Could Lindsey Please the masses
 

I was just thinking about if Lindsey Released his new rock album, but it was totaly modern rock. Not revived 80's rock songs.

Wouldnt it be really great it was similar to stuff like the Killers or Stereophonics or Oasis, sort of that Indie Rock n Roll music. I would be 100%confident that if it appealed to the 16 - 30 age group who are all in to that sort of stuff it would go straight to No:1.

This age group in general arent very familiar with lindsey and I really think he should introduce himself to them.

I remember hearing him say do the destiny rules DVD " We'll show them punks" Well i dont think SYW really showed them.

I always believe that Lindsey will appeal to that age group and sell crap loads of records and have people notice him and think he's wonderful, but it seems that typically kids/young adults (not all I realize) have a problem liking/listening to someone over 35 unless it's someone culturally huge like Zepplin, Beatles, Stones, U2 etc... It also takes some damn good publicity behind you which honestly, Lindsey hasn't gotten. (Take a look at Paul McCartney's recent situation/Starbucks deal. Excellent album, excellent publicity, debuted at No.3...still sitting in the top 30) Hardly anyone knew UTS was released. But I certainly agree with you that Lindsey needs to introduce himself to that age bracket. I always wish I could mention Lindsey Buckingham without tacking on "guitarist for Fleetwood Mac" because to me he's so much more than that but now I'm getting a problem of people not giving a crap about FM too. But, that's the hand that's he's been dealt career wise. I don't know about hitting number 1, but I think he would definitely make a load of new fans especially if he shows his chops off a little bit more in this next album.

As far as SYW went...I thought their live tour did his statement "Let's show these young punks..." justice. (This is just my opinion.) Lindsey dominated that tour with the press it seemed. He wow-ed everyone. They totally kicked ass on stage and Lindsey seemed to really make people sit up and take notice of his skills once again.

I personally hope he doesn't try releasing something like that. I hope he just tries to be Lindsey and releases whatever is next in his plan.

Maybe it's because I'm not a big fan of Killers etc. and I think Lindsey's music is much more interesting. And IMO changing his style just to sell records would be selling out. Something that the guy who pushed to make Tusk different from Rumours should never do.

Regardless of the style of album he releases it will never, ever get to number one. He wouldn't get the promotion, no matter how good the album is and that's what makes and breaks albums these days. Releasing an album that's trying to appeal to the youth (of which I am a member) would mean that he'd be ignored by them because he's old and isn't cool and would upset a lot of his older fans because he's trying to do "young whippersnapper music" :P

I don't know, I never liked artists who only tried to please the masses, to make the music that sells well.
I prefer those who stick to their own style / taste and try to be the best at that. Because you can tell their hearts are in it, rather than $$ signs in their eyes!

I think it's disrespecting to the listener to make music you think will please them. They can make up for themselves what they want to listen to. If they get the ff-ing choice!

I'm all for diversity, not yet another band sounding just like the former.

and those aren't exactly indie bands you name, are they:shrug:

I dont think Lindsey has the mentality of pleasing the masses. He's gonna stay true to his music, and whoever likes it likes it. I think he's more chances of 'pleasing' the masses if they do another Fleetwood Mac album and tour. Which is getting more unlikely by the day.

Some really interesting points are being brought up.

I have to agree that Lindsey would never "sell out" his style just to sound like the other popular bands.

Having to tack on "the fleetwood mac guitarist" bit too all the time gets repetitave too. Its a rut that in time may pass. I think after another album or two he will be well knows. What does expect with a 14 year solo break.

I still think some new rock songs that have a modern day flavour to them along with some good publicity would work wonders.

I have a friend who said that theres no way I could make him like Lindsey Buckingham. Well I proved him totally wrong. But it took all the Live Rocking songs on the LIB DVD to do so. COME, EYOTW, GYOW, and TUSK.
Now he says hes amazing.

It just takes a few really good singles that appeal to the mainstream listeners

NO. Sorry, but no. It does NOT take a few singles that appeal to mainstream listeners. It takes ONE single that sticks but, more important, DIFFERS from mainstream and asks attention. Something like the titletrack from Gift Of Screws, maybe with an amazing acoustic guitarintermezzo in the middle like those few bars in Shut Us Down. Very Buckingham, sticky, weird and amazing. He can do that. But does the recordcompany?

i don't think the mainstream would appreciate his quirkiness.. particularly when he uses quirky voices.. like in the gift of screws title track.

that being said, i am so tired of killers-esque ****, and would be super disappointed if lindsey went that route. i don't think that would happen, anyway... i'm just stating for the record.

It takes a song that differs from the mainstream to appeal to the mainstream? Sort of the definition of contradiction there.

