Mirage: The Most Underrated Pop Record
 

I know that this discussion has been raised many times, however I have been playing the Mirage album non-stop lately.

Out of all five "classic era" albums, Mirage has always been my least favourite (and probably still is). The reason for my ambivalence to the album has always been the fact that it is the furthest thing FM ever did from being a rock band. However, as I have been listening to it over the last few days it dawned on me that it is perhaps the most underrated pop album ever made.

The first half of the record consists six perfectly crafted pop creations. In fact, I'd say that Lindsey's two most underrated pop songs are present on this side ("Can't Go Back" and "Book Of Love"). Stevie's contributions are sublime; "Gypsy", of course, is in a world of its own and, alongside "Everywhere", I think it's the best example of Lindsey's pop production with the band. Christine's "Love In Store" is simply stunning and presents some of the best harmonies the band ever did. And while "Only Over You" may be the weakest number among the first six, on close listen there is a lot of studio beauty used (along with Christine's beautiful vocal singing with Lindsey's guitar).

The second half is somewhat inconsistent and does not flow nearly as well, however each song does have its merits. Lindsey's contributions of "Empire State" and "Eyes Of The World" are perfect examples of the quirkiness that he was still trying to incorporate within the group (flashbacks to "Tusk" for sure). The less said about "Oh Diane" the better (never liked it, never will). I've always thought that "Goodbye Angel" should have without a doubt been included over "Oh Diane." Stevie's "Straight Back" may be her most underrated Mac song, and is the track I first gravitated to from the album (mostly because of its rock style). "Straight Back" also gives us a rare Stevie/Christine vocal mashup - a combo the band rarely ever used, much to my disappointment. Christine's "Hold Me" is, again, a perfect example of how brilliant of a pop writer she is. Like much of her material, the song is deceivingly simplistic (lyrically and musically there is a lot going on). I always enjoy when the Mac used a piano part from Christine as the basis for a track, like in "Hold Me." "Wish You Were Here" is a somewhat "safe" track and has never been one of my favourites. However, the final minute is beautiful and I am glad that the song did not make it to the point in the 80s where it would have been bombarded with synthesized strings and massive overproduction.

Overall, the popiest album the band ever made. However, I do not think it deserves to be neglected in the bands history as much as it has been. When Lindsey was being interviewed at USC I really wished that the interview would have spent some time talking about the Mirage sessions as there is so much musical merit to what the band did on the album.

While I will probably never put Mirage anywhere near the other four albums, I am glad that I have finally come around to appreciating what the band was doing; a perfect pop album that at times showcases the perfection FM was capable of in the studio.

I agree, but I think that the most commercial album of the Rumours line-up is Tango In The Night.
Lately I've seen most music magazines have revaluated Mirage along with Tusk as well. Many times in the reviews since the 80s I've read that Mirage is seen as a refreshing come-back to the Rumours simplicity after the experimentation and eccentricity of Tusk.
I think the key word with this album is ambivalence. It seems everyone thinks that Mirage is the album the band needed to do after Tusk, but noone ended up truly satisfied by it.
I think this album is simple and beautiful and as a whole I prefer it on Tango In The Night. It's a true pop record, in the good meaning of the word; If it had included Smile at you as well it would have been almost perfect to me.

I'm always baffled as to why Mirage has never been mentioned in interviews. A number one album from a time when the Mac and especially Stevie were extremely popular. :shrug:

I LOVE Mirage
Mirage was an unusual time and it is my favorite of the Mac history. Stevie has a #1 solo album and tour to go back to the studio to record with the group. I know the pressure was on them to be commercial after Tusk. Its soft rock and not many chances but still great music. I think the band looked their best and sounded their best on the Mirage tour. I just love very early 80's rock.....right before the drum machine and synthesizer took over.
My favorites on this album (almost every song)
Love in Store
That's alright
Gypsy
Only over you
Hold Me
Book of love
Straight back
Wish you were here

Rolling Stone gave it a positive review in 1982. They were not blown away but I will never forget their line ......something like.......its the perfect album to have a romantic dinner to with a bottle of wine.

