Say You Will sales ten years after release

[shackin'up]

Originally Posted by elle

re left-field-different-progressive or whatever you would call them songs that so many would exclude, remember, that's what FM was going for at the time. Lindsey was not going for fleetwood-mac-y, he was going for we-are-still-great-evolving-band. at least according to everything he said in that DR doc. i guess they somehow decided after SYW that world wanted just BN fleetwood-mac-y... so that's what they seem to be trying to do with current set of songs, mostly.

i mean, Sad Angel is practically a FM/LB formula for a perfect pop song - a bit of verses, a layer of catchy chorus, a layer of catchy guitar parts, small guitar solo, a layer of bitc*ing about something the other band member did, mix it up and voila! the result is still a great extremely catchy song, don't get me wrong.

But the main Fleetwood Mac-y attraction of Sad Angel is the exquisite rythmtrack. Those two nail that song, and make it sound like the brand.

[elle]

Originally Posted by elle

i mean, Sad Angel is practically a FM/LB formula for a perfect pop song - a bit of verses, a layer of catchy chorus, a layer of catchy guitar parts, small guitar solo, a layer of bitc*ing about something the other band member did, mix it up and voila! the result is still a great extremely catchy song, don't get me wrong.

Originally Posted by shackin'up

But the main Fleetwood Mac-y attraction of Sad Angel is the exquisite rythmtrack. Those two nail that song, and make it sound like the brand.

agree, although i wouldn't say the main, more like the sum of the parts. and that's what apparently happened in the studio according to Mick - LB brought the ingredients i listed above, and FM brought what you listed, and it all meshed "organically".

i have to also say, rhythm section has been very strong, tight, and pronounced in live versions on this tour so far, with several old songs nicely reworked (Not That Funny comes to mind).

[secondhandchain]

Originally Posted by shackin'up

But the main Fleetwood Mac-y attraction of Sad Angel is the exquisite rythmtrack. Those two nail that song, and make it sound like the brand.

Same for Miss Fantasy. Mick is great on this track. His fill out of the bridge is classic mac. Lindsey seems to be letting him play a little more instead of just holding the steady beat.

[RockawayBlind]

Originally Posted by elle

this problem statement is usually followed by which songs they'd select to stay and which ones they'd cut. and almost every one of the posters has a very different selection, calling completely different songs brilliant or filler.

That's generally true, but I think there is some consensus on Silver Girl, Running Through the Garden and Come. If you did a poll, they would qualify as the biggest turds.

[MikeVielhaber]

Originally Posted by RockawayBlind

That's generally true, but I think there is some consensus on Silver Girl, Running Through the Garden and Come. If you did a poll, they would qualify as the biggest turds.

I think Come is great rocker. Probably better for solo, but it's good. The other two are kind of meh though.

[RockawayBlind]

Originally Posted by MikeVielhaber

I think Come is great rocker. Probably better for solo, but it's good. The other two are kind of meh though.

Yeah, Come is one of those love it or hate it songs. It's screechy and horrid to my ear, though it starts out very interesting.

[tabruns]

So in this entire thread did anyone actually ever post updated sales figures (not awards but actual numbers) for SYW?

[Jondalar]

Originally Posted by tabruns

So in this entire thread did anyone actually ever post updated sales figures (not awards but actual numbers) for SYW?

Billboard by Keith Caulfield, Los Angeles | May 10, 2013 8:30 AM EDT
http://www.billboard.com/biz/article...rling-hits-new

-- Fleetwood Mac, "Extended Play" (EP) (No. 48): After a 10 year wait, Fleetwood Mac has returned to the Billboard 200 chart with a new studio album. The legendary band's Extended Play (EP) bows at No. 48, selling 9,000 copies in its first week.

The self-released set, issued on the LMJS imprint (an acronym for the first names of the four members of the band), is exclusive to iTunes. The four-song effort is the group's first release outside of the Warner Music family of labels since 1971.

The band's last full-length album, “Say You Will,” released on Reprise/Warner Bros., arrived on the chart almost exactly 10 years ago this week. The set debuted and peaked at No. 3 on the chart dated May 3, 2003. To date, it has sold 864,000 copies in the United States.

