Original Unremastered Stereo Mix
from COL 474612-2
Rare and long OOP CD, released in early nineties. This is the original stereo mix, exactly as on the original LP. So without all the dialogue and bonustracks that come on the currently in-print remasters. It's quite unbelievable this is no longer available.
The sound on the CD is natural with any digital compression or EQ-ing.It is very likely a flat transfer from the mastertapes, as this reissue was supervised by the original producer and label owner.
The 'difficult' second album. It is a lot less well-balanced than the self titled debut but it clearly shows a progession in Peter Green's songwriting. Jeremy Spencer -on the other- manages to recycle the same song no less than 5 times, making it hard to sit through this album without wanting to go for the 'next' button.
Although it made number ten in the U.K., Fleetwood Mac's second album was a disappointment following their promising debut. So much of the record was routine blues that it could even be said that it represented something of a regression from the first LP, despite the enlistment of a horn section and pianist Christine Perfect (the future Christine McVie) to help on the sessions. In particular, the limits of Jeremy Spencer's potential for creative contribution were badly exposed, as the tracks that featured his songwriting and/or vocals were basic Elmore James covers or derivations. Peter Green, the band's major talent at this point, did not deliver original material on the level of the classic singles he would pen for the band in 1969, or even on the level of first-album standouts like "I Loved Another Woman." The best of the lot, perhaps, is "Love That Burns," with its mournful minor-key melody and sluggish, responsive horn lines. Mr. Wonderful, strangely, was not issued in the U.S., although about half the songs turned up on its stateside counterpart, English Rose, which was fleshed out with some standout late-'60s British singles and a few new tracks penned by Danny Kirwan (who joined the band after Mr. Wonderful was recorded).