The Dance 13 years ago this week

[PenguinHead]

Originally Posted by AncientQueen

I hate that my english is so lousy, but I'll try anyway.

Total agreement with chiliD! And I would go further, the two solo artists don't even like each other, and transport that throughout the album, Stevie through her songs and Lindsey through the production of her songs. SYW is pissing contest and catfight, but not a group effort.

I've always loved the music of Christine, but after listening to SYW I felt that she never got enough credit for her work in the studio. That was criminally underappreciated.

Somehow she kept the egos in check and heavily influenced the sound towards a simplicity that SYW completely lacks.

Stevie sounds good when she is backed up but not when she is rushed by the music. Someone needs to keep the music laid back to give her space and time and to tell her to get a grip on the lyrics and song structures.

Lindsey appearantly needs to get grounded on a daily basis to keep him from ruining music by burying it under tons of effects. He sees himself as a production wizzard, when most of the time he is a hyperactive Rumpelstilzchen behind a mixing pult - with the results we hear.

And who else but Christine, weaponed with experience, ability, craftmanship, success and the cutting british humour I'm sure everyone desperately tried to avoid being target for could make the kids behave?

I've never missed her as much as when I listened to SYW and tried to like it. Hard work.

Your english and writing is infinately better than most who speak it as a first language!

[chiliD]

Originally Posted by PenguinHead

Your english and writing is infinately better than most who speak it as a first language!

And, to PROVE that point...it's "infinitely"

[AncientQueen]

Thank you! It took me an hour to form words into sentences that make sense. My vocabulary is not so bad, but syntax and grammar is difficult for me. And I'm pretty sure that when I reread, I'll find a ton of bugs.

[Villavic]

We are fans. We are more exigent, we deserve the best songs and not the usual oldies.

But.. They play for general people, who expect the usual hits. And also, they play for money. They look for sold out shows. They look for N.1 albums..
Or not? Well, see the THE DANCE sales and compare it to SYW sales... The numbers are obvious and Fleetwood Mac knows that.

Do you think, for example, that today, a tour based on full Tusk songs would be finnancially succesful? I really doubt it. Tusk album was not Dark side of the Moon. Waters or Gilmour could tour with just DSOTM songs. I think Fleetwood Mac can't.

Besides Stevie did changed a bit, include Beautiful Child in the SYW tour, Storms in the Unleashed, etc..

by the way, I don't write a perfect english either, if you see mistakes in my post, las disculpas del caso...

[chiliD]

Originally Posted by AncientQueen

Thank you! It took me an hour to form words into sentences that make sense. My vocabulary is not so bad, but syntax and grammar is difficult for me. And I'm pretty sure that when I reread, I'll find a ton of bugs.

Pretty much the same thing with me and German. I USED to speak fluently, but haven't had the opportunity to use it for so long, ich vergasse veile!

[AncientQueen]

Originally Posted by Villavic

But.. They play for general people, who expect the usual hits. And also, they play for money. They look for sold out shows. They look for N.1 albums..
Or not? Well, see the THE DANCE sales and compare it to SYW sales... The numbers are obvious and Fleetwood Mac knows that.

I would rather see the reasoning in their ebbing songwriting abilities. They lost quite some creativity, were less willing to give away their inner feelings in their songs and were probably pretty tired of the life style (the good news - no drugs ). So they made a choice to play it save. If the need to publish new material and the self confidence in that material would have been there, noone could have kept them from releasing new music. Especially Lindsey, who bragged on and on about his solo album in the making.

What they did was testing the waters with their three new songs. Judging from that material, only Christine was still able to write a hook.

[louielouie2000]

Originally Posted by AncientQueen

I hate that my english is so lousy, but I'll try anyway.

Total agreement with chiliD! And I would go further, the two solo artists don't even like each other, and transport that throughout the album, Stevie through her songs and Lindsey through the production of her songs. SYW is pissing contest and catfight, but not a group effort.

I've always loved the music of Christine, but after listening to SYW I felt that she never got enough credit for her work in the studio. That was criminally underappreciated.

Somehow she kept the egos in check and heavily influenced the sound towards a simplicity that SYW completely lacks.

Stevie sounds good when she is backed up but not when she is rushed by the music. Someone needs to keep the music laid back to give her space and time and to tell her to get a grip on the lyrics and song structures.

