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Released in 1977 (review written September 17, 2023)
Rating: 9/10 My mom and dad had a CD of this album just laying around, hardly used, for many years until I popped it into my CD player around the year 2006 or 2007. It was definitely 7th grade at the time. Some of the songs didn't mean much to me but others were infinitely listenable, and still are! They really take me back. 1. Second Hand News - This song is okay. I have always had a difficult time hearing lyrics and processing words in music and this song is mostly garbled because of that. The part where he says "lay me down in the tall grass and let me do my stuff" has always made me think of when I went trick-or-treating on Halloween with my old friend Garrett. He was the grim reaper that year. We'd go up to a house and Garrett would get nervous or something and lay down on their lawn doing leg calisthenics. No idea what that was. 2. Dreams - This is one of the songs I'd put on repeat a lot. It's very, uh, "dream-like", mostly thanks to the guitar and Stevie Nick's slurred voice. Thanks to that slurred voice, though, my ability to process lyrics is out the window. I have never had a clue what this song was about except dreams, I'm assuming. 3. Never Going Back Again - I never liked this song. Don't know what it's about. It was too happy for me. I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder back then and super happy things made me "cringe", in the literal sense. My skin would crawl upon hearing children's music, and this song sounds like some folksy kid's song. I kinda like it now as an adult but it needed to be longer. 4. Don't Stop - This escaped the "happy song" curse by virtue of possessing a motivational sound. It was rock, not folk. By this point in the album I'd be pretty down, thinking about how school sucked that day, so this song would perk me up. I'd look forward, just like the song is about! Imagine actually looking forward to the future. As an adult, it's an alien concept. 5. Go Your Own Way - My heart would really be tugged by "Go Your Own Way". The switch from the major chords to the main chorus, in some kind of driving minor progression, is so common with rock music from the 60s to the 80s but it never failed to make me feel. So many middle school nights I'd sit there on my bed, a mattress on the floor, softly crying while this song played, thinking about girls I had crushes on. The song is styled how Journey would eventually sound, especially at the guitar solo. 6. Songbird - After the highs of the last song, you need a rest, right? I never had much emotional connection to this song besides it sounding vaguely pretty. All I hear is a nice love song, nothing more or less. A few times I'd even start nodding off. 7. The Chain - Ugh, this song. Right when Songbird would make me drift off to sleep, this song was an uppercut to the jaw, a 1-2-punch and light's out. I'd be out cold. As a consequence I don't feel much about it. I'm not a fan of Fleetwood Mac's blues repetition, that call and response. It feels inauthentic. It's only in the later part of the song when the bass brings in the guitar solo that this song shines pretty strongly. What a mixed bag! It's both soporific and boring, and heart-wrenching in the chorus and end parts. 8. You Making Loving Fun - This is my favorite song on the album. I could listen to it forever! There was a girl in my 7th grade PE class. It was a zero-period schedule so every morning, bright and early, I'd see her and a number of other beautiful 8th grade girls. But this one girl, Mackenzie, was so elegant, so poised in her beauty, in a way almost no one else has had. During one of our course sections, we all had to dance. A lot of the music was disco, and I remember Mackenzie doing this thing with her hand. No one noticed but she seemed to be adding little flourishes. When this song plays on the album, I can't help but think of Mackenzie. I see her, crystal clear, still! I also associate this song with two other things: 1) Marble Zone from the first Sonic the Hedgehog game (tell me you can't hear a similarity), and 2) buttery garlic bread my dad made in the oven. Mmm, that was good bread, and really solidified my mental connection with the Roman/Greek columns of Marble Zone. And coincidentally, Mackenzie was also of Italian heritage! Also, Tear from Tales of the Abyss reminds me of her (except Mackenzie wasn't as, uh, mature). 9. I Don't Want To Know - The first song I can understand the lyrics to isn't that great. It's fun though. For a happy song it's not too annoying. The clapping is really bad though and still induces cringe like old times! It belongs on the first section of the album, side A. Switch its place with Dreams. 10. Oh Daddy - After the last songs woke me up here we are with a real snoozer! It's sad though because the lyrics are clear and very tragic. It kinda matches my relationship with my dad. He was always right, always strong, and I was just a weak, stupid, useless son. But I loved him anyways, even to the bitter end when he died in the nursing home. Guess I needed to grow up before I understood what this song was about. The background organ and electric piano are so beautiful and I wish they had a more prominent role over the guitars, which are heavily overused on this album. 11. Gold Dust Woman - Night night time! Zzz... what a way to end an album. Total oblivion. I rarely made it this far in the album before either repeating it back to the beginning or falling asleep. And to top it off, it's nearly 5 minutes! Urgh... what's it about? Hell if I know. Associations:
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