Say You Will (the song) indicator of album vibe?

[EricBliss12345]

I get to hear this song on a daily basis thanks to the sattelite soft-rock station at work, and at first I really hated it, especially the kids that sing on it. It does have a way of getting jammed stuck in your head though, and now when it comes on I don't mind it.

What frustrates me about it is that when I hear it, I hear a REALLY GREAT Fleetwood Mac song in what is there. I do really like the lyrics and the melody of the vocals is nice. It just sounds like such a phoned in performance though. Stevie sings in her low register throughout and never really deviates from the melody of the song, and I always find myself wishing that she would have just cut loose on that chorus towards the end a la Stand Back, Angel, or Sisters Of THe Moon, doing the trademark banshee wailing in the background that she does at the ends of some songs that make her older songs so great. I find myself wishing there were some keyboards. Even the simplest keyboard accompaniment can take a song to such higher places. I miss hearing the gorgeous Mac vocal harmonies. And that guitar solo is flat-out boring.

When you take out this trademark Mac stuff, it turns into something that blends right in with all the other cookie cutter stuff they play on our soft rock radio station. For about a week I thought it was a mediocre Nicks solo track from something more recent until I noticed what she was singing on the chorus.

Even though the Welch era stuff is my favorite, what really draws me to the Buckingham/Nicks incarnation of the band are the lush vocal harmonies and interesting, detailed production that graces their more famous albums, not to mention the fantastic McVie/Nicks/Buckingham dynamic. Without these I feel like I have no need to listen.

Am I jumping to conclusions about the album? Yes and no. I don't feel it's fair to judge an album based on one song in the least, but I also think that first impressions are the lasting ones. What a band chooses to release as a single to represent the album should be indicative of the general direction the ship sails.

If I buy the album, am I going to be let down? I've had it in my hands a couple times but always put it back. I know I may be making some of you regurgitate what you've already said, and if so I'm sorry. The album seems to have got nothing but glowing praise from you diehards but is it an appropriate release for somebody fairly new to the band or not?

Thanks!

[face of glass]

I don't think the title track represents "the spirit of the album" at all. I think Say You Will is basically an assemblage of the work the band has done with Lindsey and Stevie on board. "What's The World Coming To" is reminiscent of "Monday Morning" and "Second Hand News" in vibe, "Thrown Down" and "Destiny Rules" are continuations of "Gypsy", "Miranda" has Law And Orderish quirkiness married to Lindsey's fingerpicking, the title track sounds very much like a Christine song and I love it, although I can understand that it sounds very MOR and the repetitiveness might annoy people. "Peacekeeper" and "Steal Your Heart Away" are pretty much in the same vibe. "Everybody Finds Out" has Lindsey's '80s rhythm guitar from "Big Love" in the background, although I can't for the life of me understand why it sounds so '80s-like otherwise. "Say Goodbye" offers more quirkiness and "Goodbye Baby" is intentionally produced as a lullaby, appropriately fitting the lyrics.
However, where the meat of the album lies are the intense songs. "Murrow" is a completely mutated blues, "Illume" is comparable to Greek drama, "Red Rover" goes nuttily hyperactive, "Come" surprises one with its sudden atmospheric shifts, "Smile At You" is a haunting chant and "Running Through The Garden" along with "Everybody Finds Out" have Stevie giving out some fiery performances. It's very likely that you won't like everything, but the album has plenty to offer. I know that people think it's all just pop music, but for me it isn't just that. It's diverse pop music with its eyes open and acknowledging its past but not afraid to go into the darker side as well. That's why I'm into this band, even though they are labeled as a '70s soft-rock mafia by a lot of people.
If you like diversity, then the album won't disappoint, although it is a criticism that most of the songs are four minutes long.

[mylittledemon]

On Say You Will, just for giggles, those are not children at the end of the song. The tape machine was manipulated to sound that way. It's actually Stevie and Lindsey's voices.

At any rate...I think my favorite songs on the album are: What's the World Coming Too, Murrow, Come, Peackeeper, Running Through the Garden, Destiny Rules and Bleed to Love Her. There plenty of stuff on there for you to enjoy. Plus the band is in there 50s now and you just ain't gonna hear them "cutting loose" much anymore otherwise they'll just sound like old people howling.

[wondergirl9847]

Originally posted by mylittledemon
On Say You Will, just for giggles, those are not children at the end of the song. The tape machine was manipulated to sound that way. It's actually Stevie and Lindsey's voices.

Lindsey has said that they are children....John's niece I believe it was and Mick's kids or something...crap, can't remember EXACTLY who..but it's been established that they ARE children.

[mylittledemon]

That's weird. When I bought the DVD-Audio and played it on my monitors it sounds just like the tape is sped up and you can hear the gradual pitch change in the vocals. He evidently still did some tweaking to the voices. It sounds like altered pitch to me, but hey I may be dead wrong.

