Least favorite album cover

[Villavic]

Which one do you like the least?

[Macfan4life]

I am in the minority in that I don't care for the Tango album cover. No thought went into it and yet it sort of clarifies how the album was made. I can literally see Lindsey at his house pulling out his hair trying to get the album done. Stevie was in rehab and I don't see him wanting to engage the band any further with an album cover shoot. He turns his head up and sees a painting on his wall. Got permission and slap it on the cover.

My favorites are Kiln House, Mystery To Me, Bare Trees, Mirage, Live, Rumours and.......wait for it....Behind The Mask. The Behind The Mask cover is brilliant IMHO. Such mystery and I love a photo or painting that tells a story but its up to you to figure it out. Extremely underrated album cover. I even like Tusk. The Mac always had great album covers but Tango is my least favorite because zero effort or creativity went into it but I can understand why.

[sue]

My least favourite is Tusk…
And my favourite is Say You Will.
We are talking of just the cover.

Tusk I don’t like…I just don’t like the pic of an attacking dog.
And I like SYW as it’s a bloody good photo of them all.

(I know this is a dirty word here, but I also like SYW as an Album)

[Villavic]

We are talking of just the cover.


Yes, the poll is about the cover. The front cover. Any additional comment of an album is welcome of course.

[BLY]

I agree with you Sue, Tusk is my least favorite album cover for the same reason you mentioned . I do like most of the covers my least of any of the covers would be Mystery to Me.

[jbrownsjr]

Fleetwood Mac cover was so weird. But, strangely it worked.

[FuzzyPlum]

Of those listed….Mirage. Meh
Obviously Rumours is iconic….but also white album is brill.
Tusk is cool….it’s representative of the album in its punkiness. And scooter has a link with the band.
Apart from rumours and white though….kiln house and dog and dustbin.

[Villavic]

Well it seems Tusk will be the cover we like the least. That coincides with a very old poll, from 2002, where the question was the opposite, What's your favorite album cover? Rumours was the winner, no surprise. And Tusk just got one vote.

https://ledge.fleetwoodmac.net/showthread.php?t=6085

Unlike that poll, this time Say You Will was included. And though I like covers where there are band members, it is the one I like the least.
And I agree with Macfan4life. BTM cover is brilliant. From those covers where no member is present, Behind the Mask is my favorite.

[WalkAThinLine.]

Tusk is my favorite Fleetwood Mac album, but the album cover leaves a bit to be desired. It does reflect the quirkiness of the album, and I'm glad that Scooter was immortalized on a multiplatinum album. Of their studio albums, I'm not very fond of their unsightly debut album cover of a dog sniffing through a littered alleyway. I'm sensing a common denominator here...

[Macfan4life]

I love complex album covers. I saw a small documentary on Michael Jackson's Dangerous album cover and all the mysteries it contained. Mystery to Me is a fascinating and mysterious album cover and so is Behind The Mask. Heroes is the most bizarre one IMHO but its at least entertaining. Kiln House is special since Chris did it.
The White Album had a crystal ball and it continued with Rumours. But it does come back on the cover of the Dance, no?

[Villavic]

Not sure if it was the same crystal ball.

When I was a teen I got crazy trying to understand mysterious, mystic album covers. My favorite was Styx's Cornerstone. The inner sleeve was supposedly the stone, and with my friends we made theories about the meaning of the drawings.

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/bmkAAOSwCOVhO6J7/s-l400.jpg

[Macfan4life]

Not sure if it was the same crystal ball.

When I was a teen I got crazy trying to understand mysterious, mystic album covers. My favorite was Styx's Cornerstone. The inner sleeve was supposedly the stone, and with my friends we made theories about the meaning of the drawings.

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/bmkAAOSwCOVhO6J7/s-l400.jpg
I wish we had a deep dive into Mystery To Me. We dont have much from the band about it, no?

Check this out
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZB827xirds

[SteveMacD]

Heroes Are Hard To Find, and it’s not especially close.

[BigAl84]

Rumours...not because it's a bad cover. Heck, it's considered iconic by my accounts. Over exposure has killed it for me. It's become the poster child of people buying "vinyls" that don't even own a turntable.


If we're talking about design and execution - Behind The Mask. Woof. It just didn't age well. 90's design trends to the max.

Heroes...too weird for me.

[Villavic]

Heroes Are Hard To Find, and it’s not especially close.

I actually don't like any of the Early Years album, except for Bare Trees (not a favorite anyway).


Rumours... It's become the poster child of people buying "vinyls" that don't even own a turntable.


You busted me! :laugh: . Well, actually I didn't buy the vinyl. It just came with the Deluxe package, and since I don't have a turntable, I just hang it on my wall. It's something I've done since I got my first Rumours CD. I had the longbox hanging on my wall. Oh those 90s days.

[HomerMcvie]

I actually don't like any of the Early Years album, except for Bare Trees (not a favorite anyway).




You busted me! :laugh: . Well, actually I didn't buy the vinyl. It just came with the Deluxe package, and since I don't have a turntable, I just hang it on my wall. It's something I've done since I got my first Rumours CD. I had the longbox hanging on my wall. Oh those 90s days.

I still have my long boxes from Rumours, Tusk, Bella Donna, and Law and Order. I can't bear to throw them away. I've literally held them above the dumpster, and can't make my fingers release them.

[SteveMacD]

I actually don't like any of the Early Years album, except for Bare Trees (not a favorite anyway).
We like what we like.

