Five Tips For Saving FM (Chicago Sun Times)

[RockawayBlind]

Originally Posted by On Ice

I get the classicness of Rumours but 35 or so years on, 3, maybe 4 selections max, not 3/4 of a concert to the detriment of their vast and stellar catalogue and the new music they've kept from we fans for far too long.

The reason they keep pushing Rumours re-releases, and packing the setlist with its tracks, is because they have little else to show for this lineup's nearly three decades as a band. Let's do the math: 26 years with Lindsey and Stevie in the band, and six studio albums. I can't think of any other band with such a meager output.

So of course they have to keep harping on Rumours. Take Rumours out of the equation, and what do you have? A very decent 1975 album that may or may not have catapulted them into stardom, and a brilliant 1979 album that would have never happened without Rumours because it was created as a reaction to Rumours. And if it had happened, the public would have rejected it, anyway.

In light of the meager catalog, FM knows they have two things going for them: Rumours and the soap opera. Without these two elements, they have close to nothing. On the other hand, to build a humongous musical empire on those two elements is nothing short of masterful.