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Originally Posted by SteveMacD
The problem, though, is that they became too subservient to the "Rumours" material. During 1987 and 1990 tours, they glorified the past too much and stopped focusing on the band's future. They became a nostalgia act. And, it only got worse with the "Time" band. Their sets, which I enjoyed on one level, made getting beyond "Rumours" almost impossible. In short, I don’t think it was a bad idea to add new personnel so long as they let the new folks do their own music, with a few of the classics.
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I go all the way & say that they should have ignored all songs from the members who were gone. Every time the Time band performed an old Buckingham or Nicks or McVie classic, the little thought flitted through the brains of the audience: "Hey, where IS that person?"
Even the name of the band made that little thought flit through the brains of the audience for the 1994/95 shows. Sometimes that little thought was even vocalized. I should know. I heard it vocalized a few times. People eating their prime rib.
You have to re-create yourself if your most recognizable members split. Either luck is on your side & you manage to reinvent a "new" band with the same name to which the public flocks, or you flounder. Fleetwood Mac floundered. We all probably have different reasons as to why it floundered: I think it was bad logistical planning & a complete absence of forward thinking; others might think it was just bad luck & not really the fault of anyone in the band (like Mick & John).
I also maintain that it's next to impossible for a band to reinvent itself after a period of extreme popularity with new personnel if it doesn't have hit songs. The early '70s Fleetwood Macs did all right, but that was probably because they didn't have to combat that period of extreme popularity in their new home country. If they had stayed in England, they'd have faced the same problems that the 1994 Fleetwood Mac faced.
Maybe that was the answer: Fleetwood Mac should have moved to another country in 1994 where the Rumours group weren't stratospheric.