"Obviously all 5 members have to ok the release, in whatever format it finally comes out"--
You very well may be right, that's what I thought at first, too. I was just trying to offer more than a moan about this topic that keeps coming up
The point of my
total guess was that it could very well be the label tinkering with tier price structuring, monitoring how the Neil Young package is doing, and not the band at all that has caused delay. Also, it may not be as obvious as you and I thought, that Christine or
any of the band
has to "ok" the release. Warner Brothers owns 'Rumours', not Fleetwood Mac. Apples to oranges, but Linda Ronstadt and Cher have seen re-releases they couldn't stop because the music was owned (by Capitol and Warners, respectively), so they didn't choose to actively participate in the re-issues (no promotion, no booklet interviews, what have you) and still the cds came out.
Lindsey and Stevie DID purchase the rights to BuckinghamNicks, so that release would require their permission, they own the music. Warner Brothers owns 'Rumours'-- it will make a better package to have the cooperation of the band, but they likely couldn't
stop a release of what they don't own.
Also, there were 45 US dates to try to sell-out, and if it's the case that the re-release(s) of "Rumours" may be ticketed at prices similar to the concert tickets, it could have been decided deliberately to go for the tour money first. I bet it won't be released outside of the US while Fleetwood Mac is still on tour this fall. But should it be released in the US, I assume Euro fans can always order it from amazon.com.
Cheers, thanks a lot
(Dodfather, if you saw my original, unedited reply, I apologize, I got snippy. Sorry).