2011 Pre-Release Album Poll: Jeremy vs. Stevie vs. Lindsey
 

I thought this might be a fun way to express our shared enthusiasm for 2011--the year of the mac (sans mac!)

I wasn't sure which area to put this poll in, but since two of the members are Rumours-era... I went with that forum.

So which album are you most anticipating??!!

If I had to choose only one, it'd be the Lindsey. I'm glad I can have them all. ;) :) :) ;)

For me, Lindsey's solo stuff is very hit and miss, he has a fair number of songs I really like, but I find it very difficult to sit and listen to an album of his all the way through.

With Stevie, although she has two giant turds on her record, (OSOTM + SA, I'm looking at you), I generally adore her solo work, and I'm totally in love with what she and Dave did to Secret Love, so I'm genuinely super excited for her new album.

As for Jeremy Spencer, I have no opinion on his works at all, he's not someone I've encountered, both with the Mac or solo. :laugh:

it was a toss-up between La Nicks and Liddy Buck for me, but looking at their most recent albums as a basis, I like Gift of Screws much more than Trouble in Shangri-La, so Lindsey got my vote

As for Jeremy, the only pre-1975 stuff I know are from Bob, Chris, and Greeny, so that's not exactly useful in this case

Jeremy's. Definitely.

For those who don't know Jeremy's work, please please please please please check out his album Flee on itunes. It's like 5 bucks. I promise anyone who loves Fleetwood Mac will get a kick out of that album. And if that doesn't sound tempting, then just buy the title track "Flee." It is genuinely awesome.

Seeing how it's been 10 full years since we've heard from Stevie, I'm anxious to hear what she has to say... and where she is artistically. I have so much fear when it comes to this new album, though... Stevie's lost just about all of her cred in my book this past decade.

Relatively speaking, we've heard a lot from Lindsey recently. We generally know where he's at personally and professionally. He's not all manic, jaded, and unpredictable like Stevie.

It has nothing to do with Rumours era snobbery (after all, Bob Welch is one of my all time favs), but Jeremy has just never interested me in the least... inside or outside of Fleetwood Mac. :sorry:

But have you heard "Flee"??!! Seriously... If Go Your Own Way, ABBA, and slide guitar had a baby, it would sound like "Flee"

I am totally the reverse, so I absolutely cannot wait for Lindsey's album.

I have "Lindsey Days" when I will just play all his CDs one after the other (at least a couple of days a week) - usually when I'm home alone as nobody dares talk to me when I'm listening to Bucky.

I am not a fan of Stevie solo so I have trouble getting thru one of her CDs.

Lindsey. I'm approaching Stevie's very cautiously. Lindsey, IMO has had a string of fantastic albums. Stevie's got some work to impress me. Just My 2 cents. Jeremy Spencer.....don't care.

Mick

Stevie's, with Lindsey's a very close second. Jeremy Spencer isn't even on my radar.

LB's first 2 albums are kinda hit-or-miss with me, but I genuinely love the other 3, and am anxious to hear his new one, whenever it finally comes out.

I generally prefer solo Stevie to Mac Stevie, and while I certainly don't love all her albums, I find all of them interesting (at the very least). In Your Dreams sounds like it will be pretty good - I'm very curious to hear what she's done w/ Annabel Lee and LFTM/Moonlight, but the new songs sound interesting, too.

I voted for Stevie because she hasn't put out anything for a decade and I can't wait to hear it. That being said I'm overall more a Lindsey guy and he has the potential to come up trumps. I couldn't really care for Jeremy tbh.

Team Stevie all the way :lol: reading the first hand accounts of the SanDiego thing got me even more excited- I will probly freak when I see the "sizzle reel"

I do like like going to Lindseyland but just for short visits

Im afraid I am also guilty of not knowing/caring much about pre BN Mac

I think definitely Jeremy's album. I am looking forward to Ms Nicks' album but I am REALLY looking forward to something from Jeremy. I guess because he keeps getting better and better (unlike Ms Nicks who was at her peak 30 years ago or Mr Buckingham who was at his peak in 1974 :lol:).

As for Lindsey...well I guess I'll have to have the album to keep the collection complete, but like Gift of Screws and Under the Skin, I won't ever actually play it after the first time.

