Unpopular Opinion...

[BigAl84]

Dreams off of the 1980 Live album, as over-dubbed as it may be, is superior to the album version. It sounds so "fresh" every time I hear it.

[Villavic]

The studio version is iconic. I love when it is "deconstructed" in the Classic Albums video.

By the way, the Live 1980 version can be listened in the official live video in the F. Mac Youtube channel, but that is not the original audio of that video, is it?

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Y3ywicffOj4?si=YAIiKtsed_3HG1od" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I think I have watched that video in the past, long ago, and the audio was different, though I've not found a clip with the original audio I think I heard before. Does anyone else remember the same thing I do?

[BigAl84]

The studio version is iconic. I love when it is "deconstructed" in the Classic Albums video.

By the way, the Live 1980 version can be listened in the official live video in the F. Mac Youtube channel, but that is not the original audio of that video, is it?

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Y3ywicffOj4?si=YAIiKtsed_3HG1od" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I think I have watched that video in the past, long ago, and the audio was different, though I've not found a clip with the original audio I think I heard before. Does anyone else remember the same thing I do?

I don't think you're crazy. If I had to guess, they used the audio from this performance as the starting point for the polished version we hear on the live album. What we heard in this clip for years was probably the original raw audio before they added the overdubs. FM's camp went through a couple of years ago and upsampled a ton of videos, they probably synced the video with the updated audio, which is what we also hear on the live album. It would be next to impossible for the audio to sync with the video as well as it does if they were using a completely different audio than the original video.

The timing make sense because this video was definitely being used BEFORE the live album was released in '80.

[cbBen]

The studio version is iconic. I love when it is "deconstructed" in the Classic Albums video.

By the way, the Live 1980 version can be listened in the official live video in the F. Mac Youtube channel, but that is not the original audio of that video, is it?

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Y3ywicffOj4?si=YAIiKtsed_3HG1od" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I think I have watched that video in the past, long ago, and the audio was different, though I've not found a clip with the original audio I think I heard before. Does anyone else remember the same thing I do?

So did they make this video in 1977 or in 1980? I had always assumed 1977 and that it was their first video. Thanks.

[BigAl84]

So did they make this video in 1977 or in 1980? I had always assumed 1977 and that it was their first video. Thanks.

- Shot the video in '77
- Video was used in the promo of Rumours
- Flash forward to '80 - they pull the audio from the performance, doctor it up and add it to the live album.
- Between '80-2020 something - we always heard the '77 version with the '77 audio.
- Somebody more recently replaced the '77 audio with the '80 doctored up version of the '77 audio on the film itself.

Thats my best guess of what happened.

[Villavic]

So did they make this video in 1977 or in 1980? I had always assumed 1977 and that it was their first video. Thanks.

All the information I've found doesn't make sense in relation to the album track plus including it in the video. The Live CD book (and album sleeve) says Dreams is from Paris. Mick wrote in his book "Dreams" from the Paris sound check; that video doesn't seem a sound check performance, but it's possible. He didn't specify if it was from Tusk or Rumours tour. The Rumours tour did include Paris on April 12, 1977.

And the Live 1980 Wikipedia page says 6/14/80, Palais de Sport, Paris (soundcheck), yes that's the Paris Tusk date. But we all know in 1980 Lindsey already showed off his new haircut. We have already doubted many times the information in the Live album regarding the track list dates, so who knows.

[Macfan4life]

I have an equally unpopular opinion about the same version of this song. It's my least favorite live performance. I never liked the way she's sort of overselling the song vocally. The music is fine but it always got under my skin and annoyed me the way she was singing the song as if she is auditioning for American Idol. It was not until many years later that there is circumstantial evidence why. Correct me if I am wrong but this recording was just as Dreams was released as a single during a soundcheck. I think once the song became famous we got the standard or "traditional" live vocals on the song. I like every other live version better than this. I give you this. She is really trying hard keeping it close to the original as possible. IMHO the live song cannot match the beauty of the vinyl so I prefer the live edge rather than trying to replicate something she cant. But that is just me.

[Villavic]

The Dreams track from the Rumours (Live) 1977 album (released 2 years ago) is similar to the Live 1980 album, but it sounds a bit more spontaneous, I like it more. It’s as spontaneous as the Dreams Live from Rumours {35th Anniversary Expanded Edition), but better.

The Dreams (Live At Wembley, 6/20/80) from Tusk Deluxe is different from the Live album, that confirms this track was not from Tusk tour.

Dreams Live from Mirage Tour '82 (Live), mmm…. I'm not passionate about it at all.

And I loved how she sang Silver Springs in The Dance, but Dreams wasn't her finest hour. Well, her voice had changed too much for that very well-known song.

[bombaysaffires]

the vinyl version is and always will be the definitive version, never to be matched by ANY live version.

That said, some live versions are better than others. Very soon after they started doing it live the toll of hitting the high notes on "it's only right" in the first verse and "it's only me" in the second verse became very apparent. She could not hit those notes live from very early on. Find some early versions on the Rumours tour where she actually sings "hoo hoo" on those words while Chris and Lindsey fill in the backing vocals. Eventually the they lowered the key on the live version and it got slower and slower on the tempo. Too slow for me.

One of the worst things to me on the live versions is how John is just dropped so far out of the mix and the layers of keyboards are reduced to very few. The whole lushness and groove of the vinyl never has made it to the stage.

[HomerMcvie]

the vinyl version is and always will be the definitive version, never to be matched by ANY live version.

That said, some live versions are better than others. Very soon after they started doing it live the toll of hitting the high notes on "it's only right" in the first verse and "it's only me" in the second verse became very apparent. She could not hit those notes live from very early on. Find some early versions on the Rumours tour where she actually sings "hoo hoo" on those words while Chris and Lindsey fill in the backing vocals. Eventually the they lowered the key on the live version and it got slower and slower on the tempo. Too slow for me.

