Out of the Cradle 30th Anniversay

[DownOnRodeo]

Out of the Cradle--released in June 1992. Thirty years ago!
Happy 30th anniversay, OOTC.

At thirty years, it is probably Out of College and holding down a desk job, doing what it can and refusing to look down.

Hard to pick a favorite track out of such a first-rate collection, but which is yours?

Which ten tracks would you choose for your own shorter Cradle album?

Was this peak Lindsey? Or just one of his many turning points?

1. "Instrumental Introduction To:"
2. "Don't Look Down"
3. "Wrong"
4. "Countdown"
5. "All My Sorrows"
6. "Soul Drifter"
7. "Instrumental Introduction To"
8. "This Is the Time"
9. "You Do or You Don't"
10. "Street of Dreams"
11. "Spoken Introduction To"
12. "Surrender the Rain"
13. "Doing What I Can"
14. "Turn It On"
15. "This Nearly Was Mine"
16. "Say We'll Meet Again"

[HomerMcvie]

As I wrote a few posts ago, WHAT IF OOTC had been his first solo album? Would he have been a big solo star, rather than a SNL caricature?

And as always, Law And Order is one of my favorite all time albums. Love every note on it.

[jmn3]

Originally Posted by HomerMcvie

As I wrote a few posts ago, WHAT IF OOTC had been his first solo album? Would he have been a big solo star, rather than a SNL caricature?

And as always, Law And Order is one of my favorite all time albums. Love every note on it.

What if he released it sooner or even later? I feel like 1992 was the absolute worst time to release such an album with an intention to reignite any interest in Lindsey/FM. They were just too far gone at that point. It just seems like either 1988 or 1995 would have seen it have more success. I think it’s a great album and had a lot of potential commercial appeal with some strong singles but Fleetwood Mac and all associated acts were at about the lowest of popularity at that point in time.

[HomerMcvie]

Originally Posted by jmn3

What if he released it sooner or even later? I feel like 1992 was the absolute worst time to release such an album with an intention to reignite any interest in Lindsey/FM. They were just too far gone at that point. It just seems like either 1988 or 1995 would have seen it have more success. I think it’s a great album and had a lot of potential commercial appeal with some strong singles but Fleetwood Mac and all associated acts were at about the lowest of popularity at that point in time.

Good points. The early 90's are when I began listening to country. I didn't care for Pearl Jam, Nirvana, or grunge in general. So you're right, it wasn't a good time for it's release.

[On Ice]

Out of the Cradle is a fantastic album and has stood the test of time, still sounds fresh. Nearly every track is a stand out. There was a recent You_tuber- can't recall his name who chose Countdown as a lost potential hit single of the early 90's. Don't Look Down is still my fav, followed by Soul Drifter. With its timeless sound, it would've fit in perfectly around the time of the Dance, however, I believe the ship sailed long before that on his solo career and it would never have been the massive hit it deserved to be. Hard to believe, 30 years old though

[bwboy]

Originally Posted by On Ice

There was a recent You_tuber- can't recall his name who chose Countdown as a lost potential hit single of the early 90's. Don't Look Down is still my fav, followed by Soul Drifter.

Wasn’t Countdown the second single released from the album? There was even a video for it.

[jmn3]

Originally Posted by HomerMcvie

Good points. The early 90's are when I began listening to country. I didn't care for Pearl Jam, Nirvana, or grunge in general. So you're right, it wasn't a good time for it's release.

Fleetwood Mac in that post-Tango to pre-Dance time period is so weird. They were just so out of the mainstream. I was only 11 when OOTC was released so much of my knowledge is not exactly first hand from that time. But it’s not like all “legacy” acts were hated. The Stones had a massive resurgence with Steel Wheels in 1989, Petty was absolutely on fire releasing some of his most popular songs, Aerosmith was everywhere, I can never forget Cher in the fishnets on that battleship, a post-Waters Pink Floyd was touring all over the world to massive audiences…and then there’s Fleetwood Mac being about as uncool as possible.

OOTC just had no chance. If he released it sooner, closer to Tango and coming off that momentum, it would have sounded overly 80’s and not been nearly as timeless as it was. If it was released after The Dance there might have been some momentum and exposure but at that point it would have quickly faded into obscurity.

[bombaysaffires]

Originally Posted by HomerMcvie

As I wrote a few posts ago, WHAT IF OOTC had been his first solo album? Would he have been a big solo star, rather than a SNL caricature?

And as always, Law And Order is one of my favorite all time albums. Love every note on it.

Same here. This has always been my biggest "What if?" regarding his career.

As much as you love L&O, I found it disjointed and sorta like a collection of outtakes and random experiments. One review referred to him on that album as a something like a smirking brat, and one called him the 'enfant terrible' of the band. Probably not wrong. He was a bit of an incoherent d*ck on it, really. How he thought that would shake up the music biz in any way or make people appreciate his musical genius is still beyond me. Tusk, yes, L&O, no.

