Corporate Rock

[redbird]

To me "corporate rock" pretty much means "arena rock" and Fleetwood Mac's sound never quite got there, though you can see the trajectory of their sound nearing it. Stevie got closer, I'd agree.

Maybe it's because Fleetwood Mac made their mark before the term did. They have been so many things over time, so why focus on the period in which they sound the most like Journey or Foreigner? It wasn't their hallmark sound IMO. The Rumours line-up made its mark as a post-60's band, which is not what is meant by "corporate rock" as I see it. The band may have shared the lifestyle because of the money but they evolved from a blues background meeting a folk rock background. They were soft rock, which did get commercial, but to me "corporate rock" and "arena rock" had a hard rock ancestry, influence from metal and glam.It's hard to imagine them doing a song like "Hot Blooded", and you can admit that "Over My Head" and "Little Lies" and so on are designed to be radio hits, but they would still never be Styx songs.

I have to ask though, did critics really love them? Always? I feel like there surely was a lot of critical dismay over what was once Peter Green's band churning out slick little top ten ditties. They look okay in retrospect because they could have been so much worse, and the songwriting and more grounded musical influences were still there, there was enough cream to rise to the top, but I can't believe that they were never dismissed as lightweight.