[sodascouts]

Originally Posted by David

My friend Steve sees Fleetwood Mac as a crockpot—any good ingredient should get chucked in, where it'll simmer for several hours and break down and be just delicious. Throw in a little Dave Walker, Rick Vito, Bekka Bramlett, Dave Mason, Neil Finn (maybe throw in Tim Finn while you're at it), Sheryl Crow, Mike Campbell—if they're good musicians, you'll have a tangy gazpacho.

I see Fleetwood Mac as a mathematically precise recipe (the way baking recipes are precise)—you can't just toss in anything and expect it to gel. I love hollandaise sauce, but I don't want it ladled over my gelato.

The best members in Fleetwood Mac over the years weren't just good musicians—they were the inevitably right musicians for that group. That rightness isn't easy to articulate, but most of us know it when we see it and hear it. Peter, Jeremy, Danny, Mick, and John had an inevitable rightness. They were charismatic, musically inventive, wacky, electrifying—the cultural chinks in the wall. The Rumours 5 at least for a time had its own charisma. Even the Welch+McVie+McVie+Weston+Fleetwood group created a memorable whole out of disparate parts. The recipe in each case worked.

I realize that we haven't really seen or heard from this latest group of parts, but we're all familiar enough with the two new guys and the departed guy to know that we're not going to be experiencing another classic lineup. By the way, those guys were memorable elements of their respective bands—Mike Campbell's guitar playing shot the Heartbreakers to worldwide popularity. But he isn't the right ingredient for Fleetwood Mac.

Well said. Fleetwood Mac: the band who actually thrust greatness away!