Still think Stevie is going to do the FM album?

[SteveMacD]

Originally Posted by PenguinHead

Upward trajectory? More like just maintaining air speed.

Depends on how you look at it. By the end of 1974, they pretty much established with the record company and the music industry that they (Mick, John, and Christine) were the legitimate owners of the Fleetwood Mac brand, they had moved their base of operations to Los Angeles, they still had a record deal, and they were managing their own affairs, yet they were off the radar enough to where they could still try anything and probably get away with it.

The fact that the first top 20 hit was a Christine McVie-penned song that could have easily been on any of the five albums prior just adds to the notion that they were on their way up anyway. The performances of Stevie and Lindsey on that song weren't especially distinguishable, or really even noticeable (unlike "Say You Love Me").

Mick's sense of perseverance and the shear luck of finding Lindsey and Stevie saved them; a union of chemistry that ignited a firestorm.

I agree that their chemistry took them to the next level. But to suggest that Fleetwood Mac couldn't have continued to be a viable band without Stevie and Lindsey is pretty disingenuous.