I wish Love in Store had a video. I think that would have launched it into the top 10.

But this also welcomed the Mac to MTV and video age with ground breaking videos Hold Me and Gypsy. Total class and the best videos on 1982 IMHO.

But the harmonies on this record are so good. Yes I would love to have heard some more rock n roll but a wonderful effort nonetheless.

For me, Mirage is very easy to like but, outside of Stevie's songs, not memorable enough to love. I do listen to it far more often than Tango though.

I love Mirage, except Oh Diane and Wish you were here. I think Oh Diane should have been cut to fit a longer That's Alright, which I feel, other than Gypsy, is Stevie's best song on the album. It's also a very underrated Fleetwood Mac song. They should have played it live in 1982 and the video should be on youtube. I have said that countless times on this thread. Love in store and Only over you are great Christine songs, Hold Me is my favorite song. Wish You were here kinda bores me, I would put it in the same category as Oh daddy or Sugar Daddy or Honey Hi. Lindsey's songs are all very Lindsey, which I like. Oh Diane is the only song on the album that seems like filler. It could have been cut and they could have made That's Alright and Love in Store or Hold Me longer.

Mirage had alot of radio airplay and MTV airplay .It probably gotten unnoticed with whoever was hot on the charts and got overrated super status at that time.

Heres what was on the charts in 1982 from Billboard.


http://www.billboard.com/archive/charts/1982/hot-100

Have to agree in regards to WYWH...it would have lost it all with synths all over. The last minute is really great music. For me Mirage ranks above Tango for sure and it has moments that remind me of the first Buckingham/Nicks FM album. Had Hold Me remained closer to the demo version it would have been better for me. I can enjoy the slick, pop production on it, but hearing Christine a little funkier is always welcome. No point in discussing Gypsy...it's a classic. Empire State is a constant skip unless I'm playing it start to finish randomly. I like Tusk weirdness...but ES is just silly. I do like Oh Diane for some reason. Overall, Mirage might tie with the white album out of the five the lineup released.

I love Mirage. I love how concise LB's songs are. I love the further exploration of the McVie/ Buckingham duet. The harmonies that those two sing on this album are amazing.

I love how they thought this was like Rumours when it was nothing close to Rumours. I love Straight Back, Gypsy and That's Alright. Christine's backing vocals throughout this whole album are tantamount.

Christine and Stevie knocked two hits out of the park on this one. Also, first real video shoot for them (Hold Me/Gypsy). Yes, they have Sara, but it was not a video shoot.

I love the looks of the women in this period. Stevie was just gorgeous and Christine's name and face were exploding on MTV. They constantly called her Christy McVie.

Mirage Tour was too short, but I love the way intensely played the tunes. And it was just raw and fantastic.

I concur with your statements. Mirage has a organic sense of intimacy. Tango has a different vibe. Over many years, I've come to appreciate the divergent aspects of Lindsey's songs. Empire State is so uniquely Lindsey; its quirkiness gives a jolt to a rather safe album. Can't Go Back is the should have been single.

For years I've derided the merits of Oh Diane for years, but I now digress. It's just a thin blip of a song channeling Buddy Holly. Undemanding and pleasant, it serves its intended purpose and asks for nothing in return. In its brevity, it's sort of like his song That's Enough for Me. Issued as a single in the UK, it was a minor hit. I have the 12" picture single. Nice artwork.

Probably only me, but I like "Oh Diane" in the context that Jeremy Spencer did some Buddy Holly stuff earlier on and that Lindsey reintegrated that into the Rumours version of FM. He's following a tradition.

I don't really know what you mean by "Commercial" but here's a quick sales chart by most successful of Rumours lineup to least.

