182 - Fleetwood Mac - (eponymous)

On my first listen, I started to feel that I was going to struggle to define what is great and what is merely good on the album. How much of the pop sound that I hear on these tracks was of their time and how many of the traits were spread by this album? “Warm Ways” sounds like kd lang 15 years before she made her shift from country to soft rock torch songs. But the instrumentation also reminds me a lot of what I hear on Macca/Wings' Band on the Run, which came out a couple of years before Fleetwood Mac. Considering that they defined much of pop/rock in the later half of the 70's, it can be hard for those of us that came to music after the fact to discern what exactly was ground-breaking.

Lindsey comes across as the master of ceremonies on the album. He bookends it. After the girls completely chill the listener out (“Warm Ways” for Christine and “Landslide” for Stevie), Lindsey comes in and cranks up the jam with “Blue Letter” and “World Turning”. Despite the collection containing numerous soft rock favorites, the album never gets sluggish or too precious.

I'm sorry, but most of the handful of reviews I read about Fleetwood Mac made mention of how the album starts off superbly with Lindsey's “Monday Morning” and how great of a pop song it is. Um, I feel quite “meh” about it. I don't get it. The song seems like a filler song on a Kenny Loggins album.

Songs I Knew I Liked: “Rhiannon,” “Over My Head,” “Say You Love Me,” and “Landslide”

Songs I Now Like: “World Turning”

Songs I Don't Want to Ever Hear Again: None

181 - Bob Marley & the Wailers - Natty Dread

Quintessential sound of Bob Marley. I feel a bit bad that I had completely forgotten that I owned this on CD. In the past, it has been an album that I put on while doing work around the house - uplifting background music. I'm grateful for this time of paying more attention to the music.

The version of “No Woman No Cry” on Natty Dread is done by a younger and a bit more energetic Bob than what is included in the Legend song collection and frequently used on the radio or movies. There is good energy on this album. The tempo tends to stick to mellow shuffles, but the horns and vocals often propel the rhythm or provide bursts to jolt the listener from complacency. The youthful, higher tone in Bob's voice on Natty Dread projects a vitality that is absent from later recordings and from many covers I've heard of some of these songs. I was also a bit surprised with how much the horns sounded ripped from a 70's Detroit soul song (especially on “Revolution”).

Songs I Knew I Liked: “Lively Up Yourself,” “No Woman No Cry,” “Them Belly Full (But We Hungry),” and “Talking Blues”

Songs I Now Like: “So Jah S'eh,” “Natty Dread,” and “Am-A-Do”

Songs I Don't Want to Ever Hear Again: None