The best and worst of Behind the Mask
 

Ok, choose your favorite best song, and the worst one

My favorite is Do you know, closely followed by Affairs of the heart (I could say it's a tie)

The worsts.. Second Time, Freedom, I think it wasn't a good Stevie moment (though actually I didn't like the single, Save me. I think Do you know could have been a far better single).

If it weren't for the muddy mix and "The Second Time", for me, it would be one of the best Fleetwood Mac albums of all-time.

My fave: "In The Back Of My Mind"

The ones that got away:
"Got No Home" (the best song Fleetwood Mac never released)
"Intuition" (sure, Rick's solo version is great, but the BTM outtake is greater!)

Ot
 

OT, but I totally thought of you this morning. My radio station does "10@10", 10 songs from one year, every morning, then people vote for "best of set" online. Today the year was 1968, and they played "Albatross". After it was all over, the DJ is reading what got a the most votes and so on. He was all "And Fleetwood Mac got a ton of votes for Albatross 'back when they were good' according to one listener..." :laugh: I swear I thought it was you. Then I was all irritated because they never read my Mac comments aloud when I vote for best of set. hehehehe.

Okay, threadjack over.

Does anyone have those unreleased songs? And really, any unreleased FM song, that would be awesome.

I agree on all counts. The mix/choice of sounds (especially synth sounds) certainly hurt the album, it really killed songs like "Freedom" and "When It Comes To Love."

BTW, Chili, have you heard the song Rick wrote for McGuinn, Clark, & Hillman called "Surrender To Me"? It's on par, if not even better, than "Intuition."

Best: The title track by far is the best, then "In the Back of My Mind" and "The Second Time" are close runners up.

Worst: "When It Comes to Love" = LAME. "Stand on the Rock" is not much better, but I like the music.

Best: "In the Back Of My Mind"

Worst (Fleetwood Mac Song Ever Made): "The Second Time"

I love "The Second Time," and I still think that if Stevie had recorded it ten years earlier, everyone else would like it, too. In fact, it could easily sit next to "After The Glitter Fades" on 'Bella Donna.' :shrug:

Best songs: "In The Back Of My Mind," "Freedom," "Save Me," and "The Second Time."

Worst: "Do You Know" -- which goes absolutely nowhere and takes four minutes to get there.

I totally disagree. It's not just the way Stevie's vocals sound that makes me hate this song so much, it's also the horrible lyrics. They annoy beyond reason.

"After the Glitter Fades," on the other hand, has always been a favorite.

the producer of btm should be fired....

Best: Behind The Mask, When The Sun Goes Down, the Chris/Billy duets

Worst: The Second Time, Freedom, Stand On The Rock

Best: Behind the Mask
Worst: Do You Know

That's not a good comparison, JS. ATGF is just as bad. :laugh: So, yeah...they could keep each other company in the dustbin.

Best: A tie between "Freedom" and "The Second Time"
Worst: Hard Feelings

So strange that this is topic today... I kind of "spaced" this album out.
I pulled it out today, and put into my iPod...

So,
BEST: Freedom (This song is better than anything on OSOTM)
When the Sun Goes Down (I love the music!)

Worst: Stand On The Rock
Hard Feelings (some great lyris though)

Overall I like this album... it ebbs and flows... You can tell they were a little lost w/o Lindsey.
The tour was pretty good...

I like the album a great deal. The only clunker for me is Stand On The Rock. It sounds very generic to me.

I agree, Stand On The Rock is so generic, so of course they had to include it in their tour set! I saw two shows on the Behind The Mask tour. While I applaud them for opening the show with a new song (In The Back Of My Mind), I found the opening to be a little pompus and overwrought -- with a big build-up for the pay-off of a middle-of-the-road song.

Stevie was a complete zombie during these shows. She didn't even bother to sing any of her new songs (the closest she came was when she sang Love Is Dangerous, which wasn't always included in the set.

They only performed:

In The Back Of My Mind
Love Is Dangerous (sometimes)
Save Me
Stand On The Rock
When The Sun Goes Down (dropped early on -- although the live version I have is really good!)

I wish they would have performed:

Freedom
Affairs Of The Heart
Hard Feelings
Behind The Mask
Skies The Limit

Someone on another board claims Affairs of the Heart was done at an AUS 90 show she/he went to and was very positive that they did it.

This is actually one of my favorite Fleetwood Mac albums. I love:

In the Back of My Mind
Stand on the Rock
Affairs of the Heart (LOVE this)
Skies the Limit
Save Me
Love is Dangerous
When the Sun Goes Down
Freedom

Worst: Ehh The Second Time I guess

There really isn't a worse on this one for me. I love this album!

Can anyone else confirm that? I would like to think/hope that is true, and more so, that the concert was bootlegged and it will eventually emerge. I would love to hear that song performed live. It's not her best song -- though it's tuneful, lively and fun. But I'm not a fan of a blatent rip off of an old tired cliche "It's better to have loved and lost..." Ehh! And the lyrics are clunky as hell.

best: Freedom/Skies the Limit (tie)
worst: Stand On the Rock

I hope it will emerge one day. It is truly one of my favorite Mac songs.

I pretty much like every song on this record. My least favs are Stand on the Rock and Love is Dangerous.