Or check out his more recent albums Precious Little or In Session which might give you an idea of what to expect from Mr Spencer's new album.

Don't be put off by the Fleetwood Mac era Jeremy if you don't like him in that era. Everything post-FM has been completely different to what he did in FM.

EDIT: Oh and I fully agree with TrueFaith - Flee is a great album.

I'm interested in Stevie's new album. I'm not interested in Lindsey or Jeremy's new albums.

Stevie's by a f*cking mile. I'm only mildy interested in Lindsey and Jeremy. Peter Green is my FM guitarist...

Lindsey of course.

Over the years, I have grown very tired of Stevie Nicks. I don't know why exactly, though I respect her for her work in Fleetwood Mac, she was never really the deal for me. Her solo music doesn't really do much for me. I love a few songs here and there, but having heard her newest single I may pass on that album for a bit.

I'm always about Lindsey's new music. His albums can be frustrating at first, but after you listen to them for a while there are so many sublime things I miss and then I fall in love. I adore him in any form- FM, solo, with Stevie. He's just amazing. :)

Let's see...Jeremy Spencer. I don't really have any passionate desire to get the album, but I'll certainly have a listen and if it appeals to me I may attain it in time. There are just SO many of my favorite artists releasing music in 2011 that I can not decide who, what, when...I'm like a kid in a candy store.

I voted for Stevie's new album with Lindsey coming in a close second. Stevie is so excited about In Your Dreams, therefore, I am excited. I enjoyed Under The Skin, so a new Lindsey CD that has a similar theme will be greatly appreciated.:)

I wish the title of this thread were: Christine vs. Stevie vs. Lindsey :(

But definitely Stevie's. I basically care next to nothing about Lindsey lately, Out of the Cradle is almost better than anything out there but the rest of his albums are....*scratches head* I appreciate and love Bob and Rick way more these days.

We think 100% the same regarding Lindsey and Stevie!

Lindsey's solo albums I loved from the first couple of listens except for Under The Skin which has taken a long time but is slowly but surely getting under my skin :laugh:

Of course he's amazing - I just idolise him, he's up on a pedestal for me even with all his little quirks.

I love that we share a wavelength on this matter. :)

I love Stevie as part of Fleetwood Mac and I hope to goodness we get another studio album with the four of them, even if it's a final one.

But I cannot for the life of me understand why she appears to be so much more popular than Lindsey as a solo artist. I'd have thought it would be much more of a 50/50 split between fans of Stevie and fans of Lindsey but it never has been.

Anyway, can't wait for Lindsey's album - I might consider getting Stevie's for the sole reason that Lindsey guests on it, otherwise it'd be a no no for me.

Maybe it's her whole package. You know the vibe she gives off. Let's face it her SOLO music by itself on the whole.....not that great.:shrug: Anyway, I will buy IYD...perhaps against my better judgment. Cause my guts not telling me anything good.

Mick

No accounting for taste - Let's face it a lot of people think Lindsey solo music is meh not that great too. To me his solo stuff is more inconsistant and dated than Stevies, although I still like some of it. So to each there own.

Stevie's, without question. I feel nothing for Lindsey's solo work - either too precious or over-processed - and I'm curious to hear what the Dave Stewart/Glenn Ballard combo brings to the table. Lindsey butchered her last collection of songs ("Say You Will"), so it's been a long eight-year wait for a entire batch of Stevie songs.

I'm so sick of this "Lindsey ruined Stevie SYW songs." Was she not present during the time? If she truly felt the results were below standards why didn't she speak up and tell him so? I don't get how this lady who tells Lindsey frankly she will not record an album with the band unless her particular producer is in command can not speak up and tell him just as well that what he did smelled like **** and he needs to step it up.

Obviously, she didn't have a problem if the results went so far as the completed and released album. Complaining afterward is always easier. I heard the originals...I like what Lindsey did for the most part. I guess the original Smile At You was more powerful, but the one on SYW isn't awful. Truthfully, her songs haven't aged well on there for me. I go back to that album for Lindsey and Thrown Down. :)

I like Stevie. I used to like her a lot more, but...she just doesn't cut it for me anymore. I hear all the accolades and praises and I get that, but she just isn't all that she's made up to be- for me. I love everything she did on Tusk. It was gorgeous, poetic, flawless. For that alone I surely hold her up to her status, but her solo career? Not even.

