Lindsey Buckingham Discusses Writing New Material with Fleetwood Mac

[elle]

Originally Posted by michelej1

Buckingham says he's looking forward to doing more one-man shows and expanding their repertoire, but his focus is turning to Fleetwood Mac, which is expected to announce its 2013 tour dates soon, with, he says, a likely early April start.

yay!!!!!

requests!!

[Etisl]

Originally Posted by vivfox

He said the same thing before Unleashed. Stevie has already stated that after the 2013 tour is over she's gonna make another solo album with Dave Stewart. An all new FM album? It ain't happening.

Yeap, got to agree. Stevie already said that at her age she doesn't want to work on long projects.... she doesn't want to go in the studio with Fleetwood Mac for a year, then tour for another 1-2 years. She said she wants to work on shorter faster projects.....and she did mention a new album.

Five years ago I would have said...ok Stevie, you always say you want to work on projects quickly.....yet take years to release something. BUT, at her age.....I don't know what lit her fire, but she is on fire....performing, fund raisers, movie premiers....the woman doesn't stop. I love that fact that at her age..........she has more energy than she did 25 years ago...

Rock on Gold Dust Woman.... the one and only true queen of rock!!! :-)

[vivfox]

Originally Posted by Etisl

BUT, at her age.....I don't know what lit her fire, but she is on fire....performing, fund raisers, movie premiers....the woman doesn't stop. I love that fact that at her age..........she has more energy than she did 25 years ago...

She was on serious drugs 25 years ago.

[elle]

hot in music... One man Show... 40-50 FM dates in US and some more in the rest of the world:

[RockawayBlind]

Hello, folks, I'm new here. I just wanted to throw my two cents in: I congratulate Lindsey on all his efforts to get new and live music out, but I am not sure how wise it is to keep pushing for another FM record. Stevie and Lindsey are so far apart musically now that any attempt at collaboration is sure to degenerate into a Say You Will-like situation, when she kept pushing for commercial music and he wanted to be all experimental.

Say You Will is very inconsistent from track to track as a result. Lindsey pulled off the experimental vs. commercial thing with Tusk but then he had Christine to add the layer that was missing with Say You Will. While Christine's Tusk songs, in my view, are the least interesting, the band was still able to make the whole thing work. At the time Stevie was still willing to take guidance from Lindsey on production and arrangement-- as did Christine, which is obvious on tracks like Never Forget -- but that no longer seems to be the case.

That is not to say Stevie should or shouldn't take direction from Lindsey, but the point is that the circumstances being what they are, it's highly unlikely a new album would sound much better, from a consistency point of view, than Say You Will. Already Lindsey has done eight songs with the other two guys. Chances are the tracks range from the Steal Your Heart Away/End of Time Variety to the Come mold to the Red Rover/Time Precious Time approach. Then what? Stevie comes in with her far less adventurous songs, demands all kinds of electronic effects a la Running Through the Garden and the IYD productions, and what happens? Another inconsistent piece of work.

I'd rather they keep doing their own thing separately. Lindsey seems to keep growing, though there are indications he is running out of ideas. He's bound to surprise us though. Stevie, for her part, put out her best album in decades with IYD. She might be able to repeat the feat. But working together, I don't think these two will ever meet the heights of Tusk or Rumours.

[louielouie2000]

Originally Posted by RockawayBlind

Hello, folks, I'm new here. I just wanted to throw my two cents in: I congratulate Lindsey on all his efforts to get new and live music out, but I am not sure how wise it is to keep pushing for another FM record. Stevie and Lindsey are so far apart musically now that any attempt at collaboration is sure to degenerate into a Say You Will-like situation, when she kept pushing for commercial music and he wanted to be all experimental.

Say You Will is very inconsistent from track to track as a result. Lindsey pulled off the experimental vs. commercial thing with Tusk but then he had Christine to add the layer that was missing with Say You Will. While Christine's Tusk songs, in my view, are the least interesting, the band was still able to make the whole thing work. At the time Stevie was still willing to take guidance from Lindsey on production and arrangement-- as did Christine, which is obvious on tracks like Never Forget -- but that no longer seems to be the case.

That is not to say Stevie should or shouldn't take direction from Lindsey, but the point is that the circumstances being what they are, it's highly unlikely a new album would sound much better, from a consistency point of view, than Say You Will. Already Lindsey has done eight songs with the other two guys. Chances are the tracks range from the Steal Your Heart Away/End of Time Variety to the Come mold to the Red Rover/Time Precious Time approach. Then what? Stevie comes in with her far less adventurous songs, demands all kinds of electronic effects a la Running Through the Garden and the IYD productions, and what happens? Another inconsistent piece of work.

