Which two albums represent Stevie's best Fleetwood Mac work?
 

In honor of Stevie's birthday, I thought I'd do a poll :thumbsup:So pick 2 albums that you feel represent and showcase Stevie Nicks at her best.

'75 Fleetwood Mac, Rumours, Tusk, Mirage, Tango in the Night, Behind the Mask(inc NQA/PD), and Say You Will are your options.

Remember only pick two. I'm sure Tusk will get the most, but what will come in second? :cool:

Tusk and SYW by a long shot.

I wasn't 100% sure on how to deal with the major quantity differences among these albums/eras, so I just picked my three favourites from each to consider, and cut out any extras.

Mirage was my first choice, actually. Her songs are drowned out by some somewhat tepid Christine and Lindsey offerings on that album, but its 3 Stevie-penned songs show her at her absolute most vibrant, interesting, and unique.

Tusk and SYW were tough to choose between. But I don't think anything on SYW really quite touches the heights of Sara. And you're right, MSB, it will get the most votes.

Rumours and Tusk...and i'm presuming Silver Springs is included.

Tusk contains the best material of Stevie's career, period. Sara, Storms, Sisters of the Moon, Beautiful Child... these songs are a tour de force of what Stevie is capable of. These songs are finest songwriting, singing, and harmonizing she ever put on tape. They show the flexibity of the styles she can pull off, too- rock, ballads, folk, and pop.

Regarding a second album... that's when it gets a bit harder for me. My instinct is to go for Rumours. Gold Dust Woman might just be Stevie's best recorded song. Dreams is probably her finest pop song, too. I Don't Wanna know is a flawless little song, very catchy... but it's a duet, and kinda unremarkable, IMO. Rumours is such an obvious, easy, thoughtless choice... which is why I wrestle with choosing it.

Instead, I contemplate supplanting Rumours with Say You Will. Hear me out. I think Illume is one of the most artistically neat songs of Stevie's career. I think it's every bit as good as Straight Back, and possibly in the echelon of Sisters Of The Moon & Gold Dust Woman. I feel Destiny Rules is right up there with Gypsy. If I hadn't heard the original demos of Smile At You, I'd probably feel as strongly about it as well. Plus, Say You Will contains some great rock songs like Running Through The Garden & Everybody Finds Out. Say You Will is a great little pop song. There's a wide variety of material on Say You Will that showcases that Stevie is still a very capable artist.

So I guess I won't be voting in this poll until I can decide what my second album choice will be. The sheer perfection of Rumours is undeniable, but the grittiness of Say You Well tugs at my heart strings. :)

Yeah, Silver Springs counts for Rumours. No Questions Asked and Paper Doll count towards Behind the Mask.

Also, consider all aspects of her songs, i.e. vocals, songwriting, legacy, and production/arrangement. :cool:

I was so excited/intrigued that someone voted for BTM, then I noticed that that member has just voted for all the options except TITN. :lol: Sneaky.

Loving the SYW love here, too. :)

Likewise... it's a wonderful & unexpected surprise. :nod: The album itself has some serious flaws, but if you look at the songs/songwriters individually, they really hold their own. :)

I really appreciated reading your post. Tusk may include Stevie's best songs: the immaculately produced Sara and the singular Beautiful Child being the standouts from the studio recording for me. As you said, it taps into so many different genres: folk, country, pop, rock. I agree, tour de force, and it should rank Stevie among the greatest singer-songwriters to emerge in the last 40 years. A wonderful accomplishment.

I disagree regarding your second selection. I have to go with Rumours for reasons you mention. Gold Dust Woman may be Stevie's greatest song. I'm obsessed with it, the guitar sounds, the rock authenticity it gave the band, the psychedelic flavor. For me, it's not only one of the band's most iconic songs, but also one of their greatest. And I agree with your reading of Dreams, too. It's a perfect pop song; but the thing is, it should not be relegated to just pop. In a way, it captures the lost blues band essence of Fleetwood Mac in the guitar sounds, as well as the glorious sound of the three lead singers together in the chorus, something that hasn't been heard since The Dance (Christine is hugely important to this song, as well as Lindsey--and I love that about it!!). I Don't Want to Know may be unremarkable, but Stevie also made a significant contribution with The Chain, one of the band's greatest songs. Though credited to all five members, the lyrics are definitely Stevie's and give so much power to the song, as she is by far the best lyricist of Fleetwood Mac. Silver Springs then seals the deal. If Stevie had more pull in the band at that point, before they all realized how important her presence was, there is NO WAY it would've been cut from the album.

