RUMOURS OF THEIR DEMISE ARE GREATLY EXAGGERATED
As mentioned in a previous Liner Notes issue, Fleetwood Mac have a new album
out. Say You Will was released Stateside two weeks ago, and while some major
stores have been selling import copies at £15, April 28th saw the album's
official availability in this country. Besides the standard 18-track CD,
there is also a limited edition doublepack in a special deluxe case, which
features an extra four tracks plus an enhanced section. Two of this quartet
of bonus songs are merely alternative recordings of Say You Will cuts, taken
from a recent AOL exclusive live performance/broadcast.
Contrary to claims in most reviews of the album, it is not in fact the band's
first in 15 years. Somewhere along the line, the Warner press office seems to
have got its wires crossed. Critics are clearly taking the statement at face
value without questioning its validity, since technically Fleetwood Mac not
only made a new album in 1990 - with only Lindsey Buckingham absent from the
classic 70s-era line-up, and two new members replacing him - but in 1995 as
well - Nicks having also jumped ship, with a little-known female singer
taking her place.
That Behind The Mask and Time - the records in question -
have been airbrushed out of Fleetwood Mac history is surprising in itself,
since the former was a UK chart-topper, but where the PR spiel really falls
down is in creating the impression that Say You Will is part of a seamless
trajectory that is only now picking up from Tango In The Night. It's not even
a return to the 5-piece responsible for their output between 1975 and 1987, as
Christine McVie is not part of this latest project. Otherwise the "first new
material for 15 years!" might almost be true as far as that particular
line-up is concerned... and if we overlook the poor maths (1987 was 16 years
ago, of course).
Artistically, Say You Will is a magnificent adult-pop album. The
Buckingham/Nicks axis is working the old magic once again, something not
really in evidence on the underrated Tango In The Night, which relied heavily
on Buckingham's genius to hold everything together while Nicks was in and out
of rehab. The lack of McVie's sugarcoated songsmithery is a boon for those
who feel Buckingham to be the band's creative linchpin. Those sweet but bland
songs such as Everywhere and Little Lies may have turned Tango In The Night
into the commercial monster it slowly became, but that album's true heart was
in the darker and complex tracks and Buckingham's overall vision. Say You
Will therefore is unlikely to sell in huge quantities, but reviews have been
extremely positive, citing it as the best Mac album in over 20 years.
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