Quote:
Originally Posted by Bandon
It was just a demo so I don't think most people expected an exact duplication....just something with a little emotion that did not sound like it was created using a computer generated loop. That being said, the mixed critical reviews (including many fans on this site) and lackluster sales figures for SYW speak for themselves. Even Stevie was disappointed with SYW and mandates a different producer for any future albums. Oh, getting dropped from the record company after the CD is also an interesting barometer of how well the work was received.
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The SYW record was certified Gold in the States and quite possibly, since no one knows exactly how many units were sold (last count that I read of was 800,000) Say You Will quite possible sold enough units in the US to reach Platinum status (1,000,000). It sold better than Behind the Mask and definitely better than Time.
And it does seem that the non-hard-core fans and general public (i.e. casual fans or people not very familiar or totally unfamiliar with Fleetwood Mac) are not interested in new Fleetwood Mac music now, and were not very interested in SYW at the time of its release either. To assume this is because of the album being of poor quality is fallacious and it would be difficult to establish cause and effect as to why Fleetwood Mac did not achieve P<5> or even better as they have previously but I think it is too late for them to do that now, and in 2003, it was already too late - especially without Christine churning out some more hits. Maybe some of her In the Meantime songs or leftover songs from The Dance (as she said publicly she wrote about 10 songs in preparation for the MTV Dance 'Mac special) would have boosted SYW's sales.
Bands and solo artists aged over 40, let alone 50 or 60 tend not to sell many copies of non-greatest hits new release studio albums. Fleetwood Mac's EP has zero airplay in Sydney, Australia to my knowledge not even classic hits radio stations have played Sad Angel or Without You or [gasp] Miss Fantasy and It Takes Time.
Anyway - sales is not necessarily an indicator of quality in the music industry.
And I love how SYW is so divisive - even more so than Tusk. Lots of people love Tusk among devoted fans on the Ledge, a few hate, some are in between but SYW seems to be very much love or hate with only a few people indifferent about it going by this thread. A lot of people are tending towards hating it though and I think they are missing out because it is a great album to me, but diff'rent strokes for diff'rent folks.
And the Smile at You angry demo from '82 is my favourite version of the song because of the intensely passionate, vengeful vocals Stevie Nicks delivers within it, not because of the lack of John's strong rhythmic bass...I think he adds a lot to the band and is without a doubt an indispensable part of Fleetwood Mac. Okay maybe Paul McCartney could fill his shoes but it just wouldn't be the same - the music would sound pretty much the same but the band dynamic would be fqcked. I do miss Stevie's Janis Joplin-style belting out of tunes like this angry demo and the Rhiannon live performances from the mid seventies to early eighties described by Mick as being "like an exorcism". Then Stevie finally learnt to sing from her diaphragm for every song from the nineties onwards and as a result of singing with her throat/breathing from the upper lungs during singing for 25 years or more her voice inevitably suffered.
Nowadays the highlight of the current tour appears to be Gold Dust Woman (which also rated well during Unleashed 2009) and the stellar performance of Stand Back from the SYW tour (well, Live in Boston 2003) has faded fast. Stevie still sings extremely well but she is singing songs that used to mean something 20- or 30- years ago and are not relevant to her current situation so some of that fiery passion is inevitably lost.