Behind The Mask

[Travisevian]

Behind The Mask is one of my favourite Fleetwood Mac albums and one of the few albums that I can listen to in its entirety without skipping a track. So, it's challenging for me to choose the tracks I like the most but this is my list:

Love Is Dangerous
In The Back Of My Mind
Do You Know
Save Me
When The Sun Goes Down
Behind The Mask
Freedom

What are your favourite songs from this album?

[bangdrum]

Save Me
In The Back Of My Mind
Behind The Mask
When The Sun Goes Down (country fan as a kid and a bluegrass fan, so I love this)

Honestly, that's kind of it. BTM is not one of my favorite albums.

[chiliD]

Behind The Mask is one of my favourite Fleetwood Mac albums and one of the few albums that I can listen to in its entirety without skipping a track. So, it's challenging for me to choose the tracks I like the most but this is my list:

Love Is Dangerous
In The Back Of My Mind
Do You Know
Save Me
When The Sun Goes Down
Behind The Mask
Freedom

What are your favourite songs from this album?

Like or love ALL of them EXCEPT "The Second Time"...which just has permanently encamped itself in the lowest sludge of the 7 song cesspool called "the worst of Fleetwood Mac".

[mottabam]

Behind The Mask is one of my favourite Fleetwood Mac albums and one of the few albums that I can listen to in its entirety without skipping a track. So, it's challenging for me to choose the tracks I like the most but this is my list:

Love Is Dangerous
In The Back Of My Mind
Do You Know
Save Me
When The Sun Goes Down
Behind The Mask
Freedom

What are your favourite songs from this album?

I thought it was a pretty good album considering the new line-up, and yes I could generally listen all the way through it as well. At the time I had it on cassette. Haven't listened in a while.
Favs:
In the back of my Mind
Love is Dangerous
Stand on a Rock
Save Me
I thought the tour was good also, nice stage lighting, merchandise, and good opening acts (World Party or Squeeze? at some New England shows..)

[sjpdg]

Behind The Mask is one of my favourite Fleetwood Mac albums and one of the few albums that I can listen to in its entirety without skipping a track. So, it's challenging for me to choose the tracks I like the most but this is my list:

Love Is Dangerous
In The Back Of My Mind
Do You Know
Save Me
When The Sun Goes Down
Behind The Mask
Freedom

What are your favourite songs from this album?

I would only add one more song to your great list. When It Comes To Love

The Billy/Christine combo was a great one and one that was not explored enough, just like the Rick/Stevie combo. This version of Love Is Dangerous is great (Rick's solo version is awesome but very different in arrangement and style from this CD's version). Rick and Stevie's "Desiree" from Rick's King of Hearts CD would have just been awesome if done by FM during this era.

The tour for this CD was great. In The Back Of My Mind flowing into The Chain was a stroke of genius! It was just awesome! The short blues set from Rick was outstanding (as if it would have been anything less!!), and everything seemed to be flowing nicely. It's just a shame that there wasn't perhaps some different material on the CD, or that there wasn't more acceptance of where the band was trying to go at that point. The Tango In The Night tour was awesome as well (my first FM show was on that tour) and those 2 guys blew me away! "Oh Well", the things that might have/could have/should have been with this line-up have been debated and theorized ad nauseum, so I won't attempt to open any of those discussions again! :thumbsup:

[madeline]

Fleetwood Mac played Richfield, Coliseum on July 3 on the Behind the mask tour. I was wondering if anyone else knew that Billy Burnette sang Rhiannon that night instead of Stevie. Now I didn't go to that show but I remember reading the review of it and that is what they said. And I have a ton of BTM shows on tape but not that one. Has anyone ever heard that? Also I checked on the Legacy because they always have those little tidbits of info next to the shows but there was nothing there. So I thought that was odd.

[iamnotafraid]

Behind The Mask is one of my favourite Fleetwood Mac albums and one of the few albums that I can listen to in its entirety without skipping a track.

^Proof of what happens to your brain on crack.

Travisevian, there are plenty of people here that
will help you kick the habit. Just be very careful
of the enablers in this particular Ledge forum.

