Christine wants to rejoin the band according to The Guardian

[mylittledemon]

Originally Posted by BlueDenimLamp

Count me as two...

And first I would just like to say that it's pretty unfair of a certain person to say that Stevie can't be mentioned in this discussion because it's about "Christine returning to the band" and that they are tired about people talking about her (Stevie) but they don't seem to have an issue with people talking about Lindsey or his solo career in this thread and because of this persons position at "The Ledge" they are supposed to be fair and impartial...

In all fairness, that's not what was said. It's about staying on topic, not completely cutting out other band members in the thread. When the focus becomes about Stevie, a thread gets derailed, and for members (or non members) coming in to read about Christine, that's frustrating to find post after post that's not about the topic at hand. Feel free to mention Stevie all you want... but the focus of the thread is about Christine's return. That being said...

Originally Posted by BlueDenimLamp

Christine's possible return to FM affects everyone in the band and it will have more of an impact on some members than others...If Stevie, Lindsey, Mick and John have had a band meeting and decided that they want CM back in the band then why don't they just say so...I have a hard time believing that if Chris was back in the band that Mick would be able to keep his big mouth shut about it...

As far as Stevie goes (and this is where I have a problem with CM returning) Chris' all of the sudden wanting back in the band will have a big impact on Stevie's career...Stevie has spent the last few years busting her butt to be where she is right now...She's more well known and popular now than she has been in quite a while and FM is benefitting from her success as well...Sorry but I don't think it's right that Stevie has spent years building up her career so she can end on a high note and then Christine comes along and decides she wants to cash in on Stevie's & FM's recent popularity

I don't think Christine's return to Fleetwood Mac will affect Stevie's recent success whatsoever. I think that ball lies in Stevie's court anyway... if Stevie wants Chris back, then why is it (or does it) have to be a bad thing? You spoke of Stevie's recent success, and of her building her career back up... Chris's return cannot affect Stevie's career negatively. There are people who love Fleetwood Mac but don't like Stevie solo... Also, what success are you talking about? Album sales? Because In Your Dreams didn't exactly set the world on fire.

Fleetwood Mac is a separate entity, and as a whole (the five of them), they have much more power, buzz, and charisma. Look at Say You Will... if you base it purely on sales, it came nowhere near what The Dance did. I think that's for obvious reasons - take Chris out of the equation and the core of the band becomes skewed. I have always felt that since her absence they've been trying to become Fleetwood Mac again, and haven't quite reached the goal line.

Also, this doesn't feel like Chris cashing in either. She said in the article that she realized after 15 years of living alone that it wasn't what she wanted at all... she misses her bandmates. I don't think money even enters into it at this point, and when it does, I'd imagine it's the least of all her reasons.

[Johnny Stew]

Originally Posted by BlueDenimLamp

Sorry but I don't think it's right that Stevie has spent years building up her career so she can end on a high note and then Christine comes along and decides she wants to cash in on Stevie's & FM's recent popularity

I have no reason to believe that Stevie is at all ready to cash in her chips and retire... but, even if she were to do so within the next few years, I think she would feel that one last album and tour with Christine in Fleetwood Mac would be ending her career on a high note. Stevie has mad-love for Fleetwood Mac, and I think having "her band" completely back together would give her the utmost joy. (Most especially after the personal losses she's had the past few years.)

Originally Posted by SteveMacD

Promoting a documentary on the recording of an album that bombed (188,000 in the US; 500,000 worldwide) while on tour with Fleetwood Mac?

One minor nitpick... an album by a 65-year-old pop/rock artist, that does those numbers, isn't considered a "bomb" these days. Those sales might not live up to the glory days, but they're nothing to write off. Even Paul freakin' McCartney's latest album has "only" sold something like 75,000 copies so far in the US. In the past, that album would have sold 500,000 copies right out of the gate.

