Fleetwood Mac Lineup

[jools]

After the dissapointment/letdown of the Say you will album and tour.
(i did enjoy the concert though, but wish the set list could have been different)

Ideally this is what i would have liked to see.(ok i know Christine is now not touring, but .......)

The BTM lineup to have continued.
The Dance not to happen, but more tours from the BTM line up.

I am fed up with linsey buckingham
As far as i am concerned, he thinks he is god, he believes that he is Fleetwood Mac and no one else matters,

I would have insured that they would continue to sing songs from the 60's lineup.

Ok the BTM line up may not have sold as many records, but i think they would have enjoyed it a lot more


julian

[David]

Originally Posted by jools

After the dissapointment/letdown of the Say you will album and tour.
(i did enjoy the concert though, but wish the set list could have been different)

Ideally this is what i would have liked to see.(ok i know Christine is now not touring, but .......)

The BTM lineup to have continued.
The Dance not to happen, but more tours from the BTM line up.

I am fed up with linsey buckingham
As far as i am concerned, he thinks he is god, he believes that he is Fleetwood Mac and no one else matters,

I would have insured that they would continue to sing songs from the 60's lineup.

Ok the BTM line up may not have sold as many records, but i think they would have enjoyed it a lot more

My problems with the Mask Tour:

1. On the final leg, Stevie Nicks was bloated, lethargic, toneless, enervated & ridiculous-looking. She singlehandedly ruined large portions of the show.

2. Rick's performance style struck me as flippant & yet paradoxically unsure. It may have been a case of Oedipul conflict with the "father." A few years later, when he played lead guitar for a Stevie Nicks solo tour, he was cool & hip & understated & much more charismatic, maybe because the "father" had been removed from the picture & hence was no longer burdening the psyche.

3. Way too much hardware onstage & off. Fleetwood Mac has never sounded good to me in such a setup onstage. The essence of programming should consist in transparency rather than opacity.

4. Large arena shows with an aging band have always seemed somewhat grotesque to me. (Young guys & girls can blast through the oppressiveness of an arena atmosphere & create stirring, believable energy, but not the old fogeys.) This criticism applies to the band today. It's just my way of seeing, & my response. In 1990, Fleetwood Mac should have played a much more informal, relaxed series of shows in smaller venues (although they did play some small theaters on the tour, like the Aladdin).

5. The tour was way too similar in sound & ambience to the previous tour (the Shake the Cage Tour). The drive to create a new atmosphere had dried up.

6. You had three good singers onstage: Billy, Chris & Rick. So where were all the sparkling harmonies? We should have heard Billy & Chris sing beautiful ballads together, with two-part harmonies & acoustic guitar accompaniment; or Billy & Rick sing macho harmonies, Waylon & Willie style, on classic country material. The possibilities were there, but nothing was delivered.

Note: I saw three shows: Cal Expo, Mountain View & Oakland, & have about twenty more on audio or video.

[chiliD]

Originally Posted by David

My problems with the Mask Tour:

1. On the final leg, Stevie Nicks was bloated, lethargic, toneless, enervated & ridiculous-looking. She singlehandedly ruined large portions of the show.

2. Rick's performance style struck me as flippant & yet paradoxically unsure. It may have been a case of Oedipul conflict with the "father." A few years later, when he played lead guitar for a Stevie Nicks solo tour, he was cool & hip & understated & much more charismatic, maybe because the "father" had been removed from the picture & hence was no longer burdening the psyche.

3. Way too much hardware onstage & off. Fleetwood Mac has never sounded good to me in such a setup onstage. The essence of programming should consist in transparency rather than opacity.

4. Large arena shows with an aging band have always seemed somewhat grotesque to me. (Young guys & girls can blast through the oppressiveness of an arena atmosphere & create stirring, believable energy, but not the old fogeys.) This criticism applies to the band today. It's just my way of seeing, & my response. In 1990, Fleetwood Mac should have played a much more informal, relaxed series of shows in smaller venues (although they did play some small theaters on the tour, like the Aladdin).

5. The tour was way too similar in sound & ambience to the previous tour (the Shake the Cage Tour). The drive to create a new atmosphere had dried up.

6. You had three good singers onstage: Billy, Chris & Rick. So where were all the sparkling harmonies? We should have heard Billy & Chris sing beautiful ballads together, with two-part harmonies & acoustic guitar accompaniment; or Billy & Rick sing macho harmonies, Waylon & Willie style, on classic country material. The possibilities were there, but nothing was delivered.

Note: I saw three shows: Cal Expo, Mountain View & Oakland, & have about twenty more on audio or video.

I agree with you on all points with the exception of #2. (but you knew that, didn't you?)

[madformac]

I'd have liked to see Lindsey and Stevie return to their respective solo projects and Peter Green and Jeremy Spencer to have rejoined Mick and John. (but you already knew that, didn't you? ) Maybe release an album of old blues standards and then play a few sold out shows at the Royal Albert Hall. Maybe even throw in Bob Welch too!

It could still happen but the window of opportunity is closing.

As Bob said in one of his Q&A's on The Penguin (to my question come to think of it!). "Gotta make hay while the sun shines".