I actually agree with you Gerald :D I think most, if not all of his GOS music would be relevant today, as it was then and I just wish he could have released it as is. It's fun and crazy stuff, which is what we all need to hear and indeed shows us that he can still rock with the best of them.Surely , whoever said, we don't need to hear his "quirky voices" have just had a whole album full (UTS) and for whatever reason UTS has done quite well.Goes to show, he can get away with "quirky" and quiet, "quirky" and rock, would, imo, be even better.
I'm looking forward to this "rockier" album immensely, just hope it happens.

i love his quirky voices - more than his standard voice in some cases - i'm just saying that the mainstream might not be so quick to accept.

Sarah..I was suggesting in my post, that in fact the mainstream, have accepted his "quirky" voice because UTS is full of it, and it's proven to be reasonably popular, sales wise, I think (I guess, I'm right there, I don't know for sure,it's not my cup of tea and I haven't got it).
I'm holding out for a better album, next time around...whenever that may be.(fingers crossed)

He wouldn't need to change his style at all its the production that some people may find a barrier. Personally I think Lindsey is so much better when listening to him playing live (never actually seen him play live refering to the Dance etc.) as apose to listening to his albums, fleetwood mac or solo. It would be great to have an album that captures his live esence and leaves behind the production. That wouldn't be selling out either.

I think publicity would actually hurt his chances of having a No.1 album. I know he wears a leather jacket and all but that still doesn't change the fact he would be 30+ years older than his potential audience and like someone else mentioned a lot of them would not precieve that as cool. All it would take here in the UK for him to get a No.1 album is to have one song reach one of the big Radio station 'A playlists' and people would lap it up.

Dylan & springsteen have managed to get a fairly respectable position with their recent new albums and I would say UTS is better than Both.......put together

Fleetwood Mac aren't even as big as Dylan or Springsteen let alone Lindsey. I like both albums especially Sprignsteens however it is probably the existing fans that bought these albums. I don't think either two got much radio air play. For lindsey to get a good chart position existing fans alone aren't enough, Radio 1 would have to put him on the 'A playlist'.

Well if Under the Skin is considered a mainstream success, then that completely changes the whole argument. It sold what, 50,000? If that? There is no question he could match those sales with a rocking album, since surely the people who bought a Lindsey solo album two years ago will buy one now. And a rocking album is almost guaranteed to be more radio friendly.

There have got to be 50,000 on the planet that are accepting to funny voices, but whether that constitutes the masses is up for debate.

He doesnt have to change his style to what's popular now. He could perhaps put out an album that was remotely interesting tho.

I agree! Also people need to face up to the fact that Lindsey's never going to be a big mainstream act, no matter how much they love him. He's too old, and he's hasn't got the cred or the fanbase of Neil Young or Bob Dylan. Honestly, we should just be happy he's making records, not care about whether he's played on the radio.

I don't give a damn about the masses, as long as he pleases me.

So was Tusk, when it came out as a single, and went top ten.

I mean: if you want to win a bigger audience, you have to relate to the "mainstream-alternative-audience". People that accept Bright Eyes, Queens of the Stone Age, Ryan Adams, White Stripes. Mainstream quirkyness. Yes that sounds as a contradiction, but there's a huge market there, love.

But wouldn't it be great to say "told you so" to all the people who jump on the lindsey bandwagon after he's releadse an interesting album that goes to at least the top 10.

I cant believe after all the critics raving reviews that people havent copped on.

And I certianly dont believe he's too old and he definately dosent believe hes too old. Sure he planning on "staying around as long as he can"

He need to release a rock album and the remaining gift of screws in back to back succession. Whilst appearing on more music mag covers....namley Rolling Stone

Then he needs to do tour the UK and Europe before the end of 2008, however he could be doing with a decent back up band to perform before he goes on.

A bit of Media Hype is only minor hurdle.

I see what you're saying. But, in my view, realistically, there isn't any Soundscan data to back that up. I don't subscribe, so I can't check the actual number, but in an interview (Mark & Brian, I think?) Lindsey said something about 13,000 copies. To me, 13,000 of any one single object is a lot. In the world of mainstream music, it really isn't.

I love UTS, so every time we get an article about it, I'm glad to see other people realizing Lindsey's genius outside of Fleetwood Mac. And it was really great to see him included in the -06 end of year lists and stuff like that. But I'm afraid that even that doesn't translate into mainstream acceptance. Hell, I've seen a lot of people on this board who can't digest UTS... and they're all familiar with his quirks. That doesn't give me much hope about the masses.

