Quote:
Originally Posted by SpyNote
My main problem with SYW is that it didn't sound like a classic Fleetwood Mac album, and that's what I (and I'd imagine many longtime fans) wanted. It sounded like one of Lindsey's solo albums, which would have been fine if this were his album. Christine should have been allowed to record material for it, which I recall she was willing to do.
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Well
Mirage and
Tango In The Night, for better or for worse, sounded like Lindsey solo albums, too (natural follow-ups to
Law & Order and
Go Insane).
Say You Will followed the, admittedly, "classic-sounding" a)
The Dance materials, b) "Twisted" (not sure what LB's involvement was on that one though), and c) "I Miss You." But
Say You Will sounds like. . .
Gift of Screws.
1) If Stevie had not wanted an album that sounded like
Gift of Screws, she should not have agreed to build a Fleetwood Mac album around it.
2) If Mick had not wanted a double album, he should not have agreed to build a Fleetwood Mac album around
Gift of Screws.
3) Presuming speculation about the reason Christine was not involved is true, then, yes, Mick's other blunder was losing not just her input -- an undeniable knack -- but also her songs, which would have necessitated . . . a double CD.
Quote:
Originally Posted by BombaySapphire3
I believe she was and we have Mick's unfailing greed to thank for her not participating.What could have been the band's finest album since Tusk was not to be thanks to that quality of his .
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By accepting
Gift of Screws as the foundation for a Fleetwood Mac album but reneging on the terms, Stevie and Mick betrayed Lindsey's vision and themselves -- but they did not destroy the art. It's still their finest album since
Tusk -- because of the degree to which Lindsey was permitted to sustain his vision and to find the common voice, the call and response, in Stevie's songs. What's scary is how much greater -- and more successful and more impactful -- it could have been (with or without Christine). All things that, ultimately, would have served both Stevie's and Mick's interests. In the
SYW doc, Lindsey keeps reminding everyone that their success (in all definitions of the word) depends on the band sticking together. That's what bands do. That's what band means. He was betrayed and, caught in a Catch-22, was forced to compromise his vision -- the stated (and audibly presented via
GOS) aspirations the band had agreed to participate in -- that he thought they shared.
Consequently, we have a beautiful yet truncated work --
Say You Will -- that spawned two more hybrids (
Under the Skin and
Gift of Screws).