About Behind The Mask

[michelej1]

Australia Advertiser, Sunday Mail, May 20, 1990

THERE are those who say that Fleetwood Mac should have called it a day when Lindsey Buckingham decided to quit and, by some accounts at least, the group's recent visit to Melbourne may well have lent weight to that point of view.Behind The Mask (Warner), the big Mac's latest album and the first to showcase new boys Billy Burnette and Rick Vito, carries arguments both for and against.Surely the band's greatest plus these days is Christine McVie whose contributions, especially in the writing and singing departments, show little sign of waning. But Stevie Nicks is fast becoming a liability.McVie had a hand in writing four of the 13 tracks and three are among the album's best: the bouncy opener Skies The Limit, the uptempo and commercial Save Me and, especially, Do You Know, a melodic and lyrical collaboration with Burnette.Nicks's contribution are at the other end of the scale: Love Is Dangerous and Affairs Of The Heart are merely repetitive, Freedom (written with Heartbreaker Mike Campbell) is a tedious attempt to repeat the success of Stop Dragging My Heart Around (written with chief Heartbreaker Tom Petty), and The Second Time is a nice ballad spoilt by that tiresome nasal whine which is having trouble breathing and phrasing.Vito's Stand On The Rock, a solid rocker featuring his sweet slide guitar, and Burnette's rockabilly offerings, When The Sun Goes Down and When It Comes To Love, are respectable but unremarkable.Paul Speelman

[michelej1]

Australia Advertiser, April 6, 1990

HEADLINE: Faithful old Mac-mobile tunes up after a slow start

BYLINE: PATRICK MCDONALD

BODY:
Fleetwood Mac

Memorial Drive

Last night

FLEETWOOD MAC performed like a beloved old car which is long overdue for a service, but faithful to the end. It spluttered, moaned and stalled a few times before it got going, but with a little coaxing - and a decent run to get the engine warmed up - the old bomb was eventually ticking along like a Rolls Royce.

There's no denying the first hour was slow and shabby. After some awful tuning up by the band, Say That You Love Me offered no excitement as an opening number.

Stevie Nicks, ever the swirling gypsy, seems to have regained stage composure but her singing often fell flat. She substituted lower octaves on many well-known and traditionally soaring passages. Christine McVie, who was in fine voice, sadly could not be heard for the first hour because of sound problems.

Lengthy gaps, which outlasted the applause between songs, highlighted the lack of togetherness in the first half - although the tribal rhythm section of bassist John McVie and drummer Mick Fleetwood was airtight.

Surprisingly, the show was kept afloat by the enthusiasm of the band's new guitarists. Billy Burnette's scorching rock vocal on Oh Wow and Rick Vito's rolling renditions of early Peter Green blues tracks revived the early spirit of The Mac.

If nothing else, the show will be remembered for Mick Fleetwood's astonishing and amusing drum solo. Wired for sound, he performed front of stage, tapping fingers on computer pressure pads concealed about his person and fed through synthesisers to create bizzare effects.

The final 45 minutes unleashed a different band. Solo hits, rousing new material and classic tracks - including a golden cover of the departed Lindsay Buckingham's Don't Stop by Burnette

- were delivered with precision and gusto, leaving the crowd screaming for more, which it got in the form of Christine McVie's beautiful lullaby Songbird. The sins of the first half were almost forgotten, but could never be forgiven.

[michelej1]

April 1, 1990, Australia's Sunday Herald

HEADLINE: FLEETWOOD MAC UNMASKS

BYLINE: BREEN M

BODY:
Fleetwood Mac National Tennis Centre , March 26

IF this was the return of a saccharin band with a well-developed and slick image, we got the sweetness all right, but it was delivered like a stick of sugarcane across the back of the legs. Guitars screeched in an unexpected frenzy while Mick Fleetwood drummed with his casual disregard for discipline.

Tameness and predictability disappeared as the ageing, former British blues band searched out the last pieces of meat on the bone.Occasionally they got to the marrow for an exciting, extra-tasty morsel.

It's still seems incredible that Fleetwood Mac, with 50 million pop record sales behind them, could show such disregard for the manufactured sounds of the studio.

It was a rare and healthy thing, undoubtedly brought about by the presence of the two new members of the band - Billy Burnett (of the great American rock and roll family) and Rick Vito. These two characters not only have rock music pedigrees earned from on-the-road experience, but they have an ear for the authenticity of the guitar, with none of the showy, excessive indulgences that threaten to kill off the instrument.

Stevie Nicks was more concerned with her wardrobe than the music.She strutted off-stage after every second song for a new shawl, dress or other accoutrement. When she sang along her voice had virtually no appeal and certainly showed none of the life that surged from Christine McVie. The band played a broad selection of songs that covered material from the very first Fleetwood Mac album from the early '60s, to the soon-to-be-released that covered material from the very first Fleetwood Mac album from the early '60s, to the soon-to-be-released Behind The Mask.

[michelej1]

March 27, 1990, Australia's Herald

HEADLINE: A glimpse Behind the Mask

BYLINE: SMALL C

BODY:
ROCK: First Night Fleetwood Mac National Tennis Centre. More concerts: tomorrow night, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday Reviewer: Clint Small PLAGUED by a variable sound mix, Fleetwood Mac spent most of last night's show fighting gremlins, and although the group eventually won the going was tough.

They opened with a tense, edgy version of The Chain and moved through a set that paid tribute to the band's very early days with guitarist Peter Green and touched on material from the forthcoming Behind the Mask album. But they dealt mainly with their mega platinum album Rumors and Fleetwood Mac.

The new two-guitar line-up, while often lacking definition because of the vagaries of last night's mix, gave songs such as Say You Love Me a new slant.

While not completely convinced by newcomer Billy Burnette's vocals, I found Rick Vito's guitar playing more than impressive. Although he spent most of the night approximating Lindsey Buckingham's guitar parts, Vito demonstrated a fiery passion for the instrument as well as a neat line in guitar hero poses.

Stevie Nicks' emotive Landslide and the powerful, driving version of Stand Back were highlights as were the tough, feedback-tinged climax of Go Your Own Way and Christine McVie's gentle Songbird.

Everywhere, Save Me and Don't Stop gained from the band's live treatment, the latter being especially rollicky.

[Street_Dreamer]

Originally Posted by michelej1

Surprisingly, the show was kept afloat by the enthusiasm of the band's new guitarists. Billy Burnette's scorching rock vocal on Oh Wow

Oh Wow?! Oh Wow?! *sighs*

Matt

[michelej1]

Originally Posted by Street_Dreamer

Oh Wow?! Oh Wow?! *sighs*

Matt

A true rock critic! Must've been in the field a long time.

Michele

[Street_Dreamer]

That one makes my head want to explode... just as Oh Well starts playing on my computer.

Matt

[michelej1]

It's strange, because you couldn't guess "oh well" just from the lyrics. If you didn't know the song, you'd have to be looking at the album or a setlist or something to say the title is either Oh Well or Or Wow. So, how do you get it wrong when it's spelled out for you -- and you're supposed to be a reporter?

Michele