"A WORK IN PROGRESS": "EXTENDED PLAY" EP FLEETWOOD MAC

"EXTENDED PLAY"

FLEETWOOD MAC

Produced by Lindsey Buckingham and Mitchell Froom

"Without You" Produced by Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks

Released April 30, 2013

FLEETWOOD MAC:

Mick Fleetwood: Drums and Percussion

John McVie: Bass Guitar

Lindsey Buckingham: Lead and Backing Vocals, Guitars, Keyboards

Stevie Nicks: Lead and Backing Vocals, Keyboards

This past November, I was blessed beyond belief to witness a solo concert performance by Lindsey Buckingham in the intimate Barrymore Theater in Madison, WI. Besides being inside of my personal theater of choice  it struck me as Buckingham, a mere stone's throw away from me, possessed a creative vice that had been a part of my life for nearly all of my life. And there I was, watching and listening, as this one man with one guitar, no additional musicians and occasionally backed by a few skeletal beats, sculpted a rich, passionate performance that often surprised me with how much veritable force was produced. I felt blessed to be there because I knew that I was witnessing a master at work and in such close proximity to boot! (Incidentally, his solo tour was lovingly documented, and in full, upon the internet only album "One Man Show" released November 13, 2012) 

Occasionally during the performance, Buckingham spoke to the audience about his long conflicted feelings towards his role within Fleetwood Mac. He explained that he has not only now reconciled himself with his feelings, he has come to love the status of being involved with what he referred to as the "small machine" (his solo work) and the "big machine" (Fleetwood Mac) and how one essentially does not work without the other. Now that the "big machine" of the Big Mac is currently engaged in a new mega tour, the band in full has also returned to the studio to craft their first new recorded music in a hair over ten years. Where their last album "Say You Will" (released April 15, 2003) was, to my ears, a beautifully sprawling album, others, including Stevie Nicks herself, felt it to be over-long (frankly, has our time become so precious or our attention span so weary that we cannot devote 75 minutes to listen to music?). Nicks has long expressed that she wants to release any future material that was of much less duration, especially as the marketplace has shifted from albums to singles. This desire, of course, has led to another point of contention between herself and Buckingham, who wants to create, craft and release an entire new album. 

And so, we arrive with the "Extended Play" EP release from Fleetwood Mac and at first glance, the four new songs, which total a running time of about 17 minutes, it seems as if Nicks has gotten her way this time around. But, not so fast as Buckingham completely dominates the new material and has expressed in interviews that the songs represent "a work in progress." Regardless, I am just so, so happy to have Fleetwood Mac back and this band, in all of its incarnations and personnel changes since 1967, remains, for now and forever, one of my most beloved. "Extended Play" has essentially been on repeat in my car, as the songs are four vibrant selections re-confirming the band as a vital musical unit of musical and artistic integrity that is able to entertain magically and entrance wondrously. 

TRACK BY TRACK:

1. "SAD ANGEL" Music and Lyrics by Lindsey Buckingham

The EP begins with a blast of superb, shiny, shimmering pop with what I think is the best track of the set. Described by Buckingham as being a tale of the ever long contention between himself and Nicks, in this case, in regards of their respective wishes for Fleetwood Mac's future, the dark lyrics smartly belie the song's pop sheen. Nicks provides accompanying backing vocals that function as a sort of a specter, Buckingham's gorgeously layered guitar sonics envelop the song which is also propelled heroically by McVie and Fleetwood's legendary rhythm section, always the foundation and core of the band, no matter who is actually writing the songs. This is exactly the kind of track that I think all FM fans would want to hear after having not heard new music from the unit in so very long. They haven't missed a beat in any way.  

2. "WITHOUT YOU" Music and Lyrics by Stevie Nicks

Originally a discarded track from the sessions for the excellent "Buckingham Nicks" album (released September 1973), this acoustic based track is more folksy and certainly feels as if the musical alchemy contained within would not have happened if it didn't wait 40 yeas to be properly completed. Buckingham and Nicks sing lead vocals together and while they harmonize terrifically, you can hear the years within their voices, which does give the song a certain poignancy it may not have had otherwise. The acoustic guitars are crystalline yet for me, the MVP of the track is the unassuming John McVie, whose bass guitar playing is so smart, so melodic, so "McCartney-esque," that you realize that he is this song's secret weapon. I would love to hear future Fleetwood Mac music in this vein. 

