I actually liked this interview a lot. Maron is at times unlistenable, but like many have said, his approach drew a lot more interesting stuff from Lindsey, and, more importantly, gave me, at least, a better vibe for how Lindsey is doing these days.
It seems like he's trying to work out the issues in his marriage and maybe has some tension with one (or more) of the kids in the teen/20s years -- that does happen, especially if there is conflict between the parents (and over the years, their mom has been the more present one as LB has toured a lot).
I loved the vibe that LB (and his family) are part of that whole Apatow/Largo scene with Armisen and Maron and all those creative people. I don't live in LA, but I love so many of the Largo regulars (Jon Brion, Aimee Mann), and it warms my heart to see LB in the thick of that really creative, interesting crowd. One of the best shows I ever saw was more than 20 years ago -- Jon Brion at Largo (on Fairfax) where Neil Finn showed up and played requests (including That's What I Call Love on the first CH album where NF was calling out the chord changes for the band -- amazing).
Don't get me wrong, I'm sure LB was and can still be challenging to get along with, especially when it comes to making musical decisions (I would love to see less processing on his vocals, but he's not budging!). But he spoke about Mick, and so many of the other folks he came up with (Javier, Waddy, Keith) with real warmth, and even made a point not to get into anything about Stevie other than wishing her well. I'm not sure I agree with the level of forgiveness or tolerance he has for Mick/Christine, frankly, because I was around for the post-Tango period where they both gave media interviews (and Mick's book) that really put Lindsey down. But I don't know these people and I don't have 43 years with them, so that's his choice.
I always felt his statements about protecting the legacy of FM were kind of publicist speak, but somehow hearing him talk about it this time really hit home for me. I was never someone who thought that all was patched up during The Dance and that the band was all hunky dory. But somehow, this last firing opened the door on seeing just how dysfunctional it continued to be for most of the last 24 years (to say nothing of the 20 years before), and it really did tarnish the legacy for me. I am left very cynical about the band and anything they do going forward. They sold us all on this being about family and relationships and love and anger and forgiveness and all those things for so many years, that realizing that it was mostly about money makes it hard for me to get behind now. At least The Eagles never pretended it was anything else.
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