(Additionally, I thought we've all agreed in the past that "success" is measured by more than just how many copies an album sells. Otherwise, all of those indie bands we all love, are "failures.")

[SteveMacD]

Originally Posted by mylittledemon

Look at Say You Will... if you base it purely on sales, it came nowhere near what The Dance did. I think that's for obvious reasons - take Chris out of the equation and the core of the band becomes skewed.

Well, that and the fact "The Dance" was basically a Greatest Hits Live event first broadcast on cable and radio. I don't know how much better an album of all new material would have done even if Christine had been on board.

[jbrownsjr]

Originally Posted by Ulpian

Orchestrated only by her, or by all of them? I'm not sure I follow.

Pretty much what Michele said.

[michelej1]

I think SYW was too long. I'd make it longer than a regular album, but less than 18 tracks. Maybe 14.

I liked it just fine. I like Lindsey and Stevie together.

If I had to choose, of the 3, it's "easier" for me to lose Christine, if one can call the pang I've had since The Dance tour ended "easy" in any sense of the word.

I've never wanted to choose and I like the whole band better than I like any of them as individuals and better than I like Stevie and Lindsey as a duo and I'd give all of their solo careers up to have Fleetwood Mac for the rest of their lives.

But I like the solo stuff too. Just if I have to prioritize that is how I'd do it.

Michele

[Johnny Stew]

Originally Posted by michelej1

Just if I have to prioritize that is how I'd do it.

It's funny, because I think all of us Mac fans do something similar. So it's always interesting to see how someone else arranges their Mac priorities, in comparison to our own.

Originally Posted by michelej1

I think SYW was too long. I'd make it longer than a regular album, but less than 18 tracks. Maybe 14.

I agree, 'Say You Will' is too long. In 2003, I wanted as much Mac music as possible -- but, in hindsight, the music would have been better served on a shorter album. (I still think two 12-track albums, released within 6 - 8 months of each other, would have been ideal.)

One of my hopes for a potential new Mac album, is something that's 14 or 15 tracks long.

[SteveMacD]

Originally Posted by michelej1

If I had to choose, of the 3, it's "easier" for me to lose Christine, if one can call the pang I've had since The Dance tour ended "easy" in any sense of the word.

For me, it would have to be Stevie. Christine defines the Fleetwood Mac sound both in terms of vocals and keyboards. Guitarists and singers come and go, but Christine is irreplaceable. Lindsey and Stevie make the Fleetwood Mac sound so much better, but they don't really define it to me.

I'd give all of their solo careers up to have Fleetwood Mac for the rest of their lives.

Agreed. We don't need more solo albums. We need more Fleetwood Mac albums. It's a crime that they've only released four studio albums in the past 30 years.

[Johnny Stew]

Originally Posted by SteveMacD

For me, it would have to be Stevie. Christine defines the Fleetwood Mac sound both in terms of vocals and keyboards. Guitarists and singers come and go, but Christine is irreplaceable. Lindsey and Stevie make the Fleetwood Mac sound so much better, but they don't really define it to me.

I might as well chime in and say that, as much as I've always loved Lindsey's music (though, admittedly, been loving his newer stuff less & less), he'd be the one I'd be most ok with losing from Fleetwood Mac. Perhaps that has something to do with the fact that he left not long after I became a fan (late '85)... so I quickly became just as fond of Billy & Rick.

[iamnotafraid]

Originally Posted by mylittledemon

Also, this doesn't feel like Chris cashing in either. I don't think money even enters into it at this point, and when it does, I'd imagine it's the least of all her reasons.

Only guessing, but I feel differently.

She hasn't had a big payday since '97.
Did she like many in the world lose a big
percentage of her investments in the late
2000's (if she had any)? And with each
passing year lower royalties from record
sales.

I wouldn't write Cash off as a being
part of why she wants to rejoin the Mac.
A big part. Not necessarily a bad thing.

[louielouie2000]

Originally Posted by iamnotafraid

Only guessing, but I feel differently.