[holidayroad]

My faves are 'In the Back of My Mind' and 'Behind the Mask'.

[MacShadowsBall]

Fleetwood Mac played Richfield, Coliseum on July 3 on the Behind the mask tour. I was wondering if anyone else knew that Billy Burnette sang Rhiannon that night instead of Stevie. Now I didn't go to that show but I remember reading the review of it and that is what they said. And I have a ton of BTM shows on tape but not that one. Has anyone ever heard that? Also I checked on the Legacy because they always have those little tidbits of info next to the shows but there was nothing there. So I thought that was odd.

If that happened, I'd love to see or hear it. Perhaps Stevie got sick or something at the last minute and had to leave, so Billy did Rhiannon? :shrug:

My favs are Save Me, Skies the Limit, Affairs of the Heart, and Hard Feelings.

[PenguinHead]

Like or love ALL of them EXCEPT "The Second Time"...which just has permanently encamped itself in the lowest sludge of the 7 song cesspool called "the worst of Fleetwood Mac".

That's for sure. Rick wrote a nice intrumental. Then Stevie spoiled it by writing lyrics for it, and singing them. I suppose this could have been good in the vein of Landslide. Yet, the lyrics were terrible and her delivery was questionable.

A missed opportunity and great mistake (Stevie has had her share). When I play the album, though, I still listen to the song. It's like passing a horrible car accident on a highway --- you don't want to see it, but you have to look!

[iamnotafraid]

When I play the album, though, I still listen the song. It's like passing a horrible car accident on a highway --- you don't want to see it, but you have to look!

That's funny.

I'd like to just understand
the album cover. That would
be enough for me.

[AliceLover]

When The Sun Goes Down (country fan as a kid and a bluegrass fan, so I love this)

Honestly, that's kind of it. BTM is not one of my favorite albums.

I love this one too. I am pretty sure that I have a live version kicking around somewhere. They did it one or two times on the tour. Christine whipped out the accordian for it.

[darklinensuit]

I like:
Freedom
Behind the Mask
When It Comes to Love
When the Sun Goes Down

- Jake

[bangdrum]

I love this one too. I am pretty sure that I have a live version kicking around somewhere. They did it one or two times on the tour. Christine whipped out the accordian for it.

Oooh, I'd love to hear that! Chris doesn't play the accordian that often!

[PenguinHead]

Christine: Behind The Mask
Stevie: Freedom
Billy: Hard Feelings
Rick & Stevie: Love is Dangerous
Rick & Billy: When The Sun Goes Down

A respectable, decent album overall; very listenable.

The only songs that made it into the live set were:
Save Me
Stand On The Rock
Love is Dangerous - dropped at some point in the tour
When The Sun Goes Down - great live song featuring Billy & Rick, but inexplicably dropped early on
In The Back of My Mind - good song, but horrible as a show opener

Curiously, not one new Stevie song in the set. Was this a silent protest of her not completely accepting the band without Lindsey? The thing I dislike the most about this era of the band is that this is when Stevie's solo songs (Stand Back and Has Anyone Ever Written Anything For You) started creeping into the set lists, with Stand Back becoming a staple of Fleetwood Mac shows, despite it being a song in a style so unlike Fleetwood Mac. And, Stevie brought other elements of her solo career into the band - Sharon and Laurie, as well as a few of her band members. The brand that was Fleetwood Mac became more diluted.

[sjpdg]

Christine: Behind The Mask
Stevie: Freedom
Billy: Hard Feelings
Rick & Stevie: Love is Dangerous
Rick & Billy: When The Sun Goes Down

A respectable, decent album overall; very listenable.

