Almost a year later....thoughts of the new band.

[mitzo]

Originally Posted by SteveMacD

That’s what led to Lindsey Buckingham/Christine McVie. It was Christine and Lindsey bouncing ideas off each other with the intention of making a Fleetwood Mac album. Unless one of members is Stevie, look for a McVie & Finn album sometime next year (which I’d be fine with).

Stevie can cowrite with Mike.

[SteveMacD]

Originally Posted by mitzo

Stevie can cowrite with Mike.

She has and can, but will she? She could have picked a couple of covers for LBCM and had that be a Fleetwood Mac release.

[BigAl84]

IF Stevie will contribute, it will be for two sole reasons. It will be yet another Stab at lindsey and because Mike Campbell is in the same camp as Dave Stewart, a yes-man who will promise to not challenge Stevie on any level musically or in songwriting. Somebody she has known forever that will be allowed to be treated as a puppet.

I can't see Stevie emailing anyone anything since it's her devote belief that all things digital are evil (except for that thing that makes her vocals in tune in the studio ha ha ha).

I am curious how much of this is a Mike and Neil collaboration or a Neil and Christine collaboration. I suppose they might piss away another year waiting for somebody to decide if they want to participate or not.

Im sure Irving will have to chime in with how much potential money they will either lose or potentially make by recording new material. Can they lock in a cracker barrel or walmart exclusive deal? Odds are they will be persuaded to do another tour instead.

Elle said it best - so many fans have been burned by all the hopeful and wishful thinking around recording anything as "Fleetwood Mac" between 2009-2016. The biggest miracle about Buckingham Mcvie was that it was somehow allowed to be released and somehow they toured behind it. In the end, it caused a ton of grief for Lindsey and his eventual departure.

[BigAl84]

I also see Neil Finn as the first to say goodbye. He is very active with his own career and a very creative guy. I honestly can't see him tip toeing around FM politics and putting years aside for more greatest hits tours and Irving Azof breathing down his neck.

Mike will hang in there as some dumb obligation to Stevie. Nothing more. He too has his own thing going on. I just see Mike hanging on longer due to his friendship with Stevie.

[SteveMacD]

Originally Posted by BigAl84

I also see Neil Finn as the first to say goodbye. He is very active with his own career and a very creative guy. I honestly can't see him tip toeing around FM politics and putting years aside for more greatest hits tours and Irving Azof breathing down his neck.

Mike will hang in there as some dumb obligation to Stevie. Nothing more. He too has his own thing going on. I just see Mike hanging on longer due to his friendship with Stevie.

Funny, I see just the opposite. Neil seems very excited in the very recent press he’s done about being in Fleetwood Mac. He seems the type who can balance multiple projects simultaneously.

[Storms123]

Originally Posted by SteveMacD

Funny, I see just the opposite. Neil seems very excited in the very recent press he’s done about being in Fleetwood Mac. He seems the type who can balance multiple projects simultaneously.

I agree with this. MC doesn't seem as "all in" to FM and continuing on. I understand what he said in the interview was quite to the contrary, but in reading the article a few times, I sort of inferred it. He's got the Dirty Knobs and has said the Heartbreakers will tour/regroup (I forget his verbatim there). As many have said before, FM doesn't have time on it's side, so if they don't get their post tour "Plans" together, I could absolutely see MC bowing out (and NF too)

[David]

Originally Posted by Storms123

I agree with this. MC doesn't seem as "all in" to FM and continuing on. I understand what he said in the interview was quite to the contrary, but in reading the article a few times, I sort of inferred it. He's got the Dirty Knobs and has said the Heartbreakers will tour/regroup (I forget his verbatim there). As many have said before, FM doesn't have time on it's side, so if they don't get their post tour "Plans" together, I could absolutely see MC bowing out (and NF too)

I agree with your thoughts.

Fleetwood's 2019 tour is pretty piddly. They've done one or two shows so far, correct? And according to the website, here's what's on the tour docket from now through September:

• Ten days in February
• Thirteen days in March
• Six days in April
• May OFF
• Six days in June
• July OFF
• Seven days in August
• Eight days in September

That's about fifty shows. Nice work if you can get it. A nine-month tour of fifty shows. Pretty piddly. It doesn't exactly bespeak a band firing on all cylinders. Maybe it's supposed to be a part-time thing for the members at this point.

I predict that Fleetwood Mac will continue to tour at this anemic pace for another year tops. The new gents will move on, Stevie will go back to the other side of the mirror, Mick will foment some new financial venture and maybe a club or a pickup band, and Chris and John will be left standing on an empty rehearsal stage muttering. There's hardly any juice in the warhorse. The idea of a flowering of creativity—a renaissance of new music and new plans—is silly. This group is just an old cash cow and the milk is pretty thin. It's too bad because they might have tried some very cool new things this past year.

On the other hand, this is better than how most rock groups die.

[tothegypsy]

Originally Posted by BigAl84

IF Stevie will contribute, it will be for two sole reasons. It will be yet another Stab at lindsey and because Mike Campbell is in the same camp as Dave Stewart, a yes-man who will promise to not challenge Stevie on any level musically or in songwriting.

