Say You Will (2003) 


 

  1. What's the World Coming To
  2. Murrow Turning Over in His Grave
  3. Illume
  4. Thrown Down
  5. Miranda
  6. Red Rover
  7. Say You Will
  8. Peacekeeeper
  9. Come
  10.Smile at You
  11.Running Through the Garden
  12.Silver Girl
  13.Steal Your Heart Away
  14.Bleed to Love Her
  15.Everybody Finds Out
  16.Destiny Rules
  17.Say Goodbye
  18.Goodbye Baby

 

Fleetwood Mac have never been strangers to musical chairs. But Say You Will marks a particularly telling moment in the band’s long, labyrinthine journey: the fourth album in a row to feature a different lineup. The good news? Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks are back. The not-so-good news? Christine McVie is not. After years of alluding to her desire to quit touring—rumors that go back as far as the early ’70s—McVie finally made her exit official following The Dance tour. The result is an album that is frequently compelling, occasionally inspired, but also missing a crucial part of the band’s core chemistry.

As Fleetwood Mac albums go, this one is long. Very long. At 18 tracks and clocking in well over an hour, it’s even lengthier than Tusk, and that was a double album. Quantity isn’t the problem, though—there’s remarkably little outright filler. Instead, Say You Will plays more like two solo records shuffled together—one Buckingham, one Nicks—each artist charting their own creative path without much cross-pollination. Think The Beatles' White Album, minus the grudging harmonies.

Fortunately, the Buckingham half of the equation is as strong as it’s ever been. If anything, he’d only sharpened his skills with time. His signature fingerpicked guitar style remains in full display—complex, nimble, unmistakably his. Tracks like Red Rover, Miranda, and Say Goodbye are proof of an artist aging gracefully into his eccentricities, crafting songs that are both structurally adventurous and melodically grounded. More accessible cuts like Peacekeeper and What’s the World Coming To found a welcome home on radio, but even the weirder entries (Murrow Turning in His Grave, Come) pulse with conviction. Like Tango in the Night before it, this is Buckingham's album more than anyone else's.

Nicks, on the other hand, is harder to pin down. Her presence is welcome, of course—Fleetwood Mac without Stevie Nicks never quite feels like Fleetwood Mac—but her contributions here are less consistent. Say You Will (the song) is a highlight and arguably the most classically “Fleetwood Mac” track on the album. Silver Girl is another success, echoing the mystical softness of her earlier work. But elsewhere, she falters. Running Through the Garden and Thrown Down aren’t necessarily bad, but they lack the spark of her Rumours-era magic. By the time we reach Goodbye Baby, a somber and understated closer, one wonders if she knew it might be her last word on a Mac studio record. If so, it’s a fittingly wistful farewell.

What the album ultimately reveals is just how integral Christine McVie was to the band’s dynamic. Her absence is felt not just in voice but in tonal balance. She was the glue—the warm, steady middle ground between Buckingham’s meticulous mania and Nicks’ ethereal wanderings. With her gone, the center doesn’t quite hold. You miss the elegance, the lightness, the quiet confidence she brought to every album from Fleetwood Mac through Tango.

Still, Say You Will is far from a misfire. In fact, it’s a better album than anyone had a right to expect in 2003. After years of revolving doors and solo detours, this version of the band managed to create something bold, if a bit uneven. Fans embraced it, flaws and all, because it reminded them that, even fractured, Fleetwood Mac could still summon something special.

It remains to be seen whether this will be their last studio effort. But if it is, Say You Will ends things on a note that’s both fitting and poignant—one last conversation between Buckingham and Nicks, recorded in the absence of the one voice that always knew how to bridge the two.


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