I must agree with what you say about the cultural phenomenon of smiling for the camera. I often joke that if we become extinct and an alien race discovers our photos, they will say what a happy group we must have been.
But those website photos say everything that is wrong with the band. They are trying to convey some sort of mysterious attitude. If you look at Elvis Costello on the covers of his first two albums, he is not smiling for the camera, but he is conveying a quirky personality that is all his own.
Do you think that picture of Stevie on the website reflects who she is as a person. Do you think any of their photos do as much?
And Lindsey's photo on the cover of Under The Skin has the same problem. It is is pensive, arty, and dark in a way that is too generic. No he needn't "say cheese," but if I were offering him some guidance I would have him at least be more relaxed for these album covers and promo shots.
If the band wants an identity, it needs to be a band again. Again Destiny Rules: Lindsey says something along the lines of "now all we need is Stevie's presence on my material and then we will be done with this house." Her "presence" on the material? It is as though he just wanted her on the material so it could be Fleetwood Mac in name.
He should have re-cut "Say Goodbye" instead of pasting her on top of his sped-up solo version. It would have worked much better (just look at Live In Boston or Soundstage). Say Goodbye is a great great Lindsey song but he should have either left it for Under The Skin, or re-cut it with Stevie to make it feel like an integrated piece of work. The center channel mix of Steal Your Heart Away proves what great work she did on that song (that "if that's all there is" she throws in there at the end). But it's completely buried in the mix! Again, all he was after was her "presence" on the material. There is only one Stevie Nicks and, even with her voice in its worsened shape, she has something unique to offer to Lindsey's material -- if he will let her.
That album could have been really great if Lindsey had made some better choices. It could have been a ten song album, with Down On Rodeo, that would have really held up. To think that Lindsey was fighting to make it even longer than it is makes me shudder. And to hear Tony Dimitrades defending that position reveals his willingness to do Lindsey's bidding, but behind closed doors I hope he gave Lindsey different advice.
A good manager should be anything but a yes-person. A good producer should be the same, which is why Lindsey needs one. Left to his own devices, he falls victim to, well, his own devices. Maybe Richard Dashut played more of a role than we realized.
On a technical level, however, I must say I am in awe of Lindsey. Everything about "Show Me How" is great, right down to that trippy minute-long coda.
|