Fleetwood Slack? Back? Wack?

Our guest posts from HIM continue today with this one - happy Monday!

You tell me what you think:

I mean, I think Fleetwood Mac are one of the best of that era (the post-Peter Green era, though I give him props for being the impetus for Judas Priest covering his song, "The Green Manalishi [With the Two Prong Crown]").

And the band is a carnival mirror of shifts and shades, regrets and reunions. All of them led by the odd fellow behind the kit, Mick Fleetwood. He strikes me as a genius and an odd duck. I think John McVie sticks around because he isn’t sure where else to go, or because he fears that Mick will hurl those darn balls at him.

I got to see them when they reunited for The Dance in the mid-90s. Great concert. Awesome vibe. The only thing I really noticed was this: Lindsey Buckingham sounded like a drowned cat, after spending some time in a Pet Cemetery. But it was cool seeing him up there, doing his thing, sorta.’

Fast forward to today: Fleetwood Mac remains a band. McVie (both of them) and Nicks are front and center. Fleetwood is back there, looking as odd as ever. And we have Neil Finn (Crowded House) and Mike Campbell (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers) filling in.

I think Finn sounds better than Buckingham has in a long, long time. But he has no high notes. Then again, when Buckingham tried to recapture a little bit of faded glory in recent years, it sounded like a FIAT had a flat tire. Campbell? I suspect he is happy to be high . . . on being in this band. It is great to see Nicks and McVie (the female one) on stage together. In particular, I have always thought that the latter was a seductive siren who unfavorably lost some glow in the shadow of Nicks. What?!?!? Yeah. What I just said.

But this sounds slow. It sounds as if the air was sucked out of it and then put back into it, only to be replaced by other air. It sounds, in short, like a band on life support.

Again, I love me some-non-original-members-Fleetwood Mac. They were easy listening that was anything but (a more interesting Eagles that crashed and burned on the basis of the band’s dynamics at any given point in time). This though? It seems like they want to take a nap. And perhaps that is for the best. You can never break the chains if you already dreamed that you did, decades ago.

Again, what do you think?

Comments

[Metalboy!]

I was fortunate enough to see Fleetwood Mac in 1978 off “Rumours” at The U.S. Naval Academy and a still full-throated Lindsay Buckingham in 1992 off “Out of the Cradle”, his third solo album, at Town Hall in NYC.

The shows, both of which I was fortunate enough to see point blank, were nothing short of phenomenal! Believe it or not, Buckingham’s solo performance was just as incredible as when I saw him with Fleetwood Mac fourteen years earlier.

At one point he had 5 guitarists playing on stage with him to flawlessly replicate the sound of some of the more multi-layered tracks from his repertoire. Needless to say, the experience was transcendent!

[crued]

I hate you Metalboy! ;)

[crued]

Please forgive me all. I Honestly don't wanna hijack this thread but I had a song that I have loved for a LONG time and I wanted the 2 music genius's to review it.
(HIM and Metalboy) Trust me if I had their personal e-mails I would go that route. its the "Gufs" "Smile" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFtTAHLzj88 again I'm sorry to tread on this post. If you two would like to respond my e-mail is gdunn47@yahoo.com or anyone else is welcome to respond.

[crued]

ok, guys, you know how YT is. this message is for the older clientele :) I have a song I really liked back then. Allyson wasn't born yet:D https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZSJ5np4JuU
yes that's/Todd Rundgren

[Him]

I can see the appeal of the Gufs, crued. But it is a bit too "Gin Blossoms" and "Matchbox" for me. Certainly catchy and in line with that sort of song-style. Just not my cup of tea.

Rundgren is a slippery fellow. I enjoy a lot of his stuff. I always thought his work on the New Cars gambit should have been great. But it wasn't. It was missing something. Funny enough, I always found Julian Cope to be a more enjoyable version of him (I know, they sound very little like each other). But they both took risks, both missed mainstream success, and both maintain loyal followings.

Thanks for sharing. Hijacking a thread isn't a bad thing if it gets us to listen to music!

[Metalboy!]

Whoa!, HIM! Gotta flag ya on Rundgren. Listen to “Something/Anything”, one of The Greatest Classic Rock Albums of All Time” and check out his canon of hits and shoulda been hits.

Plus his producer turns, having produced SO MANY classics albums and hits for SO MANY classic bands ... “We’re An American Band”, Grand Funk Railroad, “The New York Dolls” eponymous first album, Badfinger’s “Straight Up”, Meatloaf’s “Bat Out Of Hell”, XTC’s “Skylarking” and Cheap Trick’s “Next Position Please”, to name but a few.

A Multi-Instrumentalist, Songwriter, Singer and Producer, Todd Rundgren stands as one of the most legendary musical geniuses of our time.

[Him]

Like I said, I enjoy a lot of his stuff (wasn't really thinking about his production bona fides, which are, as Metalboy! points out, legion). But he does remind me of Cope. Can't help it. And I don't think he got mainstream success either. Many of his less talented peers are far better known. Come to think of it, The Cars are better known than he is! But I take your point, Metalboy!

[Metalboy!]

6 Top 40 Hits, “Hello, It’s Me” reaching #5, yet Rundgren shunned traditional hitmaking, opting for other musical explorations with his pursuits in prog rock as a member of the band Utopia.

He was also an inventor, having developed the first graphics tablet and many other inventions for studio recording and video technology.

We’ve been over this before. Success is not purely measured on name recognition. Rundgren cut his own path his way.

p.s. To your point, The New Cars was a dumb idea he should never have signed on for.

[Him]

I defer to you, Metalboy! No problem with that. I think, in some ways, we are actually speaking to the same point(s). So let me just say this: Rundgren is cool.

But now I am curious: have you listened to Julian Cope (solo or as a member of The Teardrop Explodes)? I would love to hear your thoughts on him.