Worst FM album?

[TimeCastASpell]

I'm missing a huge portion of my Mac collection so I don't know if I can say really. I do know I had Time and don't recall ever really listening to it but anything I had (and I had probably 5 albums or so) outside of the BN/Rumours era were largely forgotten about though I really want to give the pre-Rumours stuff a chance now that I'm older and have different tastes. I was and will always be heavily into Stevie so I think in the past I was apt to not care about any album without her!

I recently picked up Mirage on vinyl. I wasn't sure I'd ever owned it but I think I did when I heard it. I honestly have to say I did like it especially the Chris and Lindsey songs but beyond Gypsy I thought the Stevie songs were very blah. Don't have Tango in my possession now but I know that I did listen to it a lot and if I did have Mirage back then then Tango got a lot more play.

Don't hate me for saying this but I honestly really didnt like Tusk when I was younger. As soon as I get some money I'm looking to buy it on vinyl and am actually really looking forward to giving it another go but yeah... I remember being disappointed with it in my childhood. Would've definitely played Mirage more than Tusk and if I played Tusk I skipped a lot of songs...

[moon]

I really don't know much about their first -first- albums, you know.
But definitely, the worst FM album, is Time. Ew!
BTM has In the back of my mind, at least. But Time, has nothing...

[chiliD]

Seriously...Rumours.

It killed the band. Everything from there on was compared to it. They STILL think people want to hear those songs in concert. I could go the rest of my life without hearing ANY song from it and I wouldn't miss it a bit.

It basically f***ed up the band forever.

[louielouie2000]

Time. It's just a mess. Syrupy thick production. Bland music. Cobbled together singers/songwriters with little chemistry. As a whole work, there's just not much good to say about this album. I could levy the exact same criticisms against Behind the Mask. However, what began during Behind The Mask was simply exacerbated by Time. It's not to say neither album had any good songs on them. Christine McVie's presence blessedly prevented that. But Christine's opting out of touring with the Time incarnation of the band really says it all.

[TheGreenBlues]

Tusk.

Lindsey trying to be get into the new age/punk era and failing miserable.

If Then Play On is their peak to me then Tusk is their downfall.

[jbrownsjr]

Say You Will. I can't stand this album.

[becca]

I guess I'd have to say Tusk, yet I wouldn't get rid of any of the albums, even that one. I bought Tusk when it came out and felt ripped off because it cost more than a regular album. To me there was barely one regular FM album there and a ton of Lindsey demos, and they weren't interesting ones to me where he plays some beautiful guitar, they were sort of one song repeated with variations by somebody who'd just discovered a box of studio gimmicks and some cheesy synths. I remember the first Depeche Mode LP Speak & Spell was out around then, and Joe Jackson's first two albums and I really liked them, so I wasn't anti-New Wave. Boiled down to one LP I still think Tusk a bit thin, but at two LP length to me it was just an extravagant rip-off at the time. Now like Time it's something that seems like two very different albums grafted together. Penguin was a half baked album, somewhat an odds and sods, I can imagine people being disappointed with it as an album back in 1973. Kiln House was also somewhat half baked; maybe it's the title and cover art that make it seem a bit more unified.

[Villavic]

Originally Posted by chiliD

Seriously...Rumours.

It killed the band. Everything from there on was compared to it. They STILL think people want to hear those songs in concert. I could go the rest of my life without hearing ANY song from it and I wouldn't miss it a bit.

It basically f***ed up the band forever.

So shouldn't we blame it on the people, and not the album? I read your words and I can't find any "bad songs", "bad production", etc. You just mention people, compared, want to hear, etc. And yes it makes sense, I see your point, but that doesn't make an album the "worst".

I mean, my point is that I've always thought the same about all the hypersuccesful and then hyperhated albums (and songs, movies, etc.). They became the "worst" because everybody start to talk about them and nothing more, they always play them (radios, discos, concerts, elevators, etc.). So at the end we get really sick about them. Think in Bee Gees, Thriller, Titanic movie. hey all had that effect. And in Rumours case, yes, it's 2013 and they still fill the concert with Rumours songs, forgetting so many great songs from the other albums. But again... the album itself.. can't be the worst just because of that. IMHO.

