The best and worst of Behind the Mask

[Villavic]

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).

[chiliD]

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!)

[amber]

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, 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.

[Musicman408]

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!)

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

[SteveMacD]

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!)

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."

[foxyluva]

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.

[Miss Vicky]

Best: "In the Back Of My Mind"

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

[Johnny Stew]

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.

[Miss Vicky]

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:

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.

[jbrownsjr]

the producer of btm should be fired....

[macfan 57]

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

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

[jbrownsjr]

Best: Behind the Mask
Worst: Do You Know

[chiliD]

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:

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

[TheWILDheart]

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

[michaelD]

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...

[Angel69]

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

[PenguinHead]

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

[AliceLover]

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.

[AliceLover]

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!

[PenguinHead]

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.

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.

[JazmenFlowers]

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

[AliceLover]

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.

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

[wheart]

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.

[joshywashy377]

Favorite: either Affairs or Hard Feelings

Least: Do You Know - just too slow for me

[Phil]

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.

[JazmenFlowers]

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.

[chiliD]

He ought to be assassinated. .


Class act, Phil, class act. :mad:

[Phil]

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.

[jools]

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

[Matthew]

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.... :-(

[BlackWidow]

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:

[Chris_Sydney]

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

[Phil]

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.

[TheWILDheart]

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


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)

[Dark Angel]

Best: Behind The Mask/In the Back Of My Mind
Worst: The Second Time/Stand On The Rock

[jbrownsjr]

Best: Behind The Mask/In the Back Of My Mind
Worst: The Second Time/Stand On The Rock

can't argue with that

[kathy1]

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

[Peestie]

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.

[Raeven Skye]

I love:

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

Worst: Ehh The Second Time I guess




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

[bwboy]

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.

[Macfan4life]

Favorite: In the back of my mind
Least favorite: Hard Feelings

I am surprised that only one other person listed Hard feelings as their least favorite. That is the worst Mac song in their entire catalog IMHO. Its horrible. The lyrics are so cheezy stupid. The singing is like nails down a chalk board. The music is so basic.

Behind the Mask is a 50/50 album. Half of it is very good while the other half is not great or terrible. I love how they took a chance and went to left field for In the back of my mind.

My favorites
Behind the Mask
Skies the Limit (and yes I love the way skies is spelled)
In the back of my mind
Freedom
When it comes to love
Do you know
Love is Dangerous
Save Me

The clunkers:
Hard Feelings
Stand on the Rock
Second time
Affairs of the heart
When the sun goes down (its the best of the clunkers)

[bwboy]

I hated Hard Feelings for the longest time, and then one day I was listening to the CD in my car and it just snuck up on me and now I like it more than I hate it.

The song I'm surprised to see a lot of people don't like is Do You Know. I think it's a beautiful song and Christine and Billy did a great job with it. Their voices sound beautiful together.

[Macfan4life]

I hated Hard Feelings for the longest time, and then one day I was listening to the CD in my car and it just snuck up on me and now I like it more than I hate it.

The song I'm surprised to see a lot of people don't like is Do You Know. I think it's a beautiful song and Christine and Billy did a great job with it. Their voices sound beautiful together.
I agree. I just attacked Billy's singing on Hard Feelings but his voice and Christine's sound so good together on Do You Know. I used to sing this song in my car all the time. I also LOVE the keyboard playing. Its so Christine and it sounds so good. That was something missing from Tango....Christine playing keyboards. Too much of that album was programmed. I think Do You Know is a highlight of BTM.

[aleuzzi]

This is, by far, my least favorite Mac record. It sounds so bloated and generic. Nothing many people haven't already made said in this thread.

Many of the songs had a real chance to sound good, but they needed to be stripped down a bit and rearranged more imaginatively.

My favorite tunes are Save Me and the title track. Even with the horrendous production and arrangements, these two songs are inventive and sung with real spirit.

[~*BellaDonna*~]

To be perfectly honest, the only song I can listen to is Save Me.

[mitzo]

Songs on this album are all pretty strong and the best feature is the gorgeous harmonies throughout. Not a song I hate. Shows what the band could do without Lindsey and it was refreshing.

[SeanJT]

Here is my playlist when I listen to this era of the band:

Skies The Limit
Intuition
Love Shines
Paper Doll
Heart of Stone
Desiree
Save Me
Make Me a Mask
In The Back Of My Mind
Behind The Mask
No Questions Asked
As Long As You Follow

[StevieNicksfann]

To include the greatest hits songs and The Chain:

Faves:

No Questions Asked
Paper Doll
Affairs Of The Heart
Love Is Dangerous
Save Me
The Second Time

Ones I like:

As Long As You Swallow
Skies The Limit
When The Sun Goes Down
When It Comes To Love
Hard Feelings
Love Shines
Stand On The Rock

No opinion/Don't care for:

In The Back Of My Mind
Behind The Mask
Do You Know
Heart Of Stone
Make Me A Mask

Absolute least favorite and that's saying a ton considering my screen name:

Freedom

P.S. I like Intuition and Desiree but I only know them as Rick Vito songs

[WatchChain]

Perhaps we could just forget to whole album's existence? It was a just a dream, darling......nothing more than a frightening, bad dream. Kind of like the team it was revealed that an entire season of "Dallas" was nothing more than Pamela Ewing's dream.

