In the Meantime is the third and final solo studio album by the British Fleetwood Mac vocalist and keyboardist Christine McVie, released in 2004 on Koch Records and Sanctuary Records Group. It was McVie's first solo recording since 1984, and the first since her departure from Fleetwood Mac. The album was distributed on Koch Records in North America and Sanctuary Records throughout the rest of the world. Adventure Records also coordinated with both record companies to oversee the album's release.[5]
| In the Meantime | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 7 September 2004 | |||
| Studio | Swallow's Studio (Kent, UK) Sphere Studios (London, UK) Studio International (Ojai, California, USA) | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 50:30 | |||
| Label | ||||
| Producer |
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| Christine McVie chronology | ||||
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| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| Entertainment Weekly | C+[2] |
| People | [3] |
| USA Today | [4] |
Background
editThe album was primarily recorded at a converted barn situated at the end of her garden.[6] All of the songs on the album were composed by McVie and/or her nephew Dan Perfect.[7] The collaboration between McVie began three years prior to the album's release, although the two did not originally intend to make an album together. McVie started with a demo titled "You Are", and asked Perfect to overdub some guitar, which he agreed to. Additional songs followed, which encouraged McVie to further polish them. She reckoned that they fully committed to releasing an album once the decision was made to add drums.[8] Some contributions came from ex-Fleetwood Mac guitarist Billy Burnette; Robbie Patton, who co-wrote Fleetwood Mac's 1982 hit "Hold Me" with McVie; George Hawkins, ex-member of Mick Fleetwood's Zoo in the mid-1980s, and McVie's ex-husband Eddy Quintela.
During the making of In the Meantime, McVie listened to contemporary music such as Garbage's 1995 eponymous release for inspiration. Perfect said that there was "definitely that rawer edge, slightly angrier tone in some of the songs that she really liked."[9] Both "Liar" and "Bad Journey" were written about a failed relationship with another man.[10] McVie stated that with the exception of a couple songs, all of the album's material documented her relationship with this individual that she met in London who was neither well-known nor associated with music.[8]
In the Meantime reached number 133 on the UK Albums Chart and failed to enter the US Billboard 200. Debuting and peaking at number 32 on the US Independent Albums chart, it had sold around 20,000 copies in the United States up until 2005, according to Nielsen SoundScan. In a 2014 interview in the Los Angeles Times taken after her returning to Fleetwood Mac, McVie stated about the album that "It had some good songs on it, but I went about it all wrong. I did it the wrong way, with the wrong people, I didn’t want to fly, I didn’t want to promote it. I just did it in my garage and nothing happened with it. That caused a certain amount of angst, and then I just stopped.”.[11]
The album was remixed by Dan Perfect and was reissued on November 3, 2023. The reissue contains "Little Darlin'", which had previously only appeared on 2004 Australian promo copies under the title "Come Out And Play". Perfect had worked with McVie prior to her death in November 2022 on a Dolby Atmos mix of In the Meantime.[12]
Track listing
edit| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Friend" |
| 4:30 |
| 2. | "You Are" | McVie | 3:35 |
| 3. | "Northern Star" | Perfect | 5:22 |
| 4. | "Bad Journey" |
| 4:29 |
| 5. | "Anything Is Possible" |
| 3:14 |
| 6. | "Calumny" | Perfect | 4:54 |
| 7. | "So Sincere" |
| 3:39 |
| 8. | "Easy Come, Easy Go" |
| 4:32 |
| 9. | "Liar" |
| 3:53 |
| 10. | "Sweet Revenge" |
| 3:50 |
| 11. | "Forgiveness" |
| 3:44 |
| 12. | "Givin' It Back" |
| 4:42 |
The Australian promo release included exclusive track "Come Out to Play" and the US iTunes version featured an acoustic version of "Friend" as a bonus track.
Personnel
edit- Christine McVie – vocals, keyboards (1–5, 7–12), synthesizers (2, 4, 5), acoustic piano (6)
- Dan Perfect – guitars, backing vocals (2, 4, 6–9, 12), programming (5, 9)
- George Hawkins – backing vocals (2, 4, 8, 9, 12), bass (3–7, 10, 11, 12)
- Steve Ferrone – drums
- Luis Conte – percussion (1, 3, 4, 8, 11, 12)
- Lenny Castro – percussion (2, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10)
- David Isaacs – backing vocals (7, 8)
- Billy Burnette – backing vocals (12)
Production
edit- Produced by Christine McVie, Dan Perfect and Ken Caillat.
- Executive Producer – Martin Wyatt
- Engineered by Ben Georgiades, Dan Perfect and Claus Trelby.
- Assistant Engineers – Richard Edgeler and Mike Read
- Mixed by Ben Georgiades, Christine McVie and Dan Perfect.
- Mastered by Howie Weinberg at Masterdisk (New York City, New York, USA).
- Photography – Mike Prior
- Design – Ryan Art
- Sleeve Notes – John Perfect
Notes
edit- ^ In the Meantime at AllMusic
- ^ Vincentelli, Elisabeth (15 October 2004). "Music Review: In the Meantime – Christine McVie". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 25 April 2009. Retrieved 18 July 2013.
- ^ "Picks and Pans Review". People. 27 September 2004. Retrieved 31 January 2014.
- ^ Gardner, Elysa (8 September 2004). "Jackson does it right on 'What I Do'". USA Today. Retrieved 31 January 2014.
- ^ "Music Week (03/04/2004), Christine McVie's New Album, Meantime". The Blue Le. 4 March 2004. Archived from the original on 1 January 2016. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
- ^ Hodgkinson, Will (18 June 2004). "Surviving the Fleetwoods". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
- ^ Hasted, Nick (23 June 2022). "Drugs, alcohol and goofing around: The making of Fleetwood Mac's Mirage". louder. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
- ^ a b Brown, Mark (22 September 2004). "Rocky Mountain News (09/22/2004), Going her own way". The Blue Letter Archives. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
- ^ Leech, Jeanette (3 November 2023). "'In The Meantime': Christine McVie Was "As Revealing As Ever", Says Dan Perfect". Dig!. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
- ^ Male, Andrew (7 December 2023). "Christine McVie Remembered: "I'm good at pathos. I write about romantic despair a lot"". MOJO. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
- ^ Lewis, Randy (2 May 2014). "Her fear gone, Christine McVie's muse soars with Fleetwood Mac reunion". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
- ^ "Christine McVie In The Meantime Reissue Press Release". Retrieved 21 July 2023.