Hi Matt. I enjoyed reading your post and concur with everything you articulated about the Mac. I am also a huge Crowded House/Neil Finn fan...been obsessed for decades! I have seen Crowded House and Neil Finn solo at least a dozen times. Wasn't aware that Neil has another solo album coming out. Great news!

It's always exciting for me to find others who seem to have the same appreciation for a certain realm of integrity in music. Crowded House and Fleetwood Mac are two completely different worlds.

I would vote yes to a new Fleetwood Mac album
if they would take a look back at the albums
(White, Rumours) that made them what they are.
And try to replicate that sound.

There's no use for Tusk (my personal favorite) or
anything that came after it. Even though many of
us like some of the material released after 1980, it
does not compare with the albums from '75 and '77.
That sweet Fleetwood Mac sound.

Use a great studio. Fight before and during the recording
process. Get a great producer. No digital tricks - all analog.

From Christine I want warmth. Stevie, I just want her to
actually sing. And Lindsey you had better not whisper
even once.

That's the recipe.

Whispering Lindsey, hahaha
 

I would think that the Lindsey that brought Sad Angel and Miss Fantasy to the table is the one showing up. If only for the sake of having a commercially viable album. Obviously he tried to stay pop with the EP (save for the piano ballad that was wildly out of place IMO), so I would think, especially with Christine back, he would be shooting for a more classic style. Maybe a second (pipe dream) album from the 5 would be Tusk level weird again. And that would be a good thing.

yes, why not?

people complain all over these threads that they don't want the pop LB from the the EP, that Christine can do that instead. my thinking is more on the same page as you - why not having 2 albums - one pop followed by a weird one?

of course, personally i would probably hate that. his Grammy performance with Trent and the guys whetted my appetite for solo FM-less LB again. and i assume that won't happen for a long long time now... then again, his Hesitation Marks involvement and Grammy performance came out of the blue and didn't take much of his time either, so maybe there's some hope for something like that too in between all this Mac work he'll be doing this year??

If you start with the pop one and it disappoints them, they will never proceed to the weird one. If fans actually want two albums, the best approach would be with them to start with something a little avant garde, which they know is "out there" and they will not have high expectations about. Therefore, it won't hurt morale and then follow that up with something more traditional.

Michele

UTS followed by GOS. :p

i guess it depends who's "them" in "disappoints them".

I meant the band, actually. I don't think they yet realize what we know, which is that this album will not sell and no one will care about it except, hopefully, critics.

And actually I was very much thinking about UTS and the way I would have rejected it if it had come after GOS when I wrote that.

Michele

from what Mick has been saying - it's about getting new stuff out and being relevant that way, it will not sell anyway - i suspect Mick and Lindsey are aware of it.

although they both strike me as realizing that consciously, but still hoping that some kind of success may happen. and by success i mean high placement on the charts, not making any money of the album. they make tons of money touring anyway. like someone said, there are right kinds of promotion these days. sales after coven prove that. whatever makes you trend on twitter is the same thing that will give you sales.

But tie ins don't always help. SYW had that tie in with NBC where they got played on Friends and then they did Dateline. I think they were mentioned on Third Watch and they were on the Today Show and Leno, but that didn't help sales at all. You have to be on the right shows. I suppose they know that now, based on attention for Glee, Coven, American Idol, SNL, etc.

Michele

The RIGHT shows...
 

That is key anymore. Maybe if Lindsey wanted to go on Jimmy Fallon and play tissue boxes with the Roots... I just don't see them getting on SNL as a musical guest though. Not anymore. Unless the host is meant for an older audience as well...which is rarely ever.

They also had an AOL exclusive with Peacekeeper Live to promote.