Why was Stevie the breakout star? - Page 4

michelej1 · #46 09-04-2011, 01:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikephxaz

Sorry I have to disagree. Lindsey is a genius. There's no question of that but it seems to me that around the time of Tango In The Night he got stuck in his own head and never fully realized his own genius. The best thing Lindsey could have done is to do exactly what Stevie has recently done. Work with a new producer that can show him there are more than answers to a single question. You can see how Stevie started to make strides during TISL to expand her talents and now with IYD she has finally succeeded and got out of her own way. Lindsey now needs to step out from his rut and get out his own way.

I don't have Lindsey's entire new album (hopefully tonight), but I heard most of the songs performed live and I've heard MP3s of two more. Lindsey's not in a rut at all. He has grown by leaps and bounds in just a few short years. Although, he didn't need to grow at all after Gift of Screws, which was itself spectacular and a welcome departure from Under the Skin. He's putting out innovative music and at a heart-stopping pace these days and SWS' tracks are commercially accessible as well, not just experimental. You may not like his music, but there's nothing stagnant about it.

Michele

BombaySapphire3 · #47 09-04-2011, 02:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikephxaz

Sorry I have to disagree. Lindsey is a genius. There's no question of that but it seems to me that around the time of Tango In The Night he got stuck in his own head and never fully realized his own genius. The best thing Lindsey could have done is to do exactly what Stevie has recently done. Work with a new producer that can show him there are more than answers to a single question. You can see how Stevie started to make strides during TISL to expand her talents and now with IYD she has finally succeeded and got out of her own way. Lindsey now needs to step out from his rut and get out his own way.

To me Out of the Cradle which came 5 years after Tango was his most accesible music since Rumours ..his songs on Tusk although great are more insular than this album.Even insularity does not signal a decrease in talent IMO.Stevie is dependant on others to bring her raw material to it's fruition Lindsey is not.To me OOTC is the best album relased by Fleetwood Mac or any of it's members in 25 years and yes I do love IYD.Even this could change on Tuesday though.

mikephxaz · #48 09-04-2011, 02:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BombaySapphire3

To me Out of the Cradle which came 5 years after Tango was his most accesible music since Rumours ..his songs on Tusk although great are more insular than this album.Even insularity does not signal a decrease in talent IMO.Stevie is dependant on others to bring her raw material to it's fruition Lindsey is not.To me OOTC is the best album relased by Fleetwood Mac or any of it's members in 25 years and yes I do love IYD.Even this could change on Tuesday though.

Bombay...I completely agree with your thoughts but the question was Why is Stevie a standout...Lindsey is creative, innovative and well deserving of the praise you have given him...and Stevie relies on others for her music...but she has made moves to gain the respect of the industry, shes a mentor to many, she sells solo albumns, she sells out arenas while Lindsey remain insular and he has gotten in his own way.....I love Lindsey but I want to shake him and say...let some one else produce you, do a duet and with a major songstress, have differing back up vocals (other than yourself) and EVERYTIME you get in studio don't over produce yourself....His song Say Goodbye was the most honest and real thing he has done in years... GIVE ME MORE OF THAT!!

MrStevie · #49 09-04-2011, 04:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikephxaz

Bombay...I completely agree with your thoughts but the question was Why is Stevie a standout...Lindsey is creative, innovative and well deserving of the praise you have given him...and Stevie relies on others for her music...but she has made moves to gain the respect of the industry, shes a mentor to many, she sells solo albumns, she sells out arenas while Lindsey remain insular and he has gotten in his own way.....I love Lindsey but I want to shake him and say...let some one else produce you, do a duet and with a major songstress, have differing back up vocals (other than yourself) and EVERYTIME you get in studio don't over produce yourself....His song Say Goodbye was the most honest and real thing he has done in years... GIVE ME MORE OF THAT!!

Being a star and going commercial is not on Lindsey's agenda. Mike, I can understand your desire to see Lindsey become a more popular mainstream act. The majority of mainstream fans love the more accessible music he makes for Fleetwood Mac. As a solo that's just not him. He admits gaining a lot more financially from making that kind of music. It doesn't feed the heart the way his solo work does.

He's insular for a reason and I don't see him changing now. I'm on board all the way. For me he's struck the perfect balance between ear candy and far out when it comes to his solo work. I hope he never changes his path even if it brought him more star recognition and commercial success. I'm satisfied when he does that in Fleetwood Mac. He likes having the big movie in Fleetood Mac but it's not his first love. He prefers the small movie and doing things his own way for those of us who want to go with him on that journey to the left.

Stevie is a star because she wanted it. Lindsey carved out a different niche as a producer and studio wizard and he's every bit as respected in the industry and a mentor to many as she is. He's not a household name by his own desire. "Nobody knows my name. Walking down the street baby, now."

Eugene · #50 09-04-2011, 04:34 PM

The answer is quite simple...MTV. The launch of MTV and Stevie's solo career occurred at the same time. Her videos were in HEAVY rotation in the 80's, and her shows on HBO were shown quite often.

Yes, I'm old, and I remember "Stand Back" & "If Anyone Falls" being shown over and over and over and over.

As for Lindsey, the only video that comes to mind is "Go Insane"-art imitating life.

WildHearted · #51 09-04-2011, 04:36 PM

Thought of a better word than charm: charisma. In overflowing amounts.

BombaySapphire3 · #52 09-04-2011, 04:36 PM

One thing mikephxaz and I can probably agree upon is that if Fleetwood Mac makes another album or if the grass turns purple and rivers start flowing backwards and they make another Buckingham/Nicks album they should definitely bring in an outside producer. Recent "Soldier's Angel" cuddliness notwithstanding I can't see those two getting along with Lindsey in the producer's seat for more than a week.

