Fleetwood Mac – Kiln House …album review

When most folks hear the words Fleetwood Mac, they immediately think of the Rumours-era band. But rewind just a few years earlier and you’ll find a very different band, one still rooted in the blues, still searching for direction after the departure of founding guitarist Peter Green. Starting that transitional phase is the album Kiln House.

Fleetwood Mac was changing throughout the decade, but 1970s Kiln House was one of their strangest detours. After Peter Green’s sudden exit, the band found itself leaderless. Instead of breaking up, Jeremy Spencer and Danny Kirwan took the lead and led the band through a melodic 1950s-inspired sound with that glorious echo. The entire album isn’t that, but it’s a heavy influence. 

 This is one of the most interesting bands ever. You can find a song in one of their many eras to satisfy anyone. This album was a departure from the Peter Green era. It didn’t have the intensity that Green brought, but it made up for it in some great songs. It was highly melodic with some complicated melodies, like Station Man (written by Danny Kirwan, Spencer, and John McVie); the later incarnation picked up on that song as well. The first song of this period I took notice of a few years ago was Jewel Eyed Judy from this album. 

Jeremy Spencer adored that 1950s rock style, and This Is the Rock is one of his tributes to that era. Another obvious one is the song Buddy’s Song. They also had some nice straight-out rock on the album with Kirwan’s Tell Me All the Things You Do.

This album ties the eras together for me. You had straight out rock, a touch of blues, rockabilly, country, and some pop that foreshadowed what was to come. It is probably the most varied Fleetwood Mac album I’ve listened to. You can hear Fleetwood Mac going toward something new.

The album peaked at #69 on the Billboard Album Charts, #67 in Canada, and #39 in the UK. Christine McVie not only drew the cover, she also contributed to the album with backup vocals, keyboards, and even cover art. After this album, she became a full member.

This Is The Rock

This is the rockWe’ve been talking about (this is the rock)Yeah, this is the rockMakes you jump and shout (this is the rock)This is the rockThat knocks you right out

It makes you loseAll your troubles and caresYou’ll lose your bluesThey ain’t going nowhereThis is the rockThat hits you right there

Well you can get back on the roofAnd shout it all aroundGet up off your seats is what I’m putting downGet ’em all a hoppin’ to that crazy beatGet ’em all a boppin’ and a tappin’ their feet

‘Cause it’s the rockMoves you all day long (it’s the rock)Yeah, it’s the rockGettin’ everyone (it’s the rock)This is the rockIt really turns you on, woo

Well you can get back on the roofAnd shout it all aroundGet up off your seats is what I’m putting downGet ’em all a hoppin’ to that crazy beatGet ’em all a boppin’ and a tappin’ their feet

‘Cause it’s the rock (it’s the rock)Moves you all day long (it’s the rock)Yeah, yeah it’s the rockGettin’ everyone (it’s the rock)This is the rockIt really turns you on

Yeah, this is the rockIt really turns you onThis is the rockIt really turns you on

Well this is the rock

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

55 thoughts on “Fleetwood Mac – Kiln House …album review”

  3. This would have worked out perfectly for an upcoming Song Lyric Sunday theme on December 21, 2025, which is to find a song from an album you had never listened to before, and although I have herd of this album, I have never listened to it. It was nice to learn more about the older Fleetwood Mac, Max.

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  4. Pingback: Fleetwood Mac – Kiln House …album review – MobsterTiger

  5. For me, Fleetwood Mac meant two things: 1) The Peter Green era, 2) a band with no continuity except the rhythm section. I thought of Jeremy Spencer as an Elmore James copy. Over time I came to appreciate him. I did always like Danny Kirwan. I even eventually learned to like some of the Buckingham-Nicks era stuff.

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    1. This album surprised me…it was different from Green and different from the later incarnations….although you can hear a little of both on this album.
      I’m really liking what I’ve heard from Spencer and Kirwan.

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  6. Holy Moly! Never knew this even existed…lol. Even charted here in Canuck land as well. Cool though about McVie joining after she contributed to the cover and vocals. Thats keeping things in house.

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  7. wow, I think I’ve seen the album name when perusing their discography but don’t know any of the songs and don’t recall ever seeing it at a record store. Listening to ‘Station Man’, sounds alright but not at all like I think of Fleetwood Mac, neither the ‘Albatross’ era nor the ‘Rumours’. Does indeed sound ’50-ish. Surprising! Good find that’s probably new to many of us.
    On a different topic, but of interest to you, I heard yesterday they’re working on a biopic movie about the Replacements!

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    1. I think Station Man sounds more like the later than the previous did…hell I love this version of Fleetwood Mac…it’s another band than the later one in sound and even the Peter Green era. The 50s is what surprised me… I love that they put that in.

