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Peter Green The End of the Game Review by Gary Hill Peter Green is one of the more unusual stories of the music business. Seemingly owning the world as the guitarist of Fleetwood Mac, he got involved in the Unification Church and dropped out of the band, and in a lot of ways out of the business and that world. He's back into music these days, and in some ways never completely left, but it was an oddity in a lot of ways. This album is a reissue of his first solo album, released shortly after he left Fleetwood Mac. It's been released for the 50th anniversary of the album's original release. I don't normally put Green's music under progressive rock, and this isn't actually prog, but I've landed this one here. That's because the trippy kind of instrumental sound that makes up the disc proper (some of the bonus tracks have vocals) really is proto-prog. It has a lot in common with early space rock like Hawkwind, too. This is definitely a unique set, and well worth checking out. This review is available in book (paperback and hardcover) in Music Street Journal: 2020 Volume 2. More information and purchase links can be found at: garyhillauthor.com/Music-Street-Journal-2020.

Track by Track Review

Bottoms Up Coming in far down in the mix, this gradually rises up into a powerhouse bluesy, psychedelic jam that really calls to mind a lot of Green's work in Fleetwood Mac. It drops back mid-track to some seriously trippy jamming. I love the bass work that holds the whole thing down, but Green's guitar really paints some crazy textures.

Timeless Time This starts in mellow zones. It stays in that understated zone for the duration. This is a short number.

Descending Scale There is a good balance between rocking and mellower sounds on this number. It's largely exploratory, psychedelic and quite trippy. It gets very freaky at times and also chaotic.

Burnt Foot There is almost a fusion element built into this rather frantic number. It has more of that trippy kind of freeform jamming in place. A drum solo takes over around the halfway point. It eventually works upward into a killer jam that feels a lot more like something Green might have done with Fleetwood Mac.

Hidden Depth Jazzy elements merge with a trippy psychedelic space sound as this cut comes into being. This is a particularly experimental number.

The End of the Game Combining freaky psychedelic with bluesy elements this is another classic example of the kind of sound we've heard throughout the set. It drops back to mellower spacey stuff mid-track.

Bonus Tracks:

Heavy Heart Percussion starts this and holds it for a time. A mellow jam that makes me think of early Hawkwind begins to gradually rise up as the number continues.

No Way Out Speaking of Hawkwind, I'm reminded of some of their tribal stuff on this pounding, driving kind of space jam. This is mostly percussive for the first half or so, but turns out more into a trippy jam with some non-lyrical vocals later.

Beasts of Burden More like the kind of psychedelic blues rock one expected from Green's Fleetwood Mac, this cut works well. It's not the proggiest thing here, but it does have some space rock elements at play. It's a great tune that's one of my favorites on this disc. Of course, it's one of two here that have actual (non-lyrical) vocals.

Uganda Woman Mellower sounds are at the heart of this number. It has plenty of psychedelia along with elements that call to mind folk prog. There is a dreamy element to this number.

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