3. "IT TAKES TIME" Music and Lyrics by Lindsey Buckingham

This is the EP's standout selection by far but not quite for the reasons you may be thinking. Remember, I already said I felt that "Sad Angel" is the best track here. "It Takes Time" is the most striking precisely because of its inclusion and for what the song does not actually contain. The song is a tender, lonely, mournful ballad filled with regret but is entirely played on piano, and with minimal synthetic strings as accompaniment. There are no guitars. McVie and Fleetwood are nowhere to be heard and surprisingly, neither is Nicks. 

While the song does recall longtime and departed Fleetwood Mac keyboardist Christine McVie's classic "Songbird" from the "Rumours" album (released February 4, 1977) and this is certainly not the first Fleetwood Mac to not feature either Mick Fleetwood or John McVie, it surprised me because the song feels like a track that would exist upon a full length album release and not as part of a small re-introduction to the band. Beyond that, who is playing the keyboards on this track anyway? Is it Nicks? Is it Buckingham? And if it is Buckingham, this would be a striking choice to include as he has never placed a piano ballad within any selections of his six solo albums. 

Part of Buckingham's struggle with the band has been his tendency to force music intended for his solo work into the latest band project. "Say You Will" contained many tracks he had been crafting over the years for himself and the "Tango In The Night" album (released April 13, 1987) is essentially a Buckingham solo project in all but name. Yet, since "Say You Will," he has been unusually prolific with his solo material, as he has released three solo albums, two live albums and has contributed music to films, most notably Cameron Crowe's "Elizabethtown" (2005) and Judd Apatow's "This Is 40" (2012). Now, as Buckingham has been more than creatively satisfied, it makes "It Takes Time," all the more a strange choice to have on this EP. Maybe this also points sings to any new directions Fleetwood Mac will undertake.

4. "MISS FANTASY" Music and Lyrics by Lindsey Buckingham

The final track on "Extended Play" is the type of dreamy, wistful pop that is Buckingham's specialty as well as the very type that is so difficult to produce with such efficiency and emotion. It is a song of longing, of unrequited desires and a constant search to reunite with someone, whether real or imagined or some hybrid, who is forever elusive. The harmony vocals just caress like the finest breeze, the guitar work is exemplary, and for my money, this track's MVP is Mick Fleetwood, as his crisp yet scrappy and loose drumming showcases exactly why he remains one of my personal favorite drummers. It was such a pleasure to get the feeling that we were hearing sticks hitting drum heads as well as those odd accents on the beats that happen to be a Fleetwood trademark, to my ears. No drum programming or live playing merged alongside drum loops here. It sounded like a man and his drum kit, playing along with blissful spontaneity. 

Yet again, there is this curiosity. Stevie Nicks sounds to be completely absent from this song as well as I did not detect her vocals in the backing vocals wash at all. While not unusual for a full length Fleetwood Mac album, this is yet another odd choice for the EP which serves as a "Hello" to old and potentially new fans after a decade of recorded silence. Stevie Nicks showed me once again why she is one of rock's greatest vocalists and gifted songwriters with her song "You Can't Fix This," which appears upon Dave Grohl's "Sound City: Real To Reel" project (released March 12, 2013), a selection that displayed her with 100% of her powers. It would be a shame to not tap into her creative energies to a greater degree on future Mac material.   

There you have it! Where these four songs will lead is anyone's guess, even for the band members I would gather as well. I think that the future looks very promising for these rock and roll veterans and while I would love to hold a brand new album in my hands, the prospect of occasional EP releases sounds very interesting as well. But whatever they choose to do, I am thankful that we do have "Extended Play." Fleetwood Mac, like Todd Rundgren and David Bowie, are musicians with a long, celebrated history and who have absolutely nothing to prove to anyone anymore. I hope that the desire to create and make the art of their musical visions remain firm, that they don't succumb to a life of endless mega tours with no new material, and that they sing and play to the best of their abilities for as long as they are able.

Fleetwood Mac is back and I believe that we are better for having them.