I won't poo-poo on her upcoming release. I think it's great news and I want all the best for her. I'm sure it will be a nice album. But I just don't have that eagerness for it. I intend to get it, though, because I have all her others and I like to go back and listen to songs that still do it for me. I hope I will come to like her again as I once did, because there are aspects of her lyrics that remind me SO of myself in some ways. It has to happen naturally I guess.

I don't see what difference it makes if Stevie approved or liked the production. That isn't the point - the point is that some people believe the execution songs went on SYW ruined them (especially in comparison to some demos). So in that respect Lindsey, who produced them, would have been the major cause of that..

I realize Stevie's said in the past that she wasn't happy with it, so I see what you're saying, but I think that's completely seperate from a fan personally thinking that they were messed up in production and wanting to hear new music that hopefully isn't produced in the same vein.

thank you! my thoughts exactly every time i see the blame placed on a producer for stevie's songs not turning out right. doesn't she know what she wants, and doesn't she have a say? (she doesn't seem to have a problem expressing her opinions, judging by "you wouldn't say that to bob dylan" line...):shrug:

although having just heard the angry version of "smile at you", i have to say - that song was rocking (not just a voice, but guitar also), and is definitely not rocking on SYW.

in my ignorant world, songwriters and performers get a credit for songs, good or bad, not producers. people usually don't even know who is the producer.

I understand what you're saying. It makes absolute sense that Lindsey would be blamed for the overall production, but my point was...maybe these songs- which were above referred to as "butchered"- are what Stevie may have wanted them to sound like. They were her songs, ultimately, and given that alone she had some executive decision in the finishing product. That is all I meant. I was not attacking GoldDustOrphan or any other Stevie fans opinions. I just read this underlying "Lindsey's fault" and I'm wondering why does he get sole credit for how lousy the songs turned out- I mean, if some of you really think they are. I think they were just a tad more bland, and...I'm not sure if that was all Lindsey's fault.

I definitely agree with all of this. Stevie should have fought harder if she didn't like what she was hearing. However, I think simply blaming either Stevie OR Lindsey for the problems SYW encountered is also a bit out of line. After all, there are 4 people within Fleetwood Mac these days. And countless assistants, managers, attorneys, etc.

That being said, I still place the sound of SYW pretty much squarely on Lindsey's shoulders. If you watch Destiny Rules, Lindsey is the producer, musical director, architect, and driving force behind the album. It seems the band collectively spent much of their time fighting Lindsey against his insistence on SYW being a double album, his relentless push for SYW to be edgy vs familiar, Lindsey's insistence on using his personal mixer for all the songs, etc... and all the while, Lindsey kept threatening to pull all of his songs if he didn't get his way. I'd have to imagine Stevie just felt she had to make tremendous compromises on her songs just so she could keep the wheels moving and get the album finished. Stevie is fairly practical these days... she realizes how many people were relying on Fleetwood Mac for their income. I'm sure she just kinda gave up at one point and stopped fighting Lindsey so the album could just get finished and so they could get out on the road and make some real dough.

Which is why Lindsey doesn't necessarily have the popular vote in FM. He may be the producer/arranger and did SO much to create the FM sound- along with a few others guys, but even THEY admit Lindsey was the commander in chief. But the songs from any of the three songwriters are music and words that have touched people. The production played a big part, but not even close. It's like the Beatles...the first thing you think about is Lennon/McCartney...and Harrison. You don't immediately associate the Beatles with George Martin, and that's exactly as it should be. Martin himself said that it was their beautiful music and he just got to play around with it.

So no matter what "magic" Lindsey poured all over Stevie's or Christine's songs, the songwriters are the ones primarily credited. This is why I'm not thrilled with this "let's blame Lindsey and Lindsey only" theme going with Stevie's SYW songs. Sorry, there are some good ones on there by her but I don't think it's her greatest stuff...:shrug: Not by a long shot.

I understand everything you wrote. And you may actually be correct about Lindsey being such an intense control freak, but if that is so I have to lose some respect for Stevie. If these songs were extremely special for her, some she had just written after a dry period, she should have stuck to her guns be damned. She almost matches Lindsey's key role by her popularity and audience draw. She has a ton of pull, and given that she presents the image of a tough, speaks-her-mind, type of dame I'm sure if it mattered enough she would have made it clear.

