Tango in the Night POLL (Fleetwood Mac)

But never as a full band, right?

Playing Big Love as a full band would just obfuscate the insane skill level required to play that guitar part and then manage to sing on top of it.

The version on Tango In The Night was such a missed opportunity. If he had recorded it in the mode of "Never Going Back Again", it would have been a classic. But it was 1987, not 1977, so instead we got the porn backing vocals and the miami vice production.

the og big love is great, how can you float "miami vice production" as a criticism and listen to the rest of the album

i'd like to suggest instead that it's lindsey's horny version of "running up that hill"

fair point, i suppose i do have the same issue with the rest of the album.

big love just feels different because of the missed opportunity. i remember when that song came out, and I just didn't connect with it all -- the "ugh/ahh" part at the end was really the defining element of the song. then several decades later, i heard a version of lindsay performing it solo, and it was stunning. i really couldn't believe it was the same song. or rather couldn't believe that the song he was playing was buried somewhere in the album version.

"running up that hill" is already v v horny
xp

but "big love" is def kate bushy and why i think it is dope af

can we ban "Miami Vice production" as criticism and phrase?

i'd like to suggest instead that it's lindsey's horny version of "running up that hill"

― princess of hell (BradNelson),

I'd long thought "Caroline" was but otm

my god

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tK3M6lBHA00

can we ban "Miami Vice production" as criticism and phrase?

― morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, August 2, 2018 12:43 PM (twelve minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

no, if anything it should be projected on the walls of every recording studio as a deterrent

feel free to substitute "VHS cover meme"

alfred, thanks for the tip on little lies extended mix - have to hear that

The term "Miami Vice production" as a catch-all name for mid-to-late '80s production trends is useless, anyway.

Miami Vice used Bryan Ferry and Andy Taylor in its soundtracks: two distinct hair visions for the eighties.

I mean sure, you can tell that Tango in the Night, No Jacket Required, Born in the U.S.A. and Songs from the Big Chair all came out in the same decade, but the productions are still different from one another.

Also, I can't believe we're in 2018 and we're still seeing '80s records being criticised for sounding like records that were made in the '80s.

I was thinking more of modern-day records that strive to sound dated

Yet it's perfectly acceptable for Guided by Voices to record on 4-tracks and The White Stripes to record on old analogue equipment?

"Dated" isn't a pejorative, btw.

it is a sound I find highly unpleasant to listen to, how's that

That's better!

Framing "Big Love" as a missed opportunity presupposes that the live version had some notional existence at the time the original was composed - is there any evidence of that? I agree that Buckingham's live version is spellbinding, when I saw them live a few years ago it was the one moment of the show that gave me a chill even though I knew what was coming. But I've always assumed it was something that Buckingham developed after the fact. I'm just happy both versions of the song exist.

I don't think the studio version of 'Big Love' was a missed opportunity at all. The live version is indeed great, but the studio version still holds up.

Obviously the other thing about Tango is that it's a front to back production masterpiece that feels totally one of a kind and cohesive* so the idea of wanting to swap out some of its rococo excesses and make it less "Miami Vice" feels like a violence to me. If ever there was a record where "sounding like Miami Vice" was elevated to the level of vital ontology it was this one.

*except where Stevie's songs fall over.

in time this has become my favourite mac record

er next time to mirage

Another issue that I have with this whole "sounding like Miami Vice" bullshit is that Tango in the Night doesn't sound like Miami Vice at all.

otm

Tim F OTM about the quality of the production on this record, though - although I don't think the production is overstuffed or even excessive. I can think of far, far, far worse examples of heavy handed '80s production.

Seriously, this isn't even that "80s."

Are there even snares that go "poosh?"

The snare sounds are quite tasteful across most of the record, thinking about it - I can't think of any moments where cavernous reverb is applied or any excessive gated reverbs.

I guess Isn't It Midnight is pretty 80s, right down to the tempo.

The production on this record is '80s, though - it couldn't possibly be placed in any other decade - it just uses the trends of the time tastefully instead of in an OTT way like others did.

agreed. this record sounds super nice, not to simplify it - but yeah

It's basically the 80s way of making a record sound 70s dry, when most 80s signifiers lean hard on the studio mush.

"isn't it midnight" is like "what if the heart s/t were tasteful," a great question with a great answer

I dunno, the pristine digital quality of the overall sound and the programmed, layered nature of the production and the keyboard sounds used and the precise, automated nature of the mixes place this square in '80s territory for me, even without the massive reverbs. It has more in common with Brothers in Arms than it does No Jacket Required.

As for the drumming on 'Big Love', my guess is the same as Josh's in that I think it's actually a combination of programming and overdubbed drum parts. My guess is that Buckingham laid down a basic drum machine part as a guide (to get the timing tight) and built the track up from that, and then got Mick to overdub toms, "real" snare fills, cymbal washes etc. It's possible that the guide track was replaced eventually, but it doesn't sound like it.

If anything that's another intriguing data point in favor of the production: it's hard to tell what is programmed and what is Mick fuckin' Fleetwood.

Big Love is all about the Balearic masterpiece of a remix by Arthur baker imo

*except where Stevie's songs fall over.

uh whassamatta. baby.

That alt Mystified is pretty awesome and weird, though there's a single recurring drum sound in it that I'm finding crazily distracting.

Framing "Big Love" as a missed opportunity presupposes that the live version had some notional existence at the time the original was composed - is there any evidence of that?

In this interview he talks about Big Love being about "the potential of a single guitar doing the work of a whole track", so that tells me he might have written it that way first, then added all the other elements later in the process

https://youtu.be/iBSWt0b4K8E?t=71

and the dream says I WANT YOU
and the dream is gone

I never ever ever got burned out on 80s production styles/techniques. 90s and 00s, almost immediately.

If anything, my appreciation for the technical skill of '80s production has only increased with time. There were a lot of legitimately stunning production achievements in the '80s. Of course, there are many examples of the trends of the time done badly, but that exists in every decade.

The tightly shrinkwrapped Fairlight-playground production on this is killing me in the best possible way. Sounds in places like the mutant child of Mylène Farmer’s “Ainsi Sout je...” and “Cupid & Psyche” Scritti. Had never listened to this album in its entirety before yesterday.

If anything, my appreciation for the technical skill of '80s production has only increased with time. There were a lot of legitimately stunning production achievements in the '80s. Of course, there are many examples of the trends of the time done badly, but that exists in every decade.

― Le Baton Rose (Turrican)

lol what a pompous halfwit

“Isn’t It Midnight” deserved better.

And “Caroline” has become the go to song for my 3-year old to perform her experimental ballet routines.