I love this answer, it's so true.

Also, I actually like the idea of the poster saying SN should have not been involved TITN( moved on) and recorded 7w on her own.

and the fact that if LB hadn't left....the band would have imploded and (my take) all would be instutionalized by now. Imagine John in a corner playing a ukelele and Stevie beating Mick over the head with a (make-shift tambo) damanding he return the crayolas!

Not necessarily.
There probably would have been just a long hiatus with nobody leaving formally the band, and then a reunion like The Dance (but not necessarily in 1997).

Maybe they would have started with a quote similar to the Eagles ("For the record, we never broke up, we just took a 14-year vacation", Frey - April 1994)

That's NOT how it works!

For me Behind the Mask (the album) would have been better if Lindsey had remained, strictly as a producer. He would have worked wonders on those songs, making them sound much better and more like other Mac songs. :cool:

If Lindsey never left, the Tango tour would've been a commercial and critical I success. As it was, it made the band a lot of money but earned mixed (at best) reviews. While Lindsey didn't have a tremendous fan base the way "the girls" did, by 1988 it was clear to everyone that he was a key--no THE key--element in that magic Mac sound so many people loved to hear. He was also a dynamo on stage. As able as Vito and Burnette are musically, neither of them possess the vision or stage presence to create the kind of spark Buckingham does.

I have watched the Tango tour concert video several times and marvel at how lackluster the band look and sound on stage. That combination of six people just didn't have it. Burnette sounded fantastic with Bramlett, which tells me it wasn't only his and Vito's problem in the 1988-1990 lineup. Nicks wasn't connecting with them.

Anyway, if Lindsey never left, there may have been a follow up studio record but who knows if there'd have been more than that--or even the 1997 reunion! Part of what made The Dance so powerful was that those five had reconvened after such a dramatic and dysfunctional separation.

Hi aleuzzi, as much as I respect your opinion and input here, I agree and disagree with you.

Yes LB was the driving force behind the 75-82'ish FM sound we love.

I can't agree that Nicks didn't connect with the new members. She co-wrote with Vito and even dueted on a few songs with him (LID and Desiree on his solo album) I think this pair was a force to reckon with. I can see what you mean with her and Billy...but I think BB and CM had great chemistry together. When it Comes to Love is almost flawless...should have been a single.

I also think the members played well with each other on stage. This was now a truely group collaboration, most performers remaining and staying on stage during each others' songs. Not a "band leader" in the bunch to monopolize the stage. They genuinely come off in the video as a rock band that enjoys working together.

ITA about 97, the reunion

I felt that way when I saw them. Mick said that Stevie was used to having LB there and just didn't feel it on stage without him. Maybe that was it or maybe it was her drug state at the time, but there was a distraction. On stage together, but not together. The thing about the Rumours line up is that they not only seemed tied, but interested in one another. And I'm not saying interested in just a positive way. Sometimes they may be interested negatively like, "What is that freak doing now?" But there are often times when they are singing and playing and also seem locked into each other, for good or bad. They were aware of each other on stage and not just moving by and past each other. After the Rumours line up, the closest you would get to that vibe was between Rick and Billy jamming together, rather than feeling it through the whole band.

Yes, Desiree is an example of what Rick and Stevie can do and it sounds fantastic, but I wasn't getting that rush from them when they shared a stage.

Michele

I'm not saying this is what Stevie meant by the lyrics, but whenever I hear Paper Doll and she says, "you could have said no. You could have said 'I just can't' . . . but it doesn't even matter, it was a real clear answer."

I always thinks she means the way he left the band, that she's saying he could have just said no to the tour and not left the band altogether.

Michele

For me, the Behind the Mask album only proved that Lindsey was indeed the key to Fleetwood Mac's success.

Obviously, Billy and Rick couldn't replace that tension Lindsey brought, nor were they visionaries, per se. But, the band could have had better output nonetheless. There were just so many missteps and bad decisions. I think Red Rocks, the Tango video, OSOTM, and Greatest Hits album all hurt their image, oversaturated the market with bland products, and killed any momentum from the tour. Then they took too long to release the actual new Mac album.

Bad decisions carried into the record, too. BTM would have been better if they used a different producer (i.e. Richard Dashut, Ken Caillat, Mitchell Froom, or Patrick Leonard), used the stronger songs from Billy and Rick (i.e. Victim of Love, Game of Love, Intuition, and Got No Home), and if the girls had also brought some stronger material.

I think Christine's songs were fine. I thought Stevie's entries were weak.

Michele