80% FM is 100% Lacking (Delaware on CM)
 

Delaware Online, April 10, 2009

http://www.delawareonline.com/articl.../ENTERTAINMENT

If it's 80 percent Fleetwood, it's 100 percent lacking

We here at Nightlife would like to issue the following two statements before moving forward.

Statement No. 1: We like and respect Fleetwood Mac and its entire catalog except for the song "Big Love" from the 1987 album "Tango in the Night."

Statement No. 2: We have no problems with bands soldiering on after one or two original members go their separate ways.

But we simply cannot let this quartet version of The Mac go through Philadelphia without saying whoa, wait a minute, this is a stinking pile of horsebleep (There is actually disbelief here that this column never dealt with this. Anyway).

Christine McVie wrote some of the band's best and most memorable songs. If Paul McCartney was a chick, he would have written "Everywhere." Beatle or no Beatle, the dude version of McCartney wishes he had written "Say That You Love Me." And although it's now eternally linked to Bill Clinton and his presidential victory lap after the 1992 election, "Don't Stop" deserves a place on the top-shelf of all-time classic rock anthems next to "Born to Run" and "Baba O'Riley."

Add in the fact that her keyboard parts have been integral to the band's sound since it went from blues to pop rock in the early 1970s and you're talking about an integral member, not just some Bill Wyman or Dave Abbruzzese (Pearl Jam's original drummer).

But McVie will not be a part of the "Fleetwood Mac Unleashed" tour. It's just Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks. That's it.

This is not unprecedented. In fact, we can think of three times as many bands who have gone on without a key cog than those who did the right thing and hung up their guitars.

R.E.M. should have gone to sleep when drummer Bill Berry retired in 1998, because: A) the band lost its stones and hasn't put out a decent album since 1996's "New Adventures in Hi Fi," and B) the band has only seemed to play with gusto on the rare occasions when Berry got back behind the kit for a spot appearance, including one in 2007 when R.E.M. was inducted into the Hall of Fame.

(2 of 3)


For some reason, Genesis thought it could succeed without Phil Collins in the 1990s, and Journey continues to dilute itself by thinking it has a reason to exist without Steve Perry.



And in this case, yes, you could make an argument -- as the rest of the Mac has -- that now they can focus more on the tunes by Buckingham and Nicks. And now we'll get more awkward googly eye moments like when the pair sings to each other during "Landslide."

But we say Fleetwood Mac without Christine McVie is no Fleetwood Mac at all.

If you disagree, you can be one of the tens of thousands who show up for the band's gig at 8 p.m. Wednesday at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia.

Tickets range from $49.50-$149.50, and are available at www.livenation.com.

So this is a negative advertisement for a concert that the writer hasn't seen yet? How stupid. And the dumb title and annoying statements like, "now we can focus more on the tunes by Buckingham and Nicks. And now we'll get more awkward googly eye moments like when the pair sings to each other during "Landslide."", which isn't true because (a when does Lindsey sing on Landslide? and b) "googly" eyes sounds so High School. Lindsey and Stevie are way too old and been there/done that for such stuff. Maybe angry, passionate, annoyed, happy eyes, but googly I don't think so.

And listen, I really love Christine. She has always been a cool lady and should be regarded that way until forever. But she has not been in this band for a LONG ASS time. It is time for people to, you know, get the F over it at this point. It's wonderful to remember all the memories and the songs being sung, and etc. but at some point in these past 10 or so years you had to come to terms with it: She's not touring.

And Paul McCartney has far too big of an ego for that. If it was up to him, he'd give you a list of all the songs he'd wish he had written, and I'll bet you most would be his (already released) solo/Beatles numbers and then a Chuck Berry or Elvis number thrown in. Puhlease!

**Note: I felt like writing today. No, I didn't take this article that seriously**:laugh:

...:mad::mad::distress:

I for one will not be truly pleased until Mick, John, Stevie, Christine, Lindsey, all three Bobs, Peter, Jeremy, Danny, Rick, Billy, Dave, that guy who did two songs on Penguin whose name I can't recall, and Bekka all appear on one stage to perform a 90-minute long improvised jam of Thoughts On A Grey Day. :mad:

Well, I hope that happens for your sake.

Perhaps you should start a petition. I'll sign.

This person is obviously full of crap.:rolleyes:

Many people think Paul's Vintage Clothes sounds very much like Say You Love Me, so I think that's why he mentioned that particular song. I don't know about Everywhere.
Michele

:laugh:Well, there are people who really do want that -- except for the Grey Day part.

I'll just take the five. Can't rise above that desire.

Michele

Say you love me is a great song. And i love Paul and the beatles, hey i even liked wings, but vintage clothes?
:o

Oh, yikes. That performance is definitely unflattering! Michele

Dude lost me when he said he liked every FM song EXCEPT Big Love.

Next.

Ugh.:distress: I am sorry. Listen, the Beatles are my all-time music loves and I know every single member's solo catalog like the back of my hand. This song? Don't like. And there are so many fine examples of great pop numbers by Paul that could be comparable to any of Christine's tunes. I know she loves Paul's music. I've always been more of a John girl (alltheway), but he is great and this song is not. So sorry Michele.:wavey:

:laugh::lol: I know, right? Loser.:rolleyes:

yeah that's like one of my fav studio songs...

:confused:I don't like Vintage Clothes. I just know that when it came out, many critics compared it to Say You Love Me, which is what I think made that writer think that Paul wants to do Chris. I don't think that, myself. Actually, I never wondered if Paul admired Christine's work. I . . . except for the Playboy interviews that John and Paul did, which gave me a lot of pleasure looking at what each of them said on a song-by-song basis, I don't spend a lot of time thinking about the Beatles.

I don't think much of anything compares with SYLM myself. In fact, I'm pretty happy with Lindsey's version of Here Comes the Sun and, you know, George better be happy with it too -- wherever he is. I'm not one to spend a lot of time comparing Beatles to Macsters.

Michele