The only songs that made it into the live set were:
Save Me
Stand On The Rock
Love is Dangerous - dropped at some point in the tour
When The Sun Goes Down - great live song featuring Billy & Rick, but inexplicably dropped early on
In The Back of My Mind - good song, but horrible as a show opener

Curiously, not one new Stevie song in the set. Was this a silent protest of her not completely accepting the band without Lindsey? The thing I dislike the most about this era of the band is that this is when Stevie's solo songs (Stand Back and Has Anyone Ever Written Anything For You) started creeping into the set lists, with Stand Back becoming a staple of Fleetwood Mac shows, despite it being a song in a style so unlike Fleetwood Mac. And, Stevie brought other elements of her solo career into the band - Sharon and Laurie, as well as a few of her band members. The brand that was Fleetwood Mac became more diluted.

I totally loved In The Back Of My Mind as a show opener! It flowed virtually seamlessly into The Chain. It was awesome in concert, I just loved it. Why they didn't continue with some of those songs in the set as the tour went on, I can't say. Definitely a mistake from my point of view. The overall choice of what to release as singles and in what order probably needed to be better thought out in my opinion. They needed to lead off with "Save Me", then follow up with "Love Is Dangerous", then "Freedom", then "When It Comes To Love", or something like that. Would have given the public a taste of "the old" then "the new" and back and forth. Just my opinion, but they could have promoted this era of FM much better than they did. The live shows were fantastic.

[jay]

I love this album too, although after the mighty 'Tango in the night' I can see why it would be a let-down for some people. I don't get the hate for 'The second time' though, it sounds alright to me.

[Travisevian]

I don't get the hate for 'The second time' though, it sounds alright to me.

Neither do I. Many people seem to enjoy disliking Stevie's music from that time because Stevie seems to. If she'd never publicly spoken about being addicted to tranquilizers or how much she dislikes her songs from that time, would those people like those songs just as much as anything else she ever recorded?

[Neal]

Neither do I. Many people seem to enjoy disliking Stevie's music from that time because Stevie seems to. If she'd never publicly spoken about being addicted to tranquilizers or how much she dislikes her songs from that time, would those people like those songs just as much as anything else she ever recorded?

I'm unashamed to admit that many of my favorite songs hail from The Klonopin Years, including her Behind The Mask contributions! :)

[michelej1]

Neither do I. Many people seem to enjoy disliking Stevie's music from that time because Stevie seems to. If she'd never publicly spoken about being addicted to tranquilizers or how much she dislikes her songs from that time, would those people like those songs just as much as anything else she ever recorded?

You have a point. I know people who won't even listen to SA because Stevie herself has knocked it so much. One person said to me, "I don't think Stevie would want me to hear it." :confused:

I agree with you that perceptions might be different if Stevie hadn't knocked it, causing a domino effect among her fans.

But there are no circumstances under which I would like Jane. I don't care if she'd made it during her happiest, hey day and was as proud of it as she is of the awful Cheaper Than Free. I'd still hate it.

Michele

[iamnotafraid]

But there are no circumstances under which I would like Jane. I don't care if she'd made it during her happiest, hey day and was as proud of it as she is of the awful Cheaper Than Free. I'd still hate it.

Michele


Michele, would you prefer her to have written about
Barry instead?

[Villavic]

Skies the limit
Affairs of the Heart
In The Back Of My Mind
Do You Know
Behind The Mask

Unfortunately the lineup changed considerably at Time, I missed Rick and Stevie. So this is the only post-Rumours lineup album I liked. I usually play it, never play Time

[Travisevian]

I'm unashamed to admit that many of my favorite songs hail from The Klonopin Years, including her Behind The Mask contributions! :)

Neal, I'm very glad to know that and I feel the same way. :)

You have a point. I know people who won't even listen to SA because Stevie herself has knocked it so much.

That's a shame. I think Rose Garden is one of Stevie's best songs. Do they realize that she wrote that when she was only sixteen or seventeen?

One person said to me, "I don't think Stevie would want me to hear it." :confused:

There's something almost spiritual about such a remark. Well, I'm going to spin around the room to Blue Denim, think of laundromats while listening to Docklands, get chills from Unconditional Love and Maybe Love Will Change Your Mind, totally rock out to Listen To The Rain as if it were a serious heavy metal song, rhythmically tap my pocket full of change like a tambourine to Rose Garden and cry over the image of the forgotten chimpanzee in Jane. Stevie will just have to deal with it. :laugh:

[MacShadowsBall]

I love this album too, although after the mighty 'Tango in the night' I can see why it would be a let-down for some people. I don't get the hate for 'The second time' though, it sounds alright to me.

