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Penguin

Fleetwood Mac - Penguin Audio CD

A fair review of the Fleetwood Mac "Penguin" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Fleetwood Mac reviews here, or go back to the Fleetwood Mac tabs.

Band: Fleetwood Mac
Title: Penguin
Rating:

Release Date: 1990-03-22
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Remember Me 2: Bright Fire 3: Dissatisfied 4: (I'm A) Road Runner 5: Derelict 6: Revelation 7: Did You Ever Love Me 8: Night Watch 9: Caught in the Rain

"PENGUIN": It Doesn't Fly, But It Waddles Nicely
I was already in love with the "Rumours" line up of the band so my mother thought she's enlighten me to the fact the band had existed BEFORE Lindsay or Stevie joined. "Penguin" was the first pre-Lindsay Buckingham/Stevie Nicks Fleetwood Mac album I had ever seen or heard at the age of four. In her record collection was her original copy of "Penguin" which she purchased at the time of it's release. I remember staring at the inside gatefold picture, being intrigued by the unfamiliar faces I saw. There were approximately three of them; Dave Walker, Bob Weston, and Bob Welch. "Penguin" would be Walker's sole album with Mac while Weston would last two albums before being kicked out for having an affair with Mick Fleetwood's wife Jenny. Not a good decision that. Bob Welch had been with the band since 1971 and would last until 1974. "Penguin" was hastily recorded and released at time of great upheaval in Mac's career. . . . AGAIN! With an uneven track sequence and the bizarre addition of Dave Walker, "Penguin" has often been dismissed as the dud of Fleetwood Mac's catalog. That's overstating the case a bit though.

One thing that should always be noted about Fleetwood Mac is that the band has ALWAYS boasted excellent musicians and they have never sucked! Regardless of how their individual albums were received, Mick Fleetwood and John McVie always knew good musicians when they heard them and were always guided by their keen instinct when making these decisions for the good of the band. Dave Walker was added to the band in late 1972 from out of British blues rockers Savoy Brown. Though a curious choice, he wasn't completely a mistake. Walker was talented with chops, had a variety of vocal styles, and could play a mean blues harp. But he was ultimately out of place in Mac. He had been hired on because management had been pushing the group to get a front man, one who could rile up a crowd. Mac was rapidly developing their laid back California pop rock sound, something to which Walker was a bit of a stranger. He was let go before the band proceeded any further, but like all Mac musicians, left his mark during his brief tenure. Bob Weston came from Long John Baldry's group and fit nicely into Mac's lead guitarist lineage (following Peter Green with Danny Kirwan and before Lindsay Buckingham).

Despite all the turmoil, "Penguin" is a fairly good album. Definitely not a record that comes together as a whole but has moments of greatness scattered throughout. Like 1970's "Kiln House," "Penguin" probably could have used a good re-sequencing of it's tracks in order to bring it together. However, the songs stand on their own merit. The Mac member who shines the brightest on "Penguin" is definitely Christine McVie, whose songwriting seemed to be reaching an early peak with this album. She contributed three songs to "Penguin": "Remember Me," "Dissatisfied," and "Did You Ever Love Me. " Both "Remember Me" and "Did You Ever Love Me" were selected as singles in order to promote the album. However Bob Welch, Mac's other main songwriter during this period, would see better days, especially on the group's late '73 follow up album "Mystery To Me. " I saw a review for this album that stated Bob Welch would "put you to sleep" on this one. It's true his songs here are slight, but they're not bad. "Bright Fire" features the same transcendental vibe as 1971's "Future Games," but with less dynamics. "Night Watch" is creepy, haunting, and majestic all at the same time. "Revelation" sounds like Welch trying to conjure up the spirit of Peter Green and only half succeeding. It has a Latin tinged groove that says Bob was under the influence of Santana for this one. Dave Walker's two contributions are what most fans site as the problem with "Penguin. " Referring to the original vinyl, side one closed with Walker's killer rendition of "(I'm A) Road Runner" that features some of his blistering harp work. However, for the start of side two Walker does a complete about face with his folk warble "The Derelict" on which you'll notice, when listening carefully, is MISSING A BASS TRACK! How that happened is anyone's guess. My theory is that John McVie hated the song and flat out refused to work on it, but that's only theory. It's a hummable tune but Walker's lyrics make little sense ("No more get out of here's from a man who hates lady?"). And his singing sounds like an imitation of a folk singer instead of what he was really capable of, which was displayed on "Road Runner" in all it's gruff glory! Putting Walker's two contrasting moments in the spotlight back to back is probably the biggest error "Penguin" makes.

