Rumours II
 

After the success of Rumours, WB hoped the band would deliver a "Rumours II" style album instead of Tusk. And when they finally softened their approach with Mirage, it was sometimes referred to in the media as an attempt to craft a "Rumours II."

Here's an interesting idea: How about for the 45th anniversary of Rumours in 2022, the new lineup (with Neil Finn and Mike Campbell replacing Buckingham) rerecord the whole album as Rumours II. Maybe with Dave Stewart producing.

Bonus tracks: "Don't Dream It's Over" and "Free Fallin'"

This topic will certainly bring some great discussion. :]

Don't give Fleecewood any ideas!

This would amount to the current band acknowledging it has no original ideas of its own.

Sleezy Nicks got their creative genius fired.

Sleezy Nicks doesn't write new music.

We are still waiting for Rumours 2 :eek:

It seems the band was always chasing commercial success after Tusk which was exactly what Tusk was not. Tusk changed the band forever. Tusk was very creative and has lots of great songs and one of their best albums. However sometimes I wonder what kind of creative albums we could have gotten if the band was not so concerned chasing pop radio. Mirage and Tango (the next 2 Mac albums) were the most commercial and super pop corporate music. In that regard, was Tusk really worth it? IMHO, the band never recovered always trying to over compensate for Tusk. IMHO Tusk had unintended consequences and not for the better. After Rumours, the band lost their "rock chops" which is why on classic rock radio stations today you will only hear songs from The White album and Rumours.
(now THIS is a heavy thesis)

I think Mirage and even more so Tango are not straight commercial albums (though Lindsey tries to portray the former that way). Lots of quirky and adventurous stuff on both (e.g. the backing vocals on "Book Of Love" and "Eyes Of The World") – especially on Tango (all the non-radio songs besides Stevie's).

Well, I won't participate in any discussion, except by saying.... No.

PS: Ok, one more thing. Shouldn't this post be in Present Band forum?

This band..if it even still exists was/is so creatively bankrupt that they will not record any music old or new borrowed or blue. They function as a mercenary touring group.. or did .I'm hoping that it is over for good.

At the OP:


~diiiiieeeeesss laughing~~!!!!

That's very funny, thank you!

One almost wishes they would give it a shot for real, so they could look like the has-beens they are, with nowhere to hide from the vilification!

Mirage is light pop. Not sure how backing vocals on Book of Love makes it any less pop. Maybe Empire State is a bit quirky but probably even Wham's Make it Big probably had a song like that on that pop album.
My point was how the band went against the conventional wisdom of chasing pop radio and commercial success for craft for Tusk yet went way overboard chasing pop radio and commercial success because of Tusk. The band was under tremendous pressure to make Mirage radio friendly pop greatness. Because of Mick's bankruptcy and the length of time between albums, Tango also was under tremendous pressure to be commercially successful. When you chase the pop charts those songs are not memorable. That is what made the White Album, Rumours, and Tusk so great. They worked on songs regardless of pop influence or pressure to get the album in the top 10.

I love Mirage in its pop greatness. I only wish they would have included Smile at You. It needed that angry Stevie rocker but they played it so safe. I love Mirage for what it is. I really only care for Christine's songs on Tango. Its not a group effort and most of it sounds like a Lindsey solo album because it is a Lindsey solo album :) I believe Behind the Mask is a better album than Tango.

This is a joke, right? :eek:

Not a joke. Actually Stevie will re record Bella Donna this year in reggaeton rhythm.

[QUOTE=Macfan4life;
My point was how the band went against the conventional wisdom of chasing pop radio and commercial success for craft for Tusk yet went way overboard chasing pop radio and commercial success because of Tusk. The band was under tremendous pressure to make Mirage radio friendly pop greatness. Because of Mick's bankruptcy and the length of time between albums, Tango also was under tremendous pressure to be commercially successful. When you chase the pop charts those songs are not memorable. That is what made the White Album, Rumours, and Tusk so great. They worked on songs regardless of pop influence or pressure to get the album in the top 10.
.[/QUOTE]

Actually Rumours was created to be a hit. Lindsey has talked about how he listened to hit records by other artists to see what made them successful when Fleetwood Mac was recording the album.It doesn't make it any less brilliant or organic but it was meant to be a blockbuster. Tusk was indeed made without commercial considerations and it is of course also brilliant. After this the band's chemistry fractured so Mirage and Tango regardless of why they were made were not going to be as captivating.