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ShamHy89 01-19-2004 05:26 PM

BTM- My Thoughts
 
Hi everyone. I've decided to make this thread because I have just purchased BTM and after listening to it several times, I am extremely perplexed as to why it is generally disliked. I'm going to go song by song...feel free to post your own opinions on them.

Skies The Limit- Title is gramatically incorrect :laugh: Seriously though, the song itself is a great opener and shows that Christine's music was terribly overlooked in this period and it was fantastic. So glad it's on the VBO.

Love Is Dangerous- Here, I began to hear the harmonies of all four vocalists making for a great chorus that was very catchy and stayed stuck in my head. A fun song and Stevie actually sounds OK here in her parts.

In The Back Of My Mind- Listening to this at night kinda freaked me out, but otherwise it is a perfect example of the diversity of FM's music and was quite fun to listen to.

Do You Know- The first three words of this song hit me like a ton of bricks. Wow...the harmony. This is one of my favorite on the album. The chorus is also beautiful in itself. Kudos to Christine and Rick again.

Save Me- Christine is at it again with her catchy fun songs. It was here where I really began to see that Christine was in top form and this song is no exception. I love the "I'm runnin for cover baby..."

Affairs Of The Heart- Stevie's first song...and from the first line I knew it was going to be a doozy. She really sounded flat and nasally in these and basically all of her contributions to the album. Now the song and music themselves are quite appealing...I think I would want to hear 1979 Stevie sing this.

When The Sun Goes Down- Yee Haw! Another fun tune that really caught my attention for its unique southern style and I loved every moment of it. Thanks again to Rick and Billy for bringing these types of songs to FM!

Behind The Mask- Oh yes! Christine with darker songwriting. What do you get? An awesome song that conjures up feelings of Morning Rain and Brown Eyes with her soulful brooding voice. Well done again Christine!

Stand On The Rock- This one didn't strike me as another great tune but had its merits nonetheless. "When it comes back around..." Hearing again the melding of voices to produce that sound was excellent. Seems like this would make a fun live song.

Hard Feelings- The album continues flowing smoothly along and we get a nice bittersweet piece about well...hard feelings. Very good job on it. Love the vocal.

Freedom- Stevie's best, if you could call it that, on the album. To me, it is a little less repetitive than Affairs of the Heart, but still has that flat quality. Still listenable though!

When It Comes To Love- This I didn't like as much. Maybe the lyric "You got to treat it special..." turned me off. Christine's voice is still so on though and I like the "looove" at the end of the chorus line.

The Second Time- Ok...maybe it would be best to keep my comments to myself...why not just leave it off the album? Stevie was not singing well here, but this certainly didn't spoil the album!

Overall, the album was an experience I had truly not expected at all! After hearing so much bad, I was so surprised to see all the good that was really in it. So what if Stevie was bad? Does that make the whole thing a joke? No way! Rick, Billy, and Christine made a great effort and I truly love this album for its unique set of songs, harmonies, songwriting itself, and its running order was quite smooth in my opinion, very cohesive and listenable. Now, I just can't wait to get Time!

Shamus :)

wondergirl9847 01-19-2004 05:45 PM

It's not bad
 
Nah, it's not bad. :distress:

I LOVE Save Me, it's my fave song on the album. I have to admit, I don't listen to it THAT much, but I do break it out once in a while...granted, I got it pretty recently.

I like the melody on the line "when it comes to love". Also, I know what ya mean about ITBOMM, it's kinda sceery/freaky. LOL

jbrownsjr 01-19-2004 08:50 PM

I'd say this is a very good review of this album. In fact I couldn't have said it better myself.

As for Time, well Best of Luck with that. Again Christine's compositions are nice, but there's not much Mac here.

chiliD 01-20-2004 03:12 AM

Get your hands on the alternate versions & outtakes from BTM...it took me 12 years to hear how muddy the production of the album was.

Rick Vito's "Intuition" & "Got No Home" and Billy Burnette's "Victim Of Love" are better than anything else on the album (with the exception of "In The Back Of My Mind" which is one of my top 5 all-time/any-incarnation greatest songs of Fleetwood Mac), yet they were left off the album...and "The Second Time" was included; talk about injustices!!

Even the alternate takes of "Affairs Of The Heart" & "Save Me" make the album versions pale by comparison.

I used to really love all but one song from BTM...then 12 years after the album came out, I heard the alternate takes & outtakes...changed my whole attitude about the album as a whole.

macfan 57 01-20-2004 07:15 AM

That was a great review of BTM. I agree with much of what you said. I think Stevie's songs are bad on this album, but Chris & Billy more than make up for it. I LOVE the title track & When The Sun Goes Down. Save Me, the 2 Chris/Billy duets & Billy's other songs are all excellent. And, ChiliD is right about those outtakes. In my opinion, Rick really got the shaft here. All 3 of those Rick/Billy outtakes should have ended up on the album.

