Quote:
Originally Posted by TrueFaith77
And on Stevie's songs, all of which are good-to-great on SYW, I feel he makes them even greater; or, rather, allows them to achieve their full potential in ways she NEVER has as a solo artist.
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I have to disagree vehemently! I happen to think John Shanks, based on his work on TISL, was by far Stevie's best producer. Yes, his production style is also very heavy, but it is also very sympathetic to the material. Rather than having weird sound effects and gizmos popping up in random places, Shanks created an entirely otherworldly soundscape that was the perfect accompaniment to Stevie's otherworldly vocals and imagery. I think "Planets of the Universe" is a masterpiece in Shanks' hands, especially when you consider that skeletal little piano demo that Stevie recorded in waltz time; I don't think Lindsey would have even begun to know what to do with it. And I believe reading somewhere that "Fall From Grace" had been attempted as a Fleetwood Mac song, but neither Lindsey nor Sheryl were able to do anything with it. I'm not denying that Lindsey has been able to turn coal into diamonds, e.g., "Dreams," but I think his recent work on Stevie's songs were more about Lindsey putting his signature on her songs than about realizing the full potential of the song.
It would be interesting to see what a non-Lindsey-produced FM album would sound like, especially if it is produced by a younger producer who grew up listening to
Rumours. It could either be disgustingly, superficially retro or it could be a deconstructed, potent distillation of everything we love about FM.