Which two albums represent Lindsey's best Fleetwood Mac work?
Since I did one for Stevie in honor of her birthday, I thought I'd continue for Lindsey, Christine, and possibly the Pre-Rumours gang.
Pick 2 albums that you feel represent and showcases Lindsey Buckingham at his very best. :cool: |
Rumours and Tango, easily.
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SYW got 3 votes, and '75 NOTHING?
That's bass ackwards! |
I'm surprised at how well SYW is doing so far. I would've thought it'd have been a fight between Tusk, Rumours and TITN.
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I voted for the white album and rumours. I love all his songs on those! Everyone of them. For Tusk and Mirage I thought his songs were by far the weakest, horrible. He did do a great job producing Stevie's songs for those albums though I guess he does get credit there. Its easy to see how jealousy tore them apart which is typical for a lot of musical relationships it seems. For Tango- Big Love is great and the tittle song is good, but the rest were just ok to blah. Even though I am a bigger Stevie fan for sure, he did carry Say You Will, but even those songs were sub par to the first two albums.
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Rumours and '75 are flawless albums, but Tusk and SYW show Lindsey at his most unrestrained and interesting, so they get my vote. Mirage and Tango have just a touch too many clunkers for me. Sorry Oh Diane and Family Man! I know you were minor UK hits, but it's time to admit that you are just not very good songs.
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I'm curious about how TITN will do as it wasn't in play for Stevie and I imagine will do great for Christine. :cool:
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Two words: Go Your Own Way
also: everything on Tusk |
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Mirage is Lindsey's low point, IMO. He's totally thumbing his nose at the backlash from his Tusk experiments by contributing utterly inoffensive & completely boring songs. Tango is one of Fleetwood Mac's best albums, IMO... it's every bit as good of a pop album as Rumours & Mystery To Me. Oddly enough, when you look at the songwriters individually, they don't hold their own compared to their other albums. In a strange twist of fate, I think Lindsey's best material is found on the 2 Mac albums where I feel Stevie's resides as well: Tusk & Say You Will. For me, those 2 albums are where Lindsey really flexes his creative muscle, and is probably most himself. Tusk is the band's masterpiece, IMO. In opposition to Mirage, I feel Say You Will is a terrible album, yet when you look at the songwriters individually, it's some of their best works of their careers. |
^ To me, Lindsey's Mirage work is not inoffensive. It's retro weird. For a 1982 audience, I don't think it was meant to be appealing. I think they were meant to find it odd and that it was intended to be noncommercial and uncooperative.
What Warner Bros. wanted from Lindsey was "Trouble" and he decided not to give them that and delivered cliches with a twist instead, but the subversion was less obvious (and less creative) than his Tusk oddness was. By contrast, I think a song like "Steal Your Heart Away" is innocuous and safe. Inoffensive. Palatable in a way that I don think the Mirage offerings were ever meant to be. The problem is, While I hear a different type of rebellion in Diane or Eyes, I think they're less complicated and original than his work on Tusk. Michele |
Agreed, Michele. I think people are too quick to make the leap from "I don't like this" to "Lindsey was intentionally kinda sucking" when it comes to Mirage. I think it absolutely was what he wanted to put out. The difference is that it just... wasn't very interesting.
I do have a soft spot for Book of Love though. That was the only not-Stevie Mirage song that I actually enjoyed for a good year into my Mac fandom. |
i will repeat what i already said here:
http://ledge.fleetwoodmac.net/showpo...1&postcount=49 Quote:
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Hmmm....