HomerMcvie 01-20-2004 01:04 PM

Where can we get the 3 outtakes?

jbrownsjr 01-20-2004 03:05 PM

Are these sold on E-bay chili?

chiliD 01-20-2004 03:17 PM

If you really have to spend $$ to get them, I would imagine they're SOMEWHERE on eBay. :shrug:

However, being as how Fleetwood Mac fans are generally the generous types, occasionally someone will have them on their site to download for free. :nod:

Or, send me a PM with your email address that will accept large email attachments (such as an mp3) ;)

macfan 57 01-20-2004 04:50 PM

There is an entire CD titled, The Other Side Of The Mask. The outtakes are on there. There are 14 songs on this boot in all. There are more versions of other BTM tracks, including a real cool version of the title track, Behind The Mask. It's just Chris singing with drums only. The whole thing has pristine sound, too. If anyone is interested in the entire CD, just send me a private message.

Bumperke 01-21-2004 02:20 PM

If there is something on this album that i like than it is "Do you know". Other quiet charming tracks are Behind the mask and when the sun goes down and When it comes to love. All the rest was a waste of time. But they couldn't do better. We have to accept that, perhaps we should start a thread for Time album.
Then we will read that it can go worse. (i asume)

Will

chiliD 01-21-2004 05:02 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Bumperke
All the rest was a waste of time. But they couldn't do better.
I disagree. BTM had some tunes that I thought were just as good as anything Fleetwood Mac had ever done. "In The Back Of My Mind" especially. This is a CLASSIC Fleetwood Mac tune by Billy. Apparently, the band thought so, too, since they made it their set opener on the 1990 tour.

The only thing that would've made BTM better than it was, was to let Rick have a little more room on the album. Replace "The Second Time" & "Stand On The Rock" with "Got No Home" and "Intuition" and I'd even have bet that "Got No Home" would've been a top 40 single!

Bumperke 01-21-2004 05:25 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by chiliD
I disagree. BTM had some tunes that I thought were just as good as anything Fleetwood Mac had ever done. "In The Back Of My Mind" especially. This is a CLASSIC Fleetwood Mac tune by Billy. Apparently, the band thought so, too, since they made it their set opener on the 1990 tour.

Sorry, to see you disagree, the album is just not good enough.
I didnt' say it was bad, but they could do better.
Just check them stuff of today, Billy aswell as Rick can do better.
Billy proved That on "TIME"

Will

chiliD 01-21-2004 05:35 PM

Sorry, still disagree.

Billy's tunes on Time, to me, didn't quite reach the level he had on Behind The Mask. Billy's two tunes on Time sounded more like tunes he would do on a solo album; whereas, all of his contributions to Behind The Mask, however, sound like "Fleetwood Mac" songs.

Johnny Stew 01-21-2004 06:52 PM

I've said this before, but I was beyond thrilled when 'Behind The Mask' was released because it had much more of a rock and roll edge to it, than 'Tango.'
As much as I love 'Tango,' it's pure, glimmery, pop ear-candy... so 'BTM' was a nice, rock & blues antitidote to that.

But the overall sound of the production has always left a bit to be desired.
I can't help but think of how much better the album would have been if Richard Dashut had been at the helm. His production on "Paper Doll," and the 'Time' album are top-notch.

I guess it's not surprising that "Affairs Of The Heart" and, especially, "Freedom," are my two favorite songs on the album. I often think people expect Stevie to always repeat the sound of her previous tunes, and when she doesn't, they're disappointed (and conversely, when she does, they're disappointed! *lol*)... and I tend to think that's one of the biggest reasons her contributions to this album, and 'Tango,' are so routinely knocked.

I definitely agree with chiliD though, the alternate mix of "Affairs" is much better, and should have been used.

My other favorite songs are "Save Me" (love, love, LOVE this one), "In The Back Of My Mind" (they opened the one and only Mac concert I've ever seen with it, and to this day, I can remember the chills and excitement I felt when it began), "Love Is Dangerous," "When The Sun Goes Down," and "Behind The Mask."

"Hard Feelings" is good too... though I still think it was a weak choice for a single. And I like "The Second Time," but I think it needed a more gentle vocal... something along the lines of "Goodbye Baby."

For me, the two weakest songs on the album... the ones that often get the ol' skiparoo... are "Do You Know" (which i think is as bland and boring, as it is pretty), and "When It Comes To Love."

I used to dislike "Sky's The Limit" too, but I've since grown to really appreciate that one. :)

Overall, it's a terrific album, but with a couple adjustments, it could have been even better.

chiliD 01-21-2004 07:02 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Johnny Stew
But the overall sound of the production has always left a bit to be desired.

BINGO!!!! :nod:


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