#Fleetwood Mac #Mick Fleetwood #John McVie #Christine McVie #blues rock #heavy blues rock #psychedelic blues rock #blues-based pop rock #1970s
Peter Green is gone and he took his blues with him. Which means now Fleetwood Mac have to figure out what their new signature sound will be without him there. It'll take another five years, six albums, and the removal of half the original band for them to find that sound; but for now we have this: Kiln House. For the most part, this is the remaining members of Fleetwood Mac doing damage control. They can't play the blues anymore so what can they do? Well, they can play rock music I guess. Jeremy Spencer has returned to the spotlight after having been accidentally pushed to the side on Then Play On, and for the most part his stuff hems more towards classic rockabilly. He gets a Sun Records sound on "This Is the Rock", pays tribute to Buddy Holly on "Buddy's Song" (a track he credited to Holly's mother), and impersonates the classic vocal doo-wop groups with "Blood on the Floor" and the closing "Mission Bell". They're OK, but they don't really point the way forward. For that, you have to look to Danny Kirwan whose songs are more built around contemporary roots rock than classic 50s rockabilly. "Jewel-Eyed Judy" is the closest song that approaches the bluesy sound of classic Fleetwood Mac but it's not as much of a showcase of guitar pyrotechnics the same way the Green material of old is. It's far more subtle in its attack, which makes for a track that maybe doesn't hit as hard as the best of Green, but certainly makes for intriguing listening. On the same level is "Earl Gray", an instrumental which feels like the natural progressive evolution from the second half of "Oh Well". But if any Kirwan track points toward the future for Fleetwood Mac, it's "Station Man". And that primarily has to do with the uncredited arrival of Christine McVie on vocal and piano work. The woman who will later write "Say You Love Me" and "Don't Stop" isn't an official member of the band yet, but the moment you hear her distinctive voice breaking through the boys' club on the harmonies, it's an immediate attention-grabber that shows the way towards where this band will eventually end up. From: https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/fleetwood-mac/kiln-house/