True, Tango in the Night was a massive success. Not quite Rumours but more successful than Mirage and Tusk, in my opinion.

Behind the Mask lost one important aspect - Lindsey's producing abilities. Several of the songs could have been big hits had they been better produced without that muddy mixing along with random instrumentation all over the songs.

As far as "The Second Time" goes, the vocal is just horrible. Sorry.

[tabruns]

That's funny.

I'd like to just understand
the album cover. That would
be enough for me.

Well there are 6 people on the cover, and 6 people in the band. Ergo, I think the pic of the people on the front are meant to represent the band members. The girl in front, larger than the rest, is clearly "Stevie". As for the rest, you've got me. I suspect that the man/woman who look like an old married couple arguing are probably Mick and John, the guy with the accordian is Christine, the guy with the guitar is Billy and the kid dancing is Rick.

[tabruns]

Neither do I. Many people seem to enjoy disliking Stevie's music from that time because Stevie seems to. If she'd never publicly spoken about being addicted to tranquilizers or how much she dislikes her songs from that time, would those people like those songs just as much as anything else she ever recorded?

Eh, I don't know Travis. When I first heard Behind The Mask I thought overall it was a decent album and it didn't deserve the bad reviews it got. BUT, I thought from the very start that Stevie's songs were sub-par. I thought this from Tango In The Night onward (until The Dance). With the occasional exception, her songs just aren't at the same excellent level as they had been on Fleetwood Mac/Rumours/Tusk/Bella Donna/Mirage/Wild Heart/Rock A Little. As I've said at other times on here, they sound very "pedestrian" for a writer of Stevie's calibre.

To me there's just nothing special about "Affairs of the Heart" or "Love Is Dangerous" or "Freedom". "The Second Time" is just very basic. Of the batch the best one is probably "Freedom", and "Freedom" might have had a shot at being a hit had it been mixed differently with the twirling whistle sound during the verses coming up in the mix. That would have created something of a hook to hang on to. As it was, it was buried, with just a hint of it barely audible.

On the other hand, Christine, Billy and Rick did turn in some good strong songs. "Behind The Mask", "Do You Know", "When It Comes To Love", "Hard Feelings", "When The Sun Goes Down" and "In The Back Of My Mind" are all very good and fun to listen to. And one thing Behind The Mask has over Tango In The Night is that you can hear Stevie in the background on most of the songs on Mask.

[dreamer78]

Eh, I don't know Travis. When I first heard Behind The Mask I thought overall it was a decent album and it didn't deserve the bad reviews it got. BUT, I thought from the very start that Stevie's songs were sub-par. I thought this from Tango In The Night onward (until The Dance). With the occasional exception, her songs just aren't at the same excellent level as they had been on Fleetwood Mac/Rumours/Tusk/Bella Donna/Mirage/Wild Heart/Rock A Little. As I've said at other times on here, they sound very "pedestrian" for a writer of Stevie's calibre.

To me there's just nothing special about "Affairs of the Heart" or "Love Is Dangerous" or "Freedom". "The Second Time" is just very basic. Of the batch the best one is probably "Freedom", and "Freedom" might have had a shot at being a hit had it been mixed differently with the twirling whistle sound during the verses coming up in the mix. That would have created something of a hook to hang on to. As it was, it was buried, with just a hint of it barely audible.

On the other hand, Christine, Billy and Rick did turn in some good strong songs. "Behind The Mask", "Do You Know", "When It Comes To Love", "Hard Feelings", "When The Sun Goes Down" and "In The Back Of My Mind" are all very good and fun to listen to. And one thing Behind The Mask has over Tango In The Night is that you can hear Stevie in the background on most of the songs on Mask.

what do you mean the twirling whistle sound for freedom ?

