Superbowl Mac '93 video

[sjpdg]

Originally Posted by David

Keep in mind that there are at least two contingents of Macheads who didn't care for the Vito-Burnette years: the contingent you have already identified & a contingent that gave the "new" band every opportunity to impress but just didn't feel it.

Originally Posted by David

I count myself among the latter, largely. To the extent that I like "Behind the Mask" at all, it's because I like the Chris McVie material & vocals. The Vito material is weak, the Burnette material has intermittent charms, & the Nicks material is both weak & poorly sung. Adding drawback to drawback is that Ladanyi muddied the mix.[/I]


Onstage, the show was fairly exuberant & on rare occasion even moving, but was also marked by a kind of blandness in the presentation & arrangement of the material. The idiosyncrasies & strong personal styles of the past -- from Green's "Man of the World" to Welch's "Angel" to Buckingham's "Walk a Thin Line" -- were absent. Consequently, those songs that were either the most straightforwardly anthemic ("Go Your Own Way," "Don't Let Me Down Again," "Say You Love Me," "Blue Letter") or the songs that were slimly & nimbly arranged & presented ("Has Anyone Ever Written Anything For You," "I Loved Another Woman") were, by far, the songs that came off the best. Much of the rest of the set always struck me as mere pose & contraption.

Well, I felt it, and so did some others, including OldTimer. You have your opinion, we have ours.

You must be a music producer of some form or a music critic. I didn't find Rick's material weak at all. Could it have been stronger? Perhaps, but it wasn't weak. Billy's material could have been better, but again, I would not call it weak. Stevie's material wasn't bad. Not up to "Tango" status, but it wasn't horrible by any means. Christine's material was solid, but we all expect that from her, regardless of whom she's playing with. I didn't find the "mix" of the album muddied at all. But again, that's my opinion.

I didn't find anything bland about the material in the shows I saw. Fans were going ape at the shows I went to and seemed to thoroughly enjoy themselves. Personally, I thought there was way toooo much Stevie solo material on that tour and it distracted from the Mac, again in my opinion.

[aleuzzi]

Originally Posted by OldTimer

Yes, yes, I'm well aware many Mac fans feel that way about the Rick/Billy line-up -- one only has to read the comments posted under the youtube videos to see that quite clearly!

However, a belated Thank You to the Ledge for including a forum here for those of us who do appreciate these guys!

And also to Michele, who always finds and posts the coolest stuff....

The "them" I was referring to were the arrangements on BTM, not Billy or Rick, both of whom had potential I feel they never realized.

[OldTimer]

I reread your post, aleuzzi, and yeah, that's what you said. Sorry about my misinterpretation. I've gotta watch those knee-jerk reactions of mine -- they could give me hip problems if I'm not careful.

As far as Rick and Billy not reaching their potential, I think they could have found greater success in a mainstream vein if they'd continued to pursue that, but the pull of their roots -- Billy with country and Rick with blues -- was stronger. I suppose that's where their potential is most honestly realized.

And thumbs up, sj -- -- for expressing yourself much better than I manage to!

Back to the Superbowl video at the start of the thread: Rick, in his Q&A, said this:
The Super Bowl thing was put together by Billy Burnette who asked me to do it. I really didn't feel comfortable doing it at first since I was not in the band at the time, but Billy really wanted me to. That's the last time I played with the Mac as a group.

So he had already left, but came back as a favor to Billy. Very nice. He seemed to be enjoying himself there.

[sjpdg]

Originally Posted by OldTimer

And thumbs up, sj -- -- for expressing yourself much better than I manage to!

My pleasure!! Happy to take on the sometimes quixotic task of fighting the battle of wits with the unarmed!!!!

[sjpdg]

Originally Posted by David

You didn't read my post above, did you? Or did you, & simply chose to ignore its truths?

I guess that Fleetwood Mac followers have their own version of the Hanslick Syndrome.

Great music is always a possibility. But you have to write better songs than "Stand on the Rock" & "Freedom" (a dumb ripoff of lines & phrases from Wilde's "Dorian Gray").

You said "overall," which implies that you do in fact have some criticisms of the album. What are your criticisms? What do you think of the sonic qualities of the album? What do you think of the level of songwriting on "Stand on the Rock" or "Freedom"?

Ok. Just in the interest of being completely honest about how I feel about the entire "Behind The Mask" disc, Here is my opinion on a song-by-song basis.

Skies The Limit: New beginning!!! All the old B/N nonsense is over!! We are starting fresh!!

Love Is Dangerous: Perhaps a bit too much echo on the vocals. Other than that, it's great!!

In The Back Of My Mind: Intro could be a little shorter. Perhaps a little more intelligible vocal during the intro so we all know what is being said. Still haven't figured all that out after all these years.

Do You Know: Great song!! Don't understand why it didn't get airplay or wasn't released as a single. Could have done very well.

Save Me: Great song!! Don't see any issues with it.

Affairs Of The Heart: Weakest track on the disc, bar none. Lyrics are weak, Stevie's performance is weak. Just not a strong effort on her part. Musically, it sounds good. Lyrically, I can live without it.

When The Sun Goes Down: A nice little trip back to the Blues/Rock beginnings. Nicely done. I particularly like Christine on the accordion. Nice touch.

Behind The Mask: Good song, no problem with production. My question: Lindsey was needed why?

Stand On The Rock: Great song!! Perhaps a couple fewer voices on background vocals but other than that, I don't have a criticism of this song.

Hard Feeling: Another trip down "Blues Lane" so to speak. Nice effort by Billy. I like it.

Freedom: Don't see what the problem is with this song. I like it. I like Stevie's delivery, the musicianship and everything.

When It Comes To Love: Love it!! Great duet. Another one that could have been a hit if released as a single. Don't see a problem.

Second Time: A not so great attempt to replace "Landslide" in my opinion. Not a bad song, but I think it was an attempt at replacing something that didn't need to be replaced.

Overall, I would say that "Behind The Mask" holds up very well against the rest of the Fleetwood Mac catalog and fits in very well. There are elements of each era present on this disc. There's blues, there's straight up rock, love songs, a ballad, some of that "trippy" stuff from the early 70's, a la Bob Welch (In The Back Of My Mind).

Perhaps this disc was just too much of a departure from what fans had become accustomed to with Lindsey and Stevie for it to be greatly accepted, but I honestly have never understood why. The band sounds great.

Anyway, there's my opinion song-by-song. Don't take this as a justification either. It's simply my opinion of the disc.

I welcome any comments by anyone who may feel differently.