They have no choice but to do a greatest hits tour...here's why..

[mike_nh]

If you go back and watch the destiny rules dvd stevie mentions that because of what
the music business is today they need to attract a much younger audinece. And the
young people today are not into classic rock like they once were. Fleetwood Mac tried
putting out a new album with say you will back in 03 but eventhough half of the songs on it were older ones written in the 70's it still didn't sell well enough in today's world.

Older groups sold well back in the day because radio played their songs. Today older groups
can't get their music played because people like carrie underwood,taylor swift.and the rap
stars are all trying to capture the top spot. I honestly think fleetwood mac knows that
with the way it is today,christine not being there,the ages they are,and the lack of
good songwriting this is the only way to keep their name out there.

So i really don't buy it when lindsey says that they are touring for the first time without a new cd because it's a good way to reconnect with the fans. Truth is this tour is only
about if this band can survive much longer.

If you look at the 2 songwriters in the band now..can you really say the song writing is as good as it once was?

Lindsey will never sell out a 20,000 seat arena on his own
And Stevie, If you look at the songs she has written since she came off of coke in 1986
Anything that was written post 1986 has not been too great. The songs of stevie's that
people love within the last 10 years have been songs that were written by her in the 70's
and have been put on newer albums.

So I think this tour is MUCH more then just a greatest hits tour. Time will tell.

[Hawkeye]

I disagree with about everything you wrote. First of all they older artists can't sell anymore is bull****. The Eagles and ACDC just sold millions of albums. Fleetwood Mac sucks at marketing.

Lindsey's not gonna sell out a 20,000 seat arena? well neither is Stevie or even Fleetwood Mac

My biggest disagreement is in that neither songwriter can write good songs anymore. Lindsey's output the last decade is the best batch of songs of his career (the songs scattered throughout GOS, UTS and SYW) outside of his 9 Tusk songs. And Stevie not having any good songs that aren't from the 70's. The title track from TISL maybe my favorite Stevie song of all time. And then there's FAll From Grace, Destiny Rules, Illume, Everybody Finds Out and a few others. Her danm problem isn't lack of good material, it's laziness.

[Madelow]

Hello Mike, Unfortunately, sad as it is, you've hit the nail on the head. I think Mick realizes it, too. The "Mick's Blues Band" is his musical future. Sure hope it works out! Best always, Madelow.

[Peestie]

Originally Posted by mike_nh

If you look at the 2 songwriters in the band now..can you really say the song writing is as good as it once was?

Lindsey will never sell out a 20,000 seat arena on his own
And Stevie, If you look at the songs she has written since she came off of coke in 1986
Anything that was written post 1986 has not been too great. The songs of stevie's that
people love within the last 10 years have been songs that were written by her in the 70's
and have been put on newer albums.

I think Lindsey's are just as good as anything he did in the 70's. I actually listen to his newest stuff (OoTC, SYW, UTS and GOS) more than I listen to his FM stuff from the 70s, perhaps with the exception of Tusk which gets equal listens. Sure, he'll not sell out a 20,000 arena on his own but he doesn't expect to and neither does anyone else. It doesn't mean his songs aren't as good as they once were.

As for Stevie... well, I don't have any of her solo albums but I think her songs on SYW are great. I can only compare to her FM stuff but it's certainly the best group of songs she's had since Tusk so I'm not ready to write her off as a songwriter just yet.

[mike_nh]

ok i'll admit that some of stevie's newer songs are ok but as far as the songs on tisl goes i think it could have been a much stronger album if sheryl crow didn't have as much control as she did. She produced half the album and i think thats where stevie's confoidence
started to suffer. She gave sheryl half the album,brought her out on tour,did tv with her,
and tried to get her as a member of fleetwood mac. If thats not a crutch then i have no clue what is. It kinda makes you wonder if stevie's songwriting ''magic'' was the drugs?

[mylittledemon]

I disagree too. Fleetwood Mac's marketing is terrible. They can still sell a million copies. Look at the Eagles album they put out in Walmart a year ago. It's possible. Fleetwood Mac, I daresay, is as popular if not MORE popular than the Eagles.

I think the problem with Fleetwood Mac is...The appeal of the band is that "core" group that was broken after The Dance. So, to fix the problem they need to make another album with Christine McVie. It needs to be a more cohesive CD...not like Say You Will. I love that album though. The band is fully aware that the money to be made is, of course, in touring. BIG money isn't to be made off making the record itself anymore.

I think if anything, Say You Will was made out of some form of integrity the band is trying to uphold. Especially Lindsey. He probably didn't want to tour without making an album...& it ended up being the mish mash that it is of his and Stevies tunes. To go out and tour with no album? It is just as a nostalgia fest. That's what this current tour feels like to me to some degree. And that's ok too.

[Villavic]

Don't confuse a great/good song with popular success. Yes, new songs won't be as popular as their 70s (and even 80s) song.

Seen as a pop band, there's only a certain time when you have the eyes and the ears and the minds of the young people (let's face it, they are the mass market). And one shouldn't try to push it, because it'll become wrong and the whole thing could collapse.

So I think what they are doing is ok. But if they want to release a new album, that's fine if we judge their work as the artists they are, not as commercial hits, cause probably they won't have a Rumours or Tango again.

