Fleetwood Mac – Mirage, C/D?

"Goodbye Baby" and "Throw Down" are A+.

^^

i love running through the garden as well

"Thrown Down" boasts the most Mirage-like production btw: all restrained fury.

In addition to the above I particularly love "Destiny Rules".

In fact the only Nicks song on the album whcih I think is a misfire is "Silver Girl".

I don't care for the one about 9-11 in which she's searching for a vocal melody using her new vocal style.

Yeah, that 9-11 one is a dud that comes distractingly early in the album.

Re: mainstream acceptance, I don't know. I have plenty of friends who think of both Fleetwood Mac and Steely Dan as simply mellow hanging with your pals music, and live neither attracts the freaks that flock to, say, Yes shows (who had the most eccentric hodge-podge of fans I've ever seen at a show). But FM and SD are just so skewed, the former massively high-strung for such a "mellow" act and the latter so clinical and cynical for relax-and-have-a-good-time smooth operators. Their popularity, especially as MOR staples, is like a great sleight of hand trick.

I mean, splitting the difference between two bands, it'd be as if XTC were playing outdoor summer arenas and blasting from SUVs.

I don't think it's necessarily the case that skewed intensity and maintream acceptance are mutually exclusive or even inversely proportional (although I accept that things can trend that way) - hence songs like "Don't Stop Believing", "Under Pressure", "Total Eclipse of the Heart".

"simply mellow hanging with your pals" is different and I'd agree with you there, but mainly because neither FM's Greatest Hits nor Rumours if taken in isolation give a good sense of how weird the band can be (of course if you are familiar with, say, "The Ledge" and "Empire State", then you can also hear those qualities of weirdness and over-intensity nestled within tunes like "Go Your Own Way" and "Rhiannon").

I think Steely Dan is a much better fit for your argument in terms of the songs being both generally beguiling to a broad audience and so idiosyncratic simultaneously.

I remember: (a) Nicks getting miffed at Buckingham criticizing her approach to songwriting ("Would you call Bob Dylan structure-less?")

hah, he even takes a sort of dig at her songwriting in that clip from '82 upthread: "Stevie Nicks writes poetry, and...has a certain sense of melody which isn't always very well-developed..."

thing is, when "gypsy" goes into its sole diversionary little bridge part i don't think it really serves the song particularly well. i mean, one of the great things about "gypsy" (and "sara"!) for me is their "structure"-lessness and the relentless repetition of their "plonk-plonk-plonk-plonk-plonk..." themes

And she became enough of a craftsman to write sturdy solo hits on her own, albeit often arranged by hacks.

http://www.fleetwoodmac.net/penguin/biographies/waddy2a.jpg

"Who you callin' a hack?"

Actually, totally forgot this guy goes all the way back to the Buckingham-Nicks album, and co-wrote a few doozies with Warren Zevon. Wikipedia offers the further illuminating factoid: "Wachtel and his wife Annie were arrested in 1998 on suspicion of possession of child pornography after questionable images were found on the computer in their bedroom, after they had taken it in for repair. Wachtel was sentenced to three years probation after pleading no contest to the charges."

"book of love" is a little underwritten, but the chorus hits and the harmonies are incredible. manages to be deeply satisfying.

It was on my ballot! I found it a little underdeveloped and "tweaked-out Lindsey mode"-ish when I first encountered it, but it grew on my a lot and I find myself with the chorus stuck in my head on a regular basis.

"Book of Love" is one of my very favourite FM tunes. LB's vocals are insane. It's like the florid sequel to "Not That Funny Is It" (my other favourite LB tune).

If the weaker half of Mirage was as good as the stronger half it'd be my favourite Fleetwood Mac album, I think.

Yeah, that record is strange within their discography for the vastness of the gulf between its strongest and its weakest material...

and viewed by the band (and Lindsey) as their one sellout "compromised" recording.

I like how it sounds like 1982 (i.e. the slow fade of the seventies studio rock ethos) yet nods towards a DIY ethic that never really took hold.

"Eyes of the World" and "Hold Me" made my ballot, while "Love in Store" is a fine third single.

ok...I think I love "That's Allright" after all those years: the banjo, Stevie holding those high notes.

oh...the album was #1 exactly thirty years ago!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RRO5_NkmjU

fucking remaster this already!

^^This.