I have a feeling she was resting a bit on her laurels, and Lindsey. I think she was expecting him to be the same kind of guy who did all that fabulous stuff back in the day- and, well, we all reach our peak. Perhaps he had more invested in helping her so much back then, or cared more, but whatever the reason the bottom line is a bunch of people feel he didn't do her songs justice. And I just feel...perhaps Stevie didn't really care that much. I agree with you that she may have been playing a very good band member and wanted to get it moving...but risking her artistry? Is it worth it? That's what I don't get...

But the album was never bad to me. Never. I recall listening to it the first time that it sounded extremely adult contemporary and that Silver Girl was truly awful. But I loved Say Goodbye and Thrown Down instantly. True, Stevie's songs didn't hold up all that well for me compared to Lindsey's- but I can't call it awful. I feel there's all this negativity towards this album that wasn't even bad. I even wonder if it would be so had the album actually been more of a hit.

I agree with absolutely everything you said, especially the part I bolded. I think there was some really wonderful material on SYW. Nobody else seems to agree with me, but I think especially Illume is one of the coolest songs Stevie recorded within Fleetwood Mac. Destiny Rules is utterly classic sounding to me. I love the progressive feel most of the songs exude.

However as an album, I still argue SYW falls short. There is no continuity. Even Lindsey has recently admitted this. Stevie and Lindsey got away with this lack of continuity on Tusk because they still had Christine to bridge the gap. Without Christine as a buffer, Lindsey and Stevie seemed to instead be battling/clashing on SYW. Perhaps SYW was just the learning experience they needed, and the next FM album will benefit from it :)

And I totally see your perspective and agree with a great deal of what you said. I feel it's truly rewarding when, debating or discussing a topic that two may have differing views, the twain shall meet at some agreement. Bottom line: no matter how anyone personally feels about Lindsey or Stevie musically, the truth is they're both great. I don't want to argue who is greater or the last time one of them was great, I just want to be proud that two great people could be in a band together and, although very different and with an assortment of fans, they can be appreciated for their greatness and the part of it they care to share with us.

If Stevie wants more control on how albums sound, she needs to be there for the whole process. On SYW (and TITN and Mirage), Stevie came in when there had already been months of work on the album.
Since Lindsey, Mick, and John put more work into the album, they may feel they have a right to have it sound how they want it to.

But in Buckingham's case, it's always been sort of a special case. He isn't just producing--making administrative decisions, mixing decisions, & logistical decisions about cuts & length. He's also heavily invested in the shape a track takes on tape. In fact, he's been largely responsible for that since 1976 because he is generating the sound ideas himself.

He isn't just the novelist who wrote the book. He's the one recording the books-on-tape, too, deciding things like intonation, tempo, where to breathe, if & when to cut, whether & what to add for music or FX backdrop for his reading, etc.

But even still--on Say You Will, he was working very closely with other people (like Mark Needham) whose sound ideas I wasn't so crazy about. The Caillat+Dashut team in the past were super-talented, & made sonic & artistic decisions about frequencies, for example, that won awards & pleased millions of listeners (without their even thinking about such things). But the Say You Will team, probably by design, shook all that up, following more contemporary practices in the studio world (for example, emphasizing mids to control the sonic landscape). I'm sure they set great store by their artistic decisions. I just happen not to like those decisions. Maybe the album was engineered to be most effective on today's reproduction equipment. I don't know. But I do know it doesn't sound like a vibrantly healthy album. Remember how one of the critics of Tusk--Stephen Holden or Noel Coppage or somebody--said that the digital recording created a glassy, unreal ambiance? Whatever slight sonic problems Tusk has, Say You Will has them in abundance.

Tough choice! Like others, I'm finding myself getting swept up by Stevie's excitement for her project. It's been such a long time since TISL and I want to see where she's at these days -- particularly since Secret Love is pushing all my buttons. I'm extremely excited about Lindsey's album too, but probably more of that is coming from the prospect of attending his tour than from the album itself. As we learn more about it, though, that could change. So Stevie gets my vote, but really, I can't wait for either of these! :blob1: