The Ghost of Flight 401 - Some OK, some Good, and some Great songs. Worth checking out if you like 70 s sleeze rock smoothed out on the gutiar rhythm tip.
Welch is a musical enigma! - The musical stylings of Bob Welch are about as hard to figure as Mandarin Chinese because he is so adept at singing a variety of musical genres. This also comes by his own admission as he points out in the liner notes of The Best of Bob Welch. Sometimes rock and roll, sometimes ballad, and sometimes a mixture of blues and jazz, Welch s eclectic style is as entertaining as it is frustrating for the the listener. Who knows how good he would have been if he would have only settled into one musical type? He s also not the luckiest guy in the world or he wouldn t have left Fleetwood Mac in the mid-70 s just before they began they ascension into musical superstardom. With that begin said, The Best of Bob Welch is definitely a 4-star album. Welch includes some of his work from his days with the group Paris as well as work from his group Avenue M and his later solo efforts. The strongest (and most familar) cuts to this album are found near the middle of the set. Those would be: Sentimental Lady (with 3 members of Fleetwood Mac assisting), Hot Love, Cold World, Ebony Eyes, and Precious Love. Some of the others are almost as strong (even though not as well known) including The Ghost of Flight 401, Big Town 2061, and Church. If you enjoy Fleetwood Mac, America, Bread, Pablo Cruise, The Little River Band, and Carly Simon, you will enjoy this album
Enjoyable and a very good buy - Just for the following tracks Sentimental Lady, Church, The Ghost of Flight 401, Future Games this is an excellent buy. The tracks I mentioned have good audio fidelity and good lyrics.IMHO Mr. Welch is at his best when he sings with a restrained style. He is also very capable playing with intensity when the notes demand it.In the early 80 s I had an LP with a photograph of him on the album cover standing in an empty room in front of a wall - behind him was an empty AC outlet. I thought this was a cool album cover for a highly accomplished rock guitarist. There was no hint of an electric guitar but the AC outlet got the point across. I no longer have the album. At the time I thought this was high quality rock material. I am not sure how it would sound today. I don t remember the title of the LP and I have been looking for a CD version of it. If anyone knows please drop a comment.
Didn t Get the Credit he Deserved - Bobs rendition of Sentimental Lady is a treat. Not the Big Mac version. Before Bob joined Fleetwood Mac they were previously a blues band desended from John Mayhalls Bluebreakers. There was more commercial sucess when Nicks and Buckingham joined Mac, but it was Bob Welch that had the band going that way to start with albums such as Penquin and Bare Trees. Besides other good tunes such as Ebony Eyes and Precious Love I was amazed to see the song Church included. As far as I know it wasn t a big single but a message for a girl who has someone to believe in other than the obvious. Buy this album. There isn t a bad track on it. The album would have received five stars if the song Little Star had been included. Other than that, buy the CD, relish at the lyrics, vocals and music and have yourself a Bob Welch good time.
Pleasantly Surprised! - I must admit, I got this CD, mainly for the songs Sentimental Lady, Ebony Eyes and Precious Love. I discovered that there is so much more to Bob Welch that those three songs, I was pleasantly impressed with all of the songs! Bob Welch has so many different styles and he is very versatile. Just my opinion, but I think he sounds just a bit like Glenn Frey, of The Eagles. Anyway, I would recommend this CD to any serious music lover, it is impressive.