Continuing my Mac vinyl journey, listened to this one last night and again now. Christine's voice sounds so great here. "That's Alright" wouldn't have sounded out of place on an '80s Roseanne Cash record.

the existing cd sounds good to me. You just have to turn it up bring out the colors. It's a very diaphanous production and I feel like when they remaster it the beefed up kick drum is going to be crushing the life out of those upper mid range silk scarves etc etc

The vinyl is heavenly, and is sadly the end of my Mac excursion in the medium for the time being as my clean-looking TITN is botched ("Little Lies" is skip city).

argh

Stephen T Erlewine
‏@sterlewine

#BREAKING Deluxe editions of Fleetwood Mac’s Mirage out July 29. 2-CD with outtakes & B-sides, 3-CD, 5.1 & LP box that has extra live CD

YES

According to Super Deluxe Edition:

Disc 2
1. Love In Store (Early Version)
2. Suma’s Walk aka Can’t Go Back (Outtake)
3. That’s Alright (Alternate Take)
4. Book of Love (Early Version)
5. Gypsy (Early Version)
6. Only Over You (Alternate Version)
7. Empire State (Early Version)
8. If You Were My Love (Outtake)
9. Hold Me (Early Version)
10. Oh Diane (Early Version)
11. Smile At You (Outtake)
12. Goodbye Angel (Original Outtake)
13. Eyes of the World (Alternate Early Version)
14. Straight Back (Original Vinyl Version)
15. Wish You Were Here (Alternate Version)
16. Cool Water (2016 Remastered)
17. Gypsy (Video Version) [2016 Remastered]
18. Put a Candle In the Window (Run-Through)
19. Teen Beat (Outtake) [2016 Remastered]
20. Blue Monday (Jam)

The 5-disc super deluxe edition:

Disc 3
1. The Chain (Live at The Forum, Los Angeles, CA October 21-22, 1982)
2. Gypsy (Live at The Forum, Los Angeles, CA October 21-22, 1982)
3. Love In Store (Live at The Forum, Los Angeles, CA October 21-22, 1982
4. Not That Funny (Live at The Forum, Los Angeles, CA October 21-22, 1982)
5. You Make Loving Fun (Live at The Forum, Los Angeles, CA October 21-22, 1982)
6. I’m So Afraid (Live at The Forum, Los Angeles, CA October 21-22, 1982)
7. Blue Letter (Live at The Forum, Los Angeles, CA October 21-22, 1982)
8. Rhiannon (Live at The Forum, Los Angeles, CA October 21-22, 1982)
9. Tusk (Live at The Forum, Los Angeles, CA October 21-22, 1982)
10. Eyes of the World (Live at The Forum, Los Angeles, CA October 21-22, 1982)
11. Go Your Own Way (Live at The Forum, Los Angeles, CA October 21-22, 1982)
12. Sisters of the Moon (Live at The Forum, Los Angeles, CA October 21-22, 1982)
13. Songbird (Live at The Forum, Los Angeles, CA October 21-22, 1982)

Disc 4
DVD featuring a 5.1 Surround Mix (by Ken Caillat) and 24/96 Stereo Audio mixes

Disc 5
Vinyl

Annie Zaleski on the making of: http://www.avclub.com/article/fleetwood-macs-mirage-well-crafted-diamond-rough-239731

Surely the outsider's Fleetwood Mac record is Kiln House. Or Penguin? Or...Behind the Mask?

Anyway I love this record, definitely my fav from the Buckingham/Nicks era

Didn't know "Straight Back" was a holdover from Buckingham Nicks, that record shows up again in the guitar hook for Buckingham's "Eyes of the World", stolen from himself off of "Stephanie"

That clip upthread of the demo for "Hold Me" is a brilliant illustration of Buckingham's genius for producing, why didn't that guy produce more records for other people? Not interested? Did no one think to ask?

Doesn't play well with others.

Actually, I had no idea he had a hand in the second Dream Academy album, getting production/writing credits on these two:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiJUKZSS9Ec
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cKK5JTyukE

Surely the outsider's Fleetwood Mac record is Kiln House. Or Penguin? Or...Behind the Mask?

Yeah for such a huge band, they certainly have a lot of forgotten/lost albums. There are still five or six I've never heard and I consider myself a big fan.

Mirage is excellent though.

That clip upthread of the demo for "Hold Me" is a brilliant illustration of Buckingham's genius for producing,

One of my favorite little details on this song is the guitar solo -- the lead guitar starts by holding one high note that decays fairly quickly, so it seems as if the muted, arpeggiated guitar figure is the solo, until the lead guitar comes back in a couple of bars in. Then at the end both of those guitars are joined by these amazingly lush 12-string strums. And yet none of them overwhelms the others and they're all perfectly balanced.

Good review in Uncut:

http://www.uncut.co.uk/reviews/album/fleetwood-mac-mirage

Delayed till September, it looks like.

It's September!

Supposed to come out yesterday.

never take your love away

it's out!

this is obvious i guess but this album sounds exquisite

i a/b'd it with the original cd and wow the remaster is kinda incredible

My review of the reissue.

thanks for that!

this is a pretty revelatory remaster, it really brought the music forth and made it shine without overdoing it. Wonder if they'll do the same to Tango in the Night (which doesn't quite measure up)

wow, does indeed seem impressive at first listen

I didn't know a remaster was planned. good surprise !
Such a great album.
it seems the public liked it but not the critics.
I think it's my favourite FM album (with Tusk close behind).

It wasn't disliked by critics, just accepted as "ho-hum, more Mac."

The original Rolling Stone review: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/mirage-19820816

Nice, thanks !
yeah, the stars# doesn't really reflect the article's very light approach on the album.

I am hearing so many new things in this remaster it's almost as if it's been remixed.