US Sales

Rumours - 20 Million
Greatest Hits - 8 Million
Fleetwood Mac - 5 Million
The Dance - 5 Million
Tango In The Night - 3 Million
Tusk - 2 Million
Mirage - 2 Million
Live - 500,000

I checked if I had been mis-translated the term but I see in english is quite the same than in my country. Commercial means "of high consumption" or "popular" and is a term that in my country, when it's referred to music, can also imply that the thing in question is thought as being first of all profitable and then artistic and thus can be of lower quality.
That being said I guess you could say that I just think Tango In the Night is more "pop" than Mirage, as it followed more the trends of its age.
Your list is not completely accurate on the matter because it's just about sales in the US, while if you take into account Europe Tango In The Night is the second most sold Fleetwood Mac album.
However commercial doesn't even necessarily mean successful and vice-versa, as you can see in the opposite cases of Mirage and Tusk.

Looking at Billboards summer 1982 charts .

As I see .

Paul McCartney And Stevie Wonder,The Human League and Survivor clogging up the charts for weeks and months of that summer. No offense to great music from them but FM could had a chance if these artists and bands were not present on the charts at that time .

"Hold Me" got into a traffic jam for weeks at number 4.It could of been number one if the heavyweights were not in the way.

Mirage probably could sold more then 2 mill .

Always thanks Joe Welcomechris for your hard work with the numbers and info.

Well, with the exception of Paul McCartney, Fleetwood Mac were more of a "heavyweight" than those other artists. Human League and Survivor were very successful, but only for a short moment in time. Compared to FM, they were relative flashes-in-the-pan, commercially speaking.

As far as those acts' Hot 100 positions preventing Mirage from selling better, the charts don't really work that way. An album doesn't sell more copies because its singles happened to reach #1. Rather, what drives the album chart is simply the number of people who choose to buy the music.

On the topic at hand, Mirage was my favorite Mac album for a very long time. And on some days it still is. I like it better than the '75 white album and MUCH better than Tango. With the exception of Oh Diane and Wish You Were Here, I like every track on it.

No problem haha. Always happy to help :nod:

I like "Oh Diane" and I echo PenguinHead above, it's just a very inoffensive song. Not brilliant or revolutionary by any means, but I don't think it claims to be, it's just this itty bitty bit of retro pop. Never bothered me much.

---

I would love a funkier "Hold Me", it's one of those songs that I'm so close to liking, much like "Everywhere", if not for certain production choices.

Mirage is my favorite album, and it is Fleetwood Mac's most romantic album. It is conceptually well-executed, this notion that love appears abloom in the distance. But that's the clever facade of the mirage -- seeing something, usually beautiful, that isn't actually there. Nine of the 12 songs seem to revolve around this theme, so Mirage stands out as one of the band’s most cohesive albums.

On the surface of each song is a bright, carefree melody. (I think some music critics would describe this as the stereotypical SoCal soft rock sound.) But what each songwriter writes about is longing and nostalgia for love that's "slowly slippin' through your hands" ("Oh Diane"). In "Gypsy," Stevie is nostalgic for the best years of her life, when she was fearless and had nothing but love to give. But it is now a passing warm memory. Christine's always writing about love, but she's especially vulnerable and heartbreaking on this album (probably for Dennis Wilson), afraid of how she feels ("Love in Store"), out of her mind (“Only Over You”), lying in the darkness ("Wish You Were") -- simply inconsolable. And then there’s Lindsey, the most heartbroken of all, demanding for “someone from up above” (“Book of Love”) to explain why he is so lonely and unsuccessful at finding love.

I do agree with Andy that side two is inconsistent. It starts off rough with a totally random song about New York ("Empire State"). I think songwriters sometimes write these songs, hoping it will one day get picked up by the media, like in a commercial. And that would translate into mass exposure and grand royalties. It didn't work here, but Lindsey sure hit a home run with with "Holiday Road"!

"Straight Back" doesn't work for this album either. Its reggae-flavored beats and esoteric lyrics about dreams, melodies, and ivory keys are one gleaming mess. But I do love the song. It just doesn't fit conceptually with the album.

"Eyes of the World" is another random, misplaced song. Granted, it is the album’s best uptempo song, by far, and even a better song onstage. But here, it’s a lot of pleasant hoo-ha about nothing.