Lindsey appearantly needs to get grounded on a daily basis to keep him from ruining music by burying it under tons of effects. He sees himself as a production wizzard, when most of the time he is a hyperactive Rumpelstilzchen behind a mixing pult - with the results we hear.

And who else but Christine, weaponed with experience, ability, craftmanship, success and the cutting british humour I'm sure everyone desperately tried to avoid being target for could make the kids behave?

I've never missed her as much as when I listened to SYW and tried to like it. Hard work.

I could not have said it better myself. Thank you for taking the time to write all your feelings out!

It was the same story for me, too. It actually took Christine's absence to make me realize how she truly was the magic fairy dust of Fleetwood Mac. She is the piece that made all the other ones fit together. Fleetwood Mac has always been known for love and war... but with her gone, there is just a whole lot of war, and not much love.

[vivfox]

Originally Posted by louielouie2000

It actually took Christine's absence to make me realize how she truly was the magic fairy dust of Fleetwood Mac. She is the piece that made all the other ones fit together.

I first noticed when I saw the SYW live show.The sound was missing something and I realized it was lacking Christine.

[jbrownsjr]

Originally Posted by vivfox

I think the problem is Stevie, not Lindsey. Look at the setlist for his solo shows. They change AND he's not afraid to perform new music. Hers stay the same.

I'd have to agree with this.. back in the day when I saw her solo tours.. she'd always do dreams then outside the rain.. she was comfortable with patterns..

[Regina]

Back to the Dance...
I can't believe 13 years have passed. I didn't watch it when it was originally released. My recollections of Fleetwood Mac up until that point were pretty much all Stevie-centered. I remembered hearing Dreams during the summer when I was a teen. Constantly. On AM radio, yet. I thought it was "creepy." And I remembered seeing Stevie a year or two before the Dance and thinking that she didn't look that great and wondered (vaguely) what happened.

I came upon the Dance during Thanksgiving time during VH1's endless reruns. Came in on the exact same moment (during Silver Springs) each time I was channel surfing (Never get away, never get away...) One day, I stopped surfing. And that was that for me.

That discovery happened during a difficult time in my life. A time post-a great deal of loss. And FM (and the Dance, in particular) did sell me on the idea of new beginnings and life and its (you guessed it) Endless Cycles going round and round (and round and round some more). I affectionately make fun of some of it but, no matter what, the Mac will always be hugely responsible for a HUGE change in my attitude and my life (and, in a circuitous way, my current career).

And I'm very grateful for all of that.

Now, lets all hold hands and sing Kumbaya.

[David]

Originally Posted by AncientQueen

Musically, I appreciate Lindseys craftmanship on guitar, but he, old egomaniac he is, put his playing far in front of the mix that you cannot get to hear Christine's playing and that bugs me to no end, especially at "Don't stop" where she usually played a pretty mean piano, it was her song and he hijacked it. So I would have loved to have a more laid back version, with Lindsey cooling it and leaving some room to play for everyone.

It was a shame not to hear the "Don't Stop" of the early 1980s once again in 1997, with its muscular & propulsive groove. But I don't necessarily blame "The Dance" for that, & I don't blame Lindsey, either. I think the whole band had transformed into a different band years before "The Dance." When you listen to "Don't Stop" from the 1987 or 1990 world tours, you hear the same stodgy, sludgy arrangement; if anything, "The Dance" was a slight improvement by speeding the tempo just a smidge. Bummer that it was the totally wrong song to put the marching band on.

But Christine's impulse to put her sexy blues solo on it had died with the 1982 tour.

[vivfox]

Originally Posted by jbrownsjr

I'd have to agree with this.. back in the day when I saw her solo tours.. she'd always do dreams then outside the rain.. she was comfortable with patterns..

Actually is was Outside The Rain and then Dreams, not the other way around.

[TrueFaith77]

Originally Posted by Sahara

Yikes

I agree with you. I feel that the myth of two solo albums smooshed together was just lazy music criticism that caught on. I think it's the most cohesive Mac album since Tusk--and also the best.

[jbrownsjr]

Originally Posted by vivfox

Actually is was Outside The Rain and then Dreams, not the other way around.

you know viv.. i couldn't for the life of me remember... and i was bettin i had it backwards...

[Madelow]

Hello Skuncles & all: Boy, that's hard to believe. It feels like yesterday. Glad for the new fans it brought, and the revival of "Silver Springs". Makes me feel old, though. Best regards, Madelow.