I don't think the white album represents his best work. "I'm So Afraid" is MUCH better live. "Blue Letter" is my favorite of his on the album, but he didn't write it, so.... Of course, his songs are Rumours are perfect. I think "Go Your Own Way" is their only "hit" I've never grown tired of, at one point or another. I could listen to that song 1000 times in a row, and it would still sound fresh to me. I love and appreciate all of Lindsey's songs on Tusk. They're his most interesting batch of songs. I don't think his songs on Mirage are as bad as some seem to think. "Empire State" isn't a favorite, but I like the rest. Even "Oh Diane." :eek: I've always been partial to Tango. "Big Love" and the title track are great. "Caroline" has insipid lyrics, but I love the music and energy. Lindsey's songs on SYW are much stronger than Stevie's, IMO. Lyrically, they're definitely among his best (I think "Peacekeeper" and "Red Rover" are especially poetic). So I'm gong with SYW and Tusk. Rumours and Tango are very, very close. |
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I LOVE Can't Go Back, Book of Love, and even Empire State!!! Tango just sounds too 80's for me. I mean, I like it, but it doesn't sound like a BAND playing, it sounds like a computer playing the instruments. It's pop perfection, but as a musician, it leaves me cold. Tusk is the masterpiece, but probably not to the casual fan. Rumours is the album that changed my life...I am who I am, and became who I am, all over being OBSESSED with that album, as a kid. So even though I rarely listen to it anymore, Rumours will always be my favorite. Say You Will? Just Say You Won't. Too long, too many songs, too many songs that sound like solo songs - not FM songs. And the FM balance of Christine, gone....I think that's why they shouldn't put anything else out(other than maybe EP's). |
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Though I know some of you may view it as the easy choice, I'm shocked more people haven't voted for Rumours. Has Lindsey ever really surpassed his work on that album?? Really??? Honestly, I don't think he's turned in three songs of as high caliber as Go Your Own Way, Never Going Back Again, and Second Hand News, three classics which have held up over time and feature stunning guitar work.
My view of Tango in the Night: fantastic instrumentation from Lindsey. The guitar work all-around is incredible, even on Seven Wonders and Isn't It Midnight. Big Love was his hit song. I love his musicianship on Tango and the Night and Family Man. But his lyrics on the other hand... BARF I've written in the Say You Will thread about my thoughts on Lindsey's overproduction on a few songs, how he took the life out of Bleed To Love Her and Say Goodbye, how the band really should've learned from prior decisions (the reception of Tusk) and went for a more focused 10- or 11-track work. Tusk is really Lindsey's baby. So I cannot not vote for that album, though I do think his experimentations are not always successful and I'm slightly bothered when he is labeled as the only true 'artist' of the band. I love what he did with the singular song Tusk (how great it worked in the TV series The Americans when stripped to its essence speaks to its tremendous groove and rhythmic power), The Ledge in capturing a different sound for the band, and What Makes You Think You're The One for his vocal ferocity. His production skills on Stevie's songs are probably at an all-time high as well: Sara is gorgeous and Beautiful Child one of the greatest (and most under-appreciated) Rock ballads. So my vote actually matches how I feel about Stevie's best Fleetwood Mac work: Rumours and Tusk. |
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Rumours has Lindsey offering absolutely perfect pop songs, but that isn't really what we're discussing here. And I'm thrilled more people than expected are recognizing the sheer creativity and passion he displays on Say You Will. |
Although Tusk is a pop masterpiece in it's own right, I think I would do his work on '75 and Rumours a great disservice by not recognizing that his work is the dictionary definition of classic rock while Tusk is more of a "cult classic". When you put on the '75 album and are immediately treated to Lindsey's voice "Monday morning you sure look fine... it showcases a previously underappreciated talent in Mr Buckingham. Same with Blue Letter "when your day goes down, I won't be waitin' around for you". World Turning, although a partially "borrowed" song from Peter Green, the sounds he got out of his guitar are nothing short of brilliant. Ending with his show stopping masterpiece, which remains to this day in I'm so Afraid, heck he even recycled it a couple of times in Tango and This is the Time.
