Lack of Productivity Makes Fleetwood Mac Irrelevent.

[DigYourGrave]

newyawka- Are you basically saying you want FM to sell out, to change the way they do things, to stop doing what they love doing (we all know Lindsey absolutely loves going solo for a few years at a time) and to basically try and be something they're not just so people like you can consider them relevant again in today's absolute shambles of a music industry??

Ok, we can all agree that Unleashed is nothing but a money making tour. But they're still enjoying it. And we the fans are enjoying it. Does that not make them relevant??

I'm actually quite confused now.

[newyawka]

Originally Posted by DigYourGrave

newyawka- Are you basically saying you want FM to sell out, to change the way they do things, to stop doing what they love doing (we all know Lindsey absolutely loves going solo for a few years at a time) and to basically try and be something they're not just so people like you can consider them relevant again in today's absolute shambles of a music industry??

Ok, we can all agree that Unleashed is nothing but a money making tour. But they're still enjoying it. And we the fans are enjoying it. Does that not make them relevant??

I'm actually quite confused now.

In a sense, yes, I want them to sell-out. But that doesn't mean they still can't make great music. They really just need to have themselves marketed better. What they have been doing lately is totally asinine.

[Peestie]

Originally Posted by trackaghost

So musicians should only continue to make music if it's "relevant"?

I'm also curious what you do think the best American album of the decade is.

Well that would be GOS or Merriweather Post Pavilion Well, I'd need to think harder to give a real answer but those are two great albums.

Originally Posted by newyawka

Although I don't think Lindsey will let his candle burn out.

I hope he doesn't! I want as many albums from his as possible. His last two albums have been great so there's not reason that he should stop now.

Originally Posted by newyawka

Also, Lindsey and Stevie need to quit with the childish arguments. Lindsey needs to step back from his whole experimental thing and create more commercial songs for Fleetwood Mac. If you ask me a lot of songs on Gift of Screws should have been Fleetwood Mac songs. "Did You Miss Me" should have been a Fleetwood Mac single, not a solo single

Nah, Lindsey should be experimenting all he wants. The more the better. I love his commercial songs but the experimental stuff is why he's interesting. I'm glad they put Murrow on SYW because it's one of the best tracks on the album and I'd have hated to have seen it replaced by SGCYM or DOR (and I adore DOR).


As for Lady Gaga's relevancy... I'm a student. I go to places they play music for students and a lot of it is what's in the charts at the minute. I have never heard a Lady Gaga song while I've been out, even at places where they play more dance music. I know that she's very popular at the minute but apparently she's not appealing to a large demographic of 18+ year olds over here. She's only "relevant" to certain groups, if relevancy equates to popularity. We're still waiting on a real definition.

[newyawka]

Originally Posted by Peestie

I hope he doesn't! I want as many albums from his as possible. His last two albums have been great so there's not reason that he should stop now.

You know what, really giving that some thought, I agree with you. You're right, his last two albums have been pretty good. I don't think he should stop. I recant my statement that he should.

[trackaghost]

Originally Posted by newyawka

Kanye West - 808s & Heartbreak
Lady GaGa - The Fame
Britney Spears - Circus
Evanescence - Fallen
John Mayer - Continuum

Well, those choices prove to me that we are on different planets musically. Wait unless you mean in a commercial sense...

Originally Posted by newyawka

I listed The Fame because it’s Lady GaGa’s first album and it already proved to be a commercial success. There are six singles for crying out loud! That’s pretty impressive.

I listed Circus because it demonstrates Britney Spears’ fantastic return to the music industry. It marked the fact that she’s still relevant because for a while there it was becoming debatable.

Oh, you do. Weird. Because when someone asks me, say, what the best Rilo Kiley album is I just say my favourite, I don't say what the most popular one is or the biggest selling. I wasn't asking what you thought the "most relevant" is under your definition, I was asking what you thought were the best.

Even so John Mayer relevant? You know his music is pretty much unknown outside of the States. I couldn't name one of his songs if you tied me up and tortured me for a song title.

Originally Posted by newyawka

I disagree. I think some Lady GaGa songs will become timeless. “Just Dance” being one of them. I hear dance songs from the 80’s still played on KTU all the time. Those songs are about twenty years old and I think twenty years from now we’ll still be hearing “Just Dance.”

That's pure assumption based on your own taste. How old are you anyway? I'm old enough to have seen many artists like Lady GaGa come and go. Believe me the worst thing about being trendy is that eventually you'll be untrendy.

Originally Posted by newyawka

In a sense, yes, I want them to sell-out. But that doesn't mean they still can't make great music. They really just need to have themselves marketed better. What they have been doing lately is totally asinine.

Well, you're for everything I'm against in music. If Fleetwood Mac started trying to appeal to "the youth" at the expense of their art, I'd be the first to stop listening and I'm pretty certain I'm not the only one.

[trackaghost]

Originally Posted by Peestie

Well that would be GOS or Merriweather Post Pavilion Well, I'd need to think harder to give a real answer but those are two great albums.

Those are both amazing albums, but as with a lot of newyawka's list, I think it's too early to say because they haven't been out very long. I remember when NME had The White Stripes' Elephant on its list of the greatest albums ever made before it even came out! Personally I'd say longevity and a certain timelessness plays a big part of what makes an album great.

