Do we really want a new Fleetwood Mac album?

[Johnny Stew]

To get back on topic... yes, I most definitely want a new Fleetwood Mac album, now that Christine is back. It wasn't something I was interested in prior to this, but I'm extremely excited about the prospects now.

It won't be another 'Rumours,' or 'Tusk,' or 'Tango'... and it certainly won't please everyone... but it will undoubtedly be great. I'm confident they'll all bring their A-game.

[Matt Lucas]

Originally Posted by Phil

I agree that Rick Rubin would be an excellent choice as producer for the next Mac album. I've thought about this for years and believe the band would all respect him, particularly Lindsey and Stevie (his work with Tom Petty alone would be enough to convince Stevie).
I saw a documentary about Rick Rubin a while ago and it became evident that he truly does attempt to recapture the original spirit of the recording artist, always insisting upon what he believes to be the best takes. He listens intently and makes, in my opinion, prudent choices about what remains and what is discarded. This would come in especially handy for Miss Nicks, whereas Christine and Lindsey seem to be more adept at editing themselves.

You're probably right about the Petty connection---it would buy instant credibility with Stevie. As for the editing thing, as a writer myself, sometimes it's hard to put yourself out there and share a song with someone only to have that person respond with criticism. But I think it's probably harder to truly hear and accept it from someone you know [i.e. Lindsey] than from someone you don't know as well [Rubin or another producer]. Of course, we're not just talking about Stevie here. Lindsey's strength is usually in putting a song together and arranging it, and Lord knows he's written a few goofy lyrics over the years. So I would hope that a new producer would be equally honest and direct with Lindsey's new songs. But I agree that Lindsey probably has a process of continually revising and editing his songs till they get to where he wants them. Whereas, for Stevie, songwriting seems to be more of an expression of a moment, and to edit or revise that expression later---at a completely different, unconnected moment---wouldn't make sense.

Originally Posted by Phil

I also think Daniel Lanois would be great as a co-producer if need be.

Wow, that's an interesting suggestion. I'm a huge fan of Lanois' production as well as his own music. His second album, FOR THE BEAUTY OF WYNONA, is a masterpiece. Lanois gets fantastic drum and vocal sounds. Oh, and bass sounds. And guitar sounds, too. Hah! I think Danny would get on great with Mick and Stevie. It would be interesting to see how he and Lindsey would get along. Lindsey is such a perfectionist and leans strongly toward a very clean, organized production style. Even when he's edgy or noisy on a song---"Come" or "That's the Way Love Goes," for instance---everything about the song is still very organized.

Lanois, on the other hand, while equally adept at creating a pristine, organized production, leans heavily toward organic-sounding instruments combined with treated and ambient sounds. I guess, on second glance, that sort of sounds like Lindsey, too. But Lanois is different. His productions often have a sort of organized chaos. Atmosphere plays a huge part in his productions. He also has no problem jumping outside the box and breaking typical production procedures to get a particular sound or feel for a song. I'm curious about how Lindsey would respond in that kind of environment.

But if we're being honest, I'm not sure that Lindsey would relinquish control over the production process to anyone like Rubin or Lanois.

And while it would be interesting to see Dashut and Caillat return, neither has worked with the band in years, right? I believe Lindsey worked with Dashut on OUT OF THE CRADLE and FM on TIME...? And Caillat has burned some bridges with the band through his book, right? Based on Dashut's own website, it looks like he's retired. He doesn't list any production work in the last 10 years, and before that, it was the TUSK and RUMOURS reissues.

To me, it's not the best case scenario, but the most likely one is that Froom stays in the coproducer seat or Rob Cavallo comes back.

matt

[Matt Lucas]

Originally Posted by Macfanforever

They need a quick paced producer .

I dont understand how some of these artists pump out award winning top of the charts albums loaded with hits every 4 to 8 months or yearly with a new album to that matter.

A lot of successful pop and "rock" acts these days use multiple writers/producers/collaborators, so they have different sets of sessions with these folks going on at the same time.

