Let's Show Some Love For... Tango In The Night!
 

Okay, I'm sure most will agree that this album, along with "Mirage", is largely ignored by Fleetwood Mac nowadays, and has somewhat mixed reactions from FM fans. Personally, it's my favourite!.. right after Tusk! :) I even bought a cassette of it a few months ago for listening to in mum's car! Interestingly, when I put it on recently, she asked me if it was a greatest hits album! :nod: I told her it wasn't, it was TITN, and she replied...
"Really? Oh... it's just that there's so many good songs on it!" :p
I love it for the nostalgia it gives me (particularly "Little Lies"), and for its experimental instrumentation - its sound slots into the 80s perfectly!
So, for those who love it, why? And for those who don't... read the thread title! :laugh:

I like almost every song on the album except for Stevie's songs. Well, I guess I must sorta like Seven Wonders since I find myself listening to it instead of skipping it. Standouts for me are Caroline, Big Love, and Everywhere. And I also have a soft spot for You and I Pt. II. I prefer the Mirage sound to TITN but this's probably a more solid album... so yeah, I do think TITN deserves mo' love!

I think "Little Lies" was one of those tunes I remembered in the 80s, growing up. I had long forgotten that track by 1997, and I was sucked back into the Big Mac with THE DANCE... and I rediscovered this tune, not really ever knowing WHO it was that actually sang it! It was a pleasant surprise.

i agree that Mirage's sound is better than TITN, but I absolutely love it, from start to finish. The only song on it that I dont like that much is When I See You Again. My favorite is Everywhere, and also Caroline and Tango In The Night.

I still remember the first time I heard Tango In The Night... it was in my back yard as a kid in 1993 :D. I had recently told my best friend and neighbor I'd finally discovered a band I loved... Fleetwood Mac. She was amazed; she had recently discovered them as well, and also loved them! I told her some of my favorite songs (all I had was Rumours and Bella Donna at that point), and she shared some of hers. Neither one of us had heard of each others songs. She brought Tango over (on cassette! :laugh:), and played it for me on her boom box. At first I flatly refused to believe it was the same band. After all... put Gold Dust Woman on back to back with Family Man, and you'll see what I mean! :laugh:

At that time, Tango was everything I hated about pop music... it might as well have been by Paula Abdul or Milli Vanilli. By '93 that kind of music was rendered hopelessly obsolete by the grunge scene. Even as I built up my Mac collection over the years, I avoided buying Tango at all costs. Perhaps because I was introduced to it at the worst possible time: when it was the very antithesis of what was going on in the popular music scene.

I never actually bought Tango... it was given to me as a Christmas gift about 10 years ago by my parents, because they were out of ideas of what to get me. I remember vividly watching The Dance air on MTV in 1997, wondering *WHY* they had to include songs from that album! :laugh:

Some time in the past 5ish years though, I've done an about face on my opinion of this album. Maybe it was when '80s music and fashion started to trickle back in to current trends. Maybe enough time had passed where I could look at the album totally objectively. All I do know is that one random day, I decided to listen to the album. And suddenly I found it to be pure genius! It was such a departure from everything the band had done before... but at the same time it was an evolution. Whereas I found it cheesy and dated before, I now find it surprisingly adult, sophisticated, and worldly. I can just imagine how crisp and modern it must have sounded back when it was new. For some reason I can just see a sophisticated '80s couple drinking wine coolers in their New York loft listening to this album :laugh:.

I don't know... I just really LOVE Tango. It's such a snapshot in time. It's the last great album Fleetwood Mac made. On a song by song basis, and as a pop oriented album... I think it's every bit as good as Rumours. It's an album you can play around anybody: all of the songs are approachable, foot tapping, and fun. It probably has the best sequencing of any Mac album (Mystery To Me might just tie it though). The album just has everything: rocking songs like Isn't It Midnight and the title track, it has bubbly pop songs like Little Lies and Everywhere, and even has more serious songs like When I See You Again. The whole thing is just superbly paced and very high quality. It's everything that it should have been.

