I'm pretty sure this thread was aimed at me since I called Stevie's solo albums "garbage" on the Rumours forum. I suppose I do fit the parameters laid out in the first post of this thread- I was born in 1982 & became a fan in 1993, so I definitely wasn't a fan of Stevie's from the beginning of her career; solo or otherwise. However, I
do have 25 years of fandom under my belt, and can definitely appreciate the progression of her sound.
I feel like I should qualify my "garbage" statement- it is my personal opinion that when compared side to side, Stevie's albums are largely dated pop fluff vs Fleetwood Mac's albums, which I generally find more sonically substantive & timeless. That being said, each Stevie solo album has excellent tunes. But do any of them truly stand neck and neck with the likes of Gold Dust Woman, Beautiful Child, Gypsy, etc? There's just something special about how the Rumours 5 combined their respective crafts to elevate one another's songs. They had a unique sound, compared Stevie's solo albums which in comparison often feel like they were crafted by corporate executives with slick session musicians, which of course they were. Don't like that last statement? Just watch Stevie's Behind The Music & listen to what Paul Fishkin, Jimmy Iovine, etc had to say.
Not to mention that by the virtue of Stevie only getting a few songs on each FM album,
most every FM song of hers was hand picked and extremely high quality. In comparison, her solo works all contain filler material; some more than others. Do I blame Stevie for going solo? Hardly- she had more to say than 3 songs every couple of years would allow. Do I blame her for keeping her solo fare lighter than FM? Again, no... who can blame her for wanting a counter point to the heaviness of the FM experience? But does that mean that I have to blindly accept all of her material since I love her work with FM? Again, no... when she doesn't live up to her own high water mark, I think that's fair game.
For what it's worth, I don't think my opinion is fact... I'm just sharing my thoughts, the way we all do. I might come across feisty at times, but it's just because I'm passionate about Fleetwood Mac, having dedicated 2/3 of my life & 1/4 of a century to loving the band. When I come across as harsh it's because we've all seen what this band is capable of, just how special they can be. And when they don't live up to that potential, I just get rather irritated. And by all means, call me out on my crap & debate me when you think I'm wrong.