[newyawka]

Originally Posted by trackaghost

Even so John Mayer relevant? You know his music is pretty much unknown outside of the States. I couldn't name one of his songs if you tied me up and tortured me for a song title.

How old are you anyway?

I couldn't care less if John Mayer's pretty much unknown outside of the States. I don't live outside of the States, I live in the States and therefore that fact doesn't matter.

I am twenty and loving every second of it.

[trackaghost]

Well, you just proved the point a lot of people have made in the thread perfectly: John Mayer is irrelevant to a lot of people the same age as you outside the States, but he's relevant to you. It can be pretty subjective.

[Peestie]

Originally Posted by trackaghost

Those are both amazing albums, but as with a lot of newyawka's list, I think it's too early to say because they haven't been out very long. I remember when NME had The White Stripes' Elephant on its list of the greatest albums ever made before it even came out! Personally I'd say longevity and a certain timelessness plays a big part of what makes an album great.

I know, they were just the first two albums that sprang to mind from this decade this they're the new ones I've listened to most over the last few months. I've not given any real thought to what the best of the decade would be. Any list would be hard to make until a decent way into the next decade so all the newer stuff has time to become as tested as the stuff that came out in '01.

Originally Posted by newyawka

I couldn't care less if John Mayer's pretty much unknown outside of the States. I don't live outside of the States, I live in the States and therefore that fact doesn't matter.

So you only have to be popular in the US to be relevant?

Trackie, I actually know someone who like John Mayer but she's the only person who's even heard of him that I know. I'd be in the same boat as you for song names. I do know he did a (crap) cover of Old Love by Eric Clapton live once so would that save me from torture?

[newyawka]

Originally Posted by trackaghost

Well, you just proved the point a lot of people have made in the thread perfectly: John Mayer is irrelevant to a lot of people the same age as you outside the States, but he's relevant to you. It can be pretty subjective.

He's not just relevant to me. He's relevant to millions of other people in the United States and probably a few outside, as well. What country do you come from anyway?

[Peestie]

Originally Posted by newyawka

He's not just relevant to me. He's relevant to millions of other people in the United States and probably a few outside, as well. What country do you come from anyway?

Relevant how? What do you mean when you say that?

[Nico]

newyawka: you can't be serious about those albums being the best of the past decade...surely you can't. Those albums are all fairly new and appear to be quite Top 40 radio-play. Is your opinion of relevancy based on what's popular on the radio or the Music Now albums only? I'm certainly not insinuating that any of those artists aren't relevant, but they're also the typical stuff that most of my younger cousins listen to because it's what's hyped at the moment...I mean, if this is what you want FM to aspire to rank amongst I'm afraid it isn't going to happen.

Their music is sublime and beautiful because it has a sound that is very much their own sound. I don't think I could ever imagine Lindsey or Stevie trying to make records like Britney Spears or Kanye West (gawd I hate him). But, really, what do you identify relevancy with? I'm just wondering...

Also: I really like John Mayer. His celebrity and persona I can do without, but his music is really quite beautiful and he has a lot of talent. However, I still don't understand how he's relevant...based on what? Because you like him? If a song is great, then that's all that matters to me. Never in my life have I put thought into what artists are relevant or not...unless we're talking about lyrics I'm just dumbfounded.

[trackaghost]

Originally Posted by Peestie

I know, they were just the first two albums that sprang to mind from this decade this they're the new ones I've listened to most over the last few months. I've not given any real thought to what the best of the decade would be. Any list would be hard to make until a decent way into the next decade so all the newer stuff has time to become as tested as the stuff that came out in '01.

I totally agree. But if I had to bet on it, I do think Merriweather Post Pavilion will be remembered as one of 2009's great albums. The funny thing is that it's not always the biggest selling, most popular albums that are the best remembered. I mean The Velvet Underground & Nico hardly sold anything at the time of its release but now any list of the best albums of 1967 or even the 60s would look stupid without it and it's made a huge cultural impact over the years too.

Originally Posted by Peestie

So you only have to be popular in the US to be relevant?

Trackie, I actually know someone who like John Mayer but she's the only person who's even heard of him that I know. I'd be in the same boat as you for song names. I do know he did a (crap) cover of Old Love by Eric Clapton live once so would that save me from torture?

I think so But that's actually saved me from future torture, so thank you. I've never met anyone who knows his music although he's become a little better known since he dated Jennifer Aniston but even then not that much.

[trackaghost]

Originally Posted by newyawka

He's not just relevant to me. He's relevant to millions of other people in the United States and probably a few outside, as well. What country do you come from anyway?

And he's irrelevant to millions more. I'm from the UK.

[Nico]

Originally Posted by trackaghost

I mean The Velvet Underground & Nico hardly sold anything at the time of its release but now any list of the best albums of 1967 or even the 60s would look stupid without it and it's made a huge cultural impact over the years too.

Thank you. When I think of my most favorite kind of music in the world, the Velvets will always be amongst the top of my list (ahem, name. Check.) That's why I'm confused about this relevancy thing...van Gogh was a nobody during his lifetime and then afterward a god. Would he miss that relevancy mark, then, because he didn't sell a ton of paintings during his lifetime/career? Is Vincent van Gogh irrelevant as well?