The Dance 13 years ago this week

[Villavic]

Originally Posted by Regina

I came upon the Dance during Thanksgiving time during VH1's endless reruns. Came in on the exact same moment (during Silver Springs) .

I was in the States that weekend, actually I saw them at NYC (MSG) on thanksgiving day, my first mac concert.. and I do remember VH1 showed the Behind the Music, with backstage scenes of the Dance special.

Originally Posted by Regina

That discovery happened during a difficult time in my life. A time post-a great deal of loss. And FM (and the Dance, in particular) did sell me on the idea of new beginnings and life and its (you guessed it) Endless Cycles going round and round (and round and round some more). I affectionately make fun of some of it but, no matter what, the Mac will always be hugely responsible for a HUGE change in my attitude and my life

I feel the same, 1997 was a weird, bittersweet year.
See chili.. The Dance was worth it after all...

[aleuzzi]

Originally Posted by TrueFaith77

I agree with you. I feel that the myth of two solo albums smooshed together was just lazy music criticism that caught on. I think it's the most cohesive Mac album since Tusk--and also the best.

Say You Will gets a bad rap, and that's not really fair. I agree with you that it's the band's strongest, most adventurous and rigorous studio album since Tusk (though perhaps for me not as enjoyable as Mirage--depends on the day).

I was initially pissed because Christine wasn't there. But when I let that go, since I had no choice and was forced to accept the music on its own terms, I was really pleased with the record. About five or six of the songs are indulgent crap, but the remaining 12 are great. I see Stevie in particular growing in ways I hadn't seen before this. And the instrumental trio was as tight as ever.

Of course in a perfect world, those six lousy songs could have been replaced by six amazing Christine songs and then you'd have, well, magic...

As far as The Dance goes, I was just happy to see them playing together again. But once the initial thrill wore off (it took about three or four months) I realized we were left with an album that didn't really amount to much. We'd heard so many of those songs before that it was hard not to see the project as nostalgia. There were the four new songs (should have been at least 8), Silver Springs, a killer rendition of Gold Dust Woman (why wasn't this used instead of Dreams?), a brilliant reinvention of Big Love, and smoking delivery of You Make Loving Fun. Everything else was merely pleasant...

[BigAl84]

Originally Posted by Villavic

I was in the States that weekend, actually I saw them at NYC (MSG) on thanksgiving day, my first mac concert.. and I do remember VH1 showed the Behind the Music, with backstage scenes of the Dance special.




I feel the same, 1997 was a weird, bittersweet year.
See chili.. The Dance was worth it after all...

I remember thanksgiving of that year too. Saw them in Buffalo on 11/23/97. Went with my parents...I was all of 14 at the time. I remember the two ladies sitting next to us saw Stevie at the old aud on the Wild Heart tour. They mentioned being up in the infamously steep nosebleeds.

[jbrownsjr]

Originally Posted by aleuzzi

Say You Will gets a bad rap, and that's not really fair. I agree with you that it's the band's strongest, most adventurous and rigorous studio album since Tusk (though perhaps for me not as enjoyable as Mirage--depends on the day).

I was initially pissed because Christine wasn't there. But when I let that go, since I had no choice and was forced to accept the music on its own terms, I was really pleased with the record. About five or six of the songs are indulgent crap, but the remaining 12 are great. I see Stevie in particular growing in ways I hadn't seen before this. And the instrumental trio was as tight as ever.

Of course in a perfect world, those six lousy songs could have been replaced by six amazing Christine songs and then you'd have, well, magic...

As far as The Dance goes, I was just happy to see them playing together again. But once the initial thrill wore off (it took about three or four months) I realized we were left with an album that didn't really amount to much. We'd heard so many of those songs before that it was hard not to see the project as nostalgia. There were the four new songs (should have been at least 8), Silver Springs, a killer rendition of Gold Dust Woman (why wasn't this used instead of Dreams?), a brilliant reinvention of Big Love, and smoking delivery of You Make Loving Fun. Everything else was merely pleasant...

I really love the version of Songbird from the DVD.. also Go Insane is remarkable... The piano intro w/ Christine accompanying Stevie is also superb..

[michelej1]

From David Bowling's series of FM album reviews, for Blogcritics.org. December 1, 2010:

http://blogcritics.org/music/article...mac-the-dance/


My wife actually listens to The Dance on a regular basis, which is the highest accolade an album can receive, at least in my universe.

Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham returned to Fleetwood Mac after a several year absence, reuniting in 1997 with Christine McVie, John McVie, and Mick Fleetwood to make the group’s famous pop lineup intact once again.

The Dance was a live album released August 19, 1997, and it reached the number one position on the American album charts, selling in excess of five million copies. It ranks as one of the best-selling live albums of all time in America.

Getting a live album just right is sometimes a difficult task but Fleetwood Mac came through with flying colors. They issued a polished and sophisticated piece of work that brought new life to their material.

Buckingham and Nicks may have lost a little off of their high vocal range, but they more than get by. Christine McVie’s vocals, on the other hand, remain as they were a quarter of a century ago.

A five-minute version of “The Chain” gets the album off to a thunderous start and quickly proves there is life in the old group yet.

They are loyal to the style and original recordings of many of their hits. “Dreams,” “Rhiannon,” “Say You Love Me,” “You Make Loving Fun,” and “Go Your Own Way” are all instantly recognizable and well performed. Stevie Nicks' lost classic, “Silver Springs,” is one of the album's better tracks as she presents it with a haunting beauty.

The band created four new songs for the album. Lindsey Buckingham’s “Bleed To Love Her” is a well constructed love song that is mostly acoustic, while “My Little Demon” demonstrates just how good a guitarist he had become. If you want to hear his guitar playing at its best, just check out “I’m So Afraid.”

Stevie Nicks' contribution, “Sweet Girl,” contains the kind of personal lyrics she had been so successful at creating in the past. “Temporary One” by Christine McVie is her signature type of bouncy pop.

The album ends with “Tusk” and “Don’t Stop,” which include The USC Marching Band. They combine to be a pair of the best closers in live album history.

The Dance was the last hurrah for Christine McVie, as she would leave the group after its release. It is a fitting memorial for the classic Fleetwood Mac pop configuration. It remains one of their essential releases.



Read more: http://blogcritics.org/music/article...#ixzz16vvMqw49