Customer Reviews

Madison Blues (Bonus Dvd)

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

 

 

This originally came as a three disc set: 2CD's and 1 interview DVD. The discs come in sealed paper enevelopes that you have to rip open. There is an 8 page booklet that gives some background what the group was up to and some history of the recordings. It comes in a cardboard box, the size of the CD's.

The original version was much more expensive than this. So, I don't know if it still comes with the interview DVD.

Note that there is also a different live CD called Madison Blues that features Fleetwood Mac in the earlier days with Peter Green.

The DVD is an hour and 20 minute interview of Jeremy Spencer from 2002. It basically covers his whole life and isn't that interesting. There are a few notable insights (like Peter Green wanted to stick to basic blues and Spencer wasn't on Then Play On).

The CD's come from the Fleetwood Mac era of Christine McVie, Danny Kirwan and Jeremy Spencer.

The first CD is 72 minutes long and is a collection of studio and live tracks. The first 4 tracks are studio recordings of Christine McVie's band when she was a solo artist going under her maiden name Christine Perfect. They are pretty good and might be the best thing on this whole boxset. However, they don't sound complete, like they were not quite finished for release on a album. The songs were not included on her solo album.

The next set of songs are "live studio" recordings of Fleetwood Mac, when Christine McVie was not quite an official member of the band. They are basically studio outtakes from Kiln House. There are alternative versions of Tell Me All the Things You Do and other songs. The sound quality is fairly good.

The remainder of the first disc is various live performances from Fleetwood Mac. There are some very good and interesting live tracks on the last half of this CD. There is a 6 minute Tell Me and an 8 minute Station Man. The sound quality is good on these live tracks.

The second CD is a complete 56 minute live performance. The sound quality is borderline. It is not horrible like some live CD's (Black Sabbath, Live at Last; INXS, Live Baby Live; Simple Minds, City of Light; Hawkwind, Early Daze; King Crimson, Epitath; or Yes, Beyond and Before). But, the sound quality is bad enough that you wouldn't want to listen to this repeatedly.

The performance on the second CD has some very good sections, and some not so good. There is some good jamming. There are some bad songs. There is a section where Jeremy Spencer imitates Elvis Presley and then goes into a Presley monolog.

Danny Kirwan could be a good song writer, but he could also writes some horrible pop tunes. Purple Dancer, which is on both the first and second CD is probably the worst song he ever wrote. On the second CD, they do an 8 minute version of the song. It is excrutiating getting through the singing part of the song, but then the group breaks out into some of the best jamming the band has ever done.

I could not disagree more with the reviewer who said that "The Purple Dancer" is the worst song Danny Kirwan wrote. In point of fact, I think it is the stand-out track of the entire boxed set. The lyrics are dream-like and sort of trippy with striking imagery, and Danny's guitar work throughout is stellar and breathtaking. Both versions are fantastic, but the longer one with the jam is truly amazing. I'd give anything to have been at that concert! In addition, there is "Open the Door," another of Danny's very poignant songs, beautifully rendered, and "Down at the Crown," a great rocker of Danny's that can only be found here. On top of all that, there are really great extended, live versions of his "Station Man" and "Tell Me All the Things You Do," which must have been fantastic to watch in concert.

I definitely could do without Jeremy Spencer's derivative '50s stuff, and Christine McVie is in irritatingly bad voice on some of the tracks, which is why I was astounded to see that the liner notes portray this set as a sort of "Christine McVie show." These CDs are really at heart all about Danny Kirwan and his remarkable talent, and just as important, his tremendous influence on the direction the Mac took at a critical period in their musical evolution, extending many years into the future of the band.

I completely disagree with the previous review on this album , especially the part of Purple Dancer being the worst song Kirwan ever wrote. Purple Dancer is one of the most sought after songs of the early FM era,and even though it is not the original release,it's available only on this set. And maybe it's not perfect,but this release is solid and raw and it captures fleetwood Mac during the Kiln house tour which was short lived , due to Jeremy Spencer's dissapearance from the band to join the children of god. Also I would like to add that it is rare to find any fleetwood mac live recordings between the eras of the band that was after the Peter Green days, and Before the Buckingham , Nicks era. So in my opinion if you are a FM fan of all the eras, you will be glad this is available. Let's just hope it stays available , and maybe there will so some recordings released during the "Future Games" or "Bare Trees" era.

This import sounds like a poor bootleg tape. Even if you enjoy the blues sound of early Fleetwood Mac, this one is pure misery. Stick with the legitimate labels

Part of this CD was once released on LP as "Live In Boston," however, the whole CD is great. I do not know what this other reviewer is talking about with his terrible sound quality comment, but this CD has great sound quality considering it was recorded around 1967. Just listen to Green's playing on "Green Manalishi," "Only You," "Like It That Way" and "Oh Well." You can easily pick out his guitar over Spencer and Kirwan. Lots of blues and lots of talent on this CD! UPDATE: Feb 5, 2010, This is now available as a two part remastered CD titled Fleetwood Mac - Live In Boston.

Length:: 1:12 Mins

I have no idea what most of these reviewers are talking about but Fleetwood Mac "Madison Blues Live" is a single CD with six songs: "Black Magic Women", "Like it this Way", "Oh Well", "Only You", "Sandy Mary", and "World in Harmony". It is from a 1970 concert, with Peter Green, has EXCELLENT sound quality, it IS a little bit rough (just like a real concert), but is an excellent, excellent recording. It is pre-Nicks & Buckingham, something of a Rock/Blues sound and well worth owning if you are interested in this genre. Several of these reviews are describing who-knows-what but it is not this CD. I hope this is helpful....