Do I have negative things to say about it? Yes. Do I have anything I'd change about it? Yes. Mainly, I'd replace You And I Pt 2 with You And I Pt 1. I probably would have found a way to work in Joan Of Arc, possibly displacing When I See You Again. Though I really would have a hard time getting rid of that song. It may not be pleasant to the ears for the most part, but it's without a doubt one of the most raw, emotive songs Stevie (or the band for that matter) has ever recorded. The whole shared verse with Lindsey at the end is enough to save that song for me... Lindsey's contribution is achingly gorgeous.

And these are some of my non-abridged thoughts on Tango! :D

While I love all of the non-Stevie songs on Tango, I feel, the album as a whole, doesn't hold up very well(worse than Mirage). The whole thing just sounds so...........computerized! It doesn't sound like a BAND. It sounds like someone, tinkering with every note, in a digital format, until perfection is achieved...... There are no warts on Tango.



Well, except Stevie's songs!:lol:

The interesting thing is, I used to think Stevie's songs were the warts on Tango too. And as you well know, I'm a big Stevie fan. I think in time, I realized her very flawed presence on the album is perhaps one of the things that does make Tango so great. Stevie had just gone to hell and back when this album was being written and recorded. She hadn't just gone through rehab for her legendary cocaine addiction: she was committed forcibly! You can absolutely hear that turmoil, pain, and struggling on her songs. Her contributions on the album are the black eye that gives the blindingly polished Tango some character.

Even though it's not pretty to listen to, When I See You Again is probably one of the most revealing, raw songs lyrically that has ever been on a Mac album. Stevie's once beautiful, buttery voice had been reduced to a raspy, coughing sigh. Contrast that with how gorgeous Lindsey's verse sounds, and you see what rock and roll and love can do to one person... but not to the person right next to them. Again, while admittedly not pretty to listen to, I think the song is perhaps more artistically adventurous than most anything Lindsey did on Tusk. I think the song is genius. :nod:

I'm inclined to agree. The songs (minus Stevie's) are very strong, as are the performances, but the production is too dated, too...Synthetic. The demo of Everywhere, for example, is infinitely more moving than the final song primarily because there the sentiment of the song rings true. By the time they put all the polish on it, the effect seems dulled. Little Lies might be the exception for me: that song and its arrangement is pretty much perfect. Isn't It Midnight boasts a killer instrumental track but Christine's voice has been speeded up and tampered with in such a way as to mask the passion she delivers in a live performance of the same song.

It's funny how one person's trash is another's treasure! Not that FM have ever produced trash...
Roxy Music's album "Avalon" is my all time favourite - so, if you know how that album sounds, you'll probably understand why I like TITN so much. Suffice to say, the reasons why some people don't like TITN as much (e.g. probably FM themselves) are the same reasons why I like it! :laugh:
And I think Stevie's songs are gems! "Seven Wonders" was one of the songs that lead me to buy TVBOFM, which, of course, lead me to buy all five from the Rumours line up. "Welcome To The Room... Sara" is excellent imho, even if I can't really justify my liking it. As for "When I See You Again"... well, it oscillates up and down my list of FM song preferences. At the moment it's on an up, but even if it were down I'd still like it, as I do all FM songs!.. except for some of the post-Rumours material...

I love this album! It was the first FM album that was released in my lifetime and my parents owned the CD, I remember I was mesmerized by the coverart.
I like all the songs (even Stevie's) except for that big, shiny turd that is Family Man.

I love Tango! Only thing that lets it down in my opinion is the mixing (and When I See You Again/You And I Part 2). If only Lindsey's guitar was higher in the mix! The Little Lies demo is amazing. And I also love the extended remix of Big Love on the 12" single!

Tango in the Night was my first Fleetwood Mac album. I bought it in Oct. of 1987. I was 12 and I hadn't known (as odd as it may sound) that Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks were ever in a band together. I only knew their solo works. I guess Tango does seem a little 'plastic' and overdone 80s style, but it is a product of its time. It's a great album to me. I still listen to it a lot, never really stopped listening to it. It is mostly a Lindsey product which probably explains my fondness for it. I thought Christine and Lindsey's songs were wonderful. Stevie's......well, they are good, but not great. As some others have said in this thread, 'When I See You Again' is an emotional, raw song. The ending vocal by Lindsey makes it even better. I can listen to Tango much more readily nowadays than I could from 87-96. For too many years, my enjoyment of the album was overshadowed by the fact that it so reminded me that Lindsey had left Fleetwood Mac!!

