Time, Q Review

[SteveMacD]

Originally Posted by louielouie2000

Following Rumours, Fleetwood Mac was forever typecast to those 5 members, with that unique sound. Any variation of that, and the public will no longer bite.

I don't necessarily disagree with this. But, not for the reasons you list.

Variations to that formula in any fashion only served to erode Fleetwood Mac's lasting fame and credibility. It doesn't matter how good any replacement members were or were not, they WEREN'T the members who brought the band to stratospheric fame.

Lasting fame? Probably. But, I think they COULD have maintained credibility if they had had a complete paradigm shift. Look at the Byrds. They had numerous personnel changes that came with stylistic changes. They didn't try to pretend that guys like Crosby weren't in the band anymore. It wasn't nearly as successful, but it was still viable and inventive, and is still respected as much as, if not even more than, the "classic" Byrds.

It'd be like regrouping the Beatles now and bringing in replacements for John and George. And much like Fleetwood Mac, there WAS a band before John, Paul, George, and Ringo.

I call bull****. The Beatles didn't have any significant recordings outside of John, Paul, George, and Ringo. Fleetwood Mac had been around for nearly eight years prior to Stevie and Lindsey and even had a greatest hits album out. No parallel whatsoever.

To rope this back to the Mac, I'd argue your summation that 50% of people who are Mac fans are so because of Stevie Nicks is actually a conservative number. Folks can love her or hate her, but she IS Fleetwood Mac.

Which was really part of the problem. Stevie Nicks had become a joke, too. Her voice was bad and she looked awful. Remember when the "Rumours" band reunited for the Inauguration? For me, it wasn't magical, it was embarrassing. The Mac was already a joke by the time "Time" came out.

And further, those who try to put Time on such a pedestal are full of it. It's just a forgettable album... there's nothing unique, cutting edge, or special there.

Same thing can be said about every album since "Tusk." All of the post-Tusk albums have one or two stand out songs, one or two cringe-worthy songs, and the rest was, well, just there (neutral, bland, etc.).

To me all this claimed forward movement regarding Time is woefully overreaching.

As with the other post-"Tusk" albums, there was a lot of unrealized potential. Knowing the works of the players in that line-up, it SHOULD'VE been a great album.