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.
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