[jbrownsjr]

Fleetwood Mac played Richfield, Coliseum on July 3 on the Behind the mask tour. I was wondering if anyone else knew that Billy Burnette sang Rhiannon that night instead of Stevie. Now I didn't go to that show but I remember reading the review of it and that is what they said. And I have a ton of BTM shows on tape but not that one. Has anyone ever heard that? Also I checked on the Legacy because they always have those little tidbits of info next to the shows but there was nothing there. So I thought that was odd.

I was there that night and don't remember that at all. I remember Christine stole the show...

[jwd]

Behind The Mask is one of my favourite Fleetwood Mac albums and one of the few albums that I can listen to in its entirety without skipping a track. So, it's challenging for me to choose the tracks I like the most but this is my list:

Love Is Dangerous
In The Back Of My Mind
Do You Know
Save Me
When The Sun Goes Down
Behind The Mask
Freedom

What are your favourite songs from this album?

Ironically it's one of Fleetwood Mac's albums that I like Stevie's songs the least. My favorites are the Christine and Billy songs.



Fleetwood Mac played Richfield, Coliseum on July 3 on the Behind the mask tour. I was wondering if anyone else knew that Billy Burnette sang Rhiannon that night instead of Stevie. Now I didn't go to that show but I remember reading the review of it and that is what they said. And I have a ton of BTM shows on tape but not that one. Has anyone ever heard that? Also I checked on the Legacy because they always have those little tidbits of info next to the shows but there was nothing there. So I thought that was odd.

No. And I can't imagine any reason that he would sing "Rhiannon" instead of Stevie. Weird indeed!

[michelej1]

No. And I can't imagine any reason that he would sing "Rhiannon" instead of Stevie. Weird indeed!

And probably very frustrating for those in attendance, if it happened.

Michele

[tabruns]

what do you mean the twirling whistle sound for freedom ?

If you listen closely (probably need headphones) there's a twirling synthesizer sound during the verses of "Freedom". It basically goes something like "whoo-whoo-whoo-whoo!whoo!" over and over again. That's what I mean about being too buried in the mix....you haven't really heard it. I can hear it but its very faint. Had they mixed it farther up in the mix, I think it would have given "Freedom" a lot more of a hook and made it a better song.

This is similar to "That's Alright" on Mirage. Although "That's Alright" is a much better song, it also has a "too buried" sound in the mix: A woodblock.

On the other hand, the chimes sound or whatever that tinkling sound is during the chorus of "Thrown Down" is distracting and should have been removed completely. The hook of "Thrown Down" is the guitar part.

[Street_Dreamer]

If you listen closely (probably need headphones) there's a twirling synthesizer sound during the verses of "Freedom". It basically goes something like "whoo-whoo-whoo-whoo!whoo!" over and over again. That's what I mean about being too buried in the mix....you haven't really heard it. I can hear it but its very faint. Had they mixed it farther up in the mix, I think it would have given "Freedom" a lot more of a hook and made it a better song.

This is similar to "That's Alright" on Mirage. Although "That's Alright" is a much better song, it also has a "too buried" sound in the mix: A woodblock.

I've always been able to hear the woodblock on That's Alright but never noticed the synthesizer sound on Freedom until you pointed it out. It's there, you just need to have headphones to hear it. It's similar to the whistle synth that's in the middle part of the song.

Matt

[jbrownsjr]

And probably very frustrating for those in attendance, if it happened.

Michele

I think I'd remember that Michele... lol Although, one never knows.. :eek:

[Villavic]

No. And I can't imagine any reason that he would sing "Rhiannon" instead of Stevie. Weird indeed!

Weird of course, not because Billy is a guy. It's just that Rhiannon is a Stevie's landmark. You can see Lindsey and Stevie playing Don't Stop in the last tour, and that may be fine (just fine) and acceptable, but Rhiannon played by Billy, Rick, Sheryl Crow or any other possible member? No way.

I do remember a clip on TV of the Time lineup with Bekka singing Rhiannon. A failure I must say, IMHO. I would accept her singing Landslide, better if she says it's a tribute to Stevie.