Christie McVie did no wrong at all on "Penguin. " "Did You Ever Love Me" is probably the album's biggest highlight with lyrics offering up heartbroken sentiments of a failed relationship (a theme she'd revisit quite often), it's infectious Caribbean rhythm and melody featuring steel drums that play a fantastic solo during the song's extended coda. As far as great Christine McVie songs go, this one is right up there with her best and should have been a Top Ten hit. "Remember Me" opens the album and "Dissatisfied" is the third song on side one, both insanely catchy! The record closes out with Bob Weston's "Caught In The Rain" which would be the band's last instrumental. Very similar to Danny Kirwan's instrumentals on previous Mac albums, it is a beautiful piece with hushed blowing scat harmonies by Bob Welch and Christine McVie.

"Penguin" doesn't deserve the bad rap it gets but it's not one of Mac's best. This album gets a recommendation on the strength of Christine's songs alone. With all the personnel changes Mac had survived thus far, it's surprising "Penguin" got made in the first place.
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Nice Album
Light rock, moving toward the heavily commercialized Lindsay Buckingham era. This is a very pleasant album. If you like Fleetwood Mac during the Buckingham/Nicks era, you should enjoy this (Buckingham and Nicks were not yet in the band. ) Personally, I liked every incarnation of Fleetwood Mac, including this particular album. I like it because I find Bob Welch easy to listen to. Mostly though, Christine Perfect-McVIEs' smoky husky vocals make me squirm (in a good way. ).

Better Than You Think
These two songs seem to me to be closest to the classic blues/rock sound of their best pre-Stevie album, 1970's "Then Play On" (think "Show Biz Blues" and "Rattlesnake Shake"). Unlike many of the other reviews, my FAVORITE songs on this album are the two Dave Walker tunes, "Derelict" and his cover of "Roadrunner". But I'm a big Savoy Brown fan and Dave Walker I believe was the lead singer for 1972's "Hellbound Train".

Bob Welch adds 3 dreamy mysterious songs - the best I think are "Bright Fire" followed closely by the 6 minute "Night Watch" which very nicely builds in intensity. Welch's "Revelation" is faster tempo but doesn't quite come together.

I don't care for Christine McVie's songs but they are decent to listen to. "Did You Ever Love Me " sounds too much like a Jimmy Buffet song with the steel drums and "Remember Me" is really just a quick fluff song - but not a whole lot different IMO than some of her later songs such as 1975's "Say You Love Me", 1977's "You Make Loving Fun" and 1979's "Think About Me". Her song "Dissatisfied" is probably the weakest on the album but again is easy to listen to.

Finally the closer, the instrumental "Caught In the Rain" is a perfect ending with great acoustic guitars and choral vocals.

So, all in all this album is easy to listen to from start to finish. There is not a dog song on it. I think it is their second best pre-Stevie album after "Then Play On". It doesn't have a big hit but is FAR FAR superior to "Mystery to Me" which is too over-produced and boring, and "Heroes are Hard to Find" which is just bad. It is on par with "Future Games" and "Kiln House" and is slightly better than "Bare Trees". Highly recommended but I give it only 4 stars because it doesn't compare to contemporary classics such as "Dark Side of the Moon" or "Who's Next". .

Interesting album...
amazon. Watch Video Here: http://www. amazon. com/review/R3VPVVFK7NST67 .

k roll
To me this may be the best of there early albums. I think most of the reviewers are looking for a stevie nicks song in this album and its not there.
If you sit and listen to it all the way thru i think you too will see the
depth of the music and song writing. I for one bought the album in 1975 and
then the cd in 1990 i think its great!!!.

You can see a complete list of all Fleetwood Mac discography, or go back to the Fleetwood Mac tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.