Standouts are all of Christine's songs, In the Back of My Mind and When the Sun Goes Down

The Second Time is probably one of my favorite songs ever done by them. Yes, the vocals are lifeless, as are all of her vocals on this record, but I still love it. I would love to hear it live. I think it would make an excellent show closer.

Favorite: either Affairs or Hard Feelings

Least: Do You Know - just too slow for me

My favourite track hands down is The Second Time. The only diminishing factor is that god-awful synthersizer during the bridge section but alas, it was a sign of the times. I'll never understand why this song has been so mercilessly flogged.

Second fave would be the title track, closely followed by Love Is Dangerous and Freedom.

Worst song is probably Hard Feelings but basically anything Billy Burnette ever did made my stomach turn. He ought to be assassinated. I was fond of Rick though - he should have stuck around for Time - then perhaps it wouldn't have turned out to be the worst album ever recorded - not just by the Mac but by any artist. Completely and utterly atrocious.

while I love your picks (TST, LID and Freedom are some of my favs) the assassination bit is a little much. y/n?

surely, you're just kidding, but it's worth mentioning.

Class act, Phil, class act. :mad:

Fair enough guys - I'll take back the assassination request. Let's just say that I'm pleased he's no longer in the band.

Hello,

I havnt posted in a long while.But after reading Phil's comments i thought i must reply.

Originally Posted by Phil View Post

'My favourite track hands down is The Second Time. The only diminishing factor is that god-awful synthersizer during the bridge section but alas, it was a sign of the times. I'll never understand why this song has been so mercilessly flogged.

Second fave would be the title track, closely followed by Love Is Dangerous and Freedom.

Worst song is probably Hard Feelings but basically anything Billy Burnette ever did made my stomach turn. He ought to be assassinated. I was fond of Rick though - he should have stuck around for Time - then perhaps it wouldn't have turned out to be the worst album ever recorded - not just by the Mac but by any artist. Completely and utterly atrocious.'

My fav tracks on BTM is In The Back Of My Mind & Behind The Mask(The demos are as good if not better than the tracks that i have listed)

While On Time my favs are Winds Of Change & All Over Again.

Im my opinion Time is a good album as was Behind The Mask.


My ratings out of 10 would be BTM (7.5) Time (8) Say You Will (5)


Fleetwood Mac would have been better if Rick Vito,Billy Burnette and Christine Mcvie were still in the band.

Even though i like all eras of fleetwood mac i for one will not be buying a new FM album or going to see them on tour, if the same line up remains and if it becomes the LB love in show


But if the Mick Fleetwood Band tour in the UK i would jump at the chance to see them live.

Julian

Ps apologies if this post if a bit offtrack
Feel free to move it if required

Julian

Btm
 

Best: absolutely Freedom
Worst: Behind The Mask, maybe In The Back Of My Mind

But great songs are Affairs Of The Heart and Save Me too.

This times are my favourite, why was I born in 1989, why in Czech.... :-(

Welcome!!!!:nod:

Hi there! Another newbie here. My name is Chris and I'm 21 years old from Sydney, Australia (in case my extremely ambiguous username hadn't given the game away yet... haha).

Strange forum to begin my Ledge postings in I guess, but I've been listening to 'Behind The Mask' a lot recently.

Best: Save Me, Freedom
Worst: Stand On The Rock.


x

Hi Chris. Strange timing - I've literally just listened to Behind The Mask for the first time in over ten years! My thoughts regarding this album have not been altered upon this latest listening and in fact it has reconfirmed my belief that there is only one great song on this album that has indeed held up over the last 17 years... yes you guessed it - The Second Time.
I'll never understand why this has been so criticised considering that it contains a pretty little tune and a most heartfelt vocal from Stevie. It is slightly marred by that synth line but apart from that, you wouldn't necessarily be able to date it back to that particular era.
I do still like Love Is Dangerous, Behind The Mask and Freedom (shocking mix on this one!) but in terms of being moved, only The Second Time cuts it for me.

Hey Chris,

Welcome to the ledge! I really like BTM and Freedom is also one of my favs on the album. Stevie's tracks are my favourites but I'm total biased cos it's Stevie lol.

all the best,
Chris (also lol)

can't argue with that

my favorite is save me and freedom.i also like affairs of the heart.

I just got this album recently expecting it to be "just okay" since I'd heard a lot of bad things about it. Luckily I was happily suprised! It's a really good album IMO. Only thing that I'm not too keen on is Stevie's lyrics. The first verse of "Affairs of the Heart" actually really annoys me. Almost makes me angry. They're just so banal - they're just too Stevie! It's like a parody... Get's (a little) better after that though.

I couldn't really choose a best yet since I've only listened to it about 10 times, but all of Christine's songs are great, as are most of the guys stuff. "In The Back Of My Mind" and "Hard Feelings" are ones I particularly like. "Stand on the Rock" is a little flat for some reason, but it's still OK. I even think "The Second Time" is alright.

I haven't listened to this album in forever, but I have to agree with Alice on those song choices.

My favorite: Save Me

Least favorite: Behind the Mask

I also love Do You Know, Skies the Limit, Freedom, In the Back of My Mind, the Second Time, Love is Dangerous, When It Comes to Love, and Affairs of the Heart.