Fleetwood Mac Billboard Article 5/7/2014

[gldstwmn]

Originally Posted by JimSATX

I love this line from Christine: "...and obviously there are parts for Stevie to sing on all of these songs, which she will do eventually."

It still sounds very tentative to me.

[louielouie2000]

Originally Posted by gldstwmn

Exactly. Something's not right here.

I suspect there's some resentment from Lindsey in the fact that he has shelved or folded multiple of his solo albums into Fleetwood Mac over the years, but Stevie's not doing the same thing in this instance. This isn't just any old Fleetwood Mac project, either- John is battling cancer, and Christine has returned to the band against all odds. Christine's return was supposedly Stevie's biggest wish for the past decade; and instead of being involved with the band during what Lindsey feels is a very crucial period, Stevie is off working on her solo career. I can see how all of these factors combined would upset Lindsey.

However much I may agree with him, I'm not sure Lindsey has much leverage in the situation. After all, he left the band altogether for 10 years in 1987. Then after Say You Will he took recording with Fleetwood Mac off the table for several years while he focused on his solo albums. So it's not like he hasn't done the exact same thing himself. He took care of himself & his needs when he needed to, and Stevie's doing the exact same thing right now.

[brickney723]

Originally Posted by louielouie2000

After all, he left the band altogether for 10 years in 1987. Then after Say You Will he took recording with Fleetwood Mac off the table for several years while he focused on his solo albums. So it's not like he hasn't done the exact same thing himself. He took care of himself & his needs when he needed to, and Stevie's doing the exact same thing right now.

I have always wondered about this. At the beginning of the Say You Will tour there are several quotes he made about being about keeping the FM thing going- no talk of solo work. Then at the end of that tour he talked about having to put up a fence for 3 years so he could focus on his solo work. I've always wondered what the massive turnabout in the interim was about. Maybe it really wasn't his choice. Who knows.

[gldstwmn]

Originally Posted by secret love

Nice sarcasm, Elle.

But seriously, you diehard fans are giving me a headache. I've been reading the Rumours forum (but not posting very often) and everyone here is so selfish. The group-think seems to be "We need an album and we need it now", and you're all just blind to how the music business works.

Many posters are also ignoring the significant facts that:
- John McVie has cancer, a debilitating illness which takes a long time to fully recover from (some times years).
- Lindsey, Stevie, Mick, John and Christine are human beings first; musicians second. Give them a break. They have lives outside of their musical careers.

An album will probably come out eventually anyway, so why all the ranting and raving from Ledgies?

It's nothing more that trolling.

We need something to do until the tour starts?

[michelej1]

Originally Posted by gldstwmn

I'm beginning to think this is his campaign to actually get Stevie into the studio again.

Yes, definitely. That's what he wants the feedback for. That's what he was hoping the EP would do, show her that there was such an interest in an album from ... what? Fans? Record labels? Whatever. He wanted her to see there was an interest and decide to do an album because of that interest. Now, he wants that same thing.

Michele

[elle]

Originally Posted by brickney723

I have always wondered about this. At the beginning of the Say You Will tour there are several quotes he made about being about keeping the FM thing going- no talk of solo work. Then at the end of that tour he talked about having to put up a fence for 3 years so he could focus on his solo work. I've always wondered what the massive turnabout in the interim was about. Maybe it really wasn't his choice. Who knows.

you know i was thinking about that too, considering his apparent tour-album-tour current plans for FM.

he laid out somewhat similar long-term plan in DR doc, during SYW recording. he wanted to put out an FM album, then tour it, then put out another album, and tour that one. he was talking about 4-5 year FM run.

i guess at the time, once he started he was planning on folding all his GOS songs into FM (some of them are still waiting to be released!). maybe some of the band members nixed that plan, and that's why he reverted to one album (but double) and a tour. and they essentially did put out [almost] a double album. then during that tour he started recording new solo material, and considering others were not on board with his album-tour-album-tour 4-year plan anyway, maybe he just basically asked them not to change their mind again, considering he was now working on a solo material that he actually planned to release as a solo material.

[michelej1]

Originally Posted by louielouie2000

Then after Say You Will he took recording with Fleetwood Mac off the table for several years while he focused on his solo albums.

That was always funny to me. He said he told them not to come knocking on his door and I didn't believe anyone was knocking, but then when Stevie gave interviews later, she said that he told the band he wanted to focus on his solo career too. So, I then I knew he had said that. But they had also had a disagreement and it was clear she didn't want to work with him after the SYW tour ended as well.

Michele

[michelej1]

Originally Posted by elle

you know i was thinking about that too, considering his apparent tour-album-tour current plans for FM.

he laid out somewhat similar long-term plan in DR doc, during SYW recording. he wanted to put out an FM album, then tour it, then put out another album, and tour that one. he was talking about 4-5 year FM run.

In 2009, Stevie said,

We had a meeting between two and three years ago to talk. Lindsey had really been working hard on his solo work and decided he was going to get those one or two or three CDs done and tour behind them. He ended up using up a lot of his songs for “Say You Will” and that really didn’t fulfill his need to be a solo artist and, well, that album wasn’t the best experience for any of us. Lindsey made a decision to take a couple of years off and work on his solo stuff so he could enjoy Fleetwood Mac again. We all said, “Go ahead, have fun, rock on!”

