[SteveMacD]

Warning, it's long, but worth it:


“Time” didn’t kill Fleetwood Mac. It was merely one more step in what has really been a slow, agonizing death that's been going on for 30 years now.

As a (creative) viable entity, Fleetwood Mac really died in 1980, after the “Tusk” tour. After that, it became something the principle members have done between solo albums.

The subsequent albums have either been bland, sterile AOR efforts (Mirage, BTM, Time), or failed over-the-top attempts at trying to reinvent/modernize the band’s sound (Tango, SYW).

That the band has only recorded five albums in 30 years should really be the only thing one needs to understand Fleetwood Mac's post-Tusk relevancy (or lack thereof). To put it another way, I’ve been to three studio sessions where Robert Pollard recorded two solo albums (where he plays guitar and sings) and one collaboration (where he overdubs vocals to music that his collaborator sends him), played in a one-off solo Robert Pollard show, AND was a roadie for Robert Pollard & co. for the Guided by Voices 20 city reunion tour. It CAN be done, folks.

But, if we want to nitpick...

I think the image of Fleetwood Mac changed too drastically in 1987. “Tango” was a huge hit because the band had gone away for five years. That the band was back was good enough. The actual quality of the album (not bad, but it sounded dated not too long after its release) really didn’t matter. They were back.

However, Stevie’s transformation was fairly drastic. She went from being a slender bombshell with a decent range to looking bloated and had a much more limited range.

Then Lindsey quit. Where the band ultimately failed, would continue to fail, and is still failing, is that instead of distancing itself from “the Big Mac”, it has tried (in vein) to recapture that, even while paying lip service to NOT doing that. IMO, if bringing Dave Mason was in the cards, 1987 would’ve been the time to do it, and do it as a five piece. What made Mason a liability in 1994/95 (namely that he was used to being a band leader) is exactly what the band needed in 1987. The fact that he had somewhat of a name still (though admittedly not much of one by that point) would’ve given the band more freedom to move away from “the Big Mac” image. As it is, Billy and Rick were good additions at the time, and were able to pull off the tour. Billy sounded great with Stevie and Christine, and Rick was able to bring back the blues element that really left the band (at least in terms of the shows) sometime in 1975. The problem is that they tried to make Billy look like Lindsey in the beginning. His clothes were similar, his hair was similar, and he played a white Les Paul Custom.

After the tour, the band releases a Greatest Hits record, which should be the first clue that the band thinks it’s probably over, and that anything that comes after will be okay, but probably not great. It’s the white flag. It’s their signal that it’s over.

Stevie Nicks released OSOTM, which only further hurt Fleetwood Mac’s image. The Klonopin was starting to take its toll. Now Stevie looked old and tired, and had almost no range. The songs were bland AOR, complete with Kenny G. She looked like a has-been by that point.

BTM was a bland, safe effort. Stevie’s contributions were unremarkable (as in she used her best material at that time on her solo album...INCLUDING A BLUES SONG...gee, three British blues legends and a brilliant blues guitarist in Fleetwood Mac, and she does her blues song ON A SOLO ALBUM...WTF???). Christine was typical Christine: safe, reassuring, sometimes bland, sometimes dark and great pop songs. Billy and Rick had great contributions, but their best material was left off the record for some inexplicable reason. The production was horrid.

After the tour, the band basically splits up. Rick quits and puts out a record. Stevie quits, releases a solo Greatest Hits record (her white flag?) and starts talking about how the band was so mean to her, she was always scared. Mick released a tell-all that really didn’t shed too much new information, and exaggerated some events. John releases a solo album that sounded close to a typical AOR Fleetwood Mac album. The Zoo releases a record that introduced Bekka Bramlett to Fleetwood Mac fans, but it was over-the-top metal-meets-Southern-rock. And almost nobody knew about any of this.