[KenB]

[QUOTE=Jondalar;1092604]Billboard by Keith Caulfield, Los Angeles | May 10, 2013 8:30 AM EDT
http://www.billboard.com/biz/article...rling-hits-new

-- Fleetwood Mac, "Extended Play" (EP) (No. 48): After a 10 year wait, Fleetwood Mac has returned to the Billboard 200 chart with a new studio album. The legendary band's Extended Play (EP) bows at No. 48, selling 9,000 copies in its first week.

This isn't about the SYW question -- but, yikes. 9,000 copies? At $4 a pop, that's $36,000, of which the band will get about $20,000. For a legacy act like FM, sales almost always drop off after the first week. $20,000 in an album's biggest week might be nice for a young indie band, but for Mac it's tantamount to no income at all. With numbers like that, what would the incentive be for them to continue recording? (I don't think Lindsey cares about the money, but it's clear from her recent comments that Stevie does -- and it appears she's right that people don't care enough to buy their songs anymore.)

[KenshiMaster16]

[QUOTE=KenB;1092623]

Originally Posted by Jondalar

Billboard by Keith Caulfield, Los Angeles | May 10, 2013 8:30 AM EDT
http://www.billboard.com/biz/article...rling-hits-new

-- Fleetwood Mac, "Extended Play" (EP) (No. 48): After a 10 year wait, Fleetwood Mac has returned to the Billboard 200 chart with a new studio album. The legendary band's Extended Play (EP) bows at No. 48, selling 9,000 copies in its first week.

This isn't about the SYW question -- but, yikes. 9,000 copies? At $4 a pop, that's $36,000, of which the band will get about $20,000. For a legacy act like FM, sales almost always drop off after the first week. $20,000 in an album's biggest week might be nice for a young indie band, but for Mac it's tantamount to no income at all. With numbers like that, what would the incentive be for them to continue recording? (I don't think Lindsey cares about the money, but it's clear from her recent comments that Stevie does -- and it appears she's right that people don't care enough to buy their songs anymore.)

Has less to do with people not wanting it and more to do with people not knowing it exists. I've been playing the EP through my iPod in my store I manage since its release and every day I have at least a few people ask me or my employee's if that's new Mac material thats being played and why and how the material 'snuck out' and if it was available for purchase yet. Radio isn't picking it up, there's no real promotion unless you find out about it the night you see them on tour (if you are seeing them this go around) and thus far it's only been on iTunes and now Amazon with no physical release set in stone yet. Not to mention it's released through them so there were no online ads, no commercials, no television/radio promotion deals, nothing of the likes they had with Say You Will's release. That's the problem. They self released an EP with no promotion and limited availability. As excited as I was for this new music, those are about the numbers I was expecting. With the age of the internet, the majority of music-buyers don't hunt down music, they buy what they hear that they like. The problem is, unless you know for a fact it's on iTunes or Amazon or whatever, you're not hearing it unless you see them live. There lies the problem.

[KarmaContestant]

[QUOTE=KenB;1092623]

Originally Posted by Jondalar

Billboard by Keith Caulfield, Los Angeles | May 10, 2013 8:30 AM EDT
http://www.billboard.com/biz/article...rling-hits-new

-- Fleetwood Mac, "Extended Play" (EP) (No. 48): After a 10 year wait, Fleetwood Mac has returned to the Billboard 200 chart with a new studio album. The legendary band's Extended Play (EP) bows at No. 48, selling 9,000 copies in its first week.

This isn't about the SYW question -- but, yikes. 9,000 copies? At $4 a pop, that's $36,000, of which the band will get about $20,000. For a legacy act like FM, sales almost always drop off after the first week. $20,000 in an album's biggest week might be nice for a young indie band, but for Mac it's tantamount to no income at all. With numbers like that, what would the incentive be for them to continue recording? (I don't think Lindsey cares about the money, but it's clear from her recent comments that Stevie does -- and it appears she's right that people don't care enough to buy their songs anymore.)