I'd rather they keep doing their own thing separately. Lindsey seems to keep growing, though there are indications he is running out of ideas. He's bound to surprise us though. Stevie, for her part, put out her best album in decades with IYD. She might be able to repeat the feat. But working together, I don't think these two will ever meet the heights of Tusk or Rumours.

Welcome aboard.

I agree wholeheartedly with every single point you made. A few years back Lindsey said he wanted to bring in an outside producer for the next Fleetwood Mac album, and I certainly think that could bridge the chasm that has developed between Lindsey & Stevie musically. However, it sounds like this latest work is unfolding in exactly the same fashion as Say You Will did... Lindsey, Mick, and John recording Lindsey's songs while Stevie is out touring. I think all of us knew Lindsey would never, ever relinquish creative control of the band by bringing in an outside producer, though. Which is unfortunate, because I really do think there's still good Fleetwood Mac music to be made.

[On Ice]

But working together, I don't think these two will ever meet the heights of Tusk or Rumours.

I have to agree with you Rockaway, it's really a shame that they can't put their egos aside for the sake of the music and give us at least one more really good album. Unless they do, we'd be in for an an uneven treatment a' la Say You Will. I agree that Seeds and In Your Dreams show that the two still have some creative juices flowing and were really impressive steps forward for the both of them. Add to that the most talented bass player and drummer in rock and we have potential for great things. That said, sadly, as I've noted a few times that I'm sitting this tour out, I just can't bring myself to shell out a grand for decent seats to hear a heavily augmented version of the band rehash Rumours with one or two bonus tracks so they can label themselves creative. Hard for me to admit that about my all time favourite band. Unfortunately the 2013 tour is all about reaching into our wallets yet again to cash in on an album, that while great, doesn't define this band.

[MikeInNV]

Originally Posted by louielouie2000

However, it sounds like this latest work is unfolding in exactly the same fashion as Say You Will did... Lindsey, Mick, and John recording Lindsey's songs while Stevie is out touring.

I think a lot of the criticism about SYW not being cohesive is mostly just due to fans not being used to Christine's absence. Yes, they began working while Stevie was out doing her solo thing.....but hasn't every FM album beginning with Mirage been recorded that way?

[Josh2003]

Originally Posted by RockawayBlind

Hello, folks, I'm new here. I just wanted to throw my two cents in: I congratulate Lindsey on all his efforts to get new and live music out, but I am not sure how wise it is to keep pushing for another FM record. Stevie and Lindsey are so far apart musically now that any attempt at collaboration is sure to degenerate into a Say You Will-like situation, when she kept pushing for commercial music and he wanted to be all experimental.

Say You Will is very inconsistent from track to track as a result. Lindsey pulled off the experimental vs. commercial thing with Tusk but then he had Christine to add the layer that was missing with Say You Will. While Christine's Tusk songs, in my view, are the least interesting, the band was still able to make the whole thing work. At the time Stevie was still willing to take guidance from Lindsey on production and arrangement-- as did Christine, which is obvious on tracks like Never Forget -- but that no longer seems to be the case.

That is not to say Stevie should or shouldn't take direction from Lindsey, but the point is that the circumstances being what they are, it's highly unlikely a new album would sound much better, from a consistency point of view, than Say You Will. Already Lindsey has done eight songs with the other two guys. Chances are the tracks range from the Steal Your Heart Away/End of Time Variety to the Come mold to the Red Rover/Time Precious Time approach. Then what? Stevie comes in with her far less adventurous songs, demands all kinds of electronic effects a la Running Through the Garden and the IYD productions, and what happens? Another inconsistent piece of work.

I'd rather they keep doing their own thing separately. Lindsey seems to keep growing, though there are indications he is running out of ideas. He's bound to surprise us though. Stevie, for her part, put out her best album in decades with IYD. She might be able to repeat the feat. But working together, I don't think these two will ever meet the heights of Tusk or Rumours.

At the same time though, Say You Will happened before the re-emergence, if you will, of Lindsey's solo career...of the "small machine" he's talked so much about over the past few years. He's always felt the need to be a little edgy and experimental when it comes to CREATING music, and I think Say You Will was still a reflection of that. He hadn't yet really embraced his "small machine" outlet as a means of exploring and pursuing the left side of his palette, as he's put it.