But Rhiannon is too Stevie. The worst part was when Bekka started to scream at the end of the song, imitating Stevie. :distress:

[SteveMacD]

Weird of course, not because Billy is a guy. It's just that Rhiannon is a Stevie's landmark. You can see Lindsey and Stevie playing Don't Stop in the last tour, and that may be fine (just fine) and acceptable, but Rhiannon played by Billy, Rick, Sheryl Crow or any other possible member? No way.

I do remember a clip on TV of the Time lineup with Bekka singing Rhiannon. A failure I must say, IMHO. I would accept her singing Landslide, better if she says it's a tribute to Stevie.

But Rhiannon is too Stevie. The worst part was when Bekka started to scream at the end of the song, imitating Stevie. :distress:

Are you shure it was "Rhiannon" and not "Gold Dust Woman"? Bekka is a country-soul singer, and comes from a line of country-soul singers. Go to the five minute mark and tell me Bekka was trying to be Stevie.

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/z8Oo2tOJS6M" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Villavic]

Are you shure it was "Rhiannon" and not "Gold Dust Woman"?

It was several years ago. Yes my memory could betray me, but I would swear it was Rhiannon.

[chriskisn]

It was several years ago. Yes my memory could betray me, but I would swear it was Rhiannon.

Well to quote Bekka "And I could never find it in my heart to sing her signature songs like “Rhiannon.” The guys wanted me to, but I thought that was like baby sitting someone’s kid without asking. "

http://strummag.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=443:family-tradition-an-interview-with-bekka-bramlett&catid=34:music

[PenguinHead]

I totally loved In The Back Of My Mind as a show opener! It flowed virtually seamlessly into The Chain. It was awesome in concert, I just loved it. Why they didn't continue with some of those songs in the set as the tour went on, I can't say. Definitely a mistake from my point of view. The overall choice of what to release as singles and in what order probably needed to be better thought out in my opinion. They needed to lead off with "Save Me", then follow up with "Love Is Dangerous", then "Freedom", then "When It Comes To Love", or something like that. Would have given the public a taste of "the old" then "the new" and back and forth. Just my opinion, but they could have promoted this era of FM much better than they did. The live shows were fantastic.

Here is my issue with the opener "In The Back of My Mind": I went to several shows on that tour and noticed similar reactions: the band comes on stage and the crowd goes wild. Then there is this long dramatic introduction before the song kicks in. During that time frame, the enthusism of the audience wanes, and the song itself, despite being a good song, is kind of a drudgy drag. It's a kill-joy right from the start, mostly because of its pace.

[PenguinHead]

Eh, I don't know Travis. When I first heard Behind The Mask I thought overall it was a decent album and it didn't deserve the bad reviews it got. BUT, I thought from the very start that Stevie's songs were sub-par. I thought this from Tango In The Night onward (until The Dance). With the occasional exception, her songs just aren't at the same excellent level as they had been on Fleetwood Mac/Rumours/Tusk/Bella Donna/Mirage/Wild Heart/Rock A Little. As I've said at other times on here, they sound very "pedestrian" for a writer of Stevie's calibre.

To me there's just nothing special about "Affairs of the Heart" or "Love Is Dangerous" or "Freedom". "The Second Time" is just very basic. Of the batch the best one is probably "Freedom", and "Freedom" might have had a shot at being a hit had it been mixed differently with the twirling whistle sound during the verses coming up in the mix. That would have created something of a hook to hang on to. As it was, it was buried, with just a hint of it barely audible.

On the other hand, Christine, Billy and Rick did turn in some good strong songs. "Behind The Mask", "Do You Know", "When It Comes To Love", "Hard Feelings", "When The Sun Goes Down" and "In The Back Of My Mind" are all very good and fun to listen to. And one thing Behind The Mask has over Tango In The Night is that you can hear Stevie in the background on most of the songs on Mask.

You took the words and thoughts out of my head. I think Stevie was a little shakey on this album because Lindsey was absent. She has credited him for making the best of her songs. Lindsey challenged and guided Stevie with her material. Without him in the band for the first time, she was creatively adrift.