Mick mentioned in his album, about what Lindsey thought before starting Tusk recording sessions:
Lindsey Buckingham was especially perturbed; he felt that with the success of Rumours, "the work" was being ignored in favor of "the phenomenon." This was important because Lindsey was our chief architect and creator. He was totally dedicated to the art of it, and driven by pure intentions. He lived for his art the way Brian Wilson did, with few outside interests and a dislike of distractions. Lindsey wasn't even in it for the money anymore. He just wanted it to be good.

[becca]

Brian Wilson also put out some overblown pretentious crap (ever get a copy of Holland with the weird extra EP included?). I never thought Pet Sounds was the bees knees all around, either in stereo or mono, but then I've never understood quite what was so great about the Phil Spector wall-of-sound being applied to everything and anything.

If "He just wanted it to be good" someone needed to tell him how less is more around then. The double-album is an ego trip many have tripped on though.

[RickRobert]

Mirage, love Gypsy though

[SteveMacD]

"Time" is not even in my bottom five.

5: Heroes Are Hard To Find. I really like this record, and the live versions of the songs I've heard from this tour were mind-blowing good, to the point where it makes me think a little less of the studio version. (See also: "Rhiannon" and "Sisters Of The Moon") But you could tell that they were all feeling strained about all of the crap they went through, and possibly would rather be anywhere other than making a new Fleetwood Mac album.

4: Penguin. Christine's songs are great. "Nightwatch" and "Revelation" are classic Welch, though "Bright Fire" doesn't do too much for me (nor did it Bob). The Walker stuff was pretty forgettable. Weston's song is pleasant, though unnecessary.

3: Mirage. Stevie saves this otherwise bland snoozefest from getting pitched.

2: Say You Will. They forgot the whole "less is more" philosophy on this one. It would have made for an amazing 10 song album. Some songs (i.e. "Murrow" and "Illume (9-11)") would have been better on solo albums or just simply never released, while other songs (i.e. "Down On Rodeo") were released on solo albums, but would have been much better in the context of a Fleetwood Mac record. While I hate bland records like "Mirage", I don't think Fleetwood Mac is necessarily the best place for Lindsey to do completely wacky musical experiments.

1: Behind The Mask. While "Time" was a disjointed mess, at least Richard Dashut was at the helm, and it had the basic sonic fundamentals of the Fleetwood Mac sound. On the other hand, the production on "Behind The Mask" was just horrid and cheesy. The songs were okay, but there were better songs NOT chosen (I blame corporate). I made playlists that replace the weaker Burnette/Vito songs with the better songs (i.e. "Intuition" or "Victim Of Love"), and while it helps, the album still feels weak. So, I replaced all of the Burnette/Vito songs with songs by highly acclaimed artists, such as Eric Clapton, Richard Thompson, and even Lindsey Buckingham, that were recorded around the same time, and the album still falls short. I still don't know if it's the performances, the songs themselves, or the production that kills this record. "Freedom" is the epitome of this. It seems like it should be a good song, but I generally find it annoying and unlistenable. In any event, I've decided that I can't blame Billy or Rick.

[shackin'up]

Originally Posted by becca

If "He just wanted it to be good" someone needed to tell him how less is more around then. The double-album is an ego trip many have tripped on though.

It's the best thing they ever recorded. That has been recorded. By Anyone.

[chiliD]

Originally Posted by shackin'up

It's the best thing they ever recorded. That has been recorded. By Anyone.

Still perched alone on that hill, aren't ya?

[shackin'up]

Originally Posted by chiliD

Still perched alone on that hill, aren't ya?

We're both alone on a hill, Chili. Different hills though. You on your 'Rumours is the worst album Fm made, it ruïned everything'-hill, and me on my 'Tusk is the best album ever recorded by anyone, because it changed a mainstreamband in an artisticly visionary guts-band'- hill.Beautiful view from here. How's yours?

[chiliD]

Originally Posted by shackin'up

We're both alone on a hill, Chili. Different hills though. You on your 'Rumours is the worst album Fm made, it ruïned everything'-hill, and me on my 'Tusk is the best album ever recorded by anyone, because it changed a mainstreamband in an artisticly visionary guts-band'- hill.Beautiful view from here. How's yours?

My view is great...can pretty much imagine that yours is just a mirage (no pun intended).