What If? - Mac Album Make Believe

TrueFaith77 · #1 03-31-2008, 03:32 PM

Put this together this weekend. Thought you might enjoy.

Stranger

A fan might ponder: What if the three main singers/songwriters of Fleetwood Mac -- Christine McVie, Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Nicks -- had assembled their most recent solo material for a Fleetwood Mac album instead? To answer that question, I created a playlist of material culled from Lindsey Buckingham's Under The Skin (2006), Christine McVie's In The Meantime (2004), Fleetwood Mac's Say You Will bonus tracks (2003), and Stevie Nicks' Trouble In Shangri-La (2001).

Yet, it turned out something more than just an iTunes playlist, more than a sampling from a restaurant's dessert platter.

Granted, this playlist is not unified by the "sound" of the famous rhythm section, harmonies, and Lindsey Buckingham production that define FLEETWOOD MAC. However, it proves that these three artists, forever tied by shared experiences, also maintain a common artistic impulse (united by history and an ideal). They still speak to each other in their songs. Rather than merely reflecting my taste or my interpretations, I am inspired to chart that ongoing communication (obscured by distinct projects) by remaining faithful to what Stevie called Lindsey's "multi-layered" approach to constructing an album's tracklist.

Wherever this playlist buckles, wherever corners are formed: a narrative completes, a dialogue begins. Christine's blues experience and perseverance (and pop instincts) still girder the Stevie-Lindsey myth and the Fleetwood Mac saga. (Who is the "Jack of Hearts" Christine calls out on "Liar"?) Drawn by the same gravitational pull, "Friend" (by Christine) and "Planets Of The Universe" (by Stevie) book-end the first half of the playlist with celestial imagery:

Friend: And the planets turn around / All alone / Lonely as the stars
Planets Of The Universe: And the planets of the universe / Go their way / Not astounded by the sun or the moon / Or by the day / You and I will simply disappear

This displays the felicitous pairing of Christine's concise mastery of metaphor and Stevie's more grandiose approach. Of course, the mysticism of Stevie's independence and passion ("Sorcerer" and "Planets Of The Universe") still resonates in the sensitivity of Lindsey's lonely desire to communicate ("Cast Away Dreams" and "Shut Us Down"). Through Lindsey's personal interpretations, both Donovan ("Try For The Sun") and Dylan ("Love Minus Zero/No Limit") articulate the significance of the love affair and artistic collaboration between this former California flower-child couple. By the end, all three artists attest to survival and healing. Communicated through gestures of gratitude and humility, it constitutes a genuine social vision. On Christine's "Givin It Back," she offers a gift to a friend/lover, to her former comrades, to the world.

I plucked the title for this playlist -- Stranger -- from a poignant Stevie lyric ("Fall From Grace"):

Wake up with a stranger
It's not something you plan
One night in a world of pain
And you finally understand
Not all the king's horses, not all the king's men
Could put it back together

This album is not real. But the love is.

Stranger

1. Friend - Christine McVie
2. Show You How - Lindsey Buckingham
3. Down On Rodeo - Lindsey Buckingham
4. Not Make Believe - Stevie Nicks w/ Fleetwood Mac
5. Anything Is Possible - Christine McVie
6. Try For The Sun - Lindsey Buckingham (written by Donovan Leitch)
7. Liar - Christine McVie
8. Cast Away Dreams - Lindsey Buckingham
9. Planets Of The Universe - Stevie Nicks
10. Sorcerer - Stevie Nicks
11. Shut Us Down - Lindsey Buckingham
12. So Sincere - Christine McVie
13. Love Minus Zero/No Limit - Lindsey Buckingham w/ Fleetwood Mac (written by Bob Dylan)
14. Love Is - Stevie Nicks
15. Bad Journey - Christine McVie
16. Fall From Grace - Stevie Nicks
17. Someone's Gotta Change Your Mind - Lindsey Buckingham
18. Givin It Back - Christine McVie

Betsy · #2 04-01-2008, 05:28 PM

Hmmm....you've challenged me to go pull out some old CD's and listen to the songs in that order.

I'll get back to you.

I bought Christine's In the Meantime, but never really cared for it... This will make me give it another listen. Ditto with Trouble in ShangriLa.

Sarah · #3 04-02-2008, 12:29 AM

Interesting!

And that's a nice playlist. But I would think it would be more appropriate to consider Lindsey's GOS songs for this sort of list, as the other UTS songs apparently came during the course of the SYW tour. Without the SYW album and tour processes, they might not have happened. Just food for thought.

**mylittledemon** · #4 04-02-2008, 12:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sarah

Interesting!

And that's a nice playlist. But I would think it would be more appropriate to consider Lindsey's GOS songs for this sort of list, as the other UTS songs apparently came during the course of the SYW tour. Without the SYW album and tour processes, they might not have happened. Just food for thought.

Agreed. "Make Believe" would've been a great album title though.

TrueFaith77 · #5 04-02-2008, 12:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Betsy

Hmmm....you've challenged me to go pull out some old CD's and listen to the songs in that order.

I'll get back to you.

I bought Christine's In the Meantime, but never really cared for it... This will make me give it another listen. Ditto with Trouble in ShangriLa.

Hope you find it enjoyable Betsy! I have mixed feelings about TISL, as well. I really think In The Meantime is pretty wonderful though. My impetus for this "playlist" actually was not to recreate a Mac album, but just because I wanted a sampling of my favorite, you know highlights of, Lindsey-Stevie-Christine solo stuff from this decade... and it turned into a different project when I organized the order. I realized listening to it: these people BELONG TOGETHER.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sarah

Interesting!

And that's a nice playlist. But I would think it would be more appropriate to consider Lindsey's GOS songs for this sort of list, as the other UTS songs apparently came during the course of the SYW tour. Without the SYW album and tour processes, they might not have happened. Just food for thought.

I was really curious to track their current work, as it was produced, and released to the public. I just used that as a parameter. This isn't meant as a replacement of the great SYW, which I think is a complete coherent album on its own. In fact, I would say that my primary impulse was that Lindsey's post-SYW songs sometimes deal with his current relationship with Stevie... and I think that's interesting up next to songs written during their BN days in the 70s but recorded in this decade. It's a fun -- heartbreaking (I feel like a Red Sox fan in Fever Pitch) -- game to play. Usually it's probably best left private, but I wanted to share this to show how their music changes its meaning (I think for the better) by being played next to each other. Now, these songs feel complete to me.