My only other gripe about Mirage is the editing, which is quite poor. The cut-and-paste approach is very evident on many songs, especially on “Gypsy,” “Only Over You,” and “Straight Back,” where you can clearly hear where the song was edited, probably out of Rumours-inspired fear of running over on vinyl. No bueno.

But overall, musically, Mirage runs beautifully from beginning to end. It doesn’t rock too hard or too soft, which is how love, if we should find it, should ideally play out.

the conceptual theme of Mirage was reportedly a music box... the music had that sort of tinkly, plinky sound and airy feel of music played on a music box which is a brilliant concept. Not every song quite fits, but the ones that do are among the best: Gypsy, Hold Me, Can't Go Back, Wish You Were Here other Stevie songs were deemed too dark for this collection (Smile at You for example). I know there's some debate over when Make Me a Mask came into being, but to me it sounds like it fit this concept really really well. :shrug:

Thanks for the response. I never really viewed 'Mirage' as a thematically cohesive album, however your post has changed this! Thanks to your interpretation, Mirage has gone up even more on my 'artistic credibility' chain.

I also agree about the 'cut and paste' format. Gypsy is so much better in the original long form, as is Love In Store. One can't help but wonder if Hold Me has an extended version as well...

I don't exactly agree that "Empire State" and "Straight Back" are unconnected. I always saw "Empire State" as Lindsey's running away song, like "That's Alright" is Stevie's. New York is about as far from L.A. as you can get. And "Straight Back" is full of a kind of nostalgia, IMO, especially (obviously) "She remembers how good it can be, he remembers a melody." Like others on the album, these are both songs that have happened in the wake of some kind of watershed moment.

I'll take my mirage anytime above tango. Musically Mirage outshines Tango on all levels.

I can see "Empire State" being about a different kind of love, maybe a love for New York. But it's more about ambition, makin' it in the Big City, flying high. It's a song I could have pictured on Tusk, for its restlessness, but not so much on the laid back Mirage.

I look at "Straight Back" as Stevie forgetting why she and Lindsey wanted to became rock stars, which was fulfilling "the dream" to perform music. This is what I think all the ivory keys, melodies, and how good it can be talk is all about -- Stevie trying to turn herself around and head straight back to the sun, where all the energy is. So it's less about feeling nostalgic, but feeling inspired again to create great music again with Lindsey and Fleetwood Mac.

Just an interpretation. I can talk forever about Mirage. :woohoo:

And I don't mind that you do. I like your insight.

Take note. When Mirage was released, it was heralded in the press as a comeback! In the concert video, Lindsey addresses the audience with something like "you probably thought we went away or something, but we are here to show you we're still doing it."

Mind you, they released Tusk in 1979 and were on the road until 1980. Subsequently, Lindsey, Steve, and Mick each released their debut solo albums. A mere two years later Mirage was recorded, released and they were on the road again.

Yet, back in those fast times, two years of inactivity was like an eternity. It also signaled the end of the band's momentum. Solo careers, stressed relationships, and various estrangements hampered any possibility for the five fireflies to continue their streak of productivity.

I'm grateful for the five albums that established the "Rumours era brand" - Fleetwood Mac, Rumours, Tusk, Mirage, and Tango in the Night.
I just wish there was a little more "meat" to their recorded legacy (aside from the live/and compilation albums). That is why the last chance of one last new album (with Stevie) holds significance with me. They don't have the luxury of time now.

Side note: A shout out to the somewhat unloved/overlooked Christine song Only Over You. I love it!

Mirage is a pop album from a band that up until this point had not been a pop band I can't listen to it all the way through There are some good songs here mostly the first 3 hit singles but a major let down after Tusk ..If I want to hear a great pop album by a band with 2 split couples Il put on one of the later albums by the greatest Pop band of all time ..ABBA.

