Quote:
Originally Posted by Sugar Mouse
I was responding to folks on this forum saying that Lindsey was the talent of Fleetwood Mac and that's preposterous. By any standard, Lindsey Buckingham's solo career has been a near bust. He's had a few isolated good songs but that's about it. Listening to his Anthology reinforced that in my mind. Lindsey's talent is as a producer and arranger and guitarist but not as a songwriter. That's why his solo career never went anywhere despite being the "leader" of one of the biggest bands in the world. He's reliant on other songwriters to bring him the songs. That's why he was so much more successful in Fleetwood Mac ... because he had Christine and Stevie to write the songs and he would arrange and produce them until they sparkled. That's his gift. However, for folks on this forum to say that Lindsey was the talent of the band is so far from the truth it's pathetic. He was the production talent but Christine and Stevie were the songwriting talents. They needed each other. And that's why Stevie had a much more successful solo career than Lindsey. It's easier to find a producer once you have the great songs. It's much more difficult to write the songs if you're a great producer/arranger like Lindsey. That's why Stevie has sold about 11 million albums in her solo career and Lindsey nowhere close to that.
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Lindsey does have the largest influence on their sound, in terms of production, arrangement, etc. You even seem to concede that point, so you're saying his songwriting ability is lacking? That's completely subjective, but to say Stevie is a great songwriter is pathetic. She has written some absolutely atrocious lyrics, and requires way too much assistance in the music department.
For example, "Stand Back" is really not a very good song at all. It was successful because Stevie was catering to the sound of the times, with Prince allegedly coming up with the synth line. By her own admittance, she was trying to write a song like "Little Red Corvette" (and she nicked the Police for the riff to EOS). I think that's really the reason she was more successful at the end of the day, because her music was trying to fit in with the sound of the times.
But for you to claim that Lindsey is an inferior songwriter is ridiculous. He never blatantly chased eighties success like Stevie, which might partly explain his lack of success. His music is a little more esoteric as well.
I love Stevie's work at her best, probably more than Lindsey at his best, but her solo career taken as a whole is pretty spotty. Personally, I think Lindsey's solo career holds up better, and I'm comparing the actual music not album sales. All 6 of his albums are good to great, but she's got some real duds. And his latest work is far better than her latest stuff. And he doesn't need someone else to write the music, produce, arrange, and play all the instruments.