      Bailey told me about that…they picked the right band for action! Plus it should help get their songs to more people which is cool.

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  8. as much as I liked Peter Green, the post Bob Welch era, what happened inbetween I loved….even the Penguin with Savoy Brown’s Dave Walker….a friend introduced me to Kiln House about the same I received Mystery to Me, and yeah I was hooked…yes there’s the blues, but that bit of pop and r&b all the time….and now you’ve got me digging through the vinyl…I’m tying to dig up info on Ian McCorckle..I’ve an album by him, because, well I saw that Nicky Hopkins, Lindsey Buckingham and Christine McVie are on it…..

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    2. Ian McCorckle? That’s a new name to me. I say that because I’m afraid that I come on as a know it all in the month or so after I found this wonderful blog. I never heard of him. Google says something about a Canadian band called Fludd, never heard of them either.

      I’m curious. There are a number of people who know a lot about the obscurities that filled the record bins but not the charts. Maybe they can tell us something and point us in the right direction.

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      1. ah ha? I remember Fludd, a song called Brother and Me…I was a kid back then, but think they were pre-Canadian Content regulations, and like Chilliwack/the Collectors, The Great Canadian River Run, Moxy…they were always around, but I never knew much about the band….the album I have is called McCriminal, and the cover has him holding a bagpipe!…..I did look a few places, he was actually with Fludd along with Greg Godovitz who had his own band Goddo back in the 80s…so a Canuck…I still have a few friends that were with the Attic record label, I’m going to reach….it’s Saturday, and other than watching the Blue Jays beat the Yankees what else is there to do?

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  9. A very good album to listen to the whole way through. Like a hip radio station playing an eclectic cool bunch of songs. It really is a good despite what came before or after. All that history is interesting all the same. Good take Max. Bare Trees then CB drifted from big Mac.

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    1. Another case CB…of me that could not pick one song to represent this so I’ll pick the entire album. One of my favorites was the harder Tell Me All the Things You Do by Kirwan…and I love the 50s echo they put in there on some songs. Great album regardless..

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      2. I gotta agree. I consider the whole album. For me, Then Play On (which is fantastic) is Oh Well. But this one? The whole album is one delightful play for the ears.

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  11. Well, what do you do after Peter Green walks out? This was the answer, and I have loved this album for years and years. No, not with the intensity of many other albums that I love, but there’s always been a soft spot in my heart and ears for this. Fleetwood Mac these days may be remembered for Nicks and Buckingham, but I can clearly differentiate and appreciate the Green era, Kiln House, the Welsh era and the Nicks/Buckingham era.

    Great choice.

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  12. I love this album. I tend to favor Kirwan’s songs, but Spencer does all right here too. Love “Station Man” and “Jewel Eyed Judy”. I agree with CB about Bare Trees. Great album too. Very good choice.

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      1. You’re welcome. Take a listen to “Sunny Side Of Heaven” an instrumental by Kirwan on Bare Trees if you haven’t heard it. Beautiful music.

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      3. I know a little about music. I am always humbled by how much I don’t know. After being humbled a moment I look forward to the discovery of new great music. It is, after all, a good life. 🙂

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  13. I’d forgotten this one. I kinda dismissed it at the time but now I can see it as an important link. On another ‘smart arts’ note, I love the album cover. Christine was multi-talented.

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  14. Just listened to the album. Unexpected music. I like the Earl Grey one best, I think. Also when the playlist ended it automatically went on to “Bare Trees,” which is one I recognize and like. Good choice today, Max 🙂

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  15. It isn’t so much that you’ve missed stuff as it is you haven’t been introduced to it. There’s so much great music out there, there’s no way anybody is going to be aware of all of it. Which brings up another point. I have a couple of times in the past couple of weeks thought to myself, I wonder if Max knows about this? I wouldn’t be comfortable just mentioning it because this is your blog. Is there a good way to send you stuff without posting it on the blog?

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      1. Okay, I’ll mention one here. Have you ever heard “Tennessee Blues”? Written by Bobby Charles, a great songwriter. Most often (in my book at least) performed by Geoff Muldaur, but there are lots of others doing it. I mention it because it is one of those songs where the hook stays in my head and never goes away. I love it.

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      3. The Doug Sahm Band did “Tennessee Blues” too. There are links of YouTube by searching Doug Sahm Tennessee Blues.

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  18. Max, now you have me wanting to revisit their super-early stuff. I was way more of a fan when Nicks and Buckingham signed on, but there are a lot of early Mac tunes that are worth a listen or two. Thanks for jump-starting some tuneful memories here!

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