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Originally Posted by Phil
I agree that Rick Rubin would be an excellent choice as producer for the next Mac album. I've thought about this for years and believe the band would all respect him, particularly Lindsey and Stevie (his work with Tom Petty alone would be enough to convince Stevie).
I saw a documentary about Rick Rubin a while ago and it became evident that he truly does attempt to recapture the original spirit of the recording artist, always insisting upon what he believes to be the best takes. He listens intently and makes, in my opinion, prudent choices about what remains and what is discarded. This would come in especially handy for Miss Nicks, whereas Christine and Lindsey seem to be more adept at editing themselves.
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You're probably right about the Petty connection---it would buy instant credibility with Stevie. As for the editing thing, as a writer myself, sometimes it's hard to put yourself out there and share a song with someone only to have that person respond with criticism. But I think it's probably harder to truly hear and accept it from someone you know [i.e. Lindsey] than from someone you don't know as well [Rubin or another producer]. Of course, we're not just talking about Stevie here. Lindsey's strength is usually in putting a song together and arranging it, and Lord knows he's written a few goofy lyrics over the years. So I would hope that a new producer would be equally honest and direct with Lindsey's new songs. But I agree that Lindsey probably has a process of continually revising and editing his songs till they get to where he wants them. Whereas, for Stevie, songwriting seems to be more of an expression of a moment, and to edit or revise that expression later---at a completely different, unconnected moment---wouldn't make sense.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil
I also think Daniel Lanois would be great as a co-producer if need be.
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Wow, that's an interesting suggestion. I'm a huge fan of Lanois' production as well as his own music. His second album, FOR THE BEAUTY OF WYNONA, is a masterpiece. Lanois gets fantastic drum and vocal sounds. Oh, and bass sounds. And guitar sounds, too. Hah! I think Danny would get on great with Mick and Stevie. It would be interesting to see how he and Lindsey would get along. Lindsey is such a perfectionist and leans strongly toward a very clean, organized production style. Even when he's edgy or noisy on a song---"Come" or "That's the Way Love Goes," for instance---everything about the song is still very organized.
Lanois, on the other hand, while equally adept at creating a pristine, organized production, leans heavily toward organic-sounding instruments combined with treated and ambient sounds. I guess, on second glance, that sort of sounds like Lindsey, too. But Lanois is different. His productions often have a sort of organized chaos. Atmosphere plays a huge part in his productions. He also has no problem jumping outside the box and breaking typical production procedures to get a particular sound or feel for a song. I'm curious about how Lindsey would respond in that kind of environment.
But if we're being honest, I'm not sure that Lindsey would relinquish control over the production process to anyone like Rubin or Lanois.
And while it would be interesting to see Dashut and Caillat return, neither has worked with the band in years, right? I believe Lindsey worked with Dashut on OUT OF THE CRADLE and FM on TIME...? And Caillat has burned some bridges with the band through his book, right? Based on Dashut's own website, it looks like he's retired. He doesn't list any production work in the last 10 years, and before that, it was the TUSK and RUMOURS reissues.
To me, it's not the best case scenario, but the most likely one is that Froom stays in the coproducer seat or Rob Cavallo comes back.
matt