The irony of Lindsey

jeffs · #1 08-28-2003, 12:18 PM

Reading through the Out of the Cradle thread made me realize one of the mystiques of Lindsey. I always realized it, the general public or casual FM fan is now realizing it, that without Lindsey Buckingham Fleetwood Mac is at best an empty shell of a once great band, unable to draw audiences to concerts or sell albums, ala the Billy Burnett era. With Lindsey, Fleetwood Mac is a hall of Fame band. On the other hand, Lindsey on his own has never been able to even achieve name recognition among even well versed music listeners, be considered a top guitar player, which he obviosly is, or sell large quantities of albums. Just an interesting phenomena of Lindsey Buckingham.

Johnny Stew · #2 08-28-2003, 04:37 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by jeffs
I always realized it, the general public or casual FM fan is now realizing it, that without Lindsey Buckingham Fleetwood Mac is at best an empty shell of a once great band, unable to draw audiences to concerts or sell albums, ala the Billy Burnett era.

I don't believe that's entirely accurate... but it's definitely true that Lindsey's contributions to Fleetwood Mac are immeasurable, and he was most certainly missed.

Fleetwood Mac had reached the end of the most successful era of their career, and given that they were an "older" band when Lindsey left, audiences just simply weren't going to take to a new version to the degree of their past successes.
But even at that, the 'Shake The Cage' ('Tango'), and 'Behind The Mask' tours, were very successful... it just "wasn't the same" for many people.

chiliD · #3 08-28-2003, 05:24 PM

I think it was just "the times"...the demographic of the Fleetwood Mac fan in 1987 is not the same demographic of the Fleetwood Mac fan today. (Today's fan demographic is MUCH younger, in fact, probably a majority of the young fans today are most likely the offspring of those fans in 1987) Those fans who bought Rumours & Tusk were now 10 years older, out of high school/college, probably starting their careers & families. Their priority of what they spent their money on had changed drastically. Sure, they'd "have their night out" going to the concert, but their record/CD buying habits had radically reduced (not just Fleetwood Mac, but overall)

wondergirl9847 · #4 08-28-2003, 05:33 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by chiliD
I think it was just "the times"

And the fact that most people wouldn't know good music if it jumped up and bit 'em on the boot-ay.

CarneVaca · #5 08-29-2003, 09:28 AM

Fleetwood Mac without Lindsey before Lindsey joined was a good band, especially in the Peter Green era. Fleetwood Mac without Lindsey after he left begs the question: "Why is this band still together?" Fleetwood Mac with Lindsey after he came back: The real Fleetwood Mac is back.

chiliD · #6 08-29-2003, 10:26 AM

To the day I die, I will argue the validity of Fleetwood Mac post-Buckingham. Behind The Mask & Time ARE legitimate Fleetwood Mac albums...I feel sorry for those who can't see that.

strandinthewind · #7 08-29-2003, 10:48 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by chiliD
To the day I die, I will argue the validity of Fleetwood Mac post-Buckingham. Behind The Mask & Time ARE legitimate Fleetwood Mac albums...I feel sorry for those who can't see that.

I am right there with ya, esp. considering John and Mick own the name, etc.

Although I liked, but did not love, Time, I can appreciate it was a good record with some great moments IMO. I really liked BTM and although the playing style of the two guitarist was different than LB from the actual style to the layering of many different augmented guitar tracks to achieve one effect, it was still credible and very good IMO. Moreover, the TITN and BTM concerts sold well, perhaps because Stevie and CM were still there.

Note: this is not to say LB was and is not great. He was/is. I am just saying Billy and Rick brought something pretty much completely different to the table that I liked.

CarneVaca · #8 08-29-2003, 11:40 AM

I'm not sure anyone needs to feel sorry for anyone here, Chili.

I can see enjoying Behind the Mask because Stevie and Christine were still integral parts of the band. If you like Rick's and Billy's styles and thought they blended in with the rest of the band, that's cool. To me it was a huge letdown after Tango. I've made no secret of my preference for Mr. Buckingham. And I would have been happier if there were a Gift of Screws and no SYW.

The only thing I like about Time is Bekka's voice. I didn't like Christine's tunes, which sounded like she had run out of ideas. I don't like Dave Mason and I don't think he fit. By then, Fleetwood Mac had become a caricature. If you enjoy the music, great. But it just didn't sing to me.

Johnny Stew · #9 08-30-2003, 03:06 PM

When they released 'Time,' I admit I was unsure of whether or not I wanted to even buy it, without my "favorite" being there.

But after I thought about it, I realized that since I enjoyed their pre-Buckingham & Nicks albums immensely, there was no reason why I couldn't enjoy a current lineup without Stevie.
After all, I wasn't just a fan of Stevie, but of Fleetwood Mac.

So once I stopped looking at it as "an album without Stevie," i really grew to like it.

And 'Time' is a great album... nothing innovative or Earth-shattering, but a damn good album nonetheless.