I asked Lindsey if there was another rarity like “Silver Spring” waiting to be dug out and done live and he wasn’t sure. What do you think?

I suggested that we do “Storms” (from “Tusk”) on this tour. We have never done it onstage. The last tour we pulled “Beautiful Child” out and we’d never done that before and it went great.

[elle]

Originally Posted by michelej1

Yes, definitely. That's what he wants the feedback for. That's what he was hoping the EP would do, show her that there was such an interest in an album from ... what? Fans? Record labels? Whatever. He wanted her to see there was an interest and decide to do an album because of that interest. Now, he wants that same thing.

Michele

well, if we go according to what they said, that's what Stevie said she wanted from the EP, in order to convince her she should put her time in more FM recording.

my take was that Lindsey just wanted to put out some new material before that tour since he didn't want to do another purely greatest hits tour. that was the jest of his speech when he was introducing Sad Angel too. they went into the studio, he wanted to perform some of the new material, and since they didn't finish the album at the time, putting some songs out for download was the second best thing. the actual EP format seemed to have been Stevie's idea. at first they were just going to make 2 songs available on itunes - Sad Angel and Miss Fantasy.

[gldstwmn]

Originally Posted by brickney723

I have always wondered about this. At the beginning of the Say You Will tour there are several quotes he made about being about keeping the FM thing going- no talk of solo work. Then at the end of that tour he talked about having to put up a fence for 3 years so he could focus on his solo work. I've always wondered what the massive turnabout in the interim was about. Maybe it really wasn't his choice. Who knows.

Irregardless of Lindsey's most recent comment about Stevie joining them at some point I find it hard to believe Stevie is just going to shelve her new record. If Fleetwood Mac does make another record it probably is going to be their last because we are talking several years down the road before various tours and side projects are wound up.
And for whatever reason (we'll never know the truth) Stevie was done with making any new music after Say You Will until In Your Dreams. She damn near lost relevance by doing umpteen cover songs and just the hits tours. Thank God she saw Moonlight in Australia otherwise I don't know what kind of conversation we'd be having in regards to Fleetwood Mac/Stevie right now. I'm thrilled that Chris has decided to return. But I hope they don't let the opportunity to create another chapter of Fleetwood Mac pass them by by doing what is certain to be another greatest hits tour. Sure they might play some new songs but how much excitement about them can be built when people can't go out and buy it? Not much.

[michelej1]

Originally Posted by elle

my take was that Lindsey just wanted to put out some new material before that tour since he didn't want to do another purely greatest hits tour. that was the jest of his speech when he was introducing Sad Angel too. they went into the studio, he wanted to perform some of the new material, and since they didn't finish the album at the time, putting some songs out for download was the second best thing. the actual EP format seemed to have been Stevie's idea. at first they were just going to make 2 songs available on itunes - Sad Angel and Miss Fantasy.

Even for Unleashed when he said there's no new album "yet" I think the purpose was to get the audience to cheer to show her that there was a demand for a new album. But yes, the reason he wants feedback is to sway her, because he wants to make new music, period. I don't think he actually cares about the clamor himself.

I'm still curious about his comment from a few months ago that the record company was pushing for a new album. What record company? It seems highly unlikely that any label would be pushing for it.

Michele

[gldstwmn]

Originally Posted by michelej1

Yes, definitely. That's what he wants the feedback for. That's what he was hoping the EP would do, show her that there was such an interest in an album from ... what? Fans? Record labels? Whatever. He wanted her to see there was an interest and decide to do an album because of that interest. Now, he wants that same thing.

Michele

She saw that there was interest... in her doing another solo record. Remember when they were doing press for the EP and he expressed his dismay because the thing she most wanted to talk about was the Buckingham Nicks track? I didn't understand his dismay. Sometimes I think it's a miracle that these two happened in any way. I don't think they really get each other at all and that gap has only continued to widen as the years have gone by. Strange are the ways of a very complicated world indeed... Why did Stevie suggest that track for the EP?

[markolas]

Lindsey looks a lot like my dad. So handsome.

[elle]

Originally Posted by gldstwmn

But I hope they don't let the opportunity to create another chapter of Fleetwood Mac pass them by by doing what is certain to be another greatest hits tour. Sure they might play some new songs but how much excitement about them can be built when people can't go out and buy it? Not much.

preach it!

although they did have EP available during the last tour but the way they talked about it during the show, you would never be able to find it unless you knew beforehand what to look for.

[elle]

Originally Posted by michelej1

In 2009, Stevie said,

yes, but that was everybody's story after the fact. during recording of SYW he had according to DR doc, as Brickney noted, just long-term FM plans album-tour-album-tour. somewhere in the middle of the doc that changed, possibly around the time he started talking about Stevie not wanting to do a long tour to recoup album costs.

so his plans were with FM, and then seemingly during the recording (and not even during the tour) something changed and there was no long-term FM plans anymore. so he started recording solo tracks during the tour and when the tour ended he asked not to come knocking, but there was no plans with FM at the time anyway. so he gave them a heads up. that seems fair.


on a different note, i don't see how him leaving the band can be compared to someone insisting they are staying in the band but apparently resisting almost everything band wants to do?