The thing is, bands and singers don't make riches from album sales anymore. They just...don't. An indie band that sold 9,000 copies wouldn't make squat from their album sales - maybe 3% if they are lucky. The real money is in touring, and with many bands these days a new album is the promotion for a tour - in the old days it was the tour that promoted the album, back when tickets were cheap and royalties were high, but that's just not the way it works anymore.

That's why people like the Stones and Madonna don't bother to release albums, or choose instead to release crappy albums. When you make 300M off a tour, who needs album sales?

One could make the argument that Fleetwood Mac doesn't need good albums either, or albums at all, in order to sell concert tickets. In that same light, I think the E.P. is really, truly, just a gift for fans - Lindsey likes recording and he knows that we want...no, rather, he knows that we WAAAAANNNNTTTTTT new music.

[shackin'up]

Originally Posted by RockawayBlind

Yeah, Come is one of those love it or hate it songs. It's screechy and horrid to my ear, though it starts out very interesting.

Come is special. Weird, ugly, But with an unneglectible tension.

[michelej1]

I really don't think that Come belonged on an FM album, but it does have it's charm and was especially good during Lindsey's last tour.

Aside from the guitar solo, the rise and fall, from quiet, to crescendo and then crash, is very dramatic.

Michele

[elle]

Originally Posted by KarmaContestant

One could make the argument that Fleetwood Mac doesn't need good albums either, or albums at all, in order to sell concert tickets. In that same light, I think the E.P. is really, truly, just a gift for fans - Lindsey likes recording and he knows that we want...no, rather, he knows that we WAAAAANNNNTTTTTT new music.

completely agree.

[redbird]

For me the best songs on this album are just so much better than the worst ones, I can't figure out why they're together except that they were ready to go. But then as someone else pointed out, what's good and what's bad is subjective and we all have different opinions. I feel like the creme de la creme of SYW is only 10-12 songs, but I wouldn't need to cut that many so long as I could be rid of "Say You Will" and especially "What's the World Coming To". Lindsey may have done amazing things on this record, but o h m y g o d that song is such pap. The other 16 songs I can deal with. Even though I think that "Illume" and "Silver Girl" are a little too awkward at points, and "Peacekeeper" and "Steal Your Heart Away" are also a little bland (not nearly as bad as WTWCT). "Come" and "Goodbye Baby" aren't especially meaningful to me but I can appreciate them.

I always think of SYW as two albums, but not necessary the Stevie solo album + the Lindsey solo album, rather the album I want and the album I don't But yes it's subjective. Maybe it's my attention span at fault; I really like albums to be artistic statements in themselves, either that or retrospective compilations, and I feel like SYW would hold my attention more if it was shorter and told more of a story. It doesn't fascinate me the way double-album Tusk did, I mean, at least 8 of the songs are ostensibly designed to be radio-friendly (but I don't like 2003 radio the way I like 1977 radio, granted I've only heard 1977 radio through the oldies station), and some of that feels a lot like filler to me.

I do have a personal version of SYW I put on my own iPod, but it's not perfect either so I don't imagine I could do sooo much better. For one, Stevie's songs are way more "topical" in that, if this is the story of Fleetwood Mac since the The Dance reunion, all the songs I'd keep of hers are either about Lindsey to some extent or about herself in the context of relationships, while Lindsey's got songs about the news media and politics and whatnot. I'm sure someone else could make a sound argument against my choices. (If anyone cares, "Miranda", "Thrown Down" and "Bleed to Love Her" would be the first three spots in some order, then "Murrow" followed by "Everybody Finds Out" followed by "Smile At You" as the **** Just Got Real part of the album, then "Red Rover" as a breather, and then it has to end with "Running Through the Garden", "Destiny Rules", and "Say Goodbye".)

This thread did make me re-listen to the album again, and boy "Say Goodbye" really is much better slowed down ala the live performances. Still a moving song though. "I fall down, I get up" has become something of a coping mechanism for me personally, hahah, glad to know I'm not the only one Lindsey.

(I'm sorry I know this thread is a month old, I'm bored and I didn't get to go to my concert and I needed to talk Mac )