[PolishStevieFan]

I had bought "Behind The Mask" long before I invested my money in "Rumours-Deluxe Edition". Strange...but on the other hand my discovery of the band was also untypical. As a die hard fan of Stevie Nicks' talent I decided to collect every single album including her songs and idiosyncratic vocals. When I went to my favourite music shop I saw this album on the shelf and its price seduced me. I said to myself: "Rumours can wait!". Besides there was something intriguing about the cover of the album, that made me interested even more. I must add, that I hadn't read anything about this album before, so I had a chance to listen to the album without any prejudice. After first listen I was in the awe of the quality of the whole recorded material. In an instant I became a fan of "Sky Is The Limit", "Love Is Dangerous", "Save Me", "Behind The Mask" and "Freedom". Of course there were few songs that took some time to grow on me (like "When It Comes To Love", "The Second Time" and "When The Sun Goes Down") but in the end I liked most of the album. Then I started my research! I found out, that the album got bad press (mostly because of the absence of Lindsay). I was shocked! How can anyone say that the album is bad just because Lindsay is not on it? Luckily enough, I found 4 star review of the album in Rolling Stone, that reflected my own thoughts. With time I've grown to like the album even more. "In The Back of My Mind" and "Hard Feelings" rank as one of the best classic rock songs (at least for me). And "Affairs of the Heart" has become for me one of the better songs that Stevie performed with Fleetwood Mac. Few months ago I bought "Rumours" and recognized the legacy behind that album, but "Behind The Mask" hasn't lost its appeal to me...It's still one of the best releases of 1990! I feel ashamed, that back in that year I didn't discover this gem, immersing myself in Paula Abdul and Wilson Phillips' music. Fortunately for me, wisdome comes with time...:)

[billwebster]

My introduction to the band Fleetwood Mac was also far from typical. I noticed Billy Burnette as a great songwriter and guitarist on Roy Orbison's "Mystery Girl" album. Rick Vito also had a cameo on that one but I did not associate him with anything yet.

At one point, I read about Billy being in Fleetwood Mac. Next thing that happened, a solo album by another Fleetwood Mac member came out: "Out Of the Cradle" by a guy with the strange name Lindsey Buckingham, whom I'd never heard of before. I listened to it in a store to check out the music. It was nothing like I would have expected of Billy but it was so good.

So the first Fleetwood Mac related CD I got was Lindsey Buckingham's solo album "Out Of the Cradle" because he played in the same band as Billy Burnette. Think about it: Isn't this somewhat sacrilegious? ;-)

After that, I found Billy's solo CD "Coming Home" in a mailorder catalogue and ordered it right away. It remains a favourite to this day.

Somehow, I found out another while later that Billy only played on one Fleetwood Mac album, "Behind the Mask" at the time, but that was nowhere to be found in the stores in my area in around 1993. Luckily for me, I found a cutout CD of it in another mailorder catalogue. I ordered this and when I first listened to it, that's when I first heard the ladies.

Of course, my main focus was on Billy's material at first. He sang a lot on this record together with Christine McVie. So that's how I got into her. Yet, despite enjoying her duets with Billy, I feel her BTM solo songs are not among her best, but she made up for that by the high quality of all songs she released thereafter. "Affairs Of the Heart" is so good it got me interested in Stevie Nicks' solo material. The one guy whose songs I could not really get into was Rick Vito. He's a great guitarist, mind you, but when I look at his solo material, I feel he is unnecessarily limiting himself to the jump-blues style when really, he is capable of playing in many more other styles, too, like he has shown with Fleetwood Mac.

When "Time" came out, I was happy because I did not see any prior announcement of it. It was just there in the store at that very moment. But where was Stevie? I noticed her absence when looking at the sleeve. Bekka was in her place and when she opened her mouth and she sang "Winds Of Change", I could not get into her singing at all. I did not recognize her voice which I had heard before even, from her duet with Joe Cocker which I had already had on his album "Have A Little Faith". I guess she is trying too hard to be Stevie on "Winds Of Change". Luckily, not on her other songs on the album.