This has become the norm for pop music. Katy Perry worked with seven producers and a number of writers, engineers, and others on her TEENAGE DREAM album. Bruno Mars' new album lists eight producers as does Taylor Swift's most recent album. I count 16 producers on Maroon 5's last album. Even Paul McCartney used four different producers for last year's NEW.

I think this is a function of the industry now---acts and labels are looking for hit singles, not albums as works of art. Albums now are mostly collections of singles, and labels encourage acts to do different sessions with different producers so that there are more options for singles that sound a little different from each other.

Of course, many rock and country acts still work with one or two producers for a record. I hope that's the direction FM takes with the presumed new album.

matt

[SteveMacD]

Originally Posted by Matt Lucas

And while it would be interesting to see Dashut and Caillat return, neither has worked with the band in years, right? I believe Lindsey worked with Dashut on OUT OF THE CRADLE and FM on TIME...? And Caillat has burned some bridges with the band through his book, right? Based on Dashut's own website, it looks like he's retired. He doesn't list any production work in the last 10 years, and before that, it was the TUSK and RUMOURS reissues.

Caillat produced "In The Meantime" and had information about Christine returning to the stage in Maui before it happened, and then about her coming back for a tour in 2014 MONTHS before it was announced. He still appears to be in the loop.

To me, it's not the best case scenario, but the most likely one is that Froom stays in the coproducer seat or Rob Cavallo comes back.

I'm very happy with Froom, though I'd love to hear more with Patrick Leonard. "Love Shines" and "Heart Of Stone" had great production.

[jbrownsjr]

Originally Posted by SteveMacD

Caillat produced "In The Meantime" and had information about Christine returning to the stage in Maui before it happened, and then about her coming back for a tour in 2014 MONTHS before it was announced. He still appears to be in the loop.


I'm very happy with Froom, though I'd love to hear more with Patrick Leonard. "Love Shines" and "Heart Of Stone" had great production.

I want Ken and Richard because you get that amazing sound. Like a hand coming right out of the speaker and punching you in the head. BOOM! I'm GONE.. AND NOTHING TO SAY.................................

[ryan4136]

Originally Posted by jbrownsjr

I want Ken and Richard because you get that amazing sound. Like a hand coming right out of the speaker and punching you in the head. BOOM! I'm GONE.. AND NOTHING TO SAY.................................

If Ken and Richard would do it for free.....LB might actually entertain the idea.

[jbrownsjr]

Originally Posted by ryan4136

If Ken and Richard would do it for free.....LB might actually entertain the idea.

Haha! He could pay them, "LATER"

[BlueDenimLamp]

Originally Posted by Matt Lucas

A lot of successful pop and "rock" acts these days use multiple writers/producers/collaborators, so they have different sets of sessions with these folks going on at the same time.

This has become the norm for pop music. Katy Perry worked with seven producers and a number of writers, engineers, and others on her TEENAGE DREAM album. Bruno Mars' new album lists eight producers as does Taylor Swift's most recent album. I count 16 producers on Maroon 5's last album. Even Paul McCartney used four different producers for last year's NEW.

I think this is a function of the industry now---acts and labels are looking for hit singles, not albums as works of art. Albums now are mostly collections of singles, and labels encourage acts to do different sessions with different producers so that there are more options for singles that sound a little different from each other.

Of course, many rock and country acts still work with one or two producers for a record. I hope that's the direction FM takes with the presumed new album.

matt

Interesting...I wonder how this multi-producer concept would work for a new FM record...
Stevie, Lindsey and Christine each have their own studio with the producer of their own choosing...The 5 would simply go from studio to studio working on their respective parts as needed...As long as they stayed focused on the fact that it's a FM record and not a solo project the Mac could record a new 15 song album with lightning speed...

[AnthonyMI]

Let's not forget what a clusterfrak TISL was having elevendymillion producers and NO coherent "sound" whatsoever.

[Matt Lucas]

Originally Posted by BlueDenimLamp

Interesting...I wonder how this multi-producer concept would work for a new FM record...
Stevie, Lindsey and Christine each have their own studio with the producer of their own choosing...The 5 would simply go from studio to studio working on their respective parts as needed...As long as they stayed focused on the fact that it's a FM record and not a solo project the Mac could record a new 15 song album with lightning speed...

