General Article name: Then Play On
Genre: Rock englischsprachig Product type: LP (Vinyl) Label: RHINO Number of tracks: 14 Tracklist LP - 1 1. Fleetwood Mac - Coming Your Way 2. Fleetwood Mac - Closing My Eyes 3. Fleetwood Mac - Fighting for Madge 4. Fleetwood Mac - When You Say 5. Fleetwood Mac - Show Biz Blues 6. Fleetwood Mac - Underway 7. Fleetwood Mac - One Sunny Day 8. Fleetwood Mac - Although the Sun Is Shining 9. Fleetwood Mac - Rattlesnake Shake 10. Fleetwood Mac - Without You 11. Fleetwood Mac - Searching for Madge 12. Fleetwood Mac - My Dream 13. Fleetwood Mac - Like Crying 14. Fleetwood Mac - Before the Beginning   Description Description

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. [Then Play On was re-released on LP in 2015.] ~ Michael G. Nastos

Michael G. Nastos

Contributors Artist: Fleetwood Mac Record Label: Rhino Guest Artist: Christine McVie