Ersatz

A lot of ardent reviewers are hailing this as "a return to form" or even "one of their best" but that's simply not true unless you are referring to the post-1987 Fleetwood Mac. I'm a Fleetwood Mac fan from waaaayyyy back in the very early 1970s and consider Lindsey Buckingham, along with Mike Nesmith, an outstanding musician. I would also agree that much of Stevie Nicks' solo output in the 1980s was often superb, so I've established my credentials as "a hardcore fan" - hell, I bought Mick's early solo album "The Visitor" and STILL play it occasionally. But this album, after constant playing since its release, appears to suffer from being what people "think" Fleetwood Mac should sound like. Some of the tracks are undeniably good...but not excellent and, while one could usually pick up a Fleetwood Mac album pre-1987 and be guaranteed that almost all of it would be good, this has a number of tracks where Nicks especially seems to be "phoning it in" and where Buckingham's contribution is far less passionate and vivid than other work. It's been, dare I say it in light of earlier Dashut/Buckingham work, over-engineered and over-produced. It sounds, for all the world, as though it's been put together by a committee of music historians rather than musicians. It sounds CLICHED. As if someone has put together every Fleetwood Mac riff and hook from earlier material and assembled a paint by numbers Fleetwood Mac album. Prior to its release, I replayed constantly over several months all of the Fleetwood Mac team and solo material I own (not a lot of post-1987 stuff in there) and this album AS A WHOLE just doesn't stand up to comparison with that material. There ARE several good tracks, but it doesn't hang together as a good album overall and I suspect that the rapturous reception is very much due to the fact the there has been a lot of poor music released as 'Fleetwood Mac" since 1987. I hope that the forthcoming solo release by Buckingham doesn't have the same problems.

I'm with "For Mature Audiences Only" (see above)

After having seen VH1's making of "Say You Will" I recall Stevie saying: "we love Lindsay, we want him to have whatever he wants"
and I'm with her too. If you like the song "I go Insane" you're going to love "Come" (the hard rock guitar and drums are phenomenal!!!!) and "Miranda". I love Stevie too, cut my teeth on Belladonna, her "Smile at You" just floors me. This is their best since Tango in the Night.

An excellent album

One of the best albums Fleetwood Mac has recorded. I would say that this could be one of those rare records where none of the tracks can be singled out as the best or the worst-They're all great. It's amazing how this band has evolved and moved on over time, and this is a great example of that. "Say You Will" has gotten horrible reviews as a whole and those are reviews it doesn't deserve. I think many were disappointed by the sound sans Christine McVie, and hopefully that won't stop you from buying this CD. Be warned- This is NOT "Rumours" - but it is one of the best records Fleetwood Mac has put forth.