Customer Reviews

Future Games

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was in high school when this album was released and Fleetwood Mac was one of the bands I enjoyed the most. Having discovered them at the close of the Peter Green era, I was at that time very surprised at how different a band could be with a slight change of personnel. Many have put their stamp on Fleetwood Mac's music through the years and it was here that Danny Kirwan made his mark. The title cut, Woman of a Thousand Years, and Morning Rain are all good songs, but the one that left an indelible impression is Sands of Time. I remember the mournful guitar of Kirwan and the melancholy delivery of the lyrics bringing tears to the eyes of young men who considered themselves hard. The power of that song alone is reason enough to buy "Future Games".

This beautiful record brings back fond memories of graduate school in Austin, Texas, and a friendship I had with an unusual young man, very troubled, really, but brilliant, and an admirer of this wonderful album. The CD release was important, because the music is so atmospheric, and intolerant of the surface noise that was inevitable on vinyl.

Woman of a Thousand Years is, as all fans know, utterly classic, perfect in conceptualization, and a fairly extended piece, over seven minutes.

Morning Rain is a great rocker, nicely harmonized and performed with professional assurance.

The title song of the album is over eight minutes long, of reverberant and bluesy acoustic. It's totally fantastic, and as another reviewer put it, mesmerizing. This is music to groove to.

As if that masterpiece weren't enough, Sands of Time is the astonishing follow up, beautifully harmonized and, ultimately, a totally driving and inescapable rocker.

The folksy Sometimes is so wistful, so simple, so convincing. What other pop group ever wrote and performed such compelling and genial music? "Sometimes I get to thinking about the times we used to have, but now you've gone away and left me, so alone. Although my back is aching, I work the whole day through, although that you feel that I've been wasting all my time. Taking the sun from the sky, lifting our hearts to the day."

This home-run of an album ends with another gem, Show Me a Smile, and Christine McVie's winning plea.

This should be enough to convince people to buy this spectacular album.

Most people know Fleetwood Mac as that great band featuring the etheral Stevie Nicks with such classic tunes as "Rhiannon" / "Don't Stop" / "Go Your Own Way" .... but they don't realize that this band has been around since the 1960s and once had firm roots in blues. Alot of changes took place within the band over the years, but such is common in our own individual lives and relationships. "Future Games" came out in 1971 and featured a new promising yet risky line-up. In my opinion, this is Fleetwood Mac's best line-up because the work they put forth (up until 1974) was clever, unique, talented, enjoyable and overall special. Bob Welch was a perfect frontman for the band, bridging the gap between blues, soul, jazz and R&B .... which brought these influences to the musical table, and thus layed the foundation for what would later become and unforgettable, smash-hit group that most still revere today. Danny Kirwan was gentle in production and touching in singing. Christine McVie is truly an underrated singer/songwriter in an era where women were just starting to get their feet into that particular creative door. John McVie could sure knock the crowd off its axis with his precise, highly skilled and effective bass work. And finally, Mick Fleetwood (the source of it all both then and now) could be mellow and heavy interchangably with the drums.

Each song is great and surprisingly different on "Future Games" so I'm hard-pressed to pick a standout favorite. I certainly Christine's soft but crescendo-filled chorus of "Show Me A Smile". "Sands Of Time" is an amazing treasure by Danny Kirwan that allows John McVie and Mick Fleetwood to shine together right with him (the blend of all the work within this track shows perfectly how much of a musically skilled/gifted band Fleetwood Mac is). Bob Welch mystifies the listener into virtual hypnosis with his laid-back but peppy piece which is the title track. The band also showed themselves to have a great flair for top-knotch harmonies.

Much time has passed since the 70s, but this album will never get old for me. I'm glad I was able to look past all the glitz and hype of Fleetwood Mac NOW and checked out Fleetwood Mac THEN. I urge all musical fans of the group, or just this type of music in general, to go out and find this gem. I listen to it nearly everyday, and it manages to find a way to put me in a good, tranquil, almost spiritually-complete mood. After all, that is what music should be doing for the listener .... filling up the time and not just taking out what's in the wallet.