To play devil's advocate, if the production on "Illume" and "Smile At You" from Say You Will are the sounds of Stevie being challenged, then I'd rather she have a yes-man.

[BigAl84]

Originally Posted by tothegypsy

To play devil's advocate, if the production on "Illume" and "Smile At You" from Say You Will are the sounds of Stevie being challenged, then I'd rather she have a yes-man.

LOL...that is the most tired, cliche argument that folks love to use here...let's use the good old SYW reference because Stevie is the absolute victim of Lindsey Buckingham. Nah...she didn't sign off on the vocal take or anything pertaining to the song. somehow people think Lindsey did whatever to her songs with her hands tied. She agreed to who did the mixing and final playback. It's not all Lindsey as much as it's convenient to pull that cop out argument. I'm not a fan of how that album was mastered at the end of the day nor some of the choices made either.

I won't even go into her 24 K gold album. It speaks for itself. She sounds like she smoked three packs of kools before laying vocals down for the dealer and it sounds like exactly what it is. A bunch of talented studio musicians told to stick exactly to the demo which wasn't great material to begin with.

With challenges comes some failures. Treading water brings mediocrity.

[BigAl84]

Originally Posted by tothegypsy

To play devil's advocate, if the production on "Illume" and "Smile At You" from Say You Will are the sounds of Stevie being challenged, then I'd rather she have a yes-man.

To play devils advocate...everyone knows how well Gypsy turned out during the Bella Donna sessions (to this day Wachtel nor Campbell can even play the parts correctly)..but sure, lets continue to talk about Lindsey as a poor producer. He didn't have any involvement in the production of Dreams, Rhiannon or Gypsy. Those were just minor hits for Stevie..... Surely her personification and notoriety was defined by Wildheart and Gate & Garden. I freakin' forgot.

[SteveMacD]

Originally Posted by BigAl84

To play devils advocate...everyone knows how well Gypsy turned out during the Bella Donna sessions (to this day Wachtel nor Campbell can even play the parts correctly)..but sure, lets continue to talk about Lindsey as a poor producer. He didn't have any involvement in the production of Dreams, Rhiannon or Gypsy. Those were just minor hits for Stevie..... Surely her personification and notoriety was defined by Wildheart and Gate & Garden. I freakin' forgot.

Yeah, I heard the Fleetwood Mac version of Edge of Seventeen, and the genius couldn’t hold a candle to Waddy. They all have different strengths as guitarists. Vito is still the best player, in terms of technique and versatility, they ever had. Not the most original…

[David]

Originally Posted by SteveMacD

Yeah, I heard the Fleetwood Mac version of Edge of Seventeen, and the genius couldn’t hold a candle to Waddy.

You didn't hear a "version." You heard a 1982 tour rehearsal with a few seconds of the Macsters clowning around with Stevie's big hit. Taking nothing away from Waddy here, whose sixteenth notes are classic. But Fleetwood Mac never genuinely tracked that song. Frankly, I'd have trouble thinking of anything more remote from their style than Edge. Had she brought them that song for a Mac album, it would probably be unrecognizable from what it is.

[BigAl84]

Originally Posted by SteveMacD

Yeah, I heard the Fleetwood Mac version of Edge of Seventeen, and the genius couldn’t hold a candle to Waddy. They all have different strengths as guitarists. Vito is still the best player, in terms of technique and versatility, they ever had. Not the most original…

Yeah and there is a mile long line of guitarists that sound just like Vito. Nothing against him at all. Yeah he's probably the best technical player and musician, but I could pick Lindsey's style and tone out a mile away.

Nice try on the Edge of 17 argument. That was audio from the Mirage Tour rehearsals and they were goofing around off the cuff. You're comparing apple's to oranges.

[secret love]

Originally Posted by SteveMacD

Yeah, I heard the Fleetwood Mac version of Edge of Seventeen, and the genius couldn’t hold a candle to Waddy. They all have different strengths as guitarists. Vito is still the best player, in terms of technique and versatility, they ever had. Not the most original…

Agreed, Vito is brilliant.
Disagreed, Waddy cannot produce near as well as Lindsey.

But Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham co-producing Without You had AMAZING results.

[tothegypsy]

Originally Posted by BigAl84

To play devils advocate...everyone knows how well Gypsy turned out during the Bella Donna sessions (to this day Wachtel nor Campbell can even play the parts correctly)..but sure, lets continue to talk about Lindsey as a poor producer. He didn't have any involvement in the production of Dreams, Rhiannon or Gypsy. Those were just minor hits for Stevie..... Surely her personification and notoriety was defined by Wildheart and Gate & Garden. I freakin' forgot.

I don't doubt that he was once her best producer, I'm just not confident that he is *still* her best producer. That's why I referred to examples from 2003, rather than the wonderful "Gypsy" from 1982. I suppose the most recent song that you could judge is "Without You" from 2013.