It's hard for me to put Say You Will in this category, since none of the songs can really hold their own against the classics, a good problem many great artists face: the constant comparison to their most iconic work. Stevie tries to recapture some of the mysticism and magic of the earlier songs, and sometimes that comes off as forced, and borderline kitsch. I think Thrown Down is her best song on the album, which you didn't mention, though I think as a few people have said on here, the lyric choices are definitely questionable, even with Stevie being "the poet that she is."

So for me, it's clearly Tusk and Rumours. But special nods to Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac for Rhiannon, Landslide, and Crystal (I wonder if Stevie was forced to have Lindsey sing it back in 1975, but no qualms there...I'm curious if there is a recording that exists of her singing it from that era. Of the two recordings I know that exist, I prefer Lindsey's to Stevie's Practical Magic version), and to Mirage for one of the strongest studio recordings and best FM music video in Gypsy. Edit: Also I love Fireflies, thank God that was released on a live album...maybe that's a song that could make a return and retain the classic Mac sound on a new, proper studio album?? hmmm

I only voted Tusk.

I am so sorry, I voted for three! Its impossible to decide. Rumours, Tusk and Mirage. Not a bad Stevie song on any of them. Even though she only had 3 songs on Mirage, they carried the whole album.

Rumours and Tusk to me. The peak of that era to me. Man this line up hit a peak fast.

Mick

The pinnacle of Stevie's career is her contributions to Tusk, all 5 songs were written to perfection, sung with all of the strengths and weaknesses of her vocal capabilities and never to be matched again. The demos from that era also could easily have interchanged and we'd still have her best set of songs on any Fleetwood Mac album. Now, this is where I'm going to contradict myself and go from my favourite Fleetwood Mac album to discussing Stevie's best work and blow my argument :(

Back to the perfection that is Rumours. Gold Dust Woman is in my view, her very best self penned recorded song. It fits perfectly into any classic rock set played on the radio or at home, it just does. It is also the only song she has pulled off live at every single concert even on an "off" night, going back to even some of the problematic shows of yesteryear where Stevie could barely talk let alone sing. Someone said earlier how Dreams while being a pop song also recaptures the blues side of the band, and it certainly does. The high notes on that song are also just wonderful and left me longing for more, that was really never to be again (although brief interludes on Sorcerer, New Orleans and Call on Me for Magic). I Don't Want to Know also is her most "forgotten" gem, a flawless song that is so catchy, I still love playing it. The Chain also shows just how good Stevie's songwriting was, despite her limited chord knowledge, she could pump out a killer melody and lyrics that none of her contemporaries would dare touch. The demo of that song left me scratching my head as to why the structure of that song never wove itself into another song, it' stunning. Lastly, there's Silver Springs, again the songwriting is immaculate and the vocals on record, she would not match until 1997 when she hit the song out of the park on the Dance. Fleetwood Mac's greatest misstep was not including this gorgeous song on Rumours and making it the lead single for the album. It's that good.

I agree with the earlier posts about Mirage and Say You Will, each contained some of Stevie's best work and are honourable mentions, but Rumours and Tusk are flawless where the later works have cracks in the armour of what was clearly some of the best material ever recorded by a rock and roll band.

Don't get me started about Tango in the Night as I'd rather forget that one.

^^^On Ice, I agree with everything you said except I enjoy Tango. I voted for Rumours and Tusk but if 3 picks were allowed(Yes gssmith, I'm talkin' to you LOL), I would have then added the White Album because Rhiannon and Landslide are just as precious as her Rumours and Tusk songs, to me.

I went for Rumours and Tusk. I think the choice of Tusk needs no explanation. As for Rumours, I think GDW is possibly her best recorded song, period. Dreams is obviously iconic. You have The Chain, another iconic piece, which shows off her knack for harmony. And IDWTK, while not superbly influential, is still a substantially good folk-pop throwback.