John Shanks. :nod:

Oooh. Good choice. Look at what he did with Johnny Cash.

Isn't he too far up the corporate ladder though? I mean, what was the last record he produced? Forgive me if it's recent, I just don't know.

A good one at that. :nod:

No, Don Was. Google him. :)

How brilliant would that be?? And can you imagine the marketability? 'From the producers who gave the world Rumours... "

Rick Rubin
 

You mean nothing?

The American albums are great because Rubin stripped down the production to virtually nothing most of the time and just let Johnny's voice carry the songs. Neither Stevie nor Lindsey is Johnny Cash in the vocal department. I don't think stripping away all the production like that would be a terribly good approach for a Fleetwood Mac record. Even if Lindsey does have a tendency towards over-producing these days.

Maybe an approach closer to "99 Problems"...

Well I can imagine the reviews at least: "'From the producers who gave the world Mirage... this is one to avoid."

:lol:

Yes, that is exactly what I mean. :rolleyes:
Another seven post wonder coming out of nowhere to bag on the imperfections of Fleetwood Mac. I'm starting to see a trend. What are your other six posts?

Remember that little story Stevie told about meeting Don Was on the airplane? He gave her a little pep talk.

Yes. That was when she still flew commercial. :lol: She said they were sitting together in first class and that she was basically ready to hang it up and he talked her out of it.
It was after that he produced Somebody Stand By Me, which gets bagged on here a lot but if you notice, Stevie sings the hell out of it. At certain points, her vocal is so loud it almost sounds like it is going to distort.
Was has produced a huge list of people, The Rolling Stones and Bonnie Raitt coming to mind off the top of my head.

I think whoever they get, they need to challenge Steive vocally and STOP that mechanical production of her voice. I thought she sounded so good in those sniglets we heard from the fan club prior to the release of the record - but her voice on the record did not sound like that on somne songs. It was as if she ran it through pro toos like 100 times AND that gimmicky thing onb Illume and EFO :eek: I am not ragging of La Nicks, I just think that she needs to be challenged to use the higher range of her voice - that is all.

Also, I think Cash's producer would be great!!!!!!!

A guitar-driven, rocking, yet folky record. If Christine returns 4 songs (by SN LB & CM) each, with one full band written song.

;)

A manifesto?
 

Sorry, was I supposed to introduce myself or host a coming-out party? My name is Jim, I used to post (way way back in the day) on the AOL Fleetwood Mac board, then on AMFM until it inexplicably died. I used to manage a portion of the album reviews for Marty a few years ago. Um... I like pizza and good beer. My other five whopping posts here are on the pre-Rumours board, if you would like to check them out. There's one about "Why" being my favorite Mac song, one about Elvis Costello occasionally covering "Love That Burns" on his current tour (which I'm very excited about seeing)...

I'm 22, my first real exposure to Fleetwood Mac was seeing the "Silver Springs" video on MTV, summer 1997. Is this enough of an introduction?

I'm a huge Fleetwood Mac fan, I own over 50 Mac/solo albums not including a smattering of bootlegs, but sorry, I don't worship them or think they're perfect, and I don't think Stevie and Lindsey quite have the vocal or lyrical chops to pull of an American-style non-production. Though admittedly, that's a very high bar to reach.

As far as constructive suggestions for this thread, I still hold out hope that Lindsey can continue growing as a producer/arranger. But he could probably use a good foil in the studio with him to spark his creativity. I think it was David a few years ago (when the GOS songs first leaked out) who said that Lindsey seemed to be stuck in a mini-rut where all his songs fell into one of three sonic categories (Bleed To Love Her/Steal Your Heart Away, Come/Murrow, Red Rover/Say Goodbye). And as much as I love all of those songs, it's kind of true. Almost like clockwork. I think he just needs someone to push him in the right direction (or any direction). And since I don't think Mick, John or Stevie likely provide much of a springboard for Mr. Buckingham, they should probably bring in some fresh blood. I'm not sure who, though. I think most of my favorite recent albums have been self-produced by the bands releasing them.

So maybe Lindsey just needs to get out of own head for a while and, instead of incessantly working on solo projects, do some collaborative work with other artists who might inspire him to try some new things. Then he can come back to the Mac with some fresh ideas. Suggestions on that end: I think Lindsey could have a lot of fun with a band like the Shins (on the Brian Wilson-adoring end of the spectrum) or with a guitarist/songwriter like Ted Leo (on the leaning-toward-punk end of the sprectrum; "Hearts Of Oak" is the best song Lindsey never wrote). And I think he has everything to learn from Tom Waits.

Somebody else mentioned Jim O'Rourke and Wilco, but I don't think that's really the best direction for Fleetwood Mac, though the more I think about it, the less I dislike the idea.

Imagining Stevie singing "Hummingbird,"
Jyqm (the q is silent)

Jyqm, I remember you from AMFM! Good to see you're still around! :wavey: