LP Collection (1969-1974) [7x SHM-CD '2013]

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While most bands undergo a number of changes over the course of their careers, few groups experienced such radical stylistic changes as Fleetwood Mac. Initially conceived as a hard-edged British blues combo in the late '60s, the band gradually evolved into a polished pop/rock act over the course of a decade. Throughout all of their incarnations, the only consistent members of Fleetwood Mac were drummer Mick Fleetwood and bassist John McVie – the rhythm section that provided the band with its name. Ironically, they had the least influence over the musical direction of the band. Originally, guitarists Peter Green and Jeremy Spencer provided the band with its gutsy, neo-psychedelic blues-rock sound, but as both guitarists descended into mental illness, the group began moving toward pop/rock with the songwriting of pianist Christine McVie…..

_____________ Fleetwood Mac's Japanese Mini-LP Collection 1969-1974 contains: _____________

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Fleetwood Mac - Japanese Mini-LP Collection (1969-1974) [7x SHM-CD '2013]

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Fleetwood Mac - Then Play On (1969/2013) [WPCR-14579]
FLAC with CUE & LOG - 315 MB | 54:16 mins | MP3 CBR 320 Kbps - 123 MB

allmusic.com says: This Peter Green-led edition of the Mac isn't just an important transition between their initial blues-based incarnation and the mega-pop band they became, it's also their most vital, exciting version. The addition of Danny Kirwan as second guitarist and songwriter foreshadows not only the soft-rock terrain of "Bare Trees" and "Kiln House" with Christine Perfect-McVie, but also predicts Rumours. That only pertains to roughly half of the also excellent material here, though; the rest is quintessential Green. The immortal "Oh Well," with its hard-edged, thickly layered guitars and chamber-like sections, is perhaps the band's most enduring progressive composition. "Rattlesnake Shake" is another familiar number, a down-and-dirty, even-paced funk, with clean, wall-of-sound guitars. Choogling drums and Green's fiery improvisations power "Searching for Madge," perhaps Mac's most inspired work save "Green Manalishi," and leads into an unlikely symphonic interlude and the similar, lighter boogie "Fighting for Madge." A hot Afro-Cuban rhythm with beautiful guitars from Kirwan and Green on "Coming Your Way" not only defines the Mac's sound, but the rock aesthetic of the day. Of the songs with Kirwan's stamp on them, "Closing My Eyes" is a mysterious waltz love song; haunting guitars approach surf music on the instrumental "My Dream"; while "Although the Sun Is Shining" is the ultimate pre-Rumours number someone should revisit. Blues roots still crop up on the spatial, loose, Hendrix-tinged "Underway," the folky "Like Crying," and the final outcry of the ever-poignant "Show Biz Blues," with Green moaning "do you really give a damn for me?" Then Play On is a reminder of how pervasive and powerful Green's influence was on Mac's originality and individual stance beyond his involvement. Still highly recommended and a must-buy after all these years, it remains their magnum opus.

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Fleetwood Mac - Japanese Mini-LP Collection (1969-1974) [7x SHM-CD '2013]

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Fleetwood Mac - Kiln House (1970/2013) [WPCR-14580]
FLAC with CUE & LOG - 196 MB | 34:33 mins | MP3 CBR 320 Kbps - 79 MB

allmusic.com says: Fleetwood Mac was still primarily a blues band on this, their first album after the departure of founder/nominal leader Peter Green. But the remaining members, Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Jeremy Spencer, and Danny Kirwan (plus McVie's wife, Christine, not yet officially part of the group) started broadening the band's use of blues into other contexts, and adding new influences in the absence of Green's laser-like focus. Jeremy Spencer's fascination with American rock & roll manifests itself on the album opener, "This Is the Rock" (which crosses paths with Elvis Presley's Sun Records sides), whilst "Hi Ho Silver" is a higher-wattage shouter covering the same territory that Spencer explored with the band (sans Green) on "Someone's Gonna Get Their Head Kicked in Tonight," only with a little more subtlety and grace; and his tribute to Buddy Holly, "Buddy's Song," even outdoes the classic Joe Meek/Mike Berry "Tribute to Buddy Holly" as a memorial to the late rock & roll star – and it was always too good and sincere to be mistaken for part of any oldies revival. "Jewel Eyed Judy" and "Earl Gray" are two superb showcases for Danny Kirwan, the former as a vocalist and player and the latter as a composer and guitarist in tandem with Spencer, in what was a pretty good successor to the Green-era instrumental hit "Albatross." "One Together" shows off a harmony-vocal side to this band that was something new in 1970, on one of the prettiest tunes they ever had to work with. And Kirwan gets the spotlight once again as a guitarist on the hard-rocking "Tell Me All the Things You Do." The album ends with the lyrical, relaxed McCartney-esque folky pop of "Mission Bell," which seemed to point the way toward their future direction. None of this may be as intense as the music they cut with Peter Green running the show, but in its relaxed way Kiln House represents the same virtuoso blues-rock outfit having a little fun while making a record – think of it as roughly Fleetwood Mac's equivalent to the Rolling Stones' Between the Buttons.