No offense, but I hope they don't do that. I've never heard any album featuring tracks produced by three or more producers that sounded cohesive at all. Those kinds of albums end up sounding like...well...like what they are: patchwork groups of songs from completely unconnected sessions.

Now, if they wanted to take that kind of approach---each singer having sort of a "home base studio"---they could do sessions at different studios but use the same producer for all of them. That would hopefully have the dual benefit of letting each singer feel at home while at the same time having one person running all the sessions so that the sound of the recordings wouldn't differ too much from one studio to the next. [There would still be some differences because of rooms or gear like vintage mics, though.]

matt

[CADreaming]

Originally Posted by AnthonyMI

Let's not forget what a clusterfrak TISL was having elevendymillion producers and NO coherent "sound" whatsoever.

[Macfanforever]

Originally Posted by Matt Lucas

A lot of successful pop and "rock" acts these days use multiple writers/producers/collaborators, so they have different sets of sessions with these folks going on at the same time.

This has become the norm for pop music. Katy Perry worked with seven producers and a number of writers, engineers, and others on her TEENAGE DREAM album. Bruno Mars' new album lists eight producers as does Taylor Swift's most recent album. I count 16 producers on Maroon 5's last album. Even Paul McCartney used four different producers for last year's NEW.

I think this is a function of the industry now---acts and labels are looking for hit singles, not albums as works of art. Albums now are mostly collections of singles, and labels encourage acts to do different sessions with different producers so that there are more options for singles that sound a little different from each other.

Of course, many rock and country acts still work with one or two producers for a record. I hope that's the direction FM takes with the presumed new album.

matt

Thanks Matt for the input.That makes sense with more producers on hand.

[elle]

loved reading your posts Matt Lucas!!

Lindsey actually mentioned Daniel Lanois when he was talking about bringing the outside producer for the Mac last time around, so he at least was on his radar.

bringing back Dashut and Caillat harkens to Rumours II suggestions. it's been done, let's move forward people, see what some others can do.

my personal preference - give Froom a chance to finish what he started. but i can see Rick Rubin arguments too, and there were others on these boards who brought up his name in the past. (possibly even Lindsey mentioned Rubin at the same time as Lanois? can't remember exactly, but he did list 2 or 3 possible producers.)

[michelej1]

Originally Posted by Matt Lucas

A lot of successful pop and "rock" acts these days use multiple writers/producers/collaborators, so they have different sets of sessions with these folks going on at the same time.

I would say that Christine and Lindsey can have the same producers and work together with LB and any outside producer they want (or none) as they did on Tango.

Stevie can do whatever she wants. I hope she's been talking to Dave and maybe they can do something together, with the intent going in that Lindsey and Christine sing background on Stevie's stuff. It should be arranged with FM in mind. Dave can do that.

Michele

[RockawayBlind]

Originally Posted by Phil

Hello RockawayBlind!
Please don't misunderstand me, I'm not "blaming" Lindsey for the "I should have turned around and ran" line, after all, it was uttered from Stevie's mouth. However, I was commenting on the fact that Lindsey took umbrage over the lyrics of "Thrown Down" (sufficiently so to actually broach the matter with Stevie), but chose to ignore the grammatical error in the lyrics to "Smile At You". Furthermore, he actually built a whole chorus around this line that had previously only been part of the song's ending, which most likely would have been a fade.

That's a valid point, but we don't really know if he did. Just because it wasn't in the video, it doesn't mean he didn't raise the issue. Or, assuming he listened to Thrown Down first, after her reaction, maybe he just decided not to bother.

Originally Posted by Phil

We need to remember that Lindsey (and the boys) worked on many of Stevie's SYW songs whilst she was touring for TISL in 2001 and I am speculating that Lindsey created the new arrangement for "Smile At You" during Stevie's absence. I'm not purporting that Stevie disagreed with this change or that there was any discussion/disagreement over the usage of the "ran" lyric. All I'm suggesting is that Lindsey may not have had a problem with this lyric, which strikes me as odd when he clearly did have difficulty with some of the lyrics for "Thrown Down". Does this make sense?

If he did, then yeah, I would agree with you that it's odd. But we simply don't know if he did.