And I say probably because you never know.. sometimes the rule is broken, like Cher did he heee

[fleetwoodtrick]

[QUOTE=mike_nh;800679]ok i'll admit that some of stevie's newer songs are ok but as far as the songs on tisl goes i think it could have been a much stronger album if sheryl crow didn't have as much control as she did. She produced half the album and i think thats where stevie's confoidence
started to suffer. She gave sheryl half the album,brought her out on tour,did tv with her,
and tried to get her as a member of fleetwood mac. If thats not a crutch then i have no clue what is. It kinda makes you wonder if stevie's songwriting ''magic'' was the drugs?[/QUOTE]


Excuse me? What about the Buckingham Nicks songs? I don't believe Stevie was on drugs then. Her voice was much too pure. Unless I'm totally wrong, I think you need to back up your opinions a little more.

~~~

The only thing that really matters is that FM does have fans. I am going to love Fleetwood Mac and Stevie Nicks's songs forever, no matter what happens to them. They also have a large obcessed fanbase. Why else would we all be here? Though I'm questioning your loyalty right now.

[wheart]

As far as song writing goes, I think Lindsey has only improved with age. His recent songs, starting with SYW and including his 2 recent solo works, are some of the best he's ever written IMO. Stevie's contibutions to SYW are also excellent but that's all she's released since then so it's hard to gauge her current songwriting talents. I think so many people relate to the FM songs of the 70's that it's difficult for them to embrace their current music. I do think that SYW was not properly marketed and was just too damn long for it's own good. With some editing, it could have been a great success. The fact that the Eagles sold 7 million copies of their latest CD from just one retailer shows that people are still interested in new music from older bands. Whatever their motivation behind this tour, I'm just glad they're hitting the road again!

[EveryHour]

It seems to me that not touring behind a new album takes away the pressure that comes with it. And maybe that's what Stevie and Lindsey need right now in order to see if the band has a future without Christine. Meaning, they need to simply work on having a better relationship and just have some fun together for a bit. We all know their ability to get along determines whether or not the band implodes at this point. And they obviously know that. They sat in a fragile position after Christine left, and with the "magical mediator" being gone, maybe they should have done what they're doing now first. It's a major mental, emotional and musical adjustment that perhaps should have been worked through more slowly. I love SYW, but I do wonder how it may have been different had things been done this way. But, of course, then I suppose they would have risked people saying that all they were capable of post-Christine was a Greatest Hits Tour. So I understand there was a need to "prove themselves" as well. You can't win.

I don't mind the tour sans new album. Tom Petty does it all the time, and no one complains because his show is great, and they still effin' rock. On this note, I will be disappointed if the band don't make the show something special. My biggest complaint is that they didn't give fans first stab at the front seats.

[wolfontherun]

Originally Posted by mike_nh

If you go back and watch the destiny rules dvd stevie mentions that because of what
the music business is today they need to attract a much younger audinece. And the
young people today are not into classic rock like they once were. Fleetwood Mac tried
putting out a new album with say you will back in 03 but eventhough half of the songs on it were older ones written in the 70's it still didn't sell well enough in today's world.

Older groups sold well back in the day because radio played their songs. Today older groups
can't get their music played because people like carrie underwood,taylor swift.and the rap
stars are all trying to capture the top spot. I honestly think fleetwood mac knows that
with the way it is today,christine not being there,the ages they are,and the lack of
good songwriting this is the only way to keep their name out there.

So i really don't buy it when lindsey says that they are touring for the first time without a new cd because it's a good way to reconnect with the fans. Truth is this tour is only
about if this band can survive much longer.

If you look at the 2 songwriters in the band now..can you really say the song writing is as good as it once was?

Lindsey will never sell out a 20,000 seat arena on his own
And Stevie, If you look at the songs she has written since she came off of coke in 1986
Anything that was written post 1986 has not been too great. The songs of stevie's that
people love within the last 10 years have been songs that were written by her in the 70's
and have been put on newer albums.

So I think this tour is MUCH more then just a greatest hits tour. Time will tell.

Thrown Down was a new song and just about as good as anything she has ever written.

No new music I believe has more to do with the internet and sharing. There is not enough money in new albums anymore for many many bands to motivate them.

[Villavic]

Originally Posted by wolfontherun

Thrown Down was a new song and just about as good as anything she has ever written.

.

Yes. If Thrown Down were released in the late 70s, it could have been in the top ten charts. But Fleetwood Mac is not a "hot" band anymore, though is a legendary one.

[bikerchic]

Originally Posted by wolfontherun

Thrown Down was a new song and just about as good as anything she has ever written.

Totally agree Everybody Finds Out is another great one. And Lindsey's songs on SYW are some of his best song writing. Say Goodbye is beautiful. His Under the Skin and Gift of Screws albums are his best writting to date. IMO. There is definately no shortage of good writting between these two.

[Phoenix]

Originally Posted by wolfontherun

Thrown Down was a new song and just about as good as anything she has ever written.

No new music I believe has more to do with the internet and sharing. There is not enough money in new albums anymore for many many bands to motivate them.

THEY NEED TO WAKE THE #%#$ UP AND REALIZE THAT THEY COULD MAKE MONEY WITH THE INTERNET. YA, MAYBE SOME MIGHT BE "SHARED" OR WHATEVER, BUT WITH ITUNES,AMAZON,WALMART.COM,RAPSODY, ECT. THERE ARE PLENTY OF FOLKS WHO ARE STILL BUYING MUSIC TOO. NO MORE LAZYASS EXCUSES. they could sell the album or songs on the official web site too.

ALSO! Thrown Down would have been a MUCH bigger song if it had been the lead single. not freekin peacekeeper.

[Lindsey Jr.]

No new album and bad marketing, it's true

But SN & LB have written good songs after '86