Would you welcome an extended era of FM without SN?

[bombaysaffires]

Originally Posted by PenguinHead

Lindsey is largely responsible for taking the raw material Stevie brings to the table and turning them into gems -- some of the biggest hits that helped established her. Though Stevie still carries a lot emotional baggage about Lindsey, I don't think she has any issue about him working on her songs. She just has issues of resentment that Lindsey is in control of the studio proceedings.

Someone has to take the lead, and that responsibility falls on Lindsey. It doesn't appear to me that he has Stalin-like tendencies when it comes to producing her songs. On contrary, he deals with her egotistical proclivities with a degree of sensitivity and respect. And he just wants to stay on task and move forward. His motive is to please Stevie, by doing the best he can with her material.

If Stevie isn't present and forthcoming with her disagreements with the direction and development of her songs, that's her fault. She deflects the blame on others in a passive/aggressive manner. Stevie sometimes acts like a spoiled brat. She needs the support, yet she doesn't like it when someone else is in the pilot seat.

Now. But not always. He admits that he was at times not particularly nice (translation: an a-hole) to her in the studio. He can be and was cutting, nasty, and mean. She also claims that contrary to popular opinion he *didn't* always polish her songs into gems, usually when he was pissed at her (for leaving him...years before. For selling more solo albums. For whatever.). He pretty much admits this too. ("not always our higher/better selves"). His way of slagging her in the press was to always make out like her songs weren't really all that until he got his hands on them. (this is why it became so hugely important to her to get her music out without him). Yes he worked on perfecting the arrangements... uh, that's what a producer does!

Then the band having to ask him not to be such a d*ck to her when she got out of rehab. So I do think she has had lots of years of reasons to not entirely trust him. LB speaks of her "learning to trust him again" and basically acknowledges there were reasons not to. Then by all accounts he said some pretty strong if not outright nasty things towards the end of SYW while the others were in Hawaii.

That said, has she made him pay for all his past transgressions? Yep. And then some. Did she prefer to party than slog it out in the studio on her songs? Sometimes. Still, they should have moved past it all a long time ago. These days Stevie clearly knows the power she has in the band and isn't above wielding it however she sees fit, which lately I think is totally to the detriment of the band. She's had enough solo success to have proven her point that she can indeed be quite successful without him, and more successful (in terms of sales) than him solo. Duly noted. Now can we please move on and be grown ups and do one last album before it's too late??