The space of time between albums featuring Buckingham/Nicks/McVie

[Andy Man]

Originally Posted by RockawayBlind

This is one of the biggest problems I have with this band. They have done very little to maintain the following they still have. Really, they are to this day still riding the success of one smash album. Even if arguably Tusk has inspired a younger generation of musicians more than any other FM album, the fact is this band has been very stingy with output. Compare the measly five albums with the Rumours lineup over the same 40-year period to the Rolling Stones, Tom Petty or even to artists such as Sheryl Crow or Smashing Pumpkins, which have been around only since the early 90s.

This, in my opinion, is the biggest detriment of the band. It's all well and good for Lindsey to give his long winded speeches during concerts about how Fleetwood Mac has been a band with a tumultuous history and how it will prevail, however the amount of creative collaboration that the band has actually taken part in is minimal. When you consider that the most recent song in the On With The Show setlist was released in 1987, it is actually quite embarrassing. However, people are willing to pay much money to see them so I guess the joke is on us!

I adore the band and believe that their most prolific time (1975-1980) created some of the best pop/rock music in history. They still put on a brilliant show, and when all 5 are performing together it is magic. However, it is near impossible to consider the band totally relevant and/or innovative with such little studio work behind them.

As a side note, the flip side to this argument is the fact that one album (Rumours) has had such a lasting legacy. This is actually an incredible feat, and something that even many of the most prolific of bands cannot claim.