The reason why Lindsey Buckingham called Fleetwood Mac the “anti-Eagles”
Part of what made Fleetwood Mac succeed was their dynamic behind the scenes. Without their personal struggles and triumphs, it’s likely that we wouldn’t have around half of their discography, the songs chronicling their romantic mishaps and affairs through the artistic communication of music. While this hugely set them apart from their musical counterparts, it wasn’t always seen as a major strength.
Although in today’s landscape, we generally appreciate the work of the Mac from a distance, back then, the hardships were often almost impossible to overcome. Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham penned a series of lyrics lashing out at one another, while Christine and John McVie embarked on seemingly unconventional routes when attempting to process their self-sabotaged divorce.
We can enjoy songs like ‘Dreams’ and ‘Go Your Own Way’ without knowing the extent of the backstory, but in reality, these tracks stem from something most of us live in fear of: heartbreak. While Buckingham channelled his anger and frustrations in more straightforward ways, Nicks opted for the poetic route, promising her former lover that she would forever haunt him with the love that he never had.
On top of this, drug and alcohol abuse didn’t exactly make matters any better or smooth sailing. In fact, as you might imagine, it significantly hindered the band member’s ability to get along and move past the bumps in the road that they had created in the first place. No one had a remedy for their downfalls, which, in a strange twist of fate, resulted in some of the greatest music of all time.
According to Buckingham, their inability to get along often resulted in magic – without it, it’s hard to believe that Fleetwood Mac would have ever enjoyed the same level of success. “We’re a moving target,” he told Rolling Stone.
He added: “We’re a group of people who, you could make the argument, don’t belong in the same band together. It’s the synergy of that that makes it work.”
Continuing, he likened the band to the “anti-Eagles” due to their stark contrasts – while the Eagles gelled well and were able to make music based on their strong dynamics, Fleetwood Mac soared due to their clashes. Unlike his group of mismatched geniuses, Eagles “always seem to know why they want it,” Buckingham said, adding that they’re “just the opposite. It’s kind of a political minefield out there”.
While it may have got fiery and vicious inside and outside of the studio, Fleetwood Mac worked well – no other band was able to exude passion and resilience as much as they did in their music, which speaks volumes about their commitment to the craft. Nicks, in particular, created a reputation as one of the most powerful women in music, partially due to her obvious talent but also because of her confidence in speaking the truth. While others may have shied away from such authenticity, she threw disgraced men under the bus and emerged victorious, ready for the next source of inspiration.
