As regular readers know, every three months I do a rundown of every new acquisition I've made, reviewing what's been taking up the majority of my listening hours. Since this round overlaps with the end of the year, I'm going to do an abbreviated rundown for the most recent purchases—more abbreviated than usual, at least. First up will be a look at my favorite purchases of the last couple months, then a look at the rest. Later this month I'll do my year-end look and a look forward to next year.
In the last two months I've picked up fifteen albums: four were 2007 releases, one from 2005, and the rest were musical blind spots. Looking at this haul, can I just mention that I love the Beverly Hills library? Eight of the albums above were borrowed from the library. If you're looking to educate yourself musically, you might want to check out your own library and see what you can find.
The last couple months have been pretty good for my music collection. None of these albums were turkeys, I'm happy to say, though some did stick around in my iPod longer than others. Come back a little later today and I'll begin with the best of the bunch. Tomorrow, the rest.
Have you listened to Buckingham's solo albums post-Mac? Truly GOOD.
It's an odd guilt-by-association Buckingham's got stanked on him.
Posted by: bdr | December 03, 2007 at 06:23 AM
Really all I've heard is Rumors and Tusk, and both make it plain that Buckingham is the best thing about this band. Any recommendations on where to start with his solo stuff?
Posted by: scott pgwp | December 03, 2007 at 08:06 AM
92's Out of the Cradle (yes, Whitman allusion) and 06's Under the Skin are both terrific.
His first two not so much.
Posted by: bdr | December 03, 2007 at 10:31 AM
I think to most R.E.M. fans (even the neophytes), Around the Sun is most definitely a turkey. The two albums prior to that had at least a few redeeming songs, but that one sounds like it had the life sucked right out of it.
Posted by: baconfat | December 03, 2007 at 11:38 AM
I'll have a little more to say about REM and Fleetwood Mac (and the rest) in tomorrow's post...
Around the Sun is definitely REM's worst album, but it does have some redeemable qualities. I also think the two previous albums had more to offer than "a few redeeming songs." Reveal gets a bum rap.
bdr - thanks for the rec's.
Posted by: scott pgwp | December 03, 2007 at 12:17 PM
Don't sell the Stevie Nicks songs short. Granted, even she admits that a lot of their quality comes from the settings Buckingham gave them. (She was asked once about the fall off in quality in her songs after, say, Tusk, and she said it was because "that was when Lindsay stopped working on my songs" or something--I'm sure I'm botching the quote.) Also, the first Buckingham-Nicks Fleetwood Mac album (called Fleetwood Mac) is first rate.
I wasn't aware Buckingham had any guilt-by-association thing going on. Why would he be seen as "guilty" for having been one of the creative forces behind one of the best bands of the late 70s?? Anyway, his solo stuff has always been fairly well-received (as far as I can remember).
Posted by: Richard | December 03, 2007 at 01:10 PM
Sorry: "Lindsey". I always do that.
Posted by: Richard | December 03, 2007 at 01:12 PM
Maybe a bad choice of term for Buckingham, but Mac is held in disdain - wrongly - b/c of their success: perhaps another example of success = sell-out.
I know people whose taste I trust speak of Mac with nothing but loathing. They say they like some of the songs, but.....
Posted by: bdr | December 03, 2007 at 03:34 PM
That's how I was for a long time. My kneejerk reaction was to hate FM. I still haven't found the album that convinces me they were "one of the best"--I think both Rumors and Tusk are hit-and-miss affairs, and haven't heard their other albums.
Posted by: scott pgwp | December 03, 2007 at 04:28 PM
And to be fair to Buckingham and Nicks, some of the loathers never got past Peter Green leaving the band in its first incarnation, or the move from blues-based to pop-based.
Posted by: bdr | December 03, 2007 at 06:04 PM