Mick's pettiness -- a new low??

[SteveMacD]

Originally Posted by aleuzzi

Mind his P’s and Q’s?

Yes. Look at what not doing so got him. There’s a time and place to let one’s feelings be known and to be assertive. Lindsey picked the absolute worst time to do either.

As far as the 2000s go, Lindsey was clearly more central to the band and its mission than Stevie.

The band’s central mission is making money, so I’m sure they wouldn’t agree.

He was the one instigating new work — and meeting a brick wall. He was available when Stevie stepped away for IN YOUR DREAMS and then for her lackluster collection of previously-unused demos. He was their musical and creative driving force—but not their cash draw.

Saint Lindsey. He was instigating new work, but it wasn’t that important to the other three. Lindsey has done the least amongst them throughout his career. He’s released exactly two more solo albums than Christine since 1997. Think about that. From 1997-2004, Peter Green was significantly more productive than Lindsey.

Stevie knew and used her power to leverage him out of the band. It’s pretty darn obvious to even the casual observer.

Maybe. But Stevie wouldn’t have just decided to kick him out of the band without a reason, and Mick wouldn’t have just gone along with it if, all things being equal, he felt strongly about it. They all like money too much to risk jeopardizing their earning potential by breaking up their legendary lineup, so I don’t doubt it was a bad situation.

I’m not a casual observer. Lindsey’s attitude, especially towards Stevie, seemed to change after Christine came back. He started letting his guard down more, and that’s a dangerous thing to do when you have an adversarial relationship with the one who has sold 30 million albums outside of the band.

And while casual listeners and observers might have been willing to fork over $ to see the imposters‘ jamboree, any of the genuine fans know the difference between what they were and what they’ve become.

Or, like me, maybe they were sick of the fake Stevie-Lindsey play, the same tired setlist, and the excessive use of prerecords and saw something valid in what they were at least initially attempting. I’m glad I got to see the initial vision for the tour, because it was pretty spot-on and would never have happened with Lindsey. I’m disappointed that it devolved into the usual.

And arguments about how the band has always morphed and always taken on change as its primary identity aren’t viable in 2020.

To a point I agree. However, if Stevie would agree to do an album, Finn and Campbell would easily prove their creative value to the band.

They might have been in 1987–and even then they would have had to have found more creative replacements...

Are you seriously suggesting Billy Burnette and Rick Vito are more creative than Neil Finn and Mike Campbell? I can’t imagine better, more appropriate choices for Fleetwood Mac, except maybe Richard Thompson.