After years of changes in personal - the result of several derailed relationships - the band had seemingly struck on a formula that not only allowed them to reinvent themselves, but also put them on a course that would ensure continued commercial success. Those stand-outs aside, Bare Trees, released in March 1972, is a uniformly consistent effort, with songs such as KirwanвЂ™s вЂњChild of Mine, Christine McVieвЂ™s вЂњHomeward BoundвЂќ and the instrumental вЂњSunny Side of HeavenвЂќ all adding to the allure. Indeed, those mellow melodies helped bring Fleetwood Mac a mainstream audience while setting the stage for the mega-stardom the band would achieve a few years down the line once Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks were integrated into the ensemble and allowed to transform it entirely.

Two of the albumвЂ™s standout songs - WelchвЂ™s вЂњSentimental LadyвЂќ and McVieвЂ™s вЂњSpare Me A Little of Your LoveвЂќ - would find longer lifespans via solo renditions and ongoing play on FM radio. However, it did find Welch and McVie moving solidly to the fore in the role of principal songwriters, and, in turn, easily in a position to take the helm and influence the bandвЂ™s future direction. To be sure, Bare Trees didnвЂ™t mark an immediate change in the bandвЂ™s trajectory, given that their previous two efforts, Future Games and Kiln House had already shown signs that they were intent on pursuing a soft rock sound akin to that of AmericaвЂ™s West Coast contingent. Fleetwood Mac Bare Trees, Reprise Records 1972 The newly-formed outfit maintained that struct regimen through their first four albums, although once Green departed (due to a combination of drug ingestion and mental instability), the band changed its tack and opted for a more accessible sound that mostly eschewed basic blues in favor of the more melodic approach that came courtesy of material mined from guitarist Danny Kirwan, vocalist/keyboardist Christine McVie and recently recruited guitarist, writer and vocalist Bob Welch, an American brought in to replace the newly departed Jeremy Spencer. There are few bands, British or American, who can claim to have as chameleon-like career as that of Fleetwood Mac.ДЇormed as an essential blues band at the height of EnglandвЂ™s blues boom, it was originally spun off from John MayallвЂ™s Bluesbreakers by MacвЂ™s two namesake principals and the brilliant, if erratic, guitarist Peter Green.

1972 fleetwood mac albums