[chiliD]

Originally Posted by madformac

(but you already knew that, didn't you? )

It's really good to have you back here.

[madformac]

Originally Posted by chiliD

It's really good to have you back here.

Always glad to be of assistance in the Green vs Buckingham Nicks battles...

[David]

Originally Posted by chiliD

I agree with you on all points with the exception of #2. (but you knew that, didn't you?)

Yes! I forgot to mention, too, that I saw Rick play guitar at the Bonnie Raitt concert in Los Angeles. He was cool doing that, too.

There was just some psychological block affecting him during the Fleetwood Mac shows. I can only ascribe it to an Oedipul triangulation by which the agon was prevented.

[jbrownsjr]

I really really agree with number 5!!!

[chiliD]

Originally Posted by David

There was just some psychological block affecting him during the Fleetwood Mac shows. I can only ascribe it to an Oedipul triangulation by which the agon was prevented.

No...it was the reins reeled in by Mick Fleetwood & John McVie. If they'd just let him fly (as they did with every OTHER FMac lead guitarist, Rick might STILL be in the band today)

[DavidMn]

Originally Posted by chiliD

No...it was the reins reeled in by Mick Fleetwood & John McVie. If they'd just let him fly (as they did with every OTHER FMac lead guitarist, Rick might STILL be in the band today)

Hmm, and wouldnt that be interesting.

[Villavic]

Originally Posted by jools

The Dance not to happen, but more tours from the BTM line up...
I am fed up with linsey buckingham
As far as i am concerned, he thinks he is god, he believes that he is Fleetwood Mac and no one else matters,
julian

Originally Posted by David

My problems with the Mask Tour:
.1. On the final leg, Stevie Nicks was bloated, lethargic, toneless, enervated & ridiculous-looking. She singlehandedly ruined large portions of the show.


2. Rick's performance style struck me as flippant & yet paradoxically unsure. It may have been a case of Oedipul conflict with the "father."

Originally Posted by chiliD

No...it was the reins reeled in by Mick Fleetwood & John McVie. If they'd just let him fly (as they did with every OTHER FMac lead guitarist, Rick might STILL be in the band today)

You know I'm starting to think seriously if we are fans of the right band...

[SteveMacD]

I don't think we can blame Rick's time in Fleetwood Mac on Mick and John. If anything, I think Rick fit into their notion of a proper guitarist better than Lindsey. Rick was more in the mode of being a studio/session/backing musician than being an actual member of a rock band. He was overthinking his performances, and was probably less focused on the big picture.

I see Rick as the type of guy who'd say "If you don't like X, then I could do Y or Z instead..." whereas I see Lindsey as being the type to say "okay, the solo is done, let's touch up the harmonies a bit." Which speaks volumes of Rick as a guitarist, because I think Lindsey could only do X, but not necessarily Y or Z. But it also means that Rick wasn't asserting himself as much as he should have to have been successful in Fleetwood Mac.

[SteveMacD]

I think the “The Dance” was inevitable, but I ultimately think the letdown of the 1988-1997 period is that there was a lot more potential than what initially happened. By my count, the band COULD have released at least five albums in that period. Some of them would have been fun albums (i.e. not necessarily done for artistic merit), others would have been serious efforts. I think that “Red Rocks,” the “Tango” video, “Greatest Hits,” and TOSOTM really hurt the band. Instead, I would have released a fun “retro” album in late 1988, filled with covers, remakes, and new songs that were stylized in a similar fashion. It would have been a lighthearted way to introduce Billy and Rick, without making a major artistic statement. Then, when they released “Behind The Mask” in the spring of 1990, which would be the “artistic statement,” the quality of the music wouldn't have been clouded by the newness of the personnel.

I still think Chris would have retired from the road, and that Stevie and Rick would have quit in 1991. But instead of doing Zoo, Gotta Band, and “Going Home,” I think Mick, John, and Billy should have connected with Bekka and Dave and started touring immediately. I would have released a teaser album in early 1992, which would have had a mix of remakes, some leftovers from “Mask,” covers, and a few new songs, and released “The Chain” towards the end of the year (when it actually was released). “Time” would have come out in late 1994, but Chris would retire at the end of that album and the band would fire Dave, while Rick Vito would rejoin, and Brett Tuggle would have been hired for the tours. They would release most of what was “Bekka & Billy” as well as a few Rick Vito songs in 1996. Then, I see a live album released in 1997. After that, though, I really don’t know what would have happened with the band. I don’t think anything really lasts beyond five or six albums with these guys.

In cases of the albums that were actually released, I would have had a pretty different track listing from what was actually released. In short, the band COULD have done better.

[David]

Originally Posted by SteveMacD

In cases of the albums that were actually released, I would have had a pretty different track listing from what was actually released. In short, the band COULD have done better.

The band should have started composing string quintets & piano trios instead of writing bland rock songs that couldn't make a mark in Jell-O if they dropped in it from 50 feet.

[Miss Vicky]

Originally Posted by David

The band should have started composing string quintets & piano trios instead of writing bland rock songs that couldn't make a mark in Jell-O if they dropped in it from 50 feet.

Now don't hold back, David, tell us how you really feel.