NY Daily News Article

[Mike B]

NY DAILY NEWS

By JIM FARBER

Twenty-eight years after Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham joined Fleetwood Mac, they still don't view the group the same way. The making of "Say You Will," their first album of new material recorded with the band in 16 years, proves it.

"If I had my way, I would have started the album with the material most likely to offend as many people as possible," Buckingham says with a giggle. "Stevie would bury all that stuff at the end."

"I am not what you'd call an envelope-pusher," Nicks says. "Lindsey is there to make sure our band isn't too safe. I'm there to make sure it isn't too nuts. It's all about that balance between us."

Never more so than now. "Say You Will" represents the first time that songwriters Buckingham and Nicks have recorded a Fleetwood Mac album without the band's third writer and harmonizer, piano player Christine McVie (who joined the band in 1970, five years before Nicks and Buckingham).

The result changes the Fleetwood dynamic crucially. Lacking the light touch of McVie's sentimental pop songs, as well as her jaunty keyboard, "Say You Will" ends up a heavier, stranger and riskier work than Fleetwood Mac has made before. It's as big a leap ahead as they made with 1979's "Tusk," their eccentric and unlikely followup to one of the most popular albums of all time, 1977's "Rumors," which sold 14 million copies.

The perception of "Say You Will" as a quirky work pleases Buckingham no end. He
says he wishes the band had kept getting weirder after "Tusk," instead of putting out such pop-oriented '80s albums as "Mirage" and "Tango in the Night."

"The politics in the band at the time put the lid on that," the 55-year-old guitarist says. "I felt like I was treading water."

One reason for the more adventurous approach on "Say You Will" has to do with its convoluted origins as a Buckingham solo project. Back in the mid-'90s, Buckingham was making a solo album when he invited the band's old rhythm section — drummer Mick Fleetwood and bassist John McVie — to play along. They all got on so well, it led to the 1997 album "The Dance," the first full Mac reunion since 1987.

Halfway through the roadshow to support that album, however, Christine McVie told the other members she didn't want to tour, or even be in the band anymore. "We spent the next eight weeks trying to change her mind," Nicks says.

CHRISTINE EXITS

According to Buckingham, the pianist was having problems with her marriage, and longed to return to her homeland, England. She wound up divorcing and moving to the outskirts of London. The group says there are no hard feelings; Buckingham wtresses that he relates to her need to flee, given his own escape from the band in the '80s. But the band members have rarely spoken with McVie since. (The pianist wouldn't comment on the split.)

While Buckingham then wanted to complete the solo album he'd started before the reunion, he says the band's record label, Warner Bros., had no interest in it. So the material he had begun recording became the basis of "Say You Will." Nicks, who was committed to her own solo tour at the time, handed over 17 demos of her songs to the band to let them hammer them into shape. Without McVie's piano playing, Buckingham says, "the remaining musicians had 33 1/3% more room to maneuver. We were able to flex our muscles and explore a more masculine sound. It's closer to what we're like live."

According to Buckingham, the absence of McVie's songs also allowed "Stevie and I to squarely face each other and create the kind of dynamic we had before we joined the band." In that respect, "Say You Will" recalls the solo album released by the duo before they joined Mac — 1974's "Buckingham Nicks."

In the lyrics to the new album, the pair make eager use of their complicated personal history. Several of Nicks' songs refer to her busted romance with Buckingham, which ended more than 25 years ago. The album closes with farewell numbers to each other. Nicks, 54, wrote hers in the '70s. Buckingham composed his around the time of "The Dance."

Of course, the group has been airing its dirty laundry (with hugely profitable results) ever since the "Rumors" album, which chronicled two simultaneous breakups within the band (the second being the McVies').

Buckingham marvels that "after all this time, Stevie and I still have something to give each other." (He has been married to Kristen Messner since 2000.) Nicks, who remains unattached, says of her relationship with Buckingham, "We can never replace each other."

They say they understand each other far better now than they have in decades. But Nicks emphasizes that they still argue every day. "That will never change. We are very different people. Stick us in a house together for a year and trauma will come out of that. But the result is, we don't make a blah record."

They also don't make a short one. "Say You Will" features 18 songs. As Nicks jokes, "You need two days to listen to this record."

But it's time well spent. The set features some of the fastest and most intricate guitar work to date from Buckingham, and some of the most honest and longing lyrics from Nicks. The group wants to bring as much of that excitement
as possible to its upcoming tour, which hits Nassau Coliseum on May 23 and the
Meadowlands two days later. The show will feature several old Christine McVie songs.

