The prospect of a Christine McVie solo album sounded exciting. After all, McVie seems to be the strong, silent center of Fleetwood Mac, the calm queen to Stevie Nicks' pampered princess. And her songs ("Over My Head," "Say You Love Me," "You Make Loving Fun," "Hold Me") have been among the band's most fetching hits. However, as anyone who heard her first solo album (recorded fourteen years ago and later reissued as The Legendary Christine Perfect Album) might recall, a long, uninterrupted stretch of McVie's solo singing tends to get, well, pretty boring.

Such is the case on the new LP. In small doses, and scattered throughout a Fleetwood Mac album, McVie can sound sultry and mysterious. But her voice is actually quite limited in both range and expressiveness. And any thought that she might have been storing up wonderful songs for her own album quickly disperses as one rather mundane, midtempo love song gives way to another. "Got a Hold on Me," already headed for the Top Ten, is pleasant enough, and there are a couple of other potential singles (the Beatlesque "Love Will Show Us How" and the Everly Brothers-like "Who's Dreaming this Dream"). But even with those songs, a crack studio band and some exquisite production touches, the sameness of the material and of McVie's singing (even on "One in a Million," a duet with Steve Winwood) finally drives this record into a very dull rut. (RS 417)

DON SHEWEY