He has acknowledged in recent years that he's just recently realized that he can use his small machine solo career to be a little different, to experiment a little more...and still come back to Fleetwood Mac and, for lack of a better way of putting it, play it safe.

I think Say You Will was done before he came to this conclusion. A lot of it was leftover solo, "left side of the palette" material...not intended for a safer "Fleetwood Mac" sound. When paired with Stevie's songs, some of which she said were written to SOUND like Fleetwood Mac songs (when the guys had been working in another direction), it's obviously going to sound disjointed.

I have two hopes: 1: The the songs that John, Mick, and Lindsey were working on were done in a "Fleetwood Mac" mindsight...rather than a "LB solo album" mindset, as the Say You Will songs were. And 2: That Lindsey, in making new Fleetwood Mac music, is back in a "big machine" mindset. That's not to say I do not like the small machine...I've loved everything he's done as a solo artist over the past 7 years. But when he goes into a Fleetwood Mac project with his "left side of the palette" mentality, we either get something as perfect as Tusk, or a little more disjointed and not-so-cohesive like Say You Will.

[CADreaming]

Originally Posted by RockawayBlind

Stevie and Lindsey are so far apart musically now that any attempt at collaboration is sure to degenerate into a Say You Will-like situation, when she kept pushing for commercial music and he wanted to be all experimental.

Hi and & welcome to the board.

I have to disagree totally with SnL being apart musically - "Solider's Angel" proved they still can create together as a team. Even if most everyone here didn't like it, what mattered was that Stevie loved it - and felt Lindsey had "saved the day" and also that the song put them back as "Buckingham Nicks" again.

And, I don't think Lindsey was trying to be "all" experimental on SYW. In fact, when Lindsey sets his mind to it - he is still the king of making a pop song. BTLH and SYHA are two songs that were very commercial. However, he was trying to propel FM into 21st century -- and he did.

But working together, I don't think these two will ever meet the heights of Tusk or Rumours.

That won't happen regardless of if they work with each other or solo. It's just not possible at their age and at the state of the industry and in a youth-dictated culture.

Originally Posted by MikeInNV

I think a lot of the criticism about SYW not being cohesive is mostly just due to fans not being used to Christine's absence.

I totally agree.

Yes, the began working while Stevie was out doing her solo thing.....but hasn't every FM album beginning with Mirage been recorded that way?

Well, really - every album ever. Stevie was just "held hostage" in the studio until she had a solo career and had something else to do while she waited on the musicians to stop tinkering. Why Lindsey would want a bored Stevie around is beyond me. He must be a clingy guy -- or value her opinion/ears on stuff if he wants her sitting around all day drawing and reading magazines while he tinkers with one piece of a song for the one millionth time. It just makes sense for the music tracks to be laid down and Stevie to be called when she is needed to lay down vocals. The process does not have to be long anymore. A major country artist comes in the studio one afternoon and lays down vocals on each song 3 times and then leaves. The engineer and producer take the best cut of the 3 and splice (cut & paste) it all together and boom it's done.

But, I think all of the artists of SnL's generation are struggling with the changes in the industry - both from a business perspective and a creative one. I mean if you don't know how to work a computer, then using the software is going to be confusing. But, it's how everything is done now. I think Stevie needed IYD to give herself a creative jolt and I think Lindsey has mellowed out enough to be able to turn songs loose a lot quicker than he would have in the past and I am looking forward to hearing what has emerged as the new Fleetwood Mac sound from the past eight years.

Originally Posted by Josh2003

At the same time though, Say You Will happened before the re-emergence, if you will, of Lindsey's solo career...of the "small machine" he's talked so much about over the past few years. He's always felt the need to be a little edgy and experimental when it comes to CREATING music, and I think Say You Will was still a reflection of that. He hadn't yet really embraced his "small machine" outlet as a means of exploring and pursuing the left side of his palette, as he's put it.

He has acknowledged in recent years that he's just recently realized that he can use his small machine solo career to be a little different, to experiment a little more...and still come back to Fleetwood Mac and, for lack of a better way of putting it, play it safe.

I would agree with you to an extent, but it's really the same as it has always been. He's a limit pusher. I think as an artist, he's always going to want to see how far he can get someone to go. And, Stevie is always going to have a commercial breaking point. She's always going to look at a bottom line even if her inner artist would want to let creativity reign supreme.

