It's well-known that in 1963 jazz musician Charles Mingus asked a psychologist to write a review for his album The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady. In the introduction to the resulting review, which appeared in the liner notes for said album, the psychologist in question, Edmund Pollock, posed a very intriguing query (one that was brought about by Mingus’ initial request);
"why not have a psychologist try to interpret the projections of a composer musician?" The first solo album by former Fleetwood Mac guitarist and frontman, Peter Green brings this very musing to mind. The reason for this is that The End of the Game is essentially a snapshot of the troubled musician’s mental state at the time of recording and as a result provides a prefect subject for psychoanalysis.
Everything about The End of the Game seems to reflect what was happening in Green’s mind at the time of the album’s conception and also how his mental problems were affecting his career, such as the poignantly appropriate album title and the fact that he was unable to create any solidly structured compositions. The album consists entirely of atmospheric free-form instrumentals that see Green drift through a number of different moods, from calm melancholia to intense anxiety, mirroring his unbalanced mental state.
Some of the most moving and evocative moments on the album are the most delicate, such as the beautiful yet haunting Timeless Time, which evokes a moment of quiet solitude, a short release from the turmoil of a tortured mind. In contrast, the intense Descending Scale features moments of pure desperation that hit the listener with the upmost intensity. It’s the closing duo of Hidden Depth and the title track however that provide the real highlights of the album. The former starts off in a fairly upbeat, jazzy tone before quickly descending into much slower, atmospheric realms, evoking the kind of psychedelic ambience felt by someone who is struggling to keep their grip on reality. Both pieces feature some of Green's most hauntingly beautiful guitar playing which is particularly moving during the closing stages of the title track as it gets progressively more gentle and delicate as it nears the end.
While it is Green who is undoubtedly at the head of everything here, the other musicians also manage to impress. The song Burnt Foot in particular showcases the abilities of drummer Godfrey Maclean and bassist Alex Dmochowski, both of whom play in an almost free jazz style which seems to fit the schizophrenic nature of Green’s guitar playing. At one point, amongst the chaotic musicianship of Burnt Foot’s second half, which Maclean and Dmochowski contribute to greatly, a quiet high pitched scream can be heard, a disquieting subtlety that further adds to the haunting nature of the album.
If Fleetwood Mac’s The Green Manalishi (the last song that Green wrote with the band) was the sound of Green addressing his mental demons and crying out for help, The End of the Game is the sound of those demons taking over and a soundtrack to his mental breakdown. The album represents an insight into what was going on in Green’s mind without ever really telling the listener, begging the question, just how much can be read from music in terms of psychoanalysis? As a result, The End of the Game is a fascinating representation of the most tragic period of Peter Green’s career but perhaps just as importantly, an album that highlights his ability to convey his emotions and feelings through his guitar playing despite also symbolising the end of his most creative period as a musician. Following the release of this album (and two very rare singles) Green would disappear from the music scene for almost 8 years, a period where he spent much of his time in mental institutes and even undergoing shock treatment. Sadly much of the music Green would go on to make afterwards paled greatly in comparison to this and much of what had come before, perhaps with the exception of In the Skies (1979), an album that would represent a brief glimmer of hope in his tragic story.
