They should have included the entire show on CD.

The 1980 Live album, but just barely.

It had so much potential but they chose to make it uneven and weird by adding soundcheck performances and overloading it with Rumours songs; a bad habit that seeps into everything they do, even to this day!

You're probably right, plus Live in Boston has the BTM factor of not having the fab 5. If BTM had a live album it would not be doing well either I suppose. :rolleyes:

Overloaded? These songs don't appear on Live: Second Hand News, I Don't Wanna Know, You Make Lovin Fun, The Chain, Silver Springs (Bside), Songbird, Oh Daddy

No Gold Dust Woman either. :shrug:

ah, but there IS some video footage we have seen. We have all seen Dreams, Don't Stop, Sara, Monday Morning, and portions of Not That Funny and GYOW from that 20/20 special.

If you take into consideration that Oh Well was from St Louis as Sara was (or everything except most of Stevie's vocals and the backup vocals), they filmed it as they filmed the entire concert. We just haven't seen that clip of Oh Well. Also, a film crew videoed the Cleveland 1980 show as shown on the 20/20 special since we've got portions of The Chain all the way through Songbird. That concert exists in full somewhere in ABC's vaults or wherever. They didn't just film a minute or two of each song. They had a full camera crew there. So, we could technically add GYOW, NTF, and So Afraid as having video. THAT show would be great to see. Such energy by that point in the tour although I am still a fan of the St Louis concert.

That's practically 1/2 the Live album that there is video of. As for the remaining tracks, it wouldn't shock me if there was video for all of it. Seems likely since what I just mentioned. Plus, what about that recent unearthed treasure from 1977 Australia that guy has been posting on youtube?

They all have fatal flaws, but the 1980 live album was the best if only because the relative lack of extra musicians.

LIB is a disaster. It's so similar to "The Dance" that it's somewhat pointless. It COULD'VE been good had they gone with songs not on "The Dance" and that were different in arrangement from the 1980 album.

I love The Dance, but I went with Live. It's got two of my favorite versions of Landslide and Rhiannon on it, and also, Fireflies and Sara...

For me, the Dance was definitely better and if I could only have one, that would be it. But I think it was important to chronicle the FM line up without Christine and that LIB's existence is justified for that reason alone.

Michele

This was true when you posted it two years ago, and it's still true. The Dance is mediocre at best with a few gems, and Live In Boston isn't even listenable in my opinion. But Live 1980 - that's what a live album should be like. Every track is flawless and does an excellent job of capturing what a Fleetwood Mac concert feels like.

I've realized that the only time Fleetwood Mac gets anything "right" is when they do studio albums. Live albums & compilation albums all seem to have things that just grate on the nerves due to "what COULD'VE been".

1) Live '80: released on the tail end of the "Double Live Album" trend of the late '70's/early '80s. Felt like at the time that they were releasing a double live album ONLY because it was the trend (or HAD been the trend the previous 8 -10 years) and they were the last of the BIG bands to release one...too little, too late (see below). (while I'm venting, Heart dropped the ball not releasing a full double live album from their Dog & Butterfly tour)

2) The Dance: Sure, the Rumours-crew comeback was definitely worthy of documentation, but the CD should've followed exactly the video/LaserDisc/DVD song order...meaning it should've been a double disc set. Omitting a few songs and changing the order cheapened the CD. (that said, does anyone have an mp3 of The Dance version of "Gold Dust Woman" they'd be willing to send me? That's the only track that I'm missing from that performance.)

3) Live In Boston 2003: Just should've been left as "video only". The CD was poorly conceived and basically overly redundant.

At this point, they basically never got the ULTIMATE live album that they should've released. I think had they recorded & released their double live album in the spring of '78 (taken from their three or four night stay at the GW Forum near LA in August '77, when they were really at their peak on the concert stage), it would've surpassed Frampton Comes Alive and made it an afterthought. BUT, they were still milking Rumours (if we only knew then what we know now that it would NEVER END!) & didn't want to interrupt its success.

That way, they COULD've released a 2nd double live album in about '84, compiling its tracks from the Tusk & Mirage tours; songs that weren't on the previous live album and maybe a couple of songs that had quite different arrangements on those later tours from the previous live album. (for example, "Never Going Back Again" being a full band arrangement during the Rumours tour, but was Lindsey by himself on the Tusk & Mirage tours, and the drastic changes in "Rhiannon" from '77 to '82)

There were a few artists who dropped more than one double live album within 5 or 6 years due to either a change in direction or rearrangement of their songs or having enough new studio material in between to warrant a second live album. (using David Bowie and Kiss as the examples there)

Oh...AND...the three disc Live At The Boston Tea Party recordings should've been released on schedule in 1970 as a double live album to document the end of that era of Fleetwood Mac. Releasing it 30+ years later just made the "what if" thoughts maddening.

Haha!! I'm turnin in my FM card, that was a major error!! Thank you Bandrum!

Sent you a PM big guy

Also Angel, What Make You Think You're the One, Think About Me, Tusk, Sisters of the Moon, Save Me A Place

Except for one or two times prior to the release of Rumours, Silverr Springs was never in setlist until The Dance.

I Don't Want to Know was never performed as far as I know. I don't know why - it's the only song on Rumours they never performed. I wish they would surprise us and add it to a future set list. It's a great Stevie/Lindsey duo song.

Perhaps I should have said the Live album is *underloaded* with Tusk songs...? :cool:

:eek: You haven't seen it?!

Eh, it's okay. I'd give The Dance a 9/10 and LiB a 7/10. I guess it lacks the polish and seems sloppier. LiB is a better and truer representation of what you get from the band nowadays though.

Nope. It only lacks ONE key component...









http://www.fmlegacy.com/Graphics/Christine_092603.jpg

Oh i agree... but LiB is certainly not as well done as The Dance... i'm referring to the post production when I say "polished." What they did with GYOW was extremely silly (putting in the middle solo from The Dance)... stuff like that.

I chose FM Live 1980. It just kicks all kinds of a$$.

I want to add some clarify here and give us all some HOPE!

While it's true that HD video did not exist back then, this concert (St Louis 1979) was filmed on 35mm film and not videotape. 35mm film is actually considered "high definition" and is of a higher resolution than current HD video technology (1080p). Notice how the older movies from the 1970's and 1980's have been remastered and brought to Blu-Ray in stunning HD clarity/clarity? We can get the same treatment for the 1979 St Louis show! There are obviously also professional multi-track audio recordings of this show as well, since many of the songs were mastered onto the 1980 live album.

I also voted for '80 Live. That album was fantastic, even if it was chopped up and lacked continuity. Lindsey's guitar playing on that album was the best he's ever played on electric - and he's never played like that since. I'm not sure if it was the drugs, the demonic makeup/suit combination, the want/need to outdo Stevie, but his playing is outstanding and is right up there with the best from the 1970's. I'm So Afraid, from the Live album is the BEST version they have ever done. Lindsey's guitar sounds EVIL!

The rest of the band sounded raw and energized during that entire album, a time that will unfortunately never come again... but... WHY can't someone go back and remaster those old videos, and bring them to Blu-Ray!? Dammit WB, TAKE MY MONEY!

I know! AND... The Dance needs to be re-released in a widescreen/blu-ray format as well. ;)

Not by Fleetwood Mac, anyway. Lindsey & Stevie performed it during their swan song performances as Buckingham Nicks.

A skinny Stevie?


sklof ekoj a tsuj

:thumbsup:
The Dance sounds bland & over-rehearsed to me, and I'm not a fan of that 1997 version of "Rhiannon". Talk about a pale shadow of yesteryear. Live in Boston sounds over-done on some tracks, especially "Eyes of the World".

- Jake

Wouldn't that be nice? There are some places in the Dance DVD where the audio and video don't sync up. Perhaps it's my equip tho. :shrug:

You might be hearing the sweetened part of the audio.
And on "The Dance" there's a lot of that.

There's a lot of that on all three...

And the videos.

Excellent description and spot on. This performance and vocal is what made me a lifer.

I used to love the studio version so much better. Til one day I felt the emotion of Stevie to LB. Stevie/Lindsey/Christine vocals/harmonies. Linsdey's amazing solo, Christine's wonderful vamping and solo intro. Watched it over and over again til I was addicted.

It's one time I bought the love and friction between SN and LB. And further, the chemistry of them as a band of 5 is illuminated so nicely.

Am I the only one who thinks they're about to do "Wish You Were Here" at the beginning of SS on The Dance?

Nope, I'd recognize those inversions anywhere.

How can you give a proper vote if you've never heard the Live album from 1980????

I got hooked on FM when The Dance album came out, then when I saw the DVD concert...WOW! That Silver Springs is amazing! Also, I probably listened to Bleed to Love Her a million times. But... when I heard the Live album (probably only about a year ago) it took my breath away! Ok mostly the Landslide when Stevie is practically whispering the lyrics. I had goosebumps and tears rolling out of my eyes. I think I even fell to the floor...and let me tell you, those kind of moments are few and far between. Moments close to those occur often with an awesome version of a favorite song...but that Landslide got me.
Please listen to this album!!!
I'm about to give The Dance a listen and then make my decide...

I was blown away by the 1980 album when I first heard it, and The Dance will always hold a special place in my heart. I was actually listening to the 2004 album today and could not believe how good it was! Especially Lindsey's vocals on GYOW. It is just way too hard to choose.

Pity this poll only covers the Rumours era. There are three "Live In Boston" albums from the Peter Green era that blow the others out of the water.

:shrug:

You are not alone. I recognized it immediately when I first saw The Dance. It's exactly the same. If you listen to the intro of the studio version of Silver Springs, the difference is very apparent.

I wish Wish You Were Here was performed as a concert closer. There is a studio outake where the instrumental coda is extended. It's very befitting of a concert ending.

Not exactly the same, only very close. To get technical, in "Wish You Were Here," the rolled chords are all inversions of the tonic. In "Silver Springs," the rolled chords alternate between tonic & subdominant, & incorporate a two-beat descending figure between each group of four rolls.

I have a feeling McVie was playing something similar on the studio version, but it's buried in the fade-in of the other instruments. The descending figure on the studio version sticks to a pentatonic scale (a five-tone scale, versions of which they use all over "Tango in the Night").

Wow! I coudn't say it better...because I have no idea what any of that means! But thank you anyway. Wish I had a technical knowledge of music.

It just means that Silver Springs intro on the Dance has a little more to it in notes and rhythm than Wish You Were Here.

How I'd love this, but doubt it will ever happen. The Dance was filmed full screen and if it did find its way to BD, it will have black bars. :(