Do we really want a new Fleetwood Mac album?

[Matt Lucas]

Hello all---

There’s been all this discussion about the new album, but do we know for sure that there will be a new album? Lots of articles have confirmed Mick’s announcement, but has anyone commented on new recordings? The band’s publicist told Billboard, “We are hoping to make an announcement about a possible tour for the full tilt Macsters sometime in 2014.”

I’m hoping that she means the announcement will come in 2014 and not the tour itself. That would leave time in 2014 for recording. But I haven’t seen any official confirmation of an album. Did I miss something? Or are we all just assuming an album is on the way?

Man, I hope it’s an album first, then the tour. A tour first would just be a another money grab, one to which I admit I would contribute for the chance to see the full band for the first time.

Originally Posted by michelej1

I think the album can be decent without them all having the same producer. And I don't just want a decent album anyway, I want 5 years more of them working together without a lot of baseless accusations. I'd like peace.

Of course, I don't think any outside producer will be likely to "bring Lindsey down from the clouds." I mean, he's always going to be dominant. It's like starting out with the Tango producers who the band probably knew wouldn't last very long.

He will be tempered more by forces coming from within FM than without and I think that's a good thing. In fact, on his own songs, he might be more "out there" than ever, just because Christine will be filling a certain role and he doesn't need to bring anything poppy to the table if he's not in the mood, because she'll already bring it. With just him and Stevie he needed to do things like Sad Angel and Miss Fantasy (and I like them well enough), but now he doesn't have to go there.

Now, I don't think his FM stuff is ever going to sound like his This is 40 tracks and, for that, I'm very grateful.

That’s a good point about Lindsey being more likely to be influenced from within the band than from without. But I still say that a producer he respects would carry some weight with him.

Personally, I thought the THIS IS 40 songs sounded undercooked from a songwriting standpoint, but I loved the production on them.

That’s an interesting point about Christine’s presence allowing Lindsey to shift a little further off-center. But the thing is…he’s always done his weird experiments side by side with some lovely pop songs.

Originally Posted by michelej1

But if you put Lindsey and Christine's voices and playing on something like Moonlight, A Vampire's Dream, I don't think it would sound like something that was completely foreign to FM. I think it would fit in.

Umm…even adding Lindsey’s and Christine’s voices and instruments couldn’t make “Moonlight” a good song. I’m just saying. In terms of its subject, “Annabel Lee” isn’t really a FM-style song, but to me, that one sounds more like FM than a lot of Stevie solo songs.

Originally Posted by michelej1

But if it comes down to that, even with Lindsey producing, I don't think EFO sounds that much like FM, but I like it anyway and, for me, it doesn't stick out like a sore thumb on SYW, not as much as Come does.

Well, this is getting well offtopic, but even I have to agree that “Come” sounds out of place as a FM song. Don’t get me wrong---I love the song---I just don’t think it really fit on SYW.

This is another off-topic subject, but since someone mentioned “Stand Back” and other solo songs, I have to say that I hope they stay away from the solo tunes. I’ve always had a problem with FM doing the solo songs. “Stand Back” is not a Fleetwood Mac song, and neither is “Go Insane.” There are hundreds of real FM songs they can play at concerts…Stevie and Lindsey can play their solo material at their solo shows.

matt