Test of Time

Album Review

It is intriguing to speculate what kind of music would have resulted if Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks had never joined Fleetwood Mac, but instead continued to record as they did on their sole duo album Buckingham Nicks. Maybe, without the rhythm section of John McVie and Mick Fleetwood, they would have made more atmospheric, less rocking records that retained their respective talents for inventive arranging and playing (Buckingham) and for haunting singing and songwriting (Nicks). Such speculation is sparked by a listen to Gypsy Soul's debut album, Test of Time, because the duo of Roman Morykit and Cilette Swann is reminiscent of Buckingham and Nicks. Morykit plays an array of guitars and keyboards, coming up with an evocative style of folk-rock that supports Swann's singing of romantic lyrics to catchy melodies, her voice not so much suggestive of Nicks as of a cross between Joni Mitchell and Heart's Ann Wilson. Morykit's affection for fretless bass and classical guitar sometimes brings to mind Mitchell's work with another fretless bassist, Jaco Pastorius, and also occasionally gives the music a new age flavor. But the overall sound is folk-based pop/rock in a manner that often recalls the softer side of Buckingham/Nicks-era Fleetwood Mac, and fans of that band should seek this record out. In 1975, this was the kind of music that topped the pop charts; twenty years later, Morykit and Swann had to finance their own CD and release it on their own label. [This second edition of the album differs from the first in that the ninth track, "When the Winds Blow," has been replaced by an instrumental version of "You Know the Feeling."]