Do we really want a new Fleetwood Mac album?
 

There's been quite a bit of talk about this one. Obviously the Mac are my all time favourite and of course I'd get the CD if/when they do it... but does it really need to be done?

I read some comments by Mick Jagger not long ago where he said the Stones probably aren't going to do any new studio albums. He said when a band does a new album they usually devote the majority of any gigs afterward to material from that. Now that's cool for a band that hasn't been around as long and doesn't quite have that same status... but with a band like the Stones - people at the gigs want to hear the old classics. Stuff that they know and can sing along to. Jagger I guess finds that a little dissapointing - but still wants to please the fans.

I'm wondering if it's the same with Fleetwood Mac. OK there was a tiny bit of new material on the 2013 tour, but that was literally only one or two tracks from Extended Play. Plus they sandwiched them bang slam in the middle of the gig between the old classics. The audience WERE receptive (and seemed to be quite happy to sing along to Sad Angel) because I'm guessing it was just one or two songs and not overpowering.

Now personally - if the Mac do release a big new CD I'd want it to be a live album of the 2013 tour (maybe with a CD of Extended Play as a little bonus). That would be a package I could get excited about because I'll know that I'm going to love it. I wouldn't have that guarantee with a new studio album.

Then maybe when another big world tour gears up just do another EP. Extended Play II if you like. Then for that new tour do another couple of tracks off that.

An occasional 4 track EP through iTunes is I think the best way for the band to get a bit of new material out there every now and then.

What do you guys think?

If they were to take a back to basics, from the ground up approach and work on the album as a band, absolutely it would be great to have a new album. I cringe a bit at the idea of Stevie "sending" them some tapes and dropping by near the finish to slap on some vocals and having zero part of the creative process. Also, the band would need a producer who "gets" them, Dashut and Calliat come to mind :) and take them in a direction that upholds the quality of the work through the process and keeps the egos in check. Otherwise, we would be in for more bloat and inconsistent work which would end up on the shelf or taking up i-pod space. Oh yeah, did I mention not to be attempted without Ms McVie in the room? :wavey:

I completely agree! A fresh batch of songs from scratch would be a refreshing change of pace rather than a collection of recycled songs from past projects, which essentially made up Say You Will. And now since its been confirmed that Christine will be rejoing the group, that could very well reinvigorate the rest of the band and indeed bring back a group sense of work ethic.

It would be great to have the band flesh out songs like You Can't Fix This and give us something great. One devil reference is enough to create a hook, let's try some great metaphor to bring the song to greatness....Ms Nicks will need to be open to a just a little feedback on grammar and editing to get her writing back on track and Mr Buckingham will need to bring himself to realize it's us who need to like his experiments. Christine will just need to be herself :) and we'll get that elusive great album we've been waiting for since '79

who are these us you are talking about? FM fandom is very fragmented. there are enough of us who LOVE his experiments. wish he'd go back to them. you all convinced him that with the Mac he has to just run the formula into the ground instead. :p

(which is fine, he just has to get that mac album out of the way and get back to us solo.)

That's certainly a good point Elle and Lindsey's experimenting has certainly worked for him in some instances, Tusk for example by and large, but my main point is that quality will need to prevail in the vein of an Out of the Cradle vs inconsistency that's plagued some of his and Stevie's other work. I personally don't care about formula for the ~Mac, I just want something really good to listen to.

As for Buckingham's experimental stuff... some of it works and some of it doesn't. But by the same token... isn't it good that the guy wants to push the envelope a bit? Wouldn't it be a little bit boring if the guy had just did the same thing over and over for the last 40 years?

I kinda dig Tusk by the way.

I honestly want Lindsey to write exactly how he wants. I just want them to have cohesion and magic on the same mic. Certainly don't want cut and paste. I hope he does experiment, that's when the magic happens.

OK, here's a bit of an "out there" thought that I think a lot of you are not going to like. But since Christine McVie is rejoining restoring the classic Rumours line up, and Rumours STILL makes headlines years after it was released... maybe a new album could be Rumours Part II?

A full on sequel to that album, where the personal story of the band is updated to where it is now? Offer some kind of closure to some of the stuff that was happening on that album? A DIRECT response? It would be a hell of a difficult trick to pull off - but boy I'd respect them for at least taking up the challenge.

Please don't flame me for that... I'm just trying to think outside the box a little bit here...

As long as we get at least four new Christine tunes, I will be thrilled. I wold prefer six, but, hey, let's not get greedy. I am betting Stevie's involvement will be more substantial than it has for Tango or Say You Will or the EP. Now that Christine is aboard again (Thanks Mick for giving the official nod) Stevie will probably want to be more directly involved.

I am all for this. I thought SYW was too long and, frankly, one of the reasons I love The Mac is the blend of the three singer/writers with John and Mick, which I really felt was largely absent. I like a majority of the recent EP tracks.

I don't care about formula or experimentation. I could not care less about their studio methodology. What I want is for these five very talented people to work together and to produce some new music, and then get out there and let us hear it. A new live package of some sort would be great too, if only because I don't know if/when I would get to see them perform.

I have been saying this for years. I agree. Rumours II would be brilliant.

You'll soon discover that Tusk is the most beloved Mac album by us fellow hardcore fans. Mick himself has even agreed.

You're probably on to something. Say You Will was sort of the spiritual successor to Tusk... and the band hasn't seemed satisfied with the results. In my opinion it wasn't as artistically successful because of Christine's absence. It needed her counterpoint. Extended Play was a return to Lindsey being super conservative & pop-oriented. Christine has mentioned in the press that the batch of songs she has recently recorded are very much in the vein of her classic 1970s sound. So signs are pointing to a new album being a familiar, approachable style.

*a majority* of the hardcores. This hardcore has never been too enamoured.

I don't think I would be such an obsessed Fleetwood Mac fan if Tusk didn't exist. I love Tusk.