Nobody was more excited about the prospect of a new Fleetwood Mac album in 2003 than me, so even if the Mac put out a relatively "bad" album, it would still have been alright because it is "The Mac," as I have always known and loved them. But if they had put out a phenomenal album, and if they garnered a new generation of admirers as well as the commercial success they so richly deserve, I would have been downright ecstatic. That said, I am very happy if not exactly ecstatic about the new album.

New albums by superstar rock artists entering the fourth or fifth (as is the case with the Mac) decades of their careers are not entirely scarce. Bands like CSN(Y), Yes, Boston, and the Rolling Stones continue to issue [bad] albums that usually prove to do little more than to tarnish their bodies of work and provide excuses to go on nostalgia tours. Then there are the rarer veteran artists who continue to create relevant, challenging music- like Joni Mitchell, Steely Dan, Patti Smith, etc. With "Say You Will," I can rest assured that the Mac belongs in the latter category rather than the former. This newest album has drawn comparisons to the Mac's legendary 70's output such as "Rumours" or "Tusk." But those comparisons miss the point entirely. As brilliant as "Rumours" was, it was a by-product of the lite-FM California sound at the time. "Tusk" was Lindsey Buckingham's reaction to punk and new wave. I can say with confidence that "Say You Will" seems to exist in its own timespace that stands apart from everything they have done in the past. While obviously taking cues from contemporary music and the Mac formula of triumphs past, on "Say You Will" Lindsey pushes the envelope in terms of production and arrangement. There is not a producer/musician/songwriter today who can create the orchestra of guitars that Lindsey has painstakingly framed around each of these songs. And where past Mac efforts may have sounded a bit too sweet or overproduced, "Say You Will" contains enough of a raw edge and space that keeps it from being too comfortable.

While the production and sonic texture push the envelope musically, the material is sometimes not up to par. Where Lindsey has been a solid, if not particularly profound songwriter in the past, his newest compositions are either very generic ("Miranda") or very abstract/impressionistic. There are quirky moments that actually work, such as "Red Rover," which is a fragmented sketch of a song, but is salvaged by Lindsey's layered production and virtuoso guitar technique. But other songs like "Murrow..." seem self-indulgent and unfocused.

Stevie Nicks's contributions also run the gamut from solidly sublime ("Say You Will," "Thrown Down") to subpar ("Everybody Finds Out," "Silver Girl"). But Nicks does manage to knock it out of the ballpark completely with the propulsive 80's rocker "Running Through the Garden," which is perhaps the strongest Nicks vocal since her "Rock a Little" days. Another song that gets better upon repeated listening is "Destiny Rules," with its haunting backing vocal arrangements and sparse arrangement. In general, Nicks's voice seems to have rebounded somewhat from the years of drug abuse and smoking. But her croaky, sheepish lower register is problematic. As such, some of her songs could have benefitted from a key change a couple of full steps higher.

In summary, this is a full, challenging, satisfying effort from the Mac. It is certainly not their best effort as a group, but it is definitely superior to their recent solo outings. As the old saying goes, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. If there is any justice in the world, this album will attract a new generation of listeners and sell a bazillion copies. But the main hurdle to that is the fact that it is simply too bold for total mainstream acceptance and does not feature any duets with Justin Timberlake and Michelle Branch.

Hard core fans are gonna want the enhanced CD. No two ways about it. The bonus disc has enhanced video footage to be played on your computer. But the really cool stuff are the 4 bonus songs on the bonus disc. Love Minus Zero/No Limit is a Bob Dylan tune. When have you ever heard Lindsay Buckingham sing Dylan! Wow. This band is great. They have played together so long, that the interaction is effortless. They are also playing better than ever. Lindsay is soaring on guitar through out the CDs. Why doesn't he get more credit as a guitar god? Not Make Believe is an extra Stevie Nicks song. Some of her better writing and singing are on this album. I suppose her working stint with Sheryl Crow has paid off well. It really shows that Stevie has been working on her craft. Lindsay also draws the best out of her. Live versions of Peacekeeper and Say You Will round out the bonus disc. They were taped for a live AOL Session on Feb. 28th, 2003. Mick Fleetwood & John McVie prove yet again why they are one of the tightest and most complementary rhythm sections in all of rock. With these guys behind you, anyone would sound good. The dynamic of the band is a bit different from the past. Christine McVie is no longer part of the band, so all the songwriting and vocals are shared by Stevie & Lindsay. It makes for a very groovy album, full of surprises and rich textures of mood and sound. It is kinda like the feel of Buckingham/Nicks, but done by much more mature artists. It certainly IS Fleetwood Mac. You kinda don't notice that Christine is gone. This 18 track album is fantastic. Not a dud on the album. Now of course I just got it and I am still living with it, but I really do enjoy it. Lindsay orchestrates guitar part upon guitar part, like a modern day Brian Wilson. Any fan of Stevie, Lindsay or Fleetwood Mac, would be sure to enjoy this album. And go ahead and shell out for the enhanced edition. You'll be glad you did.