This push-pull doesn't keep them from working together. It may not make it easy, but at the end of the day - it's the industry that has put the brakes on the things and they're trying to determine how to still make money at what they do. It's hard enough for a solo artist - it must be really hard for a band. You need a bigger pie to divide and with less ingredients.

[RockawayBlind]

It just makes sense for the music tracks to be laid down and Stevie to be called when she is needed to lay down vocals.

Sure, it makes sense, but it means Stevie would have to agree to let Lindsey take control of the arrangement. With SYW, she seemed to have a lot to say about how she wanted her songs, which is only fair because they are her songs. But that does not help in coming up with a uniform sound, considering how different Lindsey's approach to the music has become from hers. I believe "Soldier's Angel" is an anomaly, and she only turned to Lindsey when she got frustrated with everything else she and Dave had tried. Were she happy with the arrangement before she called Lindsey to do nothing but lay a guitar track for the song, the warm-fuzzy feeling about the collaboration would not have materialized.

In any case, I recall that Lindsey had wistfully discussed working in the studio together, building songs from the ground up. But that was either wishful thinking or something else because what we are seeing is a return to old habits. If Lindsey has control as in Tango and Mirage, we can expect cohesive sound, but if tug-a-war a la Say You Will ensues instead, the results are going to be less than stellar, I suspect.

[WildHearted]

Originally Posted by RockawayBlind

Hello, folks, I'm new here. I just wanted to throw my two cents in: I congratulate Lindsey on all his efforts to get new and live music out, but I am not sure how wise it is to keep pushing for another FM record. Stevie and Lindsey are so far apart musically now that any attempt at collaboration is sure to degenerate into a Say You Will-like situation, when she kept pushing for commercial music and he wanted to be all experimental.

Say You Will is very inconsistent from track to track as a result. Lindsey pulled off the experimental vs. commercial thing with Tusk but then he had Christine to add the layer that was missing with Say You Will. While Christine's Tusk songs, in my view, are the least interesting, the band was still able to make the whole thing work. At the time Stevie was still willing to take guidance from Lindsey on production and arrangement-- as did Christine, which is obvious on tracks like Never Forget -- but that no longer seems to be the case.

That is not to say Stevie should or shouldn't take direction from Lindsey, but the point is that the circumstances being what they are, it's highly unlikely a new album would sound much better, from a consistency point of view, than Say You Will. Already Lindsey has done eight songs with the other two guys. Chances are the tracks range from the Steal Your Heart Away/End of Time Variety to the Come mold to the Red Rover/Time Precious Time approach. Then what? Stevie comes in with her far less adventurous songs, demands all kinds of electronic effects a la Running Through the Garden and the IYD productions, and what happens? Another inconsistent piece of work.

I'd rather they keep doing their own thing separately. Lindsey seems to keep growing, though there are indications he is running out of ideas. He's bound to surprise us though. Stevie, for her part, put out her best album in decades with IYD. She might be able to repeat the feat. But working together, I don't think these two will ever meet the heights of Tusk or Rumours.

I agree abut Say You Will. And of course they are never going to meet the heights of Tusk or Rumours - we shouldn't expect them to.

However, I don't agree that Stevie and Lindsey are so far apart musically these days, at least, not any farther apart than they always have been. I don't think there will ever be a day when you'll confuse a Stevie song for a Lindsey song or vice versa, but Seeds We Sow and In Your Dreams were both very Mac-y albums, in my opinion. I can name several songs on each of them that sound like they could have come straight off an FM record (if you smacked on the others vocals and synced their production style a bit)- Annabel Lee, Gone Too Far, End of Time, Moonlight, Secret Love, That's The Way Love Goes, New Orleans.. I could go on.

In all honesty, after listening to both of those albums for the past year and however long, I don't find that there is anything very off-the-wall about either (not that Stevie's songs have ever been experimental). Lindsey has his weird voice production and his distinctive fingerpicking style, but honestly Seeds We Sow is pretty much good old pop songs throughout, at least to my ears.

[KindOfWoman90]

Originally Posted by CADreaming

I would agree with you to an extent, but it's really the same as it has always been. He's a limit pusher. I think as an artist, he's always going to want to see how far he can get someone to go. And, Stevie is always going to have a commercial breaking point. She's always going to look at a bottom line even if her inner artist would want to let creativity reign supreme.

