[SteveMacD]

Did I miss Christine? Yes and no.

Yes, I feel SYW wasn't as nicely balanced as the other albums with Lindsey and Stevie. It could have been a better album had it been edited down (and put the songs that didn't make the album on the bonus disc for the die-hards). There were places where I really missed her vocal harmonies, too.

However, as a guitarist, I love hearing how Lindsey and John filled the musical void left by Christine (especially on "Smile At You," which is probably one of the best John McVie basslines I've ever heard). As a music fan, I loved that the band was able to go off in some directions that they probably would not have gone in had Christine been there. While I really love Christine's songs, we generally hear the same ones tour after tour. To put it another way, I'd gladly go without hearing YMLF, "Songbird," or "Everywhere" for the umpteenth time in favor of witnessing Lindsey go mad on a song like "Come." (And, I'd be happy if they'd drop "Don't Stop," but that'll never happen.)

Overall, I don't feel that SYW, album or tour, suffered from Christine not being there. It was a different experience, and the band IS different. The dynamic has changed. But, it still sounds like Fleetwood Mac. I thought I would agree about it sounding like Buckingham Nicks II before the album came out, but the sound is just so far removed that it's much more Fleetwood Mac. And anyway, Buckingham Nicks, to me, sounds like "Bare Trees" era Mac, with some elements of Peter Green thrown in.