That's okay, though. Lindsey obviously lives comfortably and enjoys what he does. I don't feel a militant need, as a fan, to recruit more listeners. If someone who isn't familiar with his work can't just pick the records up and enjoy them, I have no desire to talk his music with that person. As such, I have no desire to see him change to suit that person. (I am not talking about you or anyone on this board at all, to be clear. I'm talking about Joe Schmoe on the street.)

Does that make sense? I'm having a hard time putting thoughts into words this morning. :laugh:

As far as the GOS tracks go, sure it'd be nice to hear them all finished up. But I've heard them, am used to them, and like them the way they are. If he polished them and set them free, I'd enjoy them for sure... but he's said that he's been writing more stuff while he's on the road, and THAT'S what I want to hear on the next record. More, more, more!

And Tusk is a bit of a different situation. Tusk going Top 10 and somewhat appealing to the mainstream is part and parcel of the Rumours drama that had everyone interested, anyway. If it had really appealed to the mainstream, it would have sold more coming of Rumours coattails. (Again, not that 5/6 million isn't a lot, because it is a boat-load.)

I totally agree. Tusk was only a success because it was "the new Fleetwood Mac album, follow-up to the biggest album ever" not because it was so incredible. If not for Rumours, Tusk would have been an even bigger financial disappointment.

'twas 57,761 copies in the States by February, according to Hayley's info here: http://ledge.fleetwoodmac.net/showpo...2&postcount=33
Yep. Even Lindsey himself seems to have accepted it finally. :nod:

Exactly! :laugh: Oh, and ticket prices need to stay low. See, as much as I want him to get more noticed, I equally do not. Then ticket prices will go up, brokers will get really bad and I won't be able to see as many shows and get front row. It's a trade off. So, at this point, I'm happy Lindsey is getting more recognition, but not enough to screw with my concert experiences. :lol: (Oh, did I ever tell anyone that I was selfish? I am. :eek: )

Following what Sarah and Ryan said, Tusk was the first (I think) single after Rumours. Of course people are going to want to hear it. Do you think it's just a fluke that all of his other bizarre music has been completely ignored by everybody on the planet besides his biggest fans since Tusk came out? Did they even like the other stuff on Tusk? Maybe at first they admired Lindsey for his bold move, but then the novelty wore off.

it sold millions. people tend to forget that.

I was talking about the quirkiness of tusk-the single. I'd love it if he brought out a single that earpiercing. That's the only way he could gain some new credit by people who don't know him and who are interested in quirkiness.

Sarah and those of us that actually read her post didn't forget. But I do believe we already explained that little phenomenon.

Actually we just explained the single's success. The album's success was also helped quite a bit by the commercially accessible members of the band. And the fact that it was 1979 and Fleetwood freaking Mac.

Didn't Lindsey say in an interview that he was expecting UTS to have sold 200,000-300,000 copies by summer? I'm pretty sure he said that in a couple of different interviews. That would be worldwide I'd assume.

I said SOME of us. But hey, you'll conquer every friggin post I write, I guess you just hate my guts. Whatever.

You say that SARA was a commercial single? Come on. That album was carried by being different. The whole mac was. Not only lindsey.

BTW, I just write my thoughts on how Lindsey could broaden his audience in MY opinion. I'm not saying I'm right, I just say that quirkiness can sell. White stripes prove that.

Tusk the single definitely wasn't a big hit just because of Rumours.
Hardly any of the Rumours songs did well in Britain, but Tusk was their biggest single here after Albatross because it was quirky and different.

It still surprises me that people are disappointed that Lindsey isn't trying to be more commercial. Like Mari said, I'd much prefer to hear the music he wants to make rather than the music he thinks everyone wants him to make. I say, stay true to yourself Lindsey!

and you know there's some other dutchies that agree!;)

100% :wavey:

I absolutely agree. It was great three or four years ago but I find it's just got over-saturated now... a few decent individual songs that stand out but the music all sounds the same, the voices and melodies.

I doubt Lindsey would ever be accepted by the "masses" whether he changed his style or not -- and his age is the difficulty. Certainly he's not too old to be doing what he's doing, I definitely don't think that, but to "introduce" him would require an amount of focus on image as well as the music, that's simply how it is.
But for people of my generation who are already tuned into classic rock type thing that Lindsey's best known for, there's no doubt that he's popular. :nod:

Ding ding ding ding! You're right on the money, honey.

He's had his superstar - hellaciously huge mega star - days. Why some fans feel a need for that to happen again is beyond me.

LB should be LB. Period.

Some Flemish people agree too :wavey:

That's why we all like him anyway. :nod: :D LB makes the music he wants to make.

:thumbsup: Let's just hope that he keeps doing what he wants, and let's hope that he does it fast as well. I want as much as possible :lol:

If he does it the way he wants it, it will NOT go fast.....