A New Sound For Fleetwood Mac

[dontlookdown]

After looking back at all the great albums from '04 I started thinking what a new Fleetwood Mac studio album could sound like.

I'm curious to hear what people think about the idea of FM using a really innovative producer to make an album that's a complete departure.

I feel like we've heard Lindsey's production in all the ways it can be.
It might be interesting to hear what Nigel Godrich could do or even better yet, what Jim O'Rourke could do with the bands songs. After hearing what he did for Wilco, I'd be really excited to hear a whole new Fleetwood Mac sound.

Any ideas?

[estranged4life]

Originally Posted by dontlookdown

After looking back at all the great albums from '04 I started thinking what a new Fleetwood Mac studio album could sound like.

I'm curious to hear what people think about the idea of FM using a really innovative producer to make an album that's a complete departure.

I feel like we've heard Lindsey's production in all the ways it can be.
It might be interesting to hear what Nigel Godrich could do or even better yet, what Jim O'Rourke could do with the bands songs. After hearing what he did for Wilco, I'd be really excited to hear a whole new Fleetwood Mac sound.

Any ideas?

as long as they dont use Bob Rock, Who has totally destroyed Metallica's sound (I will give Bob credit though, The first Blue Murder release still holds up with the 'Mother-of-all-guitar-tones' production to my ears)

Honestly, I really dont like ANY of the 'modern' producers, The sound to me is to 'blah' and buries the instruments over effects/vocal editing which irritates the **** outta me...But with home PC based music systems/programs anyone nowadays thinks they can be a producer.

Personally, Just for the sake of having to new a few producers I would say Rick Rubin as a producer, Would make for an interesting sound...More raw! Or use Michael Wagener who is one of my favorite producers since he always got great guitar/vocals on all of his recordings.

[dissention]

They could always use Tony Visconti.

Or team up with Brian Eno...

[estranged4life]

Originally Posted by dissention

They could always use Tony Visconti.

Or team up with Brian Eno...

isnt bad but I dont care for much for Eno (Excluding U2's "Joshua Tree" which he co-produced with Daniel Lanois)

[Nixxxed]

What about the idea of just an *executive* producer to oversee things? Maybe someone to reel in the band members' individual (and group) eccentricities, act as a mediator/arbitrator, and provide an outside ear?

Obviously, I wouldn't want this to be an industry type, who's just going for what's commercial. Just someone to say, "Lindsey, you've been working on that 4-bar guitar lick for a week now, time to move on." Or, "Stevie, is there another word besides 'dreams' that we could use here?"

I nominate John. It's high time that he has more of a say in the Mac albums. If he's not willing, I'll happily sign up!

[DownOnRodeo]

Originally Posted by Nixxxed

What about the idea of just an *executive* producer to oversee things? Maybe someone to reel in the band members' individual (and group) eccentricities, act as a mediator/arbitrator, and provide an outside ear?

Lindsey would rather eat dirt!
Interesting idea though.

[dissention]

Originally Posted by estranged4life

isnt bad but I dont care for much for Eno (Excluding U2's "Joshua Tree" which he co-produced with Daniel Lanois)

I'd love to see the Mac go balls to the wall and release something in the vein of Bowie's Berlin trilogy. Could you just imagine?

[estranged4life]

Originally Posted by dissention

I'd love to see the Mac go balls to the wall and release something in the vein of Bowie's Berlin trilogy. Could you just imagine?

me to produce her next studio album, Which would be musically heavier (Not metal to scare the diehard fans off) than TISL was.

I don't know, but for some reason TISL came off as TOO A.C. for me (Still like the album though...).

Stevie or the Mac trying a trilogy? Hahahaha...Cant see it man, Just cant imagine that happenin'.

[gldstwmn]

Originally Posted by estranged4life

Personally, Just for the sake of having to new a few producers I would say Rick Rubin as a producer, Would make for an interesting sound...

Oooh. Good choice. Look at what he did with Johnny Cash.

[Jyqm]

Originally Posted by gldstwmn

Oooh. Good choice. Look at what he did with Johnny Cash.

You mean nothing?

The American albums are great because Rubin stripped down the production to virtually nothing most of the time and just let Johnny's voice carry the songs. Neither Stevie nor Lindsey is Johnny Cash in the vocal department. I don't think stripping away all the production like that would be a terribly good approach for a Fleetwood Mac record. Even if Lindsey does have a tendency towards over-producing these days.

Maybe an approach closer to "99 Problems"...

[gldstwmn]

Originally Posted by Jyqm

You mean nothing?