This was the last album I bought on vinyl. For it's time, I thought it was a bit overproduced and busy. I still enjoyed the album, but this was the first album I'd heard that I didn't enjoy listening to Stevie's voice...except on Seven Wonders.

I knew about the drug and alcohol abuse, The Betty Ford Clinic, etc., and figured this is why she sounded the way she did. Broke my heart really.

Still an enjoyable listen from time to time. Top cuts for me are 'Isn't it Midnight', 'Everywhere', 'Big Love', 'Family Man', and 'Seven Wonders'.

I probably should have posted this on the MacNuggets thread but I was too lazy. In More Than This: The Story of Roxy Music one of the Roxy bandmates says that Avalon was their biggest hit States-side because it could play on the radio next to Fleetwood Mac and The Eagles. I feel this connects to my theory that "Straight Back" sounds like a Flesh & Blood-era Roxy track. Also, I have to say that I used to TOTALLY NOT UNDERSTAND how anyone could prefer Avalon to Siren!!! Stranded!! Country Life! but after being forced to listen to Avalon for a day (my iPod got stuck on one album in continuous play until it ran out of batteries), while it hasn't risen necessarily in my Roxy esteem, I can now appreciate that if that is your sort of thing--there really isn't anything more beautiful.

I love Tango overall. I think it's a perfect 80s time capsule. I also really enjoy the "McBuck" vibe on the album. My favorite songs on the album are "Tango," "Isn't it Midnight," and..... "Caroline." :shocked:

"Seven Wonders" is okay, but Stevie's songs, unfortunately, don't do it for me. I will even concede Louie's point about WISYA adding a raw vulnerability to the album. But to me, WISYA and WTTR...S are just rambling psychobabble.

I've always liked the album, not too long ago I played it again for the first time in a long time. I think it holds up pretty well, although it has a very 80's feel, it's not so time locked as say "Rock A Little" is. "Little Lies" is a classic and Lindsey's title track is among his best. You can tell that Stevie literally phoned in her parts. In fact everytime I hear "Little Lies" and Stevie's lines come up I'm reminded of the reason for that is because she wasn't originally on the song at all.
I bought the LP when this was released, but it skipped so I ended up getting the cassette, when I got my first CD played in '88 "Tango" was one of the first batch of CD's I got.
I loved that all of the singles had a 12" counterpart with extended versions.

The LP I had skipped like crazy, even though I bought it brand new! Was there a production defect??

Could be!!! As I recall almost the entire second side skipped at least once during every song. As much as I love vinyl, that is one aspect I don't miss at all!!!

For those too young to have any idea of what we are talking about, occasionally with a vinyl record they would skip, that is the song would either repeat one line over and over until you moved the needle or it would just jump over a line. This was most often caused by having a dull needle, but could also have been the way the record was made. When they put more than 15mins per side, the grooves had to be placed closer together so the odds of skipping was greater.

It was the same for me! I bought my first copy of the LP the day it was released, and over the next two days, I had to keep exchanging it. In fact, "Tango" was actually the very reason I bought a cd player! I kept returning copies of the album, and then finally I accepted the fact that I was not going to hear this music if I kept opting for the LP, so I broke down and got the cd.

I didn't have any trouble with mine. Maybe it was from another master.

This album is a mixed bag for me. I either the love the song to death or hate it beyond words; there isn't any middle ground on this album for me at all.

Much, much, great big love for:

Big Love
Tango In The Night
Mystified
Little Lies
Isn't It Midnight
Welcome To the Room... Sara
When I See You Again

Be kind and kill me instead of making me listen to these:

Seven Wonders
Everywhere
Caroline
Family Man
You And I Part 2

Oh, except for Stevie, I bet the FM members like TITN a lot more than they like Mirage.

Michele

I have residual affection for "Tango" but I don't listen to it. It was an interesting -- & pretty -- burst of renewed energy in my Macophilia in 1987, but it's got a sterility to it.

This is true plus the hype the album got was amazing "The first new Mac album in 5 years!!" MTV did the entire "Mac Attack Weekend" thing with Mac videos and interviews every hour leading up to the premiere of "Big Love".
The album marked the end of an era for the band. After "Tango" everything changed. As a swan song (it is the last studio album by the Rumours line-up) it's a strong album to go out on.

I've got to admit that Tango always has been and probably always will be my favourite Mac album.

It's due to "Everywhere" that I became addicted to the band.
I also love "Seven Wonders", it's one of those songs that I have to unexplainably play LOUD.

I guess it's one of those albums that you either love or hate.

Absolutely! I love Seven Wonders! It's a very strong track and although Stevie didn't write it (one word: "emmaline" so doesn't count!) I think that it's her strongest track on the album. I do agree that her other 2 contributions maybe drag the album down a bit...

The only other song I'm really not too keen on is You and I... otherwise I think it's a great album. Yes, it's very 80s and different for the Mac but it still works. I just wish that they played the title track live, just once! Imagine being able to shout that great TAAAANNNGOOOO at the top of your voice while it's being played right in front of you! Love it!

Always wondered how much better that album could've been had Stevie been "on the ball"...

Love it! Tango seemed to do really well over here if i remember rightly and i was only about 12or13 at the time, almost everybody i knew seemed to have a copy and if it wasn't for this album and Big Love i don't know if i'd have ever become a fan as i wasn't familar with any of the earlier stuff, My parents didn't even have a copy of Rumours(Oh the Shame!)

"What has rock and roll ever done for me? Well, everything!"

When I had just started being a fleetwood mac fan, I thought it was lindsey singing little lies, not christine :) haha

I would love to one day see her sing that live :)

It would also be great to see the band do some tracks live from that album (other than "Big Love", but then again that doesn't involve all of them at their gigs at the moment).
I think FM totally need to do a request show, where the audience suggests what they would like to hear the band play :D :p

I can't remember if it was The Wild Heart Tour or the RAL Tour but at one show I attended Stevie jokingly asked the audience if they had any requests. Many were yelled out to her. She said into the mic as she repeated what she had just heard, "Silversprings? Maryland, Connecticut."
Then she continued the show, ofcourse without doing any of the requests.

I love TITN. And Stevie looked so beautiful in the Little Lies video. The whole countryside and barns and fields were artistic imagery I thought. We'll probably never see Stevie in such settings again. I absolutely love the album cover painting. I was thinking a while back what I'd have painted if I ever decided on one whole wall mural, and THAT would probably be it! I just think it's beautiful for some reason and tells a story if you look hard enough.
http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/366...nthenightn.jpg

I agree with all of that. The whole Tango era was a tightly orchestrated, beautifully packaged event. All of the videos were gorgeous. The video for Big Love was especially neat. Definitely foreshadowed at the storms brewing within the wings.

I too love the cover art. It was such a departure for the Rumours kids. The cover said this album was exotic, something different. Something sophisticated. And in it's quirky '80s manner, Tango was all of the above.

Me and you both! I think the title track was the song that opened me up to the rest of the album. Such a typical rock guitar solo, in a very atypical song package. One of the best guitar solos of Lindsey's recording career, and I think one of his most effectively produced songs within the Mac. I just love this song... it's one you have to really CRANK up when you listen to it! :D

Is that supposed to be a UFO in the sky above the elephants?

I do think it makes you think of entropic nights. Safari maybe, netting over the bed, unrelenting heat, humidity making you push aside crumpled bedding. Then I remember, when the moon was full and bright. I would take you in the darkness . . .

Very hot.

I also think the Mirage cover matches the song Hold Me and that it goes nicely with the video Hold Me, which hints of mirages, hallucinations and people who can't quite reach each other, though they grasp.

Michele

Thematic, indeed! :nod:

Well, I think the picture inside the SYW liner notes of the 4 outstretched hands fits into that theme as well.

Michele

That one puzzles me.