There has been some complaint that SAY YOU WILL doesn't sound like a typical Fleetwood Mac album. The irony, of course, is that there really isn't any such thing as a "typical" Fleetwood Mac album. With a history stretching back to the 1960s and line ups that have included Peter Green, Jeremy Spenser, Bob Welch, Billy Burnette and Rick Vito, the band has never really generated a consistent sound. And that has even been true of the "golden" line up of Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham, Christine McVie, John McVie, and Mick Fleetwood, whose work has run from the folk-hard rock fusion of their blockbuster RUMORS to the angst-ridden and anxious art rock of TUSK to the chime-like pop gloss of MIRAGE. So if you expect the same thing you've heard before, you're out of luck--and that's pretty much true regardless of which Fleetwood Mac albums you happen to be comparing at the moment.

SAY YOU WILL is easily the most edgy album the band has done since TUSK: at times grating, jarring, and incredibly dissonant, at times lyric and liquid and smooth. At it's best, it is Fleetwood Mac at their best; at it's worst, it's at least interesting. The CD is a bit slow to start, with a streak of four selections ("What's the World Coming To," "Murrow Turning Over In His Grave," "Illume," and "Throw Down") more interesting than actually enjoyable--but the Mac hits its stride with the fifth cut, "Miranda," and from there it never lets up, belting out one memorable selection after another.

But there's something missing here, and it's Christine McVie. Both Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks are what you might call extreme artists, each in their own way working in opposite directions, and left to their own devices they can edge toward the self-indulgent. And in her absence, it becomes very obvious that the cool edge Christine McVie brings to the band with her rain-spattered blue voice and meticulously crafted pop melodies has been the artistic bridge between the two extremes; her sound--be it at the keyboard or her graceful and perfectly controlled vocals--is sorely missed here; without it, the band seems to lack a center.

All of that said, and while SAY YOU WILL falls short of the mark in Christine McVie's absence, it is still a solid Fleetwood Mac album--and perhaps more than any other of their albums it is one that requires several listenings before you begin to develop a feel for what Lindsey, Stevie, John, and Mick are creating here. Recommended--but if you're expecting the Fleetwood Mac of RUMORS, you'll be just as disappointed by SAY YOU WILL as you probably were by TUSK. And Christine McVie, if you're reading this, we all need you back with the Mac!

--GFT (Amazon reviewer)--

Fleetwood Mac has had a long and varied history, with lineup changes, legendary classics, legendary 'flops', love triangles, blessed reunions, and internal disentigration. After 16 years, the "golden duo" of former lovers Nicks and Buckingham are reunited on this disc, with the unfortunate omission of Christine McVie.

However, even with her absence, the Mac makes one of their most solid later albums, and definitely the most experimental since 'Tusk' closed out the '70s. Buckingham is INVOLVED, and it's undeniable. He hasn't displayed this much passion probably since his early opus 'Tusk'. For evidence of this, check out the 'making of' dvd, 'Destiny Rules.'

A lot of other reviewers are remarking that this disc is good, but falls short of being an important FM work. I have to disagree, if for no other reason than the fact the group could come back together in their "original" lineup (not exactly, but the original 'Rumours' lineup at least) after a decade and a half and produce a solid, sturdy, meaningful album is a stunning feat in itself. The songs here are good, with Nicks providing some of her best pieces in years (and continuing on her 'Trouble In Shangri-La' sound) and Buckingham showing, yet again, why he is probably one of the most gifted (albeit perhaps somewhat underrated) musical geniuses of his time.

Originally his concept called for this to be a double-album, and while that would have been a hard sell, at a steep sale price, and a LOT of material for the first album in so many years, fans may have found it difficult to fully sink their teeth into such a glut of work all at once. Perhaps some of what wasn't included in 'Say You Will' will make it onto future records. Let's hope so. The trimmed down version, at 18 tracks, is a beast of an album, and while stylistically "uneven" (I prefer diverse) it WORKS.