It's a shame that the BTM band never got the chance to release another album of new material together. "Love Shines" and "Paper Doll" are only glimpses of what could have been. I believe it would have been great music. Instead, the new guys had to again promote an album of the previous band for the 3rd time in 4 albums.

If that's not milking it, I don't know what is. It's no surprise the ladies and Rick left.

[Villavic]

From Mick's coffee book "My 25 years in FM" :

In 1990 Fleetwood Mac released Behind the Mask, its first modern album without Lindsey Buckingham. Despite Rick Vito's superb guitars and many strong songs (Save Me, Skies the Limit, Affairs of the Heart, Love is Dangerous), the album was underrated in America. At home in England, however, Mask entered the charts at number one, and that summer Fleetwood Mac sold out Wembley stadium for the first time, playing begore a couple hundred thousand fans, some of whom had been paying to see Fleetwood Mac for almost 25 years.

That summer also saw both Chris and Steve announce in midtour that they would be leaving the band. Both women were wealthy and famous, and neither felt like continuing the pressure and the pace that wetn along with life in Fleetwood Mac. The 2 ladies reached this decision together, although both indicate they would continue to record with the band in the future.

Was England Mick's home in 1990? Or he was just nostalgic?

That reason for leaving the band may be for Chris but id doesn't sound from Stevie. I read in other articles they were angry about Mick's bio. Besides Stevie continues that "pressure and pace" during solo tours. (and she didn't record in Time)

[AliceLover]

Christine: Behind The Mask
Stevie: Freedom
Billy: Hard Feelings
Rick & Stevie: Love is Dangerous
Rick & Billy: When The Sun Goes Down

A respectable, decent album overall; very listenable.

The only songs that made it into the live set were:
Save Me
Stand On The Rock
Love is Dangerous - dropped at some point in the tour
When The Sun Goes Down - great live song featuring Billy & Rick, but inexplicably dropped early on
In The Back of My Mind - good song, but horrible as a show opener

Curiously, not one new Stevie song in the set. Was this a silent protest of her not completely accepting the band without Lindsey? The thing I dislike the most about this era of the band is that this is when Stevie's solo songs (Stand Back and Has Anyone Ever Written Anything For You) started creeping into the set lists, with Stand Back becoming a staple of Fleetwood Mac shows, despite it being a song in a style so unlike Fleetwood Mac. And, Stevie brought other elements of her solo career into the band - Sharon and Laurie, as well as a few of her band members. The brand that was Fleetwood Mac became more diluted.

A couple fans from Aus. have come foward over the years claiming that the band played 'Affairs of the Heart' at the opening night of the tour.

[wheart]

I'm unashamed to admit that many of my favorite songs hail from The Klonopin Years, including her Behind The Mask contributions! :)


Good for you! I have mixed feelings about Stevie's BTM songs. Personally I happen to think The Second Time is beautiful but that's just me. And no, I"m not on crack! Freedom and Affairs of the Heart are fine songs but her near comatose vocals destroy both of these songs. Love is Dangerous just sucks on all levels.:o

[Ashley]

This album probably has to be one of my least favorites. I like it and everything, but not as much as the other albums from Fleetwood Mac. I just have this feeling that something is missing.

[vivfox]

Last night I listened to this whole album and I hadn't played the whole thing in years. I realized after listening to it why it was not a successful record. Because it is so depressing! There are very good songs on here but too many of them are downers in the way they make ya feel. In contrast RUMOURS was such an uplifting sounding record even though the subject matters were depressing. Behind The Mask is not an uplifting sounding record. It doesn't make you want to play it over and over and over again.

[michelej1]

Last night I listened to this whole album and I hadn't played the whole thing in years. I realized after listening to it why it was not a successful record. Because it is so depressing! There are very good songs on here but too many of them are downers in the way they make ya feel.

I don't like uplifting songs. I like 'em dark. But I don't want to play BTM over and over again either. Well, Save Me, BTM and When It Comes to Love do get repeated, but to me, the album as a whole doesn't fit together in a way that would make me want to hear it all the way through often.

Michele