The release of Christine McVie coincided with the airing of two MTV specials: a documentary on the recording of the album and a December 1983 live concert at the Los Angeles Country Club.

[11] She started working on the project with the guitarist Todd Sharp,[15] informing him that the album was a contractual obligation and asking for his help in co-writing the material and assembling a backing band.

[17][18]: 32:50–33:20 Since Sharp had already been selected as the album's guitarist, McVie focused on assembling the rest of the backing band, and recruited George Hawkins to play bass.

[15] Hawkins had previously played on Lindsey Buckingham's song "Trouble", and had also worked with Sharp on some of Mick Fleetwood's solo albums, including The Visitor in 1981.

[15][18]: 33:55–34:31  Although Sharp and McVie were initially worried that Ferrone's playing was too "slick" and "upscale" for the project, they changed their minds after running through a few songs with him in his studio.

[4] Located in Montreux, Switzerland, the studio was at the time owned by Queen and operated by engineer David Richards,[4] who had been highly recommended by Arif Mardin.

[23] At some point during their time in the studio, Sharp's Fender Stratocaster was stolen, which was the only item that went missing even though the facility housed "expensive microphones" and other valuable gear.

[15] Due to time constraints, a second session with Winwood was later arranged, during which he added keyboards to "Ask Anybody", while McVie and Sharp worked on additional background vocals for the song.

[23] Additionally, McVie felt that an entire record of her own songs might have become "tiresome",[23] and explained that it was more important to her for the content to be "exciting and innovative" than for it to simply be hers.

In regard to her collaborations with Steve Winwood, McVie later explained that some of the lyrics for "Ask Anybody" ("He's a devil and an angel / Ooh the combination's driving me wild") had been written three years earlier, inspired by her relationship with Dennis Wilson.

[40] Jerry Spangler of Deseret News described it as "exciting" and thought that it was a "promising indication that more traditional McVie love songs may soon be forthcoming.

[32]: 31:34–31:38  To develop this idea, Vigon and Jeff Ayeroff, who was Warner Bros. Records' creative director at the time, showed McVie Brian Griffin's photography portfolio.

McVie was particularly drawn to one of Griffin's landscape shots, which featured a person in a field, and decided that she wanted the album's cover image to be taken outdoors.

[43][44] Fleetwood Mac's lawyer Mickey Shapiro, who had recently worked on the band's concert project for HBO, helped schedule and coordinate the album's release between the airing of two MTV specials.

[50][51][52] The show, taped in December 1983 and directed by Derek Burbidge, marked McVie's first performance as a solo artist since joining Fleetwood Mac.

[51] Around the time of the album's release, a 7-inch flexi disc containing excerpts of "Love Will Show Us How", "Got a Hold on Me", "So Excited", and "The Smile I Live For" was distributed for promotional use.

[13][51] Larry Vigon, who also worked on the album's cover design, served as the video's creative consultant and was responsible for developing its concept and ensuring that "things didn't go astray from the original idea.

[6][12] For the tour, she assembled a live band that included her three primary collaborators from the album: Todd Sharp on guitar, Steve Ferrone on drums, and George Hawkins on bass.

[6][86] Other occasionally performed songs included "Too Much Is Not Enough", an unreleased track from the recording sessions,[40] and "Guitar Bug", described as a "bouncy rocker a la Chuck Berry"[83] and written by Sharp and Burnette.

[86] Ken Tucker of The Philadelphia Inquirer, wrote that the "slinky" keys looked like they "had just slid off a piano and were about to slip off into space", and described them as an "apt metaphor for McVie's sinuous music".

[85] The previous month, McVie and her band performed at the Eisenhower Hall Theatre in West Point, New York, in a special two-hour concert alongside comedian Joe Piscopo, who was then a cast member on Saturday Night Live.

"[97] The next day, Stephen Holden of The New York Times argued that McVie's debut album as a "solo rock star" fell "somewhat flat", since her charm rested on "her beguilingly enigmatic calm," and identified the "blandness" of the songs as one of the key problems.

[98] A week later, Kristine McKenna of Los Angeles Times said that the album was "profoundly pretty" and sounded "exactly" like Fleetwood Mac, partly due to its "glossy production and smooth rhythms".

"[99] On February 26, Knight-Ridder writer Rick Shefchik gave the album a 9/10, describing the songs as "every bit as catchy" as Fleetwood Mac's work and noting that McVie's "faithful, romantic moods" remained uninterrupted, thanks to Todd Sharp's similar "sturdy" songwriting style.

[93] The next month, on March 15, Rolling Stone's Don Shewey gave the album a two-star rating, stating that a "long, uninterrupted stretch" of McVie singing tended to get "pretty boring", as her voice was "limited in both range and expressiveness.

"[95] A few days later, People gave the album a B, writing that it had a "loose, good-time feeling" and praising its "snappy" tunes "full of rhythmic rock and roll hooks.

"[94] However, they noted that the "subtle harmonic skills" that made McVie a "peerless ensemble" artist with Fleetwood Mac did not "necessarily translate into a solo act."

"[101] That month, Keith Tuber of Orange Coast magazine considered that the album was "nice" but "slightly disappointing" since it was neither "exciting," "outstanding," nor "exceptional.

[103] Robert Christgau gave the album a B+, describing the songs as "unimpeachably sensible and unfailingly pleasant" and saying that, except for "The Smile I Live For", they pace "proudly by in full confidence" and "set you humming.

"[91] However, he noted that the album suffered a "rather predictable fate" as it was a "little too sweet and laid-back to be consumed in one sitting," and suggested that its best songs would have been enhanced by the contrasting styles of Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks.