Mirage versus Tango
 

I'm listening to Mirage as I type this (Hold Me JUST ended....going into Oh Diane) so I'll respond to this thread now. LOL

I haven't heard this album straight through in a LONG time (I made a set of fave FM songs CD so I usually listen to that along with SYW lately). It's like a relaxation tape, IMO...every song on it is very soft, smooth and relaxing. I would listen to Mirage when I'm ready to go to sleep. By the time I got to Only Over You, I'd be out!! :laugh: If you like Rumours best, you'll prefer Mirage over Tango, if you like Tusk best, I think Tango is your album.

Tango is my fave of the two because Lindsey and Christine REALLY shine on it!! Lindsey's guitar playing is UNBELIEVABLE on Big Love (that riff!!), Tango and Isn't It Midnight in particular. It's SURGING with that great 80's energy....the only "downers" are Mystified (I love it tho!) and WISYA (Ugh. LOL). This is the FUN album..the one you play at parties. Granted, it's the most dated-sounding of all FM albums, but I still think it's VERY strong.

I would say without a shadow of a doubt...

Tango In The Night

With the exception of the two Stevie songs on side two, it really is a perfect album, imho (I fall into the minority of thinking that Family Man is a great, great, track.) Side one is perfect...Big Love, Seven Wonders, Everywhere, Caroline, Tango In The Night, Mystified............pure Mac magic.:)

I love all the songs on Mirage too, but TITN is exceptionally good...my 2nd fav. FM album.

:wavey: :wavey: :wavey:

Stevie's stuff is weak. I like Seven Wonders, and the ending solo in WISYA, that's it. Lindsey's & Chris's stuff is good.

"Tango in the Night" really does not hold up over time. "Mirage" only survives because of Stevie and Christine's contributions- Lindsey's worst songs are on both of these albums.

Consider this:

GREAT SONGS:

"Gypsy"
"That's Alright"
"Only Over You"
"Wish You Were Here"

STANKY SONGS:

"Everywhere"
"Mystified"
"Little Lies"

I have a soft spot for "Welcome to the Room... Sara" and "When I See You Again". Sorry, those two tunes are just soooo vulnerable I can't not like them.....

Mirage for me.

I like Tango, but Stevie's absence is a minus. Everywhere is overrated, and Caroline is catchy but has some of Lindsey's worst lyrics. (I'm glad that rhyming was not his priority on SYW.) Mystified is alright but a bit bland. I cannot stand Family Man. I love Seven Wonders, Tango in the Night, Little Lies, and WTTRS. Isn't it Midnight, Big Love, and WISYA are okay. I like You and I Part II, but I always picture Martin Short's Ed Grimley doing his hip dance with the arms up when I hear the guitar on it.

On Mirage, I love Stevie's songs, though Straight Back had to grow on me. I like all of Lindsey's songs except for Oh Diane, which is slightly annoying but otherwise harmless. I have no problem with Empire State. All of Christine's songs work, though I did not like Love in Store until I saw the Mirage concert video. I admit that I am not a very big fan of Hold Me, but I love the video. Wish You Were Here is underrated. I really like the piano at the end.

Mirage has greater variety that the Tango album, IMO. Also, Tango is cohesive due to the production; Mirage songs are connected by the harmonies that are the Mac trademark.

- Jake

Why does everyone hate When I See You Again so much?! It is one of my all-time favorite Stevie songs! Forgive me, but if you are not moved by it, I fear you are listening to music with your brain instead of your heart. We're not writers for Rolling Stone, people...we're supposed to be FANS!
All of this analyzing stuff drives me crazy. But, then again, it's my fault for reading it!:o

Well, I feel the same way (and have said as much here on The Ledge).

I know the repetition of the line, "what's the matter, baby," sends many people running in the other direction, but that part of the song only pulls me in that much deeper.

And I think to truly appreciate "When I See You Again," you have to allow yourself to FEEL the song... to go to (or at least understand) that place of desperation, despondency, and vulnerability, that Stevie is writing from.

This song is a prime example of why I've always been so much more enamoured with Stevie's writing, than with any other songwriter out there.
She's really not at all afraid to let us peek into her soul. She doesn't back off, or gloss over things, or take a cynical viewpoint... she allows herself to be vulnerable, and exposed.

Sure, it's all wrapped up in her vague imagery, but, again, I think that if you allow yourself to feel the songs, rather than to just simply intellectualize them, you'll appreciate them far more and you'll have a better understanding of what she's singing about.


"Don't listen to her... listen through her...."

as "terrible" as Stevie's voice was on "Tango... "When I See You Again" sounds beautiful in a painful way... I can feel her singing her pain and all the stuff she has been through during that time in her life... It comes out so much on that song and it is one of my favorite Stevie songs because the way she sings it... it makes you FEEL the pain... This song has brought me to tears during some tough times in my life... I understand what the song is about and the way she sings it... it is just "beautiful"... and hearing her an lindsey at the end... what else can I say...

What's wrong with Little Lies? I think it's one of Chris's best! I really like the dark, gloomy atmosphere of the song. It's a really nice change of pace from somebody who usually turns out the smiley-faced ray-of-sunshine stuff that she does. Isn't It Midnight does as well, but not nearly as effectively.