Lindsey Buckingham returns. Five years after quitting the band, the wonderboy returns with the critically acclaimed OOTC. He did a few videos, did the TV circuit, opened for Tina Turner, and sold about as many copies that the Mac would a few years later with their big “flop”. Everybody else was smelling like teen spirit. ALL RELEVANCY FOR FLEETWOOD MAC WAS GONE BY THIS POINT. But, it still got a little worse...

Bill Clinton: Uh oh, a Fleetwood Mac hit is now officially the theme song for the first baby boomer president. Great that it’s the same year as the box set (that 15 people bought), but now it’s forever going to be associated with a narcissism that can only be associated by baby boomer who ran for president. (Although, appropriate, considering how narcissistic most of the band comes off in interviews.) Hey, he got the band back together, but holy crap, Stevie Nicks looked like Mary Travers and the band sounded awful. A few weeks later, Mick, the McVies, Billy and Rick played the Super Bowl pre-game, and three people watched. Billy quit the band shortly thereafter and did a country album that five people bought.

But, be damned, Mick and the McVies decided to carry on. Time to reinvent the band. First off, bring in Bekka. She’s young, fresh, and doesn’t really sound like Stevie. And, let’s bring in Dave Mason while we’re at it. It’s not like he has anything going on right now. Hey, he worked with her parents. We’ll turn Fleetwood Mac into Delaney & Bonnie The Next Generation! Around this time, Stevie releases a record that got very little acclaim (even she hated it), though to be fair, was the best selling record of this period (1991-1996). Of course, you could add up all the solo sales and still come up significantly short of BTM. Her tour was not a success. Billy came back (hey, Delaney Bramlett was a good friend of his), and everybody but Christine went on the road opening for CSN. (Upcoming Stevie Nicks show announcement=awkward!)

The next year, they tour as part of an oldies package. The line was that they didn’t have the new record out, yet, and wanted to get some playing chops for when it was released. Apparently Mick’s only knowledge of D&B was the live album they did with Clapton, because who would’ve guessed Bekka and Billy wanted to do country? And, who would’ve guessed that Mason, who hadn’t released a record since 1987, wouldn’t have great songs? Christine was her usual, but Fleetwood Mac AS A WHOLE (the “Time” incarnation, Lindsey, and Stevie) were simply irrelevant. By the time it was released, Christine was out, Bekka and Billy had extracurricular plans to make a country album, Mason wasn’t really working out, and Lindsey was wanting to make a record with Mick. Gee, why’s THAT??? The image had taken a beating. The band failed AS A WHOLE to find ways to make their image and their sound relevant. Instead of reinventing themselves and take risks, they played it safe and followed the money. And, the members made the band a secondary priority.

The ONLY great thing about this period is the victorious return of Peter Green.

Without the support of Warner Bros. or Viacom, the Big Mac could’ve done an album, and the results would NOT have been much different than BTM or SYW. But both saw a way of making the Mac’s reunion another “Hell Freezes Over” to the point where the formula was exactly the same. {sarcasm} Yay! Fleetwood Mac officially starts taking cues from the Eagles. Color me excited. {/sarcasm} I mean, yeah, it’s good to see they’re all alive and well, and still have chops (John McVie alone is worth the concert ticket), but if it’s gonna be these five, please ONLY be these five. I don’t want a bunch of back up singers, an extra guitarist, an extra multi-instrumentalist, and an extra percussionist, I WANT FLEETWOOD MAC, and ONLY Fleetwood Mac. But, hey, it got them into the Hall of Fame.

After a couple of Stevie solo tours, the Mac came back, sans Christine, and released the WAYYY too overly ambitious SYW. There’s a pretty good record in there, but too much of it sounds like solo material. If the band learned nothing else from Peter Green, LESS IS MORE! And then to do a tour where, save for a handful of shows, the band plays the exact same set, same order and all, night after night, really tells me the band really just gave up. In a surprise move, Christine releases a new record, which sounds like a typical Christine record. Lindsey’s done a couple of albums since, and both he and Stevie have new ones coming.

And, other than an official sell-out tour, that’s where we leave Fleetwood Mac.

Hey, if a band isn’t even relevant to the members of the band, why should it be to anybody else?