One of the worst things to me on the live versions is how John is just dropped so far out of the mix and the layers of keyboards are reduced to very few. The whole lushness and groove of the vinyl never has made it to the stage.
I've never noticed them lowering the key on Dreams. F has always been her favorite key. Are you sure?

[David]

The Dreams track from the Rumours (Live) 1977 album (released 2 years ago) is similar to the Live 1980 album, but it sounds a bit more spontaneous, I like it more. It’s as spontaneous as the Dreams Live from Rumours {35th Anniversary Expanded Edition), but better.

The Dreams (Live At Wembley, 6/20/80) from Tusk Deluxe is different from the Live album, that confirms this track was not from Tusk tour.

Dreams Live from Mirage Tour '82 (Live), mmm…. I'm not passionate about it at all.

And don’t forget the one from the Los Angeles Forum, Rumours tour.

So what do we have for official release 1982 or older?


Paris soundcheck, Live Deluxe (April 1977)
Rumours Deluxe (May 1977)
Los Angeles, Rumours Live (August 1977)
Wembley UK, Tusk Deluxe (June 1980)
Los Angeles, Mirage Live (October 1982)


I cannot find specifics for the batch of 1977 numbers from Rumours Deluxe, but I seem to recall that they originated from Oklahoma City, Columbia, and one or two other cities in May 1977.

[cbBen]

- Shot the video in '77
- Video was used in the promo of Rumours
- Flash forward to '80 - they pull the audio from the performance, doctor it up and add it to the live album.
- Between '80-2020 something - we always heard the '77 version with the '77 audio.
- Somebody more recently replaced the '77 audio with the '80 doctored up version of the '77 audio on the film itself.

Thats my best guess of what happened.

So when they released the video in 1977, did they use the audio from the studio version or from a live version? Thanks.

[moon]

Hi! The whole Live album is a masterpiece, so this song is great too!
I think it captures a great atmosphere only available live, as many of the versions sound great and even better than the studio ones, starting of course from I'm So Afraid...
I like Nicks' vocals there, she sounds so sweet and very harmonized, as Chris and Lindsey made a good work at backing vocals too, but the guitar, the sound of the main voice...everything was great!
I'm not a fan of the original version, so some live ones I think sound better, because of the live atmosphere, the voices or just the "live" sound that creates a nice and fresh feeling!

[Villavic]

Live was the first Fleetwood Mac album I bought. Somehow it was one of the reasons I becamen a Mac fan. Listening to some songs live for the first time, before the original studio version (Say You Love Me, Over My Head, Rhiannon, etc.), was an interesting experience.

But at first I didn't like when I read the inner sleeve and learned the album wasn't from just an only night. It was a collage of different dates. I thought live albums were always recorded in one show, or so I thought based on previous albums I had bought; Donna Summer's Live and More and Supertramp's Paris. I knew later that wasn't always the rule. Frampton Comes Alive! collect songs from different shows. So I thought Well if they chose the best performances from the Tusk tour (then I didn't knew there were tracks wrong dated and actually from previous years) then that's ok, it's a smart decision. But to this day I'm still not convinced about choosing soundchecks (Dreams and Don't Stop). Though they sound good, it takes away the authenticity of the term "live".

[HomerMcvie]

Live was the first Fleetwood Mac album I bought. Somehow it was one of the reasons I becamen a Mac fan. Listening to some songs live for the first time, before the original studio version (Say You Love Me, Over My Head, Rhiannon, etc.), was an interesting experience.

But at first I didn't like when I read the inner sleeve and learned the album wasn't from just an only night. It was a collage of different dates. I thought live albums were always recorded in one show, or so I thought based on previous albums I had bought; Donna Summer's Live and More and Supertramp's Paris. I knew later that wasn't always the rule. Frampton Comes Alive! collect songs from different shows. So I thought Well if they chose the best performances from the Tusk tour (then I didn't knew there were tracks wrong dated and actually from previous years) then that's ok, it's a smart decision. But to this day I'm still not convinced about choosing soundchecks (Dreams and Don't Stop). Though they sound good, it takes away the authenticity of the term "live".
I remember the day I bought Live. At K-Mart. Walking through the parking lot, and I couldn't get the shrink wrap off quickly enough! God, I miss getting that excited about things. And that was the first time(that I remembered) hearing Oh Well(I'd actually heard it on the Tusk tour, but didn't know the song, so I didn't remember it). I never understood why Live didn't sell better. I was at the height of my fandom, and I thought the whole thing was FANTASTIC.

[aleuzzi]

I remember the day I bought Live. At K-Mart. Walking through the parking lot, and I couldn't get the shrink wrap off quickly enough! God, I miss getting that excited about things. And that was the first time(that I remembered) hearing Oh Well(I'd actually heard it on the Tusk tour, but didn't know the song, so I didn't remember it). I never understood why Live didn't sell better. I was at the height of my fandom, and I thought the whole thing was FANTASTIC.

I remember buying LIVE in 1983, a couple years after it was released. Other than the HBO special, I had never seen or heard FM live. It was a shock. I thought the album was noisy, messy, and generally poorly-played. Years later, I listened to it again and had a VERY different reaction. I though some of the material was great. And where it wasn't great it was at least engaging. But a live album without YMLF or "The Chain" is strange to me. To this day, the songs I listen to the most on it are the five you can't hear elsewhere from this iteration of the band.

For me, the recorded performances of the live shows for the 75-76 tour hold a distinct edge over anything recorded in 79 and 80.