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Fleetwood Mac - Japanese Mini-LP Collection (1969-1974) [7x SHM-CD '2013]

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Fleetwood Mac - Future Game (1971/2013) [WPCR-14581]
FLAC with CUE & LOG - 275 MB | 42:29 mins | MP3 CBR 320 Kbps - 95 MB

allmusic.com says: By the time of this album's release, Jeremy Spencer had been replaced by Bob Welch and Christine McVie had begun to assert herself more as a singer and songwriter. The result is a distinct move toward folk-rock and pop; Future Games sounds almost nothing like Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac. Bob Welch's eight-minute title track, featuring lead guitar from Danny Kirwan, has one of Welch's characteristic haunting melodies, and with pruning and better editing, it could have been a hit. Christine McVie's "Show Me a Smile" is one of her loveliest ballads. Initial popular reaction was mixed: the album didn't sell as well as Kiln House, but it sold better than any of the band's first three albums in the U.S. In the U.K., where the original lineup had been more successful, Future Games didn't chart at all; the same fate that would befall the rest of its albums until the Lindsey Buckingham-Stevie Nicks era.

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Fleetwood Mac - Japanese Mini-LP Collection (1969-1974) [7x SHM-CD '2013]

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Fleetwood Mac - Bare Trees (1972/2013) [WPCR-14582]
FLAC with CUE & LOG - 213 MB | 37:17 mins | MP3 CBR 320 Kbps - 85 MB

allmusic.com says: Arguably the first consistently strong album Fleetwood Mac ever recorded – all the way back into the Peter Green/Jeremy Spencer era, the Mac's albums had previously consisted of individual moments of brilliance in a sea of uninspired filler – 1972's Bare Trees is also the album where the band finally defines its post-blues musical personality. Low-key but less narcoleptically mellow than 1971's sleepy Future Games, Bare Trees is a singer/songwriter album in the traditional early-'70s style, backed up with just enough musical muscle to keep from sounding like weedy soft rock in the manner of Bread or Cat Stevens. This is the one Fleetwood Mac album on which singer/guitarist Danny Kirwan is the dominant figure, writing five songs to Chistine McVie and Bob Welch's two apiece. Impressively, all three writers get off a small masterpiece on side two; McVie's "Spare Me a Little of Your Love" sounds like a dry run for the string of hits she would start writing with 1975's Fleetwood Mac, and it's her first really good pop song. By comparison, Kirwan and Welch's best songs are all-time career highlights. Kirwan's "Dust" combines a gentle, gliding melody with resigned, melancholy lyrics and his most memorable chorus. Welch's "Sentimental Lady" was, of course, his first solo hit in its 1977 re-recorded version, but this original take is far superior, and one of the great lost pop songs of the early '70s. Outfitted with a terrific vocal melody, hooks galore, and an impressive tremolo guitar solo, "Sentimental Lady" is perhaps a little trite lyrically, but it's a heartfelt and lovable tune regardless, and the best thing Fleetwood Mac did in the years between "Albatross" and "Over My Head." The rest of the album is less magical, but the instrumental "Sunny Side of Heaven" and the downright funky "Danny's Chant" are impressive in their use of atmospheric arrangements and so point toward the subtle but effective production choices that would make Fleetwood Mac and Rumours among the most listenable albums of their time. Bare Trees isn't in that league, but it shows that after five years of false starts and failed experiments, Fleetwood Mac were finally on their way.

