I don't want to address the less lucid points that have been made in this thread, but I think a lot of fans overlook the fact that Fleetwood Mac haven't been musically relevant for a very long time. In fact, the last time they were anything approaching dynamic, and produced music that didn't originate from the 70s and 80s, was for Time.
Up to 1976, Fleetwood Mac always tried new things, new members, new styles - they were willing to take risks, like following Bob's idea of moving to the US. All of the members had contributed to this organic development of the band. Most had, at some time or another, been the individual thread that the band's existence hung on - that's certainly true of Peter obviously, but also Jeremy, Danny and Bob Welch.
After Rumours, the band's creativity disappeared. Whatever anyone thinks of Stevie and Christine, neither of them were ever musically progressive, not in the slightest. Lindsey was, and is, of course - but his creativity was hamstrung by being in Fleetwood Mac. Therein lies the popularity - people that are not musically adventurous like a band that isn't musically adventurous - it appeals to most people.
For Behind the Mask, Lindsey was gone, and replaced by a couple of guys who were talented and musically very capable, but not terribly quirky or interesting. Therefore that album is the most tedious of all the band's output (imo) - at least Time was interesting. Then they went back and lived in the 70s for the next 15 years. They basically felt, and were made to feel by the media and the fans, that they weren't allowed to experiment or take risks any more, and the Rumours stuff was all they were ever required to do. And (here's where I get crucified) I think the rabid Stevie fanatics were at the very crux of that. Anything that isn't Stevie doing the same old stuff, just isn't Fleetwood Mac to them. So Mac ceased to be a proper band, and these words "brand" and "franchise" rear their ugly heads. Those words have no place in music - music isn't about that s**t. So a lot of people are happy with that, including at least one person on this thread - fine. A lot of people like Big Macs too - doesn't make them good food.
|