The tracks are strong, some graceful, some anxious, some thought-provoking...and there is often the familiar pang of Nicks' and Buckingham's former love affair, most notably when, on "Thrown Down", she sings, "You've shaken your faith in me, no...you've shaken my faith in everything else...a decision no one makes, and now you're going home...Faith is a hard thing to hold onto, something inside you says 'I don't have to'...you're not like other people, you do what you want to..."

Wow, you can FEEL that sting, after all these years, and feel the kind of deep bond, pain, and anguish that would provoke such songwriting, so obviously about Buckingham, some two decades after their breakup. This is the stuff Mac is good at, blisteringly solid music, experimentation, mysticism, and mood. One of my favorite Mac albums, without a doubt.

"Rumors" was an unforseen fluke, a leviathan of a record that steamrolled past all expectations. We can't compare everything they release to that...that would be like comparing every Prince song to 'Little Red Corvette' - it was a different time, a different era, a different world, and these people have 30 years more experience and are STILL producing music better than pretty much anything on corporate radio today. And THAT, my friends, is a triumph, and that is why FM are one of rock's most remarkable and storied bands. This is the stuff of (and by) legends.

First of all the limited edition enhanced cd is amazing, a hard booklet with pages and pages of rare photos, lyrics, fold outs, and a collectible 11x14 poster of a darkroom contact of the band at Lindsey's house recording.

It's amazing to see these people getting older, so glad they are all still around, and to hear what they've come up with next.

As well, this cd is "enhanced" and when you put it in your computer it pulls up a special page with links to video footage of the band members working out songs, singing, playing, etc. You also get a bonus cd of bonus tracks. The limited edition is a must for any Mac fan who collects.

Now on to the music! I'm going to start at the very end of the cd with Stevie's song "Good-bye Baby". I have been a Stevie fan for many years and I don' think I've ever heard her voice sound more tender than on this song, she sings it as if she's singing a lullabye. I can almost see her quietly leaning in to be careful with her voice, delicate, not to blast someone out of the water with it's power or volume.

"What's the world coming to" is a young sounding Lindsey song. I never appreciate Lindsey's influence unless he's gone, he's easy to take for granted. This song is catchy and full of life.

On "Murrow turning over in his grave" Lindsey uses his engineering genius. The vocals and guitars on this are very layered and complex. I mostly like how he does the background vocals "ba ba ba ba baaaa" real fast and low with his guitar ticking like a tick tock clock in the background in that unmistakable Lindsey sound/way on he can do. This song almost has a Beetles feel to it, a bit acid rock, a bit pop, then the end turns into a Lindsey jam session of the clearest variety.

"Illume 9/11" by Stevie starts off with Lindsey's fantastic acoustic strums then gets layered with his many sounds, you can almost see Mick on the drums keeping this smooth basa nova rhythm, and Stevie weaves in and out all those sounds. John's bass maintains a great dance beat. Ethereal Stevie.

"Thrown Down" starts with Lindsey's muffled rapid guitar with an echo, again, only the way Lindsey can produce that sound, the unmistakable Fleetwood Mac guitar sound that so many try to copy but can't. This song resembles "Gypsy" a bit but it's fresh and new. It's fun just to hear Lindsey's guitar and the different sounds they layer. Stevie, the poet of our era does not fail to deliver. Mick's drum lines bore me on this particular song but it works.

"Miranda" is Buckingham from the long lost years of Buckingham/Nicks, I swear I hear "sunflowers and your face fascinate me" then I hear his music piece as well as "Stephanie" in his guitar. Mick is livelier on this song. It's interesting how Mick's drums can sound like flat cans and I still like it, then he spikes them up into this deep dark mellow depth of sound. You'll enjoy the varied sounds on this especially the "phone" sound of Stevie and Lindsey singing.

Red Rover is classic Lindsey again with his guitar sounding almost like a mandolin, a muffled one, and his voice weaves in and out in that strange way only he knows what he's trying to sound like and the end result is something you like. This song has a very English country side sound to it.

"Say You will" of course again is classic Mac. "Something in you brought out something in me, that I've never been since" Stevie writes and sings in a much missed era of 70's acoustic rock sound.

I will stop here because I don't want to ruin the rest for anyone.

I'm just glad the Mac is still ticking along and that everyone is still writing and singing and creating. I miss Christine, her smooth vocals and keyboards will be missed, but it is fun to see Buckingham/Nicks come full circle in their own special brand of sound they created when they were so young so many years ago, it's still there, very much fresh and new and young.

"Go on save yourself, leave the key here, you love someone else, I shouldn't be here" is the Stevie poem I'll end with.