MrStevie · #53 09-04-2011, 05:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BombaySapphire3

One thing mikephxaz and I can probably agree upon is that if Fleetwood Mac makes another album or if the grass turns purple and rivers start flowing backwards and they make another Buckingham/Nicks album they should definitely bring in an outside producer. Recent "Soldier's Angel" cuddliness notwithstanding I can't see those two getting along with Lindsey in the producer's seat for more than a week.

Completely disagree. Them not getting along is baloney. They get along fine. No outside producer is going to make FM more commercial than Lindsey or sell more albums than SYW. People can bash SYW all they want and believe Stevie was unhappy with LB's work on it. She wasn't. Some say he wrecked her songs but I have to disagree. Stevie's songs on SYW were great except for Silver Girl and I'm sure LB gave her what she wanted on that. I do agree on this. Only Lindsey and/or Dave Stewart should and will produce any future FM project. Can you dig it?

WildHearted · #54 09-04-2011, 05:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrStevie

Completely disagree. Them not getting along is baloney. They get along fine. No outside producer is going to make FM more commercial than Lindsey or sell more albums than SYW. People can bash SYW all they want and believe Stevie was unhappy with LB's work on it. She wasn't. Some say he wrecked her songs but I have to disagree. Stevie's songs on SYW were great except for Silver Girl and I'm sure LB gave her what she wanted on that. I do agree on this. Only Lindsey and/or Dave Stewart should and will produce any future FM projects. Can you dig it?

The reason people say Stevie was unhappy is because STEVIE has said she was unhappy with the way SYW turned out.

mikephxaz · #55 09-04-2011, 05:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BombaySapphire3

One thing mikephxaz and I can probably agree upon is that if Fleetwood Mac makes another album or if the grass turns purple and rivers start flowing backwards and they make another Buckingham/Nicks album they should definitely bring in an outside producer. Recent "Soldier's Angel" cuddliness notwithstanding I can't see those two getting along with Lindsey in the producer's seat for more than a week.

Too Funny...on that we can agree!!
btw...I will never believe for a second than Lindsey doesn't want his music heard by more people...or that he doesn't want to sell my cds...I'm only suggesting that he needs to get out of his head to do so...

BombaySapphire3 · #56 09-04-2011, 06:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WildHearted

The reason people say Stevie was unhappy is because STEVIE has said she was unhappy with the way SYW turned out.

Yes she has and it is one thing she has been very consistent about over the last eight years.Both the sequencing and the production.

michelej1 · #57 09-04-2011, 06:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikephxaz

Too Funny...on that we can agree!!
btw...I will never believe for a second than Lindsey doesn't want his music heard by more people...or that he doesn't want to sell my cds...I'm only suggesting that he needs to get out of his head to do so...

Yes, he'd like to sell more, but he'd like to do it on his own terms. He wants you to like his stuff as it is. He doesn't want to change to make his stuff palatable to you. He'd rather convert than change. He had songs other than Red Rover he could have put on SYW, songs other than Red Rover he could have played in concert, but he wanted a large audience to hear Red Rover whether they wanted to or not. It's not that he doesn't want to sell, it's that given the choice between selling and not selling out, he does the latter. He'd like to have both worlds, but not badly enough.

It's not like he's blind and doesn't understand why no one likes his stuff and has been looking for a way out of his own head, staying up at night going: "Why isn't this working?" Michele

tabruns · #58 09-04-2011, 10:19 PM

Stevie has charisma and star power. You go to a Mac show and she just naturally draws attention.

Add to that that she can write really great songs, and before the solo career only her very best stuff was getting on the Mac albums. Someone who puts out "Rhiannon" and "Landslide" in 1975, "Dreams" and "Gold Dust Woman" in 1977, and "Sara", "Beautiful Child" and "Storms" in 1979 is a hell of a talented songwriter. People weren't hearing Nicks' weaker material, because only the strong stuff was able to get on a Mac album.

Also add to that her voice, which is very compelling. She's a very strong live singer too.

MrStevie · #59 09-04-2011, 10:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WildHearted

The reason people say Stevie was unhappy is because STEVIE has said she was unhappy with the way SYW turned out.

That's not the same thing as her saying she didn't like his work. She never took any shots at the SYW album until many years after...when it didn't go platinum, but I don't recall her ever saying she was unhappy with Lindsey's efforts. I do recall her complaining about the SYW tour many years later.

My understading is that she was unhappy with the final selection of songs. She was also unhappy with the political squabbling among the members about the double album issue. That included everyone in the band not just her and LB. I never read or heard Stevie say she was unhappy with Lindsey's producing.

If she ever did say it she's got a huge rack of balls asking for his help with Soldiers Angel on IYD. If she insulted him like that I doubt he would have helped her when he didn't have to. It wasn't for Fleetwood Mac. He helped her with one of her solo songs. They don't get along only when it's Fleetwood Mac?

tabruns · #60 09-04-2011, 10:50 PM

If she was unhappy with his production my guess would be that it was on the single version of "Say You Will" and possibly the new version of "Smile At You" (though, its kind of odd that she'd go along with the recording if she didn't really like it....)

Stevie does tend to say she doesn't like an album AFTER the promotion period is over. She said that about Street Angel. While she was promoting it she would say "Waddy and I rerecorded songs so it was more like me" but after she would say "I *tried* to fix it..." She even said once that since she wasn't out trying to sell it anymore that she could now say that she doesn't like that album. So it's possible that she basically kept mum during the SYW tours but felt she could say "I didn't like how it turned out" after it was all said and done.