I appreciate your thoughts Danielle and of course, your opinion is a valid one, just as all of ours are. In terms of artistic integrity, yes I believe Stevie has rendered herself creatively redundant in recent times, seemingly by design. I have seen her in concert many times, with and without Fleetwood Mac, but I no longer consider her to be a viable live act, performance-wise. I realise she can still pull a crowd and belt out her back catalogue but from my perspective, all subtlety and nuance (both of which are important to me) left her many a year ago. I concede that many seem to enjoy her foghorn approach but I am not one of them. I must also say that I am not enamoured of her ‘storytelling’ between songs these days – I consider these inarticulate rantings to be self-congratulatory and annoying in the extreme. For me, this distracts from her (admittedly mediocre) performance, sufficiently so that I am no longer willing to attend her shows. Just my opinion mind.
Having said that, I acknowledge Stevie’s right to make her own decisions and concede she has more than paid her dues over the years. I also accept that she no longer wishes to record with Fleetwood Mac, but I would prefer she be honest about her motivations. Her statements in the press regarding this matter have been inconsistent and bordering on churlishness. If she were to record again, in any capacity, I would support such endeavours just as I always have, even if they weren’t on a par with her finest work. However, my expectations of Stevie are not what they once were, largely informed by her arrogance and mercenary stance of late.
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