There's a maturity to OOTC that is severely lacking on L&O.

[HomerMcvie]

Originally Posted by bombaysaffires

Same here. This has always been my biggest "What if?" regarding his career.

As much as you love L&O, I found it disjointed and sorta like a collection of outtakes and random experiments. One review referred to him on that album as a something like a smirking brat, and one called him the 'enfant terrible' of the band. Probably not wrong. He was a bit of an incoherent d*ck on it, really. How he thought that would shake up the music biz in any way or make people appreciate his musical genius is still beyond me. Tusk, yes, L&O, no.

There's a maturity to OOTC that is severely lacking on L&O.

Tusk is disjointed. As I've said, at that point in my life they could really do no wrong. Tusk took a while to grow on me, but it finally did. If I could accept Tusk, L&O wasn't far behind it, in terms of being accepted.

And on every adjective you used above....none of them are incorrect. It's kind of amazing, the balls he had, to do all that. Especially if he thought the record buying public was going to be into all that weirdness. Wrong.

I guess the sales of Rumours gave him balls. But they were glass balls. He was wrong. The public wasn't going to buy WEIRD. And was left with being a caricature on SNL. I still cringe every time I see the Go Insane album cover.

And yet I still feel love every time(although it's a more private love, lol) I hear L&O. My high school heart races, hearing those songs, and singing along.

Welllll, it'sssssss a long long time, from May to September.......

[Villavic]

Originally Posted by bombaysaffires

Same here. This has always been my biggest "What if?" regarding his career.

Or what if Lindsey never joined the band to record Tango. OOTC would have been released in ~1987 and maybe had included Big Love, TITN, etc.

[SteveMacD]

It would have been better received had it been released in 88-89. A lot of it is interchangeable with his TITN songs, so it still felt pretty ‘80s. Musical sensibilities had moved on by that point. “This is the Time” is the only song that might have connected had it been released sooner. Otherwise, it felt a little too coffee house rock.

For me, OOTC exposes Lindsey’s limitations as an artist and how much his music benefited from having Mick and John playing behind him.

[David]

Originally Posted by SteveMacD

Musical sensibilities had moved on by that point.

Mine certainly had. I was spiritually ready for Lilith Fair. I eagerly embraced that retro-hippie Third Wave Feminist sound of Lilith Fair. I wanted to immerse myself in Joan Osborne, Shawn Colvin, Paula Cole, and Patty Griffin.

I did not want to hear Lindsey Buckingham’s high-tech gooky-fooky.

Thoughts?

[jbrownsjr]

Originally Posted by SteveMacD

It would have been better received had it been released in 88-89. A lot of it is interchangeable with his TITN songs, so it still felt pretty ‘80s. Musical sensibilities had moved on by that point. “This is the Time” is the only song that might have connected had it been released sooner. Otherwise, it felt a little too coffee house rock.

For me, OOTC exposes Lindsey’s limitations as an artist and how much his music benefited from having Mick and John playing behind him.

I agree 100%. Especially, when Lindsey does all the instruments (again). His bass playing is so boring. His keyboard work doesn't have that Christine funk and flare. And his percussion was as if he was giving a class in imitating a drum machine.

Also, the freshness of this album did get stale by waiting so long to release it. What was he waiting for? I do love a lot about this album, but it's slightly safer than the little amazing package that Go Insane is. Of course, IMO.

I've always wondered what his tunes would be like if he fronted a real band in the studio. I'd love a "rock" album from him.

[bombaysaffires]

The obvious singles on this album are Countdown and Soul Drifter.

While I love Don't Look Down, it's just NOT single material.

I really like Street of Dreams into Surrender the Rain. I think they are a great documentation of where his head was at in the years leading up to this album and the whole letting stuff go he had to work thru personally. I kinda wish he would do them back to back live like on the album. The interstitial talking bit reminds me of a Laurie Anderson sort of performance art piece.

Interesting that that was sort of the last time he worked on anything with Richard and their personal friendship pretty much ended as well.

I liked the imagery of the title Out of the Cradle because it speaks simultaneously to maturity as in just aging but also to the idea of getting out of FM and that whole 'rock star' thing which can be infantilizing.

[David]

Originally Posted by bombaysaffires

As much as you love L&O, I found it disjointed and sorta like a collection of outtakes and random experiments. One review referred to him on that album as a something like a smirking brat, and one called him the 'enfant terrible' of the band. Probably not wrong. He was a bit of an incoherent d*ck on it, really.

There's a maturity to OOTC that is severely lacking on L&O.

Yes, yes, I understand your point. That dickiness is exactly what I think works on the album because it explodes the bottle. Think of it in movie terms. Maybe like Marco Bellocchio — a bratty little dickhead genius — and his first feature, Fists in the Pocket. He is saying, “Up yours, Catholic Church!” and then making us laugh and shocking us at the same time. Nobody expects that approach. Thoughts?