[Sorcerer386]

Okay, the first thing you'll most likely find is that the single Say You Will is much different than the album version. However, that aside, you'll find that SYW is actually the LEAST representative song on the album. The album is actually much heavier, and SYW is kind of like the break from that. Plus, if you like Stevie belting in songs, then you'll definitely like Everybody Finds Out, Running through the Garden, Smile at You, and Illume. What's even better is it sounds like she's actually singing, not just wailing some note out. I'll talk about that in a second though. Basically, Say You Will does have a lot of songs sounding like older songs as face of glass mentioned, and it's a very good album, very Fleetwood Mac sounding. But, like I said, it's a heavy album without Christine's soft pop rock songs. I don't think I'd recommend the album to a NEW fan, but if you know some songs and are familiar with the different songwriters styles (which I imagine you are) then I'd say get it. I'll honestly say it will take a few listens to get into it (at least it took me a few), but ultimately you won't be disappointed.

I just want to touch on that thing about Stevie's wails at the end of songs like Angel and Stand Back, etc. Does anyone see a kind of Catch 22 happening with Stevie? Everyone was so annoyed that Stevie just screamed out parts of songs because she didn't know how to sing because she never took voice lessons. NOW, she has taken voice lessons, but because of that she's learned not to just scream, and now everyone wishes she would. The way she talked in tongues was not helpful to her voice...trust me, I've done it many times, and it hurts. I can understand WHY she did it due to the energy in the songs, but she knows better now. Anyway, just something I noticed, and thought I would add in case another thread pops up wondering why Stevie won't scream or speak in tongues anymore. It's something to think about.

[dissention]

Originally posted by mylittledemon
At any rate...I think my favorite songs on the album are: What's the World Coming Too, Murrow, Come, Peackeeper, Running Through the Garden, Destiny Rules and Bleed to Love Her. There plenty of stuff on there for you to enjoy. Plus the band is in there 50s now and you just ain't gonna hear them "cutting loose" much anymore otherwise they'll just sound like old people howling.

Fleetwood Mac really hasn't EVER put out an album where they cut loose.

IMO, they cut loose a helluva lot more than ever before on SYW. For Fleetwood Mac to put out songs of this caliber so late in their career is nothing short of amazing. You would never hear songs like Come, Murrow, RTTG, Everybody Finds Out, Smile At You on any other Fleetwood Mac album; this one ROCKS. Anyone who listens to it and says that they are soft-rock makes no sense to me. The old Mac was soft-rock; the new Mac is just plain rock.

To answer your question, Eric, the song Say You Will is not at all indicative of the album itself. That song is bright and cheery, but the album itself is *very* dark. You won't be let down at all if you're expecting some very out-there songs, some very hard rocking songs, and something completely different than anything else they've ever put out. If you're expecting lots of safe, soft-rock tunes like Dreams and Hold Me, you will be VERY disappointed. Just my opinion I hope you do buy it and enjoy it!

[gldstwmn]

Originally posted by mylittledemon
That's weird. When I bought the DVD-Audio and played it on my monitors it sounds just like the tape is sped up and you can hear the gradual pitch change in the vocals. He evidently still did some tweaking to the voices. It sounds like altered pitch to me, but hey I may be dead wrong.

I swore up and down those were manipualted voices but Lindsey has said they're Jessie Nicks, Molly McVie and Maddy (Dashut?).

[EricBliss12345]

The first couple times I heard it I thought it sounded like pitch-shifted Lindsey and Stevie too. Then when I heard the kids all loud on the end I thought it was them throughout the track. Regardless the choruses of the song have a really chipmunky effect to them. It's really irritating!

[Miranda]

I clearly hear both. First he manipulates the adult voices while bringing in the kiddie chorus gradually. Then he starts fading out the adult voices as the kids remain in the foreground. That's how I hear it.

SYW the album is just two solo albums slammed together with vocal backups by the opposing artist. Plain and simple. Very little of the traditional Mac production IMO. SYW, the single is probably the closest thing to a traditional Mac song on the album, but it's a far cry from the traditional Mac without the vocal harmonies and keyboard arrangements from Chris.

It's a good album with a lot of interesting aspects but it isn't like any other Mac album except maybe Tusk. That doesn't make it bad. It probably makes it better than if they had tried to create Mac material without Chris. Let's see if S&L ever co-write and produce new material in cooperation with one another, not in isolation just to merge onto an album they call FM for marketing purposes. If they ever create something original together, without Chris in the mix, that would be interesting to evaluate and compare!

[Wayne2]

Originally posted by face of glass

However, where the meat of the album lies are the intense songs. "Murrow" is a completely mutated blues, "Illume" is comparable to Greek drama, "Red Rover" goes nuttily hyperactive, "Come" surprises one with its sudden atmospheric shifts, "Smile At You" is a haunting chant and "Running Through The Garden" along with "Everybody Finds Out" have Stevie giving out some fiery performances.

I agree with you 100%.

From a marketing standpoint I think this album still has a lot to offer. In one interview Lindsey said he wanted to have a long album, so that the more ambitious tracks wouldn't be left out. I'm suprised they haven;t released any of the tracks you listed as singles. I think they could bring more fans to the mac