Is Lindsey Overdoing It?

[seteca]

I didn't realise this was a moved topic from Chit Chat to here when I first replied, so here's what I posted there. I think it's a very interesting topic.

Originally posted by Anthony
Don't get me wrong. Lindsey shows a talent that far exceeds people like Eddie Van Halen or Clapton, but my question was do you think he put too many notes into the songs. I think it took away from the songs. That's my opinion and I was only asking for yours.
All the other Fleetwood Mac albums have always shown a balance of talents. "Say you Will" seems to say look at me I can play really fast too. Buy me!

I've posted in reply to the new version of this thread in the LB forum, but here's a quick reply to this aswell:

That's a very, haha, interesting comment to make..."LB shows a talent that far exceeds people like Eddie Van Halen or Clapton". Are you a guitarist Anthony? I'm just asking because comparing LB to VH or EC is like comparing apples to oranges or grapes, in my opinion. Their styles are extremely different and I think it's just impossible to say that X is better than Y who is better than Z. The only thing those three have in common is that they are all phenomenal guitarists. Just my opinion though.

Answering your question, yea, I think SYW is definitely the most guitar-heavy FM album, but it's not LB trying to "outshine" the rest of the band by any means. The reason for it is two-fold: there's no Christine, and Stevie doesn't play anything, so suddenly the guitar becomes VERY obvious. Secondly, remember that this was originally meant to be an LB solo album, with which he had intended to go down the "solo Big Love" route instrumentally i.e. use many layers of guitar/Travis picking to play what would otherwise have to be played by drums/bass/keyboards. I don't think it would have been a good idea to throw those songs away and tone down the guitar just because it became a Fleetwood Mac project. In my opinion the album (despite having a lot of guitar) still allows plenty of room for one to see the amazing talents of the other 3 members of the band. Almost all (i.e. all but one!) of SN's songs on SYW are absolutely amazing, and LB's guitar has only made them even more so. The same can be said about the ever-fantastic rhythm section of JM and MF with regards to both LB's and SN's songs.