But the band faces a dilemma in capturing what Buckingham calls "the spirit of the band now."

"There are forces that would be happy just to present this as a nostalgia act," he says. "But we want to walk a line — to be fresh and dignified and yet not alienate too much of the audience."

No doubt, the members will argue about how to accomplish that, not just for this tour, but for as long as they continue to play.

[BlueGrass]

Cool

[dissention]

I'm starting to suspect that there is a lot more to the Christine McVie story than they're letting on. No one has spoken with her for years, they don't seem at all like they're missing her, and the way they speak about her in interviews and articles is kinda...weird.

[nodmod]

Thanx for the article Mike

[Tusky]

I agree Dissention.I think there IS alot more going on behind the scenes re:Chris leaving.I think the band know but respect her privacy so they don't want to spill the beans.It is a little weird that they haven't spoken to her in a while but I'm going to put that down to long distance than anger or frostiness.I don't think she left because she was p.o'ed with the rest of the band,she had her "own process" to go through-which,I guessing, was pretty tough(divorce,retirement etc).I hope she's okay now though!Stevie said she was in love-good for her!

[goldie]

I find it odd that Stevie said in the AOL sessions that Christine was her "best friend" - yet it appears they haven't talked in 5 years?? You don't not speak/check up on your best friend for that long a time period!

[jwd]

Regardless of the relationship status between Chris and the rest of the band(which is weird), I found it interesting that they are going to include several of her old songs in the set. Hmmmm what could they be? Here's hoping for "Why" and "Brown Eyes"....I know this is just a dream. I'm thinking they'll do "Don't Stop" and "Say You Love Me".


Just as a little article correction, Rumours has sold 19 million copies in the states.


Joe

[rhiannon1119]

Thanks for posting the article and for the heads up Mike! I immediately went through the newspaper today and took out that article right after I saw your post. I am so glad that he gave it a good review.. because most of the time this critic hates everything! It just makes me more eager to hear the finished product!

Michelle

[Les]

Thank you so much for posting Mike!

[ERigby818]

Thanks for the post, Mike. Very juicy and interesting. I agree the whole Christine thing is weird. When did Stevie say Christine was in love? I don't see how they can be best friends anymore.
I bet as soon as SYW makes a big splash in the UK all the reporters are gonna be banging on Chris' door asking her what happened. I bet she'll spill it eventually to one of them when the time is right (and probably to get them to leave her alone), especially if she is releasing a solo.
I love Lindsey's comments about pushing the envelope, and how the writer enphasizes the way the quirkiness is very satisfying to Lindsey. That's awesome. But I wonder which songs are the envelope pushers, or why they are referred to that way. Is it just because they are more deep and creative in this age of fluff?
-Sonia

[Josh2003]

I'm pretty excited to hear FM do some of Chris's songs without her. I've always wanted to hear one member's take on another's songs.

And this is the second article I've seen that gives Lindsey's age as 55. Isn't he a year younger than Stevie? She will just be 55 this May...

[wondergirl9847]

He's 53....he'll be 54 October 3rd! Geez, Jim Farber!!

GREAT article otherwise....I LOVE this part!! LOL

"If I had my way, I would have started the album with the material most likely to offend as many people as possible," Buckingham says with a giggle. "Stevie would bury all that stuff at the end."

OFFEND, LINDSEY, OFFEND!!!!! LOL

This part makes me go hmm...

"Nicks, who remains unattached, says of her relationship with Buckingham, "We can never replace each other."

Does anyone else think that is a lil teeny slam regarding Kristen?? Was Stevie saying that him marrying Kristen, he's trying to replace Stevie and that he really doesn't love her?!?! I'm reading too much into that quote, I know, but it just caught me off guard at first reading.

BTW, thanks for posting that article!!!!

[misterbug]

i was really crestfallen when i heard chris wasn't going to be in the band anymore, yet she's been working on a solo album. i know she doesn't want to tour, but she could've just recorded her tracks/keyboards, and not done the concert scene. i really like the harmonies achieved with chris and the band, and also what lindsey does to her songs (e.g., little lies and isn't it midnight). so maybe there's something else we don't know about.

[Hawkeye]

I was thinking the same thing Christy. Is Stevie trying to say to Lindsey, you're wife could never replace me. That's kind of ummmm wrong to say

[Mad4stevie]

Gee, I didn't realize there was so much "mystery" surrounding Christine's departure. I mean, she never liked touring, so I just assumed she wanted to sit this one out. I must be out of the loop somewhat because I didn't realize she got divorced!!