Rumours brought him into the stratosphere talent wise. Second Hand News like Monday Morning, is one of those songs you can listen to again and again and it never grows stale. His musicianship in Never Going Back Again in its various incarnations again showcase his unmatchable talent. Go Your Own Way is Lindsey's career defining song, he has never not played it live and the temptation to turn it up really loud will never fade. Lastly, what Lindsey did with the Chain, he has never quite captured since and probably could have out of the more brilliant pieces of Stevie Nicks demos that we know exist, and the musical pieces he's written, especially in the late career trilogy of brilliant solo albums. Other albums, especially Tusk, have other examples of Lindsey's brilliance, but he changed the course of his career in 1979 and decided not to make the classic sound again. His work has been stellar, but none of it is as good as these two first Fleetwood Mac albums. Part of me wishes he had kept to that meticulous way of writing, arranging and recording music. I think I read recently where Ken Calliat wanted to take Tusk into more of a musically perfect album than Rumours and with the quality of songs on the album, I can't help but wonder how they would have sounded if that direction had been taken. |
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Absolutely the right decision for him to sing lead on Crystal, the album would've been perfect with the inclusion of one more Stevie Lead, Crystal wasn't the song. Sorcerer coulda shouda woulda been a show stopping Fleetwood Mac classic as her white album voice would've nailed the song into orbit and a good complement to Rhiannon as she was way under utilized on the album and that first tour. |
No worries. I forgot The Chain on Rumours in my first post.
I agree re: Stevie and I think we mentioned this in her respective albums thread, that she was underutilized on Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac. I was wondering if the band made her give Crystal to Lindsey or if they were just sharpening the original recording from Buckingham Nicks. That was my same reasoning why I couldn't put that album among her two best, even with Landslide and Rhiannon. |
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however, he was not nearly as prolific as a songwriter during that time, as he became later in his career. maybe he was still getting into the whole songwriting thing? (that apparently Stevie has dragged him into kicking and screaming during BN era), and he created these gems you mention, but there were only few of them. during Tusk era, he really blossomed as a songwriter. i wonder whether he considered himself mostly guitarist, singer, arranger, producer before Tusk time? and after putting together all these brilliant songs on FM and Rumours, finally figured out songwriting works well for him as an outlet, and he really is a brilliant songwriter too? Quote:
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Tusk and Say You Will - would have made great Lindsey solo albums with just his stuff on them
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Fortunately for us, Lindsey found that second wind and has put together some of the best music of his career in the last 6 years. The most important factor I think is that he finally found that balance between experimentation and maintaining that appeal for the listener. I'm also a big Say You Will fan and think he did a fine job throughout. All that said, I'm still drawn back to '75 and Rumours, it can't be topped to these ears. :nod: |
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You've mentioned here and elsewhere that many on this forum don't give Dreams its due credit, but I can't say I've seen that. It seems to be a universally loved song as far as I can tell. I chose Say You Will and Tusk because I think there is so much more of Lindsey's genius on display in those albums than there is in the relatively narrow sonic confines of Rumours and the White Album. Radio play has nothing to do with it. |
Tusk and Tango, easy-peasy.
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Without a doubt Tusk and Tango In The Night, in my opinion. :cool:
Oh I forgot that You and I and Family Man is on Tango in the Night.. I take that back. I would vote for Tusk and Rumours if I got to re-vote! |
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I voted Tango because it was a hard time for the band, and not the best momento for Stevie (but a very good for Chris I think), and I think the álbum was a big success because of Lindsey's work in a great part.
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^When they're live and standing in front of you it's one thing, because their expressions and delivery are part of the whole experience.
But when I am just listening to the studio version, I want a song, something I can hum, a melody, something on which the sentiment can grab on and stick. Something that stands on its own without a visual accompaniment. I think the faster version of the song fits those requirements better for me. So, I like the studio version more, for that reason. Michele |
I meant to vote for Tusk and SYW, but somehow only managed to vote for Tusk, weird.
Anyway, of course Tusk because that really is a Lindsey masterpiece in my opinion. He really went outside the box and came into his own on that album and I love all of his songs on there. My favorite Lindsey FM song is The Ledge, plus many more of my top Lindsey FM songs are on there. SYW is also a Lindsey masterpiece. Such a wide variety of songs on there from him and it also showed a growth in his songwriting abilities I think. Great guitar work, interesting lyrics. I enjoy a lot of his other FM songs on the other albums as well, it's just that for me, Tusk and SYW are Lindsey at his most creative. |
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