| SuperHeavy SuperHeavy | 2.5 |
| Fleetwood Mac Mr. Wonderful | 2.0 |
| R.E.M. Out of Time | 4.0 |
| Steve Earle Essential Steve Earle | 3.0 |
| This early 'greatest hits' compilation, coming just seven years after Steve Earle's debut, came out during the time when his raging heroin addiction rendered him unable to perform. No doubt released as a way of sustaining interest in Earle during his downtime, the album suffers from having had only four albums from which to select tracks. After a strong opening with “Guitar Town”, it descends into run-of-the-mill country for its first half until the brilliant “Copperhead Road” heralds a significant boost in quality that continues through most of the remaining tracks, “The Rain Came Down” and “I Ain’t Ever Satisfied” in particular. |
| New Order Get Ready | 3.5 |
Bernard Sumner's guitar made a welcome return for New Order's first album in 8 years, and it
proved to be their most consistent album since 1985's "Low-Life". The band's real strength
has always been elaborately-constructed singles (as evidenced by the "Substance '87"
compilation) , but here, the quality of the high-energy openers "Crystal" and "Turn My Way"
inhabits the 8 other tracks as well. No mean feat. |
| Tori Amos To Venus and Back | 3.5 |
| New Order Movement | 3.0 |
| Except for a few flourishes of the electronic sound that would feature so heavily on Blue Monday, "Movement" plays very much like a third Joy Division with its synth-laden post-punk tracks, but without Ian Curtis' gloomy lyrics or vocals, it serves as affirmation that New Order were right to move away from their old sound in later works. |
| Fleetwood Mac Then Play On | 3.0 |
| Stevie Nicks Bella Donna | 3.5 |
| Fleetwood Mac Heroes Are Hard to Find | 3.0 |
| Fleetwood Mac Mystery to Me | 3.0 |
| Fleetwood Mac Future Games | 3.0 |
| Fleetwood Mac Tusk | 3.5 |
| In his review of Tusk, Robert Christgau proclaimed Lindsey Buckingham as the true star of Tusk, but to my mind, he was more the great enabler in this instance, setting the stage for Stevie to really work her magic, whilst providing his usual stellar guitar work. Of the 20 tracks, only 4 really stand out, 3 of which are Stevie's, and the other, Tusk, is well and truly hijacked by the rhythm section (and marching band).rThis means the other 80% is above-average filler from Buckingham (think Rumour's "Second Hand News") and mostly sub-par love poetry from Christine, which is a shame, given her reputation as a songwriter, but forgivable when you consider how consistent her contributions were on Rumours (Don't Stop, Songbird, etc.). |
| Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac | 3.0 |
| Fleetwood Mac Mirage | 2.5 |
| Fleetwood Mac Rumours | 4.5 |
| Fleetwood Mac Behind the Mask | 2.5 |
| Fleetwood Mac Tango in the Night | 4.5 |
| Fleetwood Mac Time | 3.0 |
| Judging by how lukewarmly most Mac fans greeted 1990's Behind the Mask, the band's first post-Rumours album without Lindsey Buckingham, it was perhaps inevitable they'd be even less open to a record without Stevie Nicks. However, Time's failure to chart is not necessarily a reflection upon the music contained within.rIt's no Rumours, that much is sure, but its plenty listenable, and boasts two of Christine McVie's finest works ("Nights in Estoril" & "All Over Again"). |
| Fleetwood Mac Say You Will | 3.5 |
| The Smashing Pumpkins Siamese Dream | 4.5 |
