[TrueFaith77]

Say You Will, for me, is practically a return to form: the best album any of the four members have been involved with since Tusk. Is it as great as Tusk or Rumours? No. But, as I told a friend of mine, if I could only have albums as great as Tusk or Rumours in my collection, I'd either have 2 albums or 40 albums, and that's it. For me, Say You Will achieved something extraordinary; by contextualizing Lindsey's Gift of Screws tracks -- each one improved -- with Stevie's new tracks (post-Dance) and tracks from Rumours-era and the 80s, they make meaning grow exponentially (the gift Mac gives these two artists). It achieved two things in tandem: providing catharsis to the era's insensitivity/pain through the resolution of their mythic love affair. It invited the audience to return to ritual. I think every track plays its role (even the mid-album Stevie trilogy, which provides a survey of her entire career and spiritual development in three songs). I have more thoughts, but you get the general idea.

The tragedy of Say You Will is that its making actually provided the experiences that should have set the groundwork for the next album. As is proven by Under the Skin's tracks that seem to speak to Lindsey's relationship with Stevie -- title track, "Shut Us Down" (which should have been the greatest Lindsey/Stevie duet since "Beautiful Child"), "Cast Away Dreams," and that extraordinary Donovan cover. All of these would have benefited from Mac involvement, because the meaning would have changed in relation to Stevie's tracks. Plus the change in Lindsey's musical interest would have been a nice transition for the group, too. I always listen to "Planets of the Universe" or "Sorcerer", wishing that they HAD been saved for a Mac album. Ironically, it's the existence of Say You Will to which the other ends of the decade's B-N trilogy (TISL, SYW, UTS can attribute their special poignance.

Hearts are broken all over again. Let's hope they don't waste more time and begin healing them.