Say You Will Similarities to Other FM/FM-Related Albums
 

As expressed by many, Say You Will is like Buckingham Nicks 2, with each songwriter having distinct songs (or distinct portions of a song - Frozen Love being the only official shared songwriter credit). In my opinion, it is more like Tusk in that you can isolate Lindsey’s songs and the result is like a Lindsey solo album (as Lindsey has commented on Tusk). On Say You Will, you can definitely hear Lindsey’s production skills and guitar parts on most, if not all, of Stevie’s songs, but Stevie’s background vocals on Lindsey’s songs are barely noticeable.

A side note, I cannot bear to listen to the album version of Say Goodbye. The version from the leaked Gift of Screws songs from 2000 is (imo) a much better version. The album version is sped up way too much for my liking. The live version is way better than the album version as well.

I agree 100%. SYW version is too fast, when I listen to it makes me think Yes, Lindsey, I know you're amazing and work wonders with the guitar, but in this case (Say Goodbye) it doesn't go with the song's lyrics; it causes the message to be lost.

The live Soundstage version (with Stevie) is slower and, above all, emotional; it conveys a beautiful nostalgia. That’s how it should have been on the album. My opinion.

I love Lindsey's Tusk songs, with the exception of NTF. I'll never understand his love for that song, because it blows goats(no, not that one).

Come is AWFUL, and not for the subject matter. I think he was trying to prove that he's a rock god on it. He failed.

Murrow is just too much noise, and too repetitious.

I had to listen to Come today to remember the song to better remember the song (I skipped it when I was listening to the album with headphones). It starts… interesting. But at 1:31… well, that is when I think someone did need an exorcism: Lindsey in Come, not Stevie in the 1975 Green Manalishi (quoting the last thread at Early Years forum).

I remember Come was compared to So Afraid and the Tango song, I guess because those songs also feature an impetuous shift at some moment. But I disagree with that. SA and TITN did rock. Lindsey had already proved he is a rock god. At least to me, at least at those moments.

I think what I mean by this is that when Fleetwood Mac was triple-headed, there was somehow more space for Lindsey to do his own thing. Christine could also contribute Songbird effectively as a solo, with minimal guitars from Buckingham. The song styles, after all on Rumours did vary considerably and the them of personal break-ups ironically held the whole thing together. By Tusk when everyone is apart, there is even greater room for sonic adventure.

So they reboot for the Dance but they then lose Christine. They record four years later but that more limited version of the band, with a bit more discipline, could have produced a great Buckingham-Nicks album with a killer rhythm section. Pruned a bit, maybe it has echoes of that.

Perhaps I'm not making much sense. I rarely do, these days.

Is there a YT link to this version, or could you please upload the file and respond with a download link? Thanks.

P.S. Same for anyone who has One Man Show. It's out of print and I'd love a copy. Thanks.

This one has a Lindsey explanation of the song.

Thanks......

I gotta say a lot of the blame for SYW lands squarely at Lindsey's feet.

Exactly. Hard to market a turd. And agree Homie.. they really haven't been a marketing machine. Rumours has fueled them to the finish line.

Sh1t, if it weren't for Rumours, they'd have died 40 years ago.

I would argue that the Eagles have always been better business people than FM. Always.

The Long Road Back to Eden (LRBE?) was impressively marketed. The Eagles and their management realized that their fans' age group were mainly going to big box stores, and they had the promotional deal with Walmart to sell LRBE (a double album) for $11.99 (SYW sold at closer to $19.00 retail). I'm not sure that LRBE was any better quality wise than SYW -- both are late albums from bands that had their heyday much earlier and were not current in any way. Also, 2003 was a transition point in music buying -- people were still doing some illegal downloading, which cut into sales, though SYW did debut at #3 which wasn't terrible. But the Walmart angle is huge.

I do think that The Eagles were far less experimental, which probably made LBRE more approachable. They knew what worked, and they continued to do it. I don't think it was necessarily stale, but LB was always focused on being different than what came before. That guiding principle gave us Tusk, which many of us love. But it's unlikely to generate big sales.

There are aspects of SYW that I still love. But like just about everyone else here, there are some songs I just don't like. And LB's production is kind of hit or miss for me -- I think it really works on WTWCT, Illume, Thrown Down, Destiny Rules, Miranda and a few others. I don't like it on RTTG, SG, EFO, SAY. I also don't like some songs -- Red Rover, Come, RTTG, GB, EFO.

All of that being said, I'm glad we got that album, because it's better than having nothing after The Dance (and no studio album after Time).

It was LROOE- Long Road Out Of Eden

The Eagles have ALWAYS smoked FM in marketing. They run the band as a business. With Irving at the helm for a half a century. FM has always been about trying to get these scatterbrained "stars" to come together for the purpose of being FM(mind you, beyond Stevie's first two albums, NO ONE took the world by storm). You'd think they'd embrace what made them stars, and very wealthy. But they're too self-absorbed.

They have always been following the Eagles lead. And the #2 band in America(if that, these days).

I'm grateful that Say You Will contained 18 songs. Seeing that it was Lindsey's first album with Fleetwood Mac in 16 years (and the first studio album with Lindsey's material in 11 years), it would have felt like a ripoff if there were far fewer songs on the record.

At that point of their career, Fleetwood Mac really didn't need a hit album or single to cement their legacy. All they needed to do was deliver a collection of great songs, which they accomplished.

You're not Mick's business manager, are you?