Yes. And honestly, I feel that is also what makes them such a great team

[elle]

Originally Posted by Josh2003

At the same time though, Say You Will happened before the re-emergence, if you will, of Lindsey's solo career...of the "small machine" he's talked so much about over the past few years. He's always felt the need to be a little edgy and experimental when it comes to CREATING music, and I think Say You Will was still a reflection of that. He hadn't yet really embraced his "small machine" outlet as a means of exploring and pursuing the left side of his palette, as he's put it.

He has acknowledged in recent years that he's just recently realized that he can use his small machine solo career to be a little different, to experiment a little more...and still come back to Fleetwood Mac and, for lack of a better way of putting it, play it safe.

I think Say You Will was done before he came to this conclusion. A lot of it was leftover solo, "left side of the palette" material...not intended for a safer "Fleetwood Mac" sound. When paired with Stevie's songs, some of which she said were written to SOUND like Fleetwood Mac songs (when the guys had been working in another direction), it's obviously going to sound disjointed.

I have two hopes: 1: The the songs that John, Mick, and Lindsey were working on were done in a "Fleetwood Mac" mindsight...rather than a "LB solo album" mindset, as the Say You Will songs were. And 2: That Lindsey, in making new Fleetwood Mac music, is back in a "big machine" mindset. That's not to say I do not like the small machine...I've loved everything he's done as a solo artist over the past 7 years. But when he goes into a Fleetwood Mac project with his "left side of the palette" mentality, we either get something as perfect as Tusk, or a little more disjointed and not-so-cohesive like Say You Will.

i love EVERY single point you made. and all of them so true, and based on the statements from FM members, including their most recent statements, facts and realities, not on any speculations.

yes, SYW was pieced together and built mainly on top of LB's solo album that never was - and a lot of that solo album was experimental and forward moving. it still is. i always say this - whenever i listen to GOS1, i am always again and again amazed by those songs - it was one of the greatest albums that never was. at least we have that bootleg.

Lindsey went into making new songs this year with a FM mindset. he said they were meant to be FM songs, Stevie said just last week that they sound like FM songs. so to draw conclusions from SYW experience seems pointless for the new material.

Originally Posted by CADreaming

Well, really - every album ever. Stevie was just "held hostage" in the studio until she had a solo career and had something else to do while she waited on the musicians to stop tinkering. Why Lindsey would want a bored Stevie around is beyond me. He must be a clingy guy -- or value her opinion/ears on stuff if he wants her sitting around all day drawing and reading magazines while he tinkers with one piece of a song for the one millionth time. It just makes sense for the music tracks to be laid down and Stevie to be called when she is needed to lay down vocals. The process does not have to be long anymore.

exactly!

Originally Posted by CADreaming

This push-pull doesn't keep them from working together. It may not make it easy, but at the end of the day - it's the industry that has put the brakes on the things and they're trying to determine how to still make money at what they do.

exactly! and that's why my feeling is that if we want these new songs, and fast, without loosing any unnecessary time, we should be all for macters forgetting the major label which is holding them back, record new stuff in Lindsey's studio which is freely available to them, and just put it out in whatever is the easiest way possible to coincide with the start of the tour. and there seem to be indications that they are already ahead of us and actually doing at least some of this stuff.

Originally Posted by RockawayBlind

Sure, it makes sense, but it means Stevie would have to agree to let Lindsey take control of the arrangement. With SYW, she seemed to have a lot to say about how she wanted her songs, which is only fair because they are her songs. But that does not help in coming up with a uniform sound, considering how different Lindsey's approach to the music has become from hers. I believe "Soldier's Angel" is an anomaly, and she only turned to Lindsey when she got frustrated with everything else she and Dave had tried. Were she happy with the arrangement before she called Lindsey to do nothing but lay a guitar track for the song, the warm-fuzzy feeling about the collaboration would not have materialized.

In any case, I recall that Lindsey had wistfully discussed working in the studio together, building songs from the ground up. But that was either wishful thinking or something else because what we are seeing is a return to old habits. If Lindsey has control as in Tango and Mirage, we can expect cohesive sound, but if tug-a-war a la Say You Will ensues instead, the results are going to be less than stellar, I suspect.

lots of good points here. except i don't really see that they are going back to any old habits from their descriptions of what they've been doing with new songs so far. see above.

and, do you really prefer Tango or Mirage over SYW?? i do not.

[michelej1]

Originally Posted by elle

and, do you really prefer Tango or Mirage over SYW?? i do not.

Yes, I really do, although I love SYW.

Michele