I LOVE Mirage and is the time in the band's history that I started to follow the band so I really like this thread. And I agree with everyone's comments. In some odd way whether we love or like the album we see the album similarly. The only thing I read that I did not agree with was that Straight Back did not sound to belong on the album. To me, Straight Back is the textbook example track of the album. Its mystical, romantic, and probably the most daring song on the album. But the harmonies, lyrics, and the way Chris and Lindsey play off each other right before the bridge IS SO CLASSIC FLEETWOOD MAC. I think Straight Back should have kicked off the second side completely or traded on side 1 where Gypsy is and put Gypsy first track side two. Lindsey still has some quirky songs so there is a bit of a Tusk hangover.
Mirage is a moment in time where things would never be the same again. Stevie's voice changed, Lindsey gets angry and leaves and the band members drift different ways for half a decade.
Long story short.....Mirage sounds like the Mac in many areas.....something rare on Tango. Tango started out as a Lindsey solo record and most of it sounds like a Lindsey solo record.

LOVE ME SOME MIRAGE
:)

I was inspired by this thread and listen to the album right now, for the first time in decades, probably. It is a good album, stands the test of time really good for me - I'm side-eying you, TITN. :)

Gypsy, played to death and terribly cut here, is still amazing.
Hold Me! Hands down the best track of the album, the harmonies are everything to this day.

I remember when Mirage came out, I quite young and had just started working as a nurse in palliative care, I was surrounded by pain and death, unprepared and devastated. It was comfort to listen to this set of songs - while I was so struggling, somewhere else people created perfection, the world was somehow balanced out by what this beautiful music meant to me back then.
/Sentimental musings.

Agree!
I have very fond memories of this album as it was my first Fleetwood Mac album. Up to the time I bought it, I was only vaguely aware of the name of the band through ' Albatross ' and nothing more. Remember hearing 'Hold Me' being played regularly in my local bar and asked the barman who this band was. That Friday went out and bought a cassette(!) of 'Mirage' as it ,of course, contained this song.
People sometimes say they can remember the moment when hearing a particular song/album for the first time and the sensation they felt: well, playing 'Mirage' for the first time that night was such a sensation for me. I was absolutely mesmerised by the fact that there were so many wonderful songs (Oh Diane excepted, of course) and such a SOUND!!!
My 'musical life' would never be the same again - I had found my band!

Thanks Ken for clearing that up.My brain is rusty on the info.

What I'm pissed about is "Hold Me" was not on this tours setlist.

More likely "Hold Me" must of sold some LP's at that time.

MTV played the crap out of it along with Gypsy.Which I was so happy that they did.

yep. it had a great video. in its own way the video captured the essence of each of their personalities :D

I think inoffensive is a great word to describe it. That's probably why Warner Bros. released it as a single. I always thought that "Eyes of the World" should have been a single, especially because Lindsey loved performing it onstage. So when I heard it for the first time as the b-side of "Hold Me," I was really surprised that they let such a good song go to waste.

Totally. They should have done Hold Me instead of Little Lies. They already had Everywhere. It was cool to see them do Little Lies live with Lindsey though. There was no Tusk or Mirage songs from Christine. Hold Me does not get the attention it deserves. It seems like Everywhere has kinda become Christine's big hit because of this tour. I would have been so happy if they did Hold Me.

Yes, "Everywhere" is her big hit from the tour...and deservingly so. I, too, believe that "Hold Me" is a brilliant track. However, I think in terms of a "sing-a-long", big "crowd" moment, "Everywhere" is a far superior choice. Not to mention the fact that it recently had a resurgance in the U.K. and has actually brought several young fans to the band. On a personal level, I certainly prefer "Everywhere" to "Hold Me." However, "Hold Me" is a great track...maybe better suited for the studio, though, and not live. From what I heard of the Mirage tour bootlegs, the song definetly lost something in the live setting. Would be interesting to see what they would do with it now...perhaps in the acoustic set?

I like Hold Me better than Everywhere, but they are two of my very favorite songs. I was just suggesting instead of playing Everywhere and Little Lies, they should have played Hold Me instead of Little Lies to give Mirage some much needed attention, since they only play Gypsy.

For the Australian/NZ tour, they should replace the large video screen footage with the moonwalking Sheffield pony. :woohoo: