I know it can sometimes be difficult to wrap your head around an opinion that differs so much from your own, so I can appreciate the need to try and justify it. But honestly, I don't hear Dreams on the radio much. Never have. Maybe it's the countries I've lived in or the stations I've listened to. But I have heard many Mac and Mac-adjacent songs on the radio far more than Dreams. When I got Rumours, Dreams was one of the few songs on the album I didn't really know. I still think it's overhyped, and I think much of the praise heaped upon it is applicable to many Mac recordings of that era. I like it, but I don't get why it's considered so darn special. ;)

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.

I really appreciated your post. Yeah, just wanted to justify my opinion so I'm not written off as ignorant for not choosing Lindsey's other albums. I mentioned Dreams as an example since I've certainly gotten that impression from reading this board. I think a few people mentioned it being overrated in the Stevie thread for her best two albums. In the US, as you know, it was FM's only number-one hit, so it's certainly recognized though I'm sure more by its chorus than the name of the song. I do understand why some people think it's gotten stale or shouldn't be performed every night, so that's why I defended the studio recording and raised the point that maybe some fans read Lindsey's Rumours songs the same way. So, yeah, I do appreciate Lindsey's creativity and strokes of genius, but I don't always agree with his decisions from small production choices to larger album concept issues. Like I said, I'm a fan of Red Rover and absolutely love Say Goodbye and Bleed to Love Her, though for the latter two I really think he took the life and passion out of the songs by speeding up Say Goodbye and overproducing Bleed to Love Her. You probably don't agree but it's certainly fun to debate back and forth.

those two are my faves on titn (especially family man)! :shrug:

I am not Dex, but I echo his sentiments and voted for the same two albums. I love both the live version and the studio version of Say Goodbye, for different reasons. I've heard several people here call the studio recording "sped up." Do we know that it was originally written to be slower? Or are we only calling it "sped up" after the fact, when in reality it's that Lindsey later decided to slow it down in concert? Is there an early recording of Say Goodbye that's played at a slower tempo? If there is, I'd love to hear it!

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.

I'm not sure about the history behind Say Goodbye. Maybe someone knows why Lindsey slowed it down for his live version of the song? I called the studio version "sped up" in relation to his live performance, which I heard at a Fleetwood Mac show before I heard the original recording. In comparing the two, my feeling is the SYW recording doesn't capture what Lindsey brings to his live performances, which highlight a guitar part that has room to seep into the audience and really enforce the meaning of the song and its lyrics for me.

^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.

I agree. For just listening, I much prefer the studio version.

I was just reading a Caillat article (posted in the Caillat thread) and he was talking about Tusk:

yeah, and that quote says it all. He was not amused with lindsey's vision on not only the arrangements, But also the soundengineering. Hè was a terriffic MOR technician, so he had hard times under Lindsey's dominance. But it was the only way for LB to get what he wanted. And in hindsight, it's a masterpiece. When Cailliat talks bad about LB, some was probably outside of normal behaviour, But a lot of criticism is fed by the fact that he did not understand him at the time, and not felt acknowledged. That's when you feel held hostage.

I voted for Rumours and Tusk. But I should have chosen Tusk and SYW. The reason why I chose Rumours, is in the fact that SYW could have been so much better if he used Twist of Fate, Wait for You and some other gems that didn't make it. The original GOS was a masterpiece a la Tusk.

I picked Tusk. But then got stuck between Rumours and Tango. I love him on Rumours. He's got some great stuff on Tango.

So Tusk and a tie between Rumours and Tango.

Mick