Flee Review, Globe and Mail (Canada)

Globe and Mail, Canada, August 18, 1979

Spencer is a former guitarist for Fleetwood Mac, a title which hardly makes him unique among aging rock stars. Flee, his third attempt at solo success, is by and large a disappointing album, a fact which doesn't make him unique among aging ex-Fleetwood Mac guitarists, either. (For the record, Peter Green, Danny Kirwan and Bob Welch have all released solo albums over the years which have failed to set anyone's hearts or ears on fire.)

Spencer's major problem with Flee is that he can't decide what he wants the album to be - a hot-shot disco pulser or a throw-back to his Fleetwood Mac days. He tries to do both, filling side one with a baleful attempt at disco, and side two with the type of material one might have found on a pre-Stevie Nicks Fleetwood Mac album. Side two has some interesting moments, but side one, the disco side, makes the package no bargain. It seems to me that if some one wants a disco album, he or she will buy a disco album. Anyone buying Spencer's album sound-unheard, expecting a soft rock package, will be half-disappointed. At the price albums go for these days, half-dissappointment is still too much.

. - A. N.