I was a year old when this record was made. It would take another eleven years until I would hear it, but I have since made up for lost time, and Future Games remains my favorite Fleetwood Mac record, outside of 1975's "white album." First off, Kirwan's breathy, melodic songs are consistently excellent. The album's opening cut, "Woman of a Thousand Years" conjures a timeless austerity as his acousitc guitars weave beautifully around McVie's bass lines. "Sometimes" sounds like a hit to me, and I can never understand why this song didn't gain the airplay it deserves. Christine McVie's contributions are similarily effective. "Show Me a Smile" is as moving and expressive as it is delicate and disarming. Here her distinctive voice wraps closely around the melody,adding warmth to the stark intstrumental backup. The heavy-handed arrangement for "Morning Rain" doesn't age well, but the song itself is well crafted. Welch gives suprisingly inspired Fleetwood Mac performances on both the epic title track and the soul-fused "Lay it All Down." He would go onto make inconsistent recordings with the group, but on "Future Games" his presence invigorates the entire band.

Let me start off by saying I am a fan of all incarnations of Fleetwood Mac, but my favorite incarnation was the line-up which recorded the "Then Play On" album. That being said, "Future Games" was one of the last albums I added to my collection & it has quickly become a favorite. Along with "Bare Trees" this album is the most overlooked & neglected album in their vast catalog. It can be said Fleetwood Mac entered their "pop" period with this release. Although unlike the Buckingham-Nicks polished pop albums of the late 70's & early 80's, the roots of the Buckingham-Nicks period can be found here. Excellent musicianship, great songwriting & great harmony vocals. This material is much more raw & unpolished than the Buckingham-Nicks output & there still exists roots to the blues-rock made by the Peter Green-led incarnations in the songs of Danny Kirwan. Kirwan's songs are the best here, especially the excellent "Sands Of Time" which displays exactly why Mick Fleetwood & John McVie are considered to comprise one of the best rhythm sections ever, and "Woman Of 1,000 Years" which features beautiful acoustic & electric guitars intermingling together throughout the song. Bob Welch introduces his talents here with the title song which is far & away the best song he ever contributed to the band. The guitar work on this song is some of the best in their catalog & draws the listener in & doesn't let them go. The sad thing about this album is most Fleetwood Mac fans who are only aware of the Buckingham-Nicks material are totally ignorant of this & every release which preceded the initial Buckingham-Nicks release in 1975. The Peter Green era material is finally getting it's due, but the material released between Peter Green's departure after "Then Play On" in 1970 & the arrival of Lindsey Buckingham & Stevie Nicks in 1975 after Bob Welch's exit after the release of the excellent "Heroes Are Hard To Find" in 1974 is totally ignored & neglected by all but the most ardent Fleetwood Mac fans & this is a shame. There is much good material to be found here & also on "Bare Trees", "Penguin", "Mystery To Me", "Heroes Are Hard To Find", & "Kiln House". All Fleetwood Mac fans who haven't heard these albums should. Don't expect to hear them on classic-rock radio (a curse to rock & roll) or even at a Fleetwood Mac concert. I blame Mick Fleetwood & John McVie along with their record label, & the radio industry for the public apathy to these releases & those of the Peter Green era Fleetwood Mac over the years. To all Fleetwood Mac fans, put down that copy of "Rumours" for a while & go back & discover or re-discover the great albums which preceded it. You won't be sorry you did. "Future Games" is a good place to start.

"Future Games" is a moody aquarelle of an album, coming on the heels of several boisterous, hard-rocking and bloozy efforts by the band originally called "Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac".

With Peter Green and Jeremy Spencer gone, the airbrushed lyricism of Danny Kirwan, Christine McVie, and Bob Welch came to the fore. The laid-back, distinctly feminine turn in "Future Games" was a forerunner of the Buckingham-Nicks era. Still, Danny Kirwan was mindful of the Mac traditions up to this point, and he retained the loose, jamming feel that typified the preceding albums, "Then Play On" and "Kiln House". 1972's "Bare Trees" completed the turn away from jamming and into the pop song format.

"Future Games" was a disappointment to kids (like myself at the time) who wanted adrenaline-boosting rock and roll. Instead, "Future Games" offered a low-key, mellow mix ideal for winding down. In 1971, Rock music didn't really have a lot to offer women, but I remember that the ladies loved this album to pieces. Christine McVie's musical plea to "take everything easy" was a soothing balm for women frazzled by their boyfriends' screeching hard rock collections.