Kiln House and Bare Trees are classic Fleetwood Mac pop albums, but I also gravitate towards Welch’s quasi-prog stuff if I listen to Fleetwood Mac, anymore. (I’ve played everything to death to the point of never needing to listen to an album, again.)

[Villavic]

I actually don't like any of the Early Years album, except for Bare Trees (not a favorite anyway).
.

I just realized I missed a word. I meant I don't like any of the Early Years album covers.

[SteveMacD]

I just realized I missed a word. I meant I don't like any of the Early Years album covers.

Weirdly, even then, Christine sketched the Kiln House cover and John took the Bare Trees cover

[FuzzyPlum]

I actually don't like any of the Early Years album, except for Bare Trees (not a favorite anyway).

.

Albums themselves or covers?

Covers….
Kiln house 7/10
Future games 5/10
Bare trees 6/10
Penguin 7/10
Mystery to me 7/10
Heroes are hard to find 2/10

[jbrownsjr]

Albums themselves or covers?

Covers….
Kiln house 7/10
Future games 5/10
Bare trees 6/10
Penguin 7/10
Mystery to me 7/10
Heroes are hard to find 2/10


Covers….
Kiln house 9/10
Future games 2/10
Bare trees 9/10
Penguin 7/10
Mystery to me 8.5/10
Heroes are hard to find 7/10

[FuzzyPlum]

Covers….
Kiln house 9/10
Future games 2/10
Bare trees 9/10
Penguin 7/10
Mystery to me 8.5/10
Heroes are hard to find 7/10

I appreciate we all have differences of taste. But that last one….7/10….wtf…pass what you’re smoking along to the left. I need to understand : )

[jbrownsjr]

I appreciate we all have differences of taste. But that last one….7/10….wtf…pass what you’re smoking along to the left. I need to understand : )

Ha! good weed is hard to find.

[aleuzzi]

Fleetwood Mac cover was so weird. But, strangely it worked.

It’s my favorite one.

[aleuzzi]

I appreciate we all have differences of taste. But that last one….7/10….wtf…pass what you’re smoking along to the left. I need to understand : )

Amen! That HAHTF cover is just wrong. Weirdest cover of all, regardless of era or lineup. But at least it’s interesting. The Dance is one of the blandest, most generic covers I’ve ever seen. And Tango…well it seems rather…impersonal.

[aleuzzi]

Weirdly, even then, Christine sketched the Kiln House cover and John took the Bare Trees cover

And based on a drawing that made the rounds here a couple years back, it seems Christine did some unused artwork for the Bare Trees record, too. Personally, I think they were right to go with John’s photo instead.

[HomerMcvie]

Amen! That HAHTF cover is just wrong. Weirdest cover of all, regardless of era or lineup. But at least it’s interesting. The Dance is one of the blandest, most generic covers I’ve ever seen. And Tango…well it seems rather…impersonal.

You're back!!!

I think The Dance needed to show that the Tumours lineup was back

[Villavic]

And based on a drawing that made the rounds here a couple years back, it seems Christine did some unused artwork for the Bare Trees record, too. Personally, I think they were right to go with John’s photo instead.

Talking about artworks, since Lindsey was the author of this one, I wonder if he still has the original, and if it's hanging in his living room. Perhaps he painted some more recent ones; I don't want to imagine how they look like if he did any in 2018.

https://gottahaverockandroll.com/ItemImages/000028/july19-572_lg.jpeg

[FuzzyPlum]

Is this really Lindsey? Or ‘painting on cover photograph- Mac James’?
I don’t really see any other evidence of ‘painting’ on the cover

[FuzzyPlum]

PS- though I felt it bland at the time, I’ve come to really appreciate the Rumours-esque qualities of the SYW cover. Not exactly a classic, but as a representation of the essence of the band and history of the band, I think it’s pretty good.

[Macfan4life]

The album sleeve reminds us of a trivia question the band could not answer. How did the band come up with the title: Mirage? It was Nancy Buckingham but no one seemed to remember. I also forgot after all these years. That would have been the ultimate Mac trivia question.

[Villavic]

The album sleeve reminds us of a trivia question the band could not answer. How did the band come up with the title: Mirage? It was Nancy Buckingham but no one seemed to remember. I also forgot after all these years. That would have been the ultimate Mac trivia question.

I just asked that again and the Google AI answered the following. I don't remember if I have read that sane explanation in the past. I see it mentions Facebook posts as some of the sources so I don't know how reliable it is. The mentioned contexts that are correct or make sense, but I don't know if they decided to name the album Mirage because of those.

Fleetwood Mac named their 1982 album Mirage to reflect the elusive, fragile nature of the band's unity and commercial stability at the time. Following the experimental and costly fallout of 1979's Tusk, personal friction, and extensive solo detours, reconvening in a French château felt like chasing an optical illusion of their past Rumours-era harmony.

Context of the Album Title

The Follow-Up Pressure: Coming off the avant-garde risks of Tusk, the group faced immense industry and critical pressure to revert to a polished, radio-friendly pop-rock sound.

Fragile Chemistry: The band members were emotionally and physically exhausted, balancing individual identities and solo success (such as Stevie Nicks' Bella Donna) with their precarious life as a collective unit.

Illusion of Normalcy: Gathering at Château d'Hérouville to record felt like capturing something shimmering and beautiful that might vanish at any second—fitting the definition of a desert mirage.