Plus, I really like the keyboard work on this song, and that says a lot coming from someone like myself who is a huge admirer of Tony Banks, Rick Wakeman, and Kieth Emerson. It's not an impressive display of chops that impresses me, but that little analog synth line is so catchy and memorable, and very atmospheric and reminicent of 80's Genesis style keys. Even though I'm not a big fan of the glossy, tinkly 80s keyboard sounds the ones she uses here are really tasteful and don't date the other Tango tracks (at least the ones I've heard) near as badly. It's one of my favorite FM songs. Did her husband have something to do with this?

Everywhere I could see how somebody couldn't like, as it is REALLY corny. The verses do have an oafy feel to them and the song is pure 80's cheese all the way. Unfortunately, it's also really ****ing catchy. :laugh: I always find myself craving some clavinet on the choruses but then again, Christine is NOT Stevie Wonder.

Sorry to go off topic. Just wanted to defend a cool song. :)

I really understand what you're saying here. I wish I had the ablitity to do that with this song, but I just can't get through it. I find the melody dull and the lyrics awful/uninteresting, but I guess I can see where others might find some meaning in them. But I just can't get past the lyrics and melody, and those are really the meat of the song, and the feeling is buried deep within them. That's why the song has so many critics I think: it's way too hard to scratch the surface without hitting the skip button on your cd player.

I'm with you on this. This is really the only Stevie song I like from Tango, and her voice is just awful on everything, but that fact lends itself well to this song. And you're right about her and Lindsey at the end. The way Lindsey's voice is so distant really adds to the song.

To answer the original question, the casual fan might pick Mirage over Tango because Tango's production is very 80s. However, if the casual fan doesn't mind that sound, he/she will pick Tango because it has more recognizable songs. Tango songs I remember hearing on the radio: Big Love, Seven Wonders, Everywhere, Isn't It Midnight, Little Lies, Family Man. Only one other FM album (perhaps until now) had as many songs that were played on the radio with any regularity--Rumours.

To me, Tango is better. Yes, Stevie's songs are mediocre. Seven Wonders is OK and the guitar work on When I See You Again is brilliant. In fact, the guitar work throughout the album is fantastic. Lindsey was obvioulsy having trouble with lyrics, but he had been working on his guitar playing.

To me, Tango opens the door to Cradle and the Dance, the GOS tracks and SYW. It was then that Lindsey very obviously decided to take his guitar playing in different direction, a much higher level. More so than ever, he carved out a signature sound. From the first lick on Big Love, you knew you were in for something quite different. I even like You and I, Part II because it reminds me of the Caribban, though I wish they had used Part I in the album instead because it's a better song. People get hung up on the lyrics in Caroline and Family Man, but you have to see past the words because those songs are really not about the words. Musically, Caroline was one of the most interesting songs Lindsey had done up to that point. It was a transition song, in which he is phasing out the Go Insane sound and reining in the Cradle sound. In fact, when I picked up Cradle I had this great expectation that the whole album would sound like Caroline. Of course, it was better.

Christine's contributions are wonderful. I don't tend to skip to Christine's songs in other albums but here I want to listen to Everywhere and Little Lies. Mystified is a great song; I've always liked it. Isn't It Midnight is a rare rocker from her. Great stuff.

Mirage today sounds more contemporary because of the production. It will sound even better when it is remastered. I'm not sure why people diss Book of Love or Oh Diane. I like those songs. Book of Love has amazing melodies; the chorus lyrics are unfortunate, granted.

Overall, I think I'd still got with Tango over Mirage. But that could change when we ge the new Mirage.

Once again, Johnny Stew, :nod: :nod: :nod: .

Thank you.

Also, as sited on Burnish, Stevie says "What's the matter, baby" 11 times in 11 different ways and I love that.

Yes, Chris co-wrote "Little Lies" with her then husband, Eddy Quintela.

I love both TANGO IN THE NIGHT and MIRAGE quite equally.... great production work by Buckingham on both.....but the latter disc I like a bit more because it's less "synth."

I adore Buckingham’s luvly clear-voiced crooning on the melodious “OH DIANE” (made the top ten in the UK) and where he gently sings “Will I love you, I will, always. Will you stand by me always?”............... and his raw, fast-paced “EYES OF THE WORLD.” ............... And love his “CAN’T GO BACK” where he sings “a face as soft as a tear in a clown’s eye” ----and his “tore a page of my heart”- Yes!!! in the poignant “BOOK OF LOVE.................

Enjoy “I never did believe in time” that Nicks sings in her beautiful “THAT’S ALRIGHT............and the wonderful production of her cool number STRAIGHT BACK where she sing “the dream has just begun and hours of waiting for you in hopes of meeting"-- love that!!!..........& GYPSY is one of my favorite Nicks’ tunes, highlighted by Buckingham’s fine electric finale.................

Love McVie’s love song to lover Dennis Wilson entitled, HOLD ME, ............as well as her uplifting opener, LOVE IN STORE...........her pure-voiced, romantic ONLY OVER YOU with "I'm out of my mind, and it's only over you" is awesome with its stellar melody....... And McVie’s WISH YOU WERE HERE makes the perfect epilogue for MIRAGE...........

:nod: