Credits:

Fleetwood Mac

Arguably the first consistently strong album Fleetwood Mac ever recorded — all the way back into the Peter Green/Jeremy Spencer era, the Mac’s albums had previously consisted of individual moments of brilliance in a sea of uninspired filler — 1972’s Bare Trees is also the album where the band finally defines its post-blues musical personality. Low-key but less narcoleptically mellow than 1971’s sleepy Future Games, Bare Trees is a singer/songwriter album in the traditional early-’70s style, backed up with just enough musical muscle to keep from sounding like weedy soft rock in the manner of Bread or Cat Stevens. This is the one Fleetwood Mac album on which singer/guitarist Danny Kirwan is the dominant figure, writing five songs to Christine McVie and Bob Welch’s two apiece. Impressively, all three writers get off a small masterpiece on side two; McVie’s “Spare Me a Little of Your Love” sounds like a dry run for t