[bwboy]

Nah,the album, at worst, is straight forward rock, much less 'poppy' than Tango. If people don't like ANY songs by this incarnation, I'd be surprised. As Long As You Follow, Save Me, the Second Time, even Skies the Limit at least SOUND like Fleetwood Mac. Behind the Mask is well made and gave each songwriter the opportunity to shine. Sorry some people hate it so much.

[shackin'up]

Hahaha! Yes,
I can live with this album...


...As Long As You Swallow


:laugh:

[bwboy]

Out of sheer boredom and an unusual abundance of free time, I added the totals and here we go.

Favorites:
Save Me and Freedom tied with 13 votes
In the Back of My Mind 12
Behind the Mask 10
The Second Time 9
Skies the Limit and Affairs of the Heart tied with 8
Love is Dangerous 7
Do You Know and When the Sun Goes Down tied with 6
When It Comes to Love, Stand on the Rock, and Hard Feelings tied for last with 3

Least Favorites:
Stand on the Rock with 9 votes
The Second Time 8
Hard Feelings 4
Do You Know and Freedom tied with 3
Behind the Mask 2
In the Back of My Mind, When It Comes to Love, Affairs of the Heart, Love is Dnagerous, and When the Sun Goes Down all tied with one vote each
Save Me and Skies the Limit received 0 votes for least favorite!

[bwboy]

So averaging them out, here's the order of favorites:

Save Me 13 votes
In the Back of My Mind 11
Freedom 10
Behind the Mask and Skies the Limit tied with 8
Affairs of the Heart 7
Love is Dangerous 6
When the Sun Goes Down 5
Do You Know 3
When It Comes to Love 2
The Second Time 1
Hard Feelings -1
Stand on the Rock -6

Some observations:
The Second Time really divided fans.

When the Sun Goes Down beat out Do You Know- huh.

In the Back of My Mind rated higher than any of Stevie's songs.

Christine McVie clearly was the unsung hero of this album. Perhaps the album might have done better if they had dropped Hard Feelings or Stand on the Rock and included another McVie song.

[Macfan4life]

So averaging them out, here's the order of favorites:

Save Me 13 votes
In the Back of My Mind 11
Freedom 10
Behind the Mask and Skies the Limit tied with 8
Affairs of the Heart 7
Love is Dangerous 6
When the Sun Goes Down 5
Do You Know 3
When It Comes to Love 2
The Second Time 1
Hard Feelings -1
Stand on the Rock -6

Some observations:
The Second Time really divided fans.

When the Sun Goes Down beat out Do You Know- huh.

In the Back of My Mind rated higher than any of Stevie's songs.

Christine McVie clearly was the unsung hero of this album. Perhaps the album might have done better if they had dropped Hard Feelings or Stand on the Rock and included another McVie song.
I see Christine more than the hero of this band in 1990. I see her as the mature leader of the band. Both Stevie and Mick were zonked out while the world was still getting to know Billy and Rick. She was the rock for the band at this time.
But then again...has Christine ever recorded a bad song? IMHO no.

[Murrow]

Loved this album from the moment I first heard it. I'd rather hear it than Mirage or Tango anyday.

TOP: Love is Dangerous-Stand On the Rock
BOTTOM: Save Me - I find it rather dull and production line though I like Rick's solo on it. Also I find Do You Know rather turgid and When It Comes to Love sounds like Simon Climie should've kept it for a Climie Fisher album.

Funnily enough I like Hard Feelings - despite the basic lyric, it has some really nice classical overtones.

Behind the Mask - an album that blended pop, rockabilly and hard rock with a dash of country to perfection. So sad that Greg Ladanyi, who produced it, died after a fall in 2009.

[annabellee]

This album is as great if not better than Tango.

[SpyNote]

Behind the Mask - an album that blended pop, rockabilly and hard rock with a dash of country to perfection.

This summons up the album well for me. Everyone sounds great on the album, even Stevie despite being in the middle of her Klonopin daze.

I dug up some old demos from these sessions. It's interesting to hear how bluesy it went with Rick's songs before they pulled back. Some of Billy's unused contributions were a little on the cheesy side.


So sad that Greg Ladanyi, who produced it, died after a fall in 2009.


Did not know this. According to Wikipedia, it was a freak accident :distress: