Behind the Mask rated better than SYW

Rainman · #1 05-30-2003, 10:31 PM

I didn't realize this before, but in 1990 Rolling Stone gave "Behind the Mask" 3.5 stars. I have no beef with this, because I liked the album.

But this is a better rating than they gave SYW. (3 stars)

What do others think about this? Is it justified to rank BTM over SYW? Personally, I think SYW is way stronger.

Opinions? Comments?

HollywoodSteve · #2 05-30-2003, 11:43 PM

I think both albums deserved a better rating...

sparky · #3 05-30-2003, 11:50 PM

Rolling Stone reviews are frequently idiotic, and have more to do with fads than substance. Varies with the reviewer, but I consider them suspect more often than not. What they do say is so brief, it is more of a blurb than a review anyway.

Johnny Stew · #4 05-31-2003, 02:08 AM

Believe it or not, 'Behind The Mask' and 'Street Angel' were both reviewed pretty favorably in their day. It's only now that fans tend to look at them as "lesser" releases.

I quite like both albums, "flaws" and all.

sparky · #5 05-31-2003, 02:52 AM

Actually, I like BTM just fine. The title track is one of my all time favorites of CM.

Street Angel's reviews always confounded me. I recall listening to it constantly. But I know now it was just because I finally got an advanced copy of something and I was jonesing so hard for new Stevie music. Fortunately I got a truckload of demos at the same time. I do like about 50% of that record presently. The reviews were truly strange, though.

gypsygem81 · #6 05-31-2003, 05:38 AM

Well, I thought BTM was pretty pants compared to their other material, but I suppose we have to consider that they would have been reviewed by different people and also the time when they are being reviewed, e.g. what other stuff is in the charts at the time - the albums would have been reviewed in comparison to other albums in the charts at the time as opposed to other FM albums.

Though I do think that SYW is far better than BTM - I think it's the best thing they've done since Tusk. That it should get less stars than BTM might be a bit daft to us, but not everyone at Rolling tone are going to be FM nuts like us!

Love Gem

macfan 57 · #7 05-31-2003, 06:14 AM

The Rolling Stones reviews for both albums sound about right to me. Both albums have flaws, but in my opinion "Say You Will" has just a few more. I think "Behind the Mask" could have been even better with more Billy & Rick. In my opinion, neither of these albums are as good as the 5 Rumours line up albums, although "Behind the Mask" does come close.

RobNYC · #8 05-31-2003, 09:10 AM

I never really liked the BTM songs. Without Lindsey some of the trademark sound was missing as was the vocal sound when they all sang together.

SYW is probably faring different because it's been over 10 years and as someone mentioned different people reviewing the albums, so whoever reviewed BTM, maybe they would give SYM a higher rating but whoever rated it only gave it 3.

And either way, I still think SYW is a good album and worth the wait.

SmthngOfADreamr · #9 05-31-2003, 11:04 AM

I can deal with some parts of BTM, and believe it or not, I prefer Street Angel to RAL, but there is NO WAY IN HELL that either one of those are better than SYW. SYW kicks their ass.

gypsygem81 · #10 05-31-2003, 11:18 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by SmthngOfADreamr
SYW kicks their ass.

Here here! I couldn't have said it better myself!

Love Gem

gldstwmn · #11 05-31-2003, 11:40 AM

Does anyone know how many copies BTM actually sold?

darklinensuit · #12 05-31-2003, 01:56 PM

To me the big difference is that Stevie's songs are MUCH better on SYW in every way (though I do like Freedom a lot).

- Jake

Rainman · #13 05-31-2003, 02:16 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by gldstwmn
Does anyone know how many copies BTM actually sold?

angelfire.com says that BTM hit gold status. So we can assume it sold between 500,000 and a million copies. By the way, there are some very positive reviews of BTM out there.

Interesting to speculate where they would have gone if this lineup had stuck together.

wetcamelfood · #14 05-31-2003, 03:13 PM

Last I heard BTM sold 800,000 in the US and 2 million worldwide (in other words, the 800,00 is included in that 2 mil figure so, 1,200,000 outside of US).

John

Rainman · #15 05-31-2003, 05:00 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by wetcamelfood
Last I heard BTM sold 800,000 in the US and 2 million worldwide (in other words, the 800,00 is included in that 2 mil figure so, 1,200,000 outside of US).

John

Thanks for the clarification.

Makes me wonder if SYW will reach the same figures.