Yes, that is exactly what I mean.
Another seven post wonder coming out of nowhere to bag on the imperfections of Fleetwood Mac. I'm starting to see a trend. What are your other six posts?

[Jyqm]

Originally Posted by gldstwmn

Yes, that is exactly what I mean.
Another seven post wonder coming out of nowhere to bag on the imperfections of Fleetwood Mac. I'm starting to see a trend. What are your other six posts?

Sorry, was I supposed to introduce myself or host a coming-out party? My name is Jim, I used to post (way way back in the day) on the AOL Fleetwood Mac board, then on AMFM until it inexplicably died. I used to manage a portion of the album reviews for Marty a few years ago. Um... I like pizza and good beer. My other five whopping posts here are on the pre-Rumours board, if you would like to check them out. There's one about "Why" being my favorite Mac song, one about Elvis Costello occasionally covering "Love That Burns" on his current tour (which I'm very excited about seeing)...

I'm 22, my first real exposure to Fleetwood Mac was seeing the "Silver Springs" video on MTV, summer 1997. Is this enough of an introduction?

I'm a huge Fleetwood Mac fan, I own over 50 Mac/solo albums not including a smattering of bootlegs, but sorry, I don't worship them or think they're perfect, and I don't think Stevie and Lindsey quite have the vocal or lyrical chops to pull of an American-style non-production. Though admittedly, that's a very high bar to reach.

As far as constructive suggestions for this thread, I still hold out hope that Lindsey can continue growing as a producer/arranger. But he could probably use a good foil in the studio with him to spark his creativity. I think it was David a few years ago (when the GOS songs first leaked out) who said that Lindsey seemed to be stuck in a mini-rut where all his songs fell into one of three sonic categories (Bleed To Love Her/Steal Your Heart Away, Come/Murrow, Red Rover/Say Goodbye). And as much as I love all of those songs, it's kind of true. Almost like clockwork. I think he just needs someone to push him in the right direction (or any direction). And since I don't think Mick, John or Stevie likely provide much of a springboard for Mr. Buckingham, they should probably bring in some fresh blood. I'm not sure who, though. I think most of my favorite recent albums have been self-produced by the bands releasing them.

So maybe Lindsey just needs to get out of own head for a while and, instead of incessantly working on solo projects, do some collaborative work with other artists who might inspire him to try some new things. Then he can come back to the Mac with some fresh ideas. Suggestions on that end: I think Lindsey could have a lot of fun with a band like the Shins (on the Brian Wilson-adoring end of the spectrum) or with a guitarist/songwriter like Ted Leo (on the leaning-toward-punk end of the sprectrum; "Hearts Of Oak" is the best song Lindsey never wrote). And I think he has everything to learn from Tom Waits.

Somebody else mentioned Jim O'Rourke and Wilco, but I don't think that's really the best direction for Fleetwood Mac, though the more I think about it, the less I dislike the idea.

Imagining Stevie singing "Hummingbird,"
Jyqm (the q is silent)

[gldstwmn]

Originally Posted by dontlookdown

Any ideas?

John Shanks.

[cliffdweller]

Originally Posted by dontlookdown

what Jim O'Rourke could do with the bands songs. After hearing what he did for Wilco, I'd be really excited to hear a whole new Fleetwood Mac sound.

Any ideas?

I've said this before, I think it was a while back on the Lindsey forum. A Buckingham/O'Rourke collaboration would be amazing. I think Jim O'Rourke is a damn genius. And those two with their similarities in production and musicianship...I drool over the thought of such an album.

[billwebster]

I have to agree that Richard Dashut has always done good things to those FM albums he was on, so he would be a good choice. Rob Cavallo, who appears on Say You Will should be a good choice too. Let me pick a producer out of a hat who has not yet been mentioned in this thread: Greg Penny, who worked with K.D. Lang, Paul Young and Elton John amongst others before. He's always putting the artist's tone first on his productions.
I agree that John Shanks wouldn't be a good choice, because he tends to overpolish things with ProTools. Just listen to the Joe Cocker album he produced to hear what I mean.
And I also agree that Don Was would be a great producer for Stevie, as he has been previously, on that duet with Ringo Starr on the Harry Nilsson tribute album from the mid-90s.
I must say I cannot imagine Stevie's voice harmonizing so well with Daniel Lanois' textures as Emmylou's did. Pidgeonholing a producer for one great thing he did can lead to so-so results: an example that springs to my mind is Charlie Sexton, first on Lucinda Williams' Essence and then a few years later on the equally slow-tempoed Volcano by Edie Brickell.
After all, maybe David Kahne can help FM, too?