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Fleetwood Mac - Japanese Mini-LP Collection (1969-1974) [7x SHM-CD '2013]

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Fleetwood Mac - Penguin (1973/2013) [WPCR-14583]
FLAC with CUE & LOG - 242 MB | 36:20 mins | MP3 CBR 320 Kbps - 82 MB

allmusic.com says: Fleetwood Mac's first album made after the departure of Danny Kirwan features the additions of guitarist Bob Weston and singer Dave Walker. By now Bob Welch and Christine McVie were the dominant forces in the band, and all traces of blues-rock were gone, replaced by Welch's hypnotic melodies and McVie's romantic sentiments married to up-tempo pop tunes. This album gave Fleetwood Mac its best U.S. chart showing yet, but the wonder is that this phase in the band's career wasn't even more popular.

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Fleetwood Mac - Japanese Mini-LP Collection (1969-1974) [7x SHM-CD '2013]

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Fleetwood Mac - Mystery To Me (1973/2013) [WPCR-14584]
FLAC with CUE & LOG - 322 MB | 48:15 mins | MP3 CBR 320 Kbps - 108 MB

allmusic.com says: At this point, the band was best-known as a British blues unit. Slowly but surely the band was becoming more acclimated with a production style that was reminiscent of the California pop sound. With the majority of the blues and psychedelic behind them, Mystery to Me finds Fleetwood Mac in a more ruminative vein. American guitarist Bob Welch established that path. Despite the all-encompassing ethos, Welch's songwriting skills made him walk a fine line between the mystical and the silly. But luckily most everything works here. The leadoff song, the laid-back "Emerald Eyes" matches Welch's spacey lyrics and vocals as Christine McVie provides great backing help. The album's best track, the gorgeous and lyrically strong "Hypnotized" has Welch matching an effortless, soothing croon with jazzy guitar riffs. Throughout Mystery to Me the amazing and almost telepathic drums and bass of Mick Fleetwood and John McVie give this effort more panache and muscle than was represented on this effort's predecessor, Bare Trees. The best Bob Welch offering, "Keep on Going," has a strong, soulful string arrangement and Christine McVie's customary sensual and poised vocals. The only weak spot is the ill-advised cover of "For Your Love" that's steeped in hackneyed, post-psychedelic style. Mystery to Me's interesting sound is directly attributed to the fact that it was recorded on the Rolling Stones Mobile Unit. This effort is custom-made for those who like thoughtful offerings and is a valuable set in the scheme of the band.

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Fleetwood Mac - Japanese Mini-LP Collection (1969-1974) [7x SHM-CD '2013]

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Fleetwood Mac - Heroes Are Hard To Find (1974/2013) [WPCR-14585]
FLAC with CUE & LOG - 243 MB | 39:40 mins | MP3 CBR 320 Kbps - 91 MB

allmusic.com says: Although this was Bob Welch's last album with the band he had worked with since 1971, it sounds like he's at his peak. Pared down to a foursome for the first and (as of 2002) only time since the addition of Danny Kirwan, both Welch and Christine McVie contribute some of their finest songs. Bolstered by sympathetic self-production and imaginative, often aggressive arrangements that include brassy horns on the title track (a blatant but failed attempt at a hit single), the album is one of their most cohesive yet diverse. Welch continues his fascination with UFOs in a sort of follow-up to Mystery to Me's "Hypnotized" called "Bermuda Triangle" and even heads into a spacy Hendrix "Third Stone From the Sun" groove on "Coming Home." Christine McVie is in wonderful voice on her own ballads like "Prove Your Love" but outdoes herself on the magnificent "Come a Little Bit Closer," a stunning track whose grandeur is heightened by strings and McVie's majestic piano. It's a hidden classic and pedal steel by the Flying Burrito Brothers' Sneaky Pete Kleinow is an unexpected and perfect addition to the album's most fully realized tune. Welch's folk-pop "She's Changing Me" is one of his most upbeat, memorable melodies, offset by the rocker "Silver Heels" and his closing "Safe Harbor," a knowing nod back to Peter Green's atmospheric work on "Albatross" and his contributions to Then Play On. McVie's haunting rocker "Bad Loser" is reinforced by the propulsive rhythm section of Mick Fleetwood and John McVie, both adding tense bite to even the most tender of ballads. Welch left soon after the album's release, and the group went on to bigger and better things, but Heroes is a minor gem that retains its effortless pop charms and contains some buried jewels in the extensive Fleetwood Mac catalog.