She hasn't had a big payday since '97.
Did she like many in the world lose a big
percentage of her investments in the late
2000's (if she had any)? And with each
passing year lower royalties from record
sales.

I wouldn't write Cash off as a being
part of why she wants to rejoin the Mac.
A big part. Not necessarily a bad thing.

I am a fairly jaded, suspicious, and sarcastic person... but I just don't think money is the prime motivator here. Christine has always seemed to live pretty simply for a rock star- from what we know she has 1 home... the one where she lives in the English countryside. From a quick look at real estate listings of her village, prices for that area are fairly moderate. She probably cashed in when she sold her California house in '98, too. She never really had the epic drug addiction that Stevie or Mick did, either. I don't think she collects cars or failing business ventures like Mick. So I'm guessing she has a very comfortable nest egg. I truly believe her when she says she's just bored living out in the countryside... and misses music.

Regarding me hating on Stevie... she's my favorite member, always has been. When Fleetwood Mac announced they were recording Say You Will without Christine, I was actually quite thrilled to see what Buckingham Nicks backed by Fleetwood Mac would sound like. Initially, it was incredibly exciting for me. But as time passed, I realized how vital Chris was to the sound of Fleetwood Mac. She balanced everything out, gave it that special sheen. There was just atmosphere lost with the departure of Christine- the magic was not present. I started to fall in love with her music shortly thereafter. I rate songs like Oh Daddy, Why, Brown Eyes, Over & Over, and others as my very favorite Mac tunes these days. Then In The Meantime came out, and the spell was complete- I realized how amazing Christine was, and how little I cared about Fleewood Mac without her. And I'm primarily a Fleetwood Mac fan. I love the solo albums of it's various members... I own them all. But they still will never hold a candle to my 5 fireflies. That's why I want to hear more about Christine in this thread. Not because I hate Stevie... quite the opposite. But because I LOVE Fleetwood Mac. I didn't ask for the Stevie conversation to be shut down from a Moderator perspective... I just want to hear more about Chris from a fan perspective. There's so much to speculate! Let the games begin!

[mylittledemon]

Originally Posted by SteveMacD

Well, that and the fact "The Dance" was basically a Greatest Hits Live event first broadcast on cable and radio. I don't know how much better an album of all new material would have done even if Christine had been on board.

Well, SYW was modestly successful... and the tour certainly was a hit. I think it's fair to say that Chris's presence only would've enhanced that. I think the album itself certainly would've been more well rounded.

[SteveMacD]

Originally Posted by mylittledemon

Well, SYW was modestly successful... and the tour certainly was a hit. I think it's fair to say that Chris's presence only would've enhanced that. I think the album itself certainly would've been more well rounded.

Oh, on that I completely agree. I'm just saying that comparing a studio album of (mostly) new material to a live Greatest Hits album that was a television/radio event is a little unfair. I absolutely think it would have been more successful, but how much more is all I question.

[SteveMacD]

Originally Posted by iamnotafraid

She hasn't had a big payday since '97.

I'm sure she had a huge payday when she sold her publishing.

[mylittledemon]

Originally Posted by SteveMacD

Oh, on that I completely agree. I'm just saying that comparing a studio album of (mostly) new material to a live Greatest Hits album that was a television/radio event is a little unfair. I absolutely think it would have been more successful, but how much more is all I question.

Oh definitely. I'll admit I don't think SYW would've rivalled The Dance, at least not the CD sales. The tour would have just because they went all over the world. There was (as I recall) some slight negative blurbs with regards to the new album being "sans McVie", and I think that hurt the album, in addition to it being too long, and all the other little problems with it... That said, I still like SYW.

One wonders if Chris coming back is going to pull the band back into platinum record sales?

[SteveMacD]

Originally Posted by mylittledemon

One wonders if Chris coming back is going to pull the band back into platinum record sales?

I kind of doubt it at this point. I think the industry has changed too much.