Mick Fleetwood - Band Blue Again

Mick Fleetwood tributes himself, without Mac

As the sole survivor from the original Fleetwood Mac (John McVie hopping on board shortly afterwards), drummer Mick Fleetwood has spent this year rediscovering his 40-year-old catalogue. The all-important Peter Green role is played by Rick Vito, a brief Mac member from 1987-91, making this perhaps the most authentic tribute band ever.

The live 12-song set, recorded on the opening night of a US tour, is augmented by four studio tracks, including the ubiquitous Albatross and The Supernatural. The credits are split 50/50 between Green and Vito (with Elmore James’ Shake Your Moneymaker an ebullient set closer), while early classics Love That Burns and Looking For Somebody will please fans of the absent guitarist, without whom the whole exercise couldn’t have happened (and with whom it would, perhaps, have had more point). They don’t attempt to be reverential, unlike the studio bonus tracks, which are not far removed from the originals. As ever, it’s easier to duplicate than innovate, even when you have the original drummer on board.

A British tour, well underway by the time that you read this, will give you the chance to hear Black Magic Woman, Rattlesnake Shake et al in an undoubtedly entertaining night out. As an album, however, Blue Again is really for mega-fans only.

2 stars 2 stars

Hypertension | HYP 8263

Reviewed by Michael Heatley
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