This album enhanced (if that's the right word) a lot of relationships. It offered a breezy intimacy and polished warmth, and it brings back a nice feeling of carefree times, good friendships, and relaxation.

Better than chamomile tea.

This is the masterpiece! Not in terms of sales,charts or popularlity, but by creativity and musicianship. Take a little time out. Relax. Prepare to mellow out. Grab some headphones if you have them and listen. You will understand. Only knock, mastering could be improved upon. Future Games indeed!

This release will always be special.
Musicians with craft. No hit maker here,
but let's be honest. An excellent release
and still heard to this day. Check out
Bare Trees for more. Future Games...
Sands Of Time it's all good here.

Released in 1971, this is Fleetwood Mac's fifth album. It is 43 minutes long. It is very different than anything else the group has done. If you like the pop versions or the blues versions of Fleetwood Mac, you might not like this one. There was a nice little history of the band and the members up to that point on the back of the original LP.

This a very rich, layered album. It has long, sweeping songs. The music is gorgeous. It features some of the prettiest work by Cristine McVie, Danny Kirwin or Bob Welch. Woman of a 1000 Years, Future Games and Sands Of Time are very mesmerizing. soulful works.

Fleetwood Mac started out as blues power trio that spun off from John Mayall's Blues Breakers (the same band that brought you Eric Clapton). It was originally called Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac. Jeremy Spencer was added and the group released its first album, which was traditional blues. The band added a third guitarist, Danny Kirwan and did some major exploration in the blues, coming to Chicago to play with traditional blues legends. This band released 2 more albums. Later albums were released of the Chicago sessions.

Peter Green left the band (mostly because of drugs and insanity). Christine (Perfect) McVie joined the band for the next album (Kiln House), although she wasn't an official member. Contrary to what others have said, Kiln House was the big transformation of Fleetwood Mac from a blues band to a pop/rock band, not Future Games. Jeremy Spencer left after the Kiln House tour.

Future Games is the first album to feature Bob Welch. He quickly became the leader of the band (and Danny Kirwin left after the tour for this album).

After Future Games, Fleetwood Mac would put out 4 more albums before Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks would join, turning this into the one of the most popular bands of all time. All five of those albums are very good, featuring some great songs.

After Bare Trees was released, Fleetwood Mac toured with Savoy Brown and Long John Baldry (I got to see them in a high school gym). After the tour, Fleetwood Mac stole Savoy Brown's lead singer and Baldry's guitarist. The guitarist started fooling around with Mick Fleetwood's wife, which caused the band to break up for awhile. The record company put together a fake band to complete a concert tour. The real group got a court injunction to stop the fake band, and then went on tour again to repair their reputation.

If you like expansive, rich songs, than you might like this album. If you like short pop tunes or traditional blues, you might not. To me, this album seems timeless, where as the other Fleetwood Mac albums from this time, Kiln House and Bare Trees sound very dated (but I still like them).

Sometimes it all falls into place so perfectly that the pain of knowing such moments cannot be sustained almost makes it too much to bear. "Future Games" is a shimmering masterpiece of music that distills the essence of the now lost soul of Danny Kirwan. Were "Sands of Time" and "Future Games" a foreshadowing of his now-shattered state of mind? Who knows?

Regardless, this is an incredible recording, full of power and beauty. The opening track, Women of a Thousand Years, sets the stage with its slow, melodic unwinding study of love. Morning Rain and Show Me a Smile showcase Christine McVie and reveals her to be a triple threat as vocalist, song writer, and keyboard player. Bob Welch adds some crunch to the fray, mixing it up with Kirwan.

The title track and Sands of Time, though, are where this line-up really sparkles. Both tracks belong on any so-called "best of" list if such lists had any serious merit. Sands of Time, alone, justifies the price of this CD. The band slowly gathers a head of steam, with Mick Fleetwood and John McVie powering the tempo along. Kirwan shines here, laying down the absolutely perfect tone and edge, beautifully evoking what Carlos Santana called the "cry of the soul."

There are few perfect CDs. This may be one.