Tango In The Night nit picks
 

I finally got around to listening to Tango back to back for the first time in a long time. I know some of you might hate me by now, but I enjoy these discussions.


Tango In the Night

1. Big Love is good. I like it as the album opener. It just needs more Stevie and Christine on it, like a lot of other Lindsey songs. I love the music video too.

2. Seven Wonders I could take or leave. I like it. I can sing along to all the words. I'm glad I got to see it live last year, but it's nothing special. I know Stevie wasn't available much for the production of Tango, but I would have much rather hear something written by Stevie instead of Seven Wonders. Hell, a Fleetwood Mac Stand Back cover would have been cool. I just thought of that, I'm not sure how everyone else will feel about that idea lol. The music video is really good though. Christine looks great in the music video too. I read in an interview that Christine said she quit doing cocaine in 1984, I think it shows in her face during the Tango period. Or she just hired better hair and makeup people.

3. Everywhere is my favorite song on the album and one of my favorite songs in general. I dare to say that it might be just a little too glittery though. A guitar and/or synth instrumental would have been cool between the second and third verses instead of all the glitter. The bass is awesome. John always kills it. The third verse could have been a little more original. I like the simplicity in Christine's lyrics, but it seems like she was just being lazy on Everywhere. Same goes for Little Lies, but I'll get to that one later. Also, Stevie should have sang on the chorus of Everywhere with Lindsey instead of Lindsey and a computer generated version of Stevie's voice.

4. Tango in The Night is good, it sounds like an homage to I'm So Afraid, or what I'm So Afraid became live over the years. My only nit pick is Lindsey carries the Tangooooooo really long. It doesn't sound bad, it's just a really long Ooooooooooo, it's almost 20 seconds long.

5. I love Little Lies, but it's the same song as Everywhere. They have the exact same arrangement, even the recycled lyrics in the third verse. At least in Everywhere they mixed up the first and second verses to make the third verse. In Little Lies she just repeats the first verse. They could have come up with a couple new lines for the third verse. Like Big Love and Seven Wonders, Little Lies has a really cool music video. I like that each singer kinda got their own video.

6. I love Family Man, but Lindsey should have put "sister" in the chorus. "Mother father brother sister" instead of just "mother father brother." I can't remember where I read this, whether it was an article on the internet somewhere or in a forum on here, but I remember reading that Lindsey left off "sister" because he was pissed at Stevie or something. Mother was Christine, father was Mick, and brother was John. I don't know how accurate this is, but I remember reading that somewhere.

9. Welcome to the Room Sara is okay. This could have been an awesome song, but there's too much going on. While the 80s synth and overproduction worked for the rest of the songs on Tango, this one just has too much noise in it. I like the beat and rhythm and sound of the song, it just a needs a good polishing.

10. When I See You Again is just awful. Tango has Stevie's weakest set of songs with Fleetwood Mac. She wasn't there much, I know, regardless though, her songs on Tango are sub-par to her Fleetwood Mac through Mirage songs. Her voice sounds really bad in this song and all those "baby baby baby" gets on my nerves. The song would have been good if the entire song sounded like the last 45 seconds with the guitar picking up a little bit. If that guitar action was played on the entire song it would have made it much more pleasing to the ear. Also Stevie needed to re record the vocals and take out all those "baby baby baby."

11. You and I parts 1 and 2 should have just been one song. They're both so awesome. Does anyone know if I can get part 1 on iTunes somewhere? So I don't have to go to YouTube every time I want to hear it. Anyway, the little synth keyboard jingle and the very end of part 1 should have been throughout the entire song. I also think both part 1 and 2 could use some Christine vocals on them. Lindsey and Christine could have shared the vocals like they did on Hold Me or they switch verses or sing the chorus together or something. I'm sure you guys have heard this, but here's an outtake of Christine singing on a You and I, Part 2
http://youtu.be/-3dIsYwOmRs

Other nit picks:

As I have said many times before, It would have been so awesome if Lindsey didn't quit before the Tango tour. I wonder what songs of his they would have played. Big Love? Hopefully a full band version. Family Man? It would be interesting to see how they would have arranged that one live. Tango In The Night? It's the title track and Lindsey could have gotten in a big guitar solo. I also like to think that Hold Me and maybe Gypsy would have been on the set list for the Tango tour if Lindsey was there. Then maybe Hold Me would have been played on The Dance too and then they would have played it for the 2014-2015 tour too. I'm okay with the extra instrumentalists to keep up the 80s sound, but they didn't need the backup singers, at least not if Lindsey was there. I also feel like Tango should have been released in 1985. I know it wasn't possible at the time, but I would like it a little closer to Mirage.

Sidenotes:

Lindsey's songs are awesome on Tango and so are Christine's. Lindsey got to utilize the new 80s technology since he was a studio junkie and it sounds so much better than a lot of other 80s music. All of Christine's songs on this album are essential to the album as a whole, whereas on previous albums she always had one or two songs that could have been better. Everywhere and Little Lies are nice poppy Christine songs, Isn't It Midnight is a cool 80s pop rock sounding song, and Mystified is a nice slower mellow song. Isn't It Midnight could have been really interesting live with Lindsey too. Fleetwood Mac through Mirage, Stevie was the most consistent, of the three, with the quality of her songs. On Tango, she left much to be desired.

But thats why its so great. Thats one of the exact things that I like about it so much.

Tango In the Night was my first Fleetwood Mac album, and I've probably listened to it over a thousand times in the years since it was released, especially in those first years before Behind The Mask came along.

I have no nit-picks, other than the fact that we still have no reissue, and no CD release of all those great b-sides.

I seriously love this album.

I love that demo of You and I Part 2. The rhythm guitar which isn't on the album is great and so are Christine's vocals.

Same here. I could listen to that solo all day long.

I absolutely 100% echo these sentiments. I have absolutely no nitpicks for Tango In The Night. I even grew to like When I See You Again in some strange little way. Throughout the whole album there's not one note and not one electronic effect out of place. Brilliance.

Tango is mostly a Lindsey solo album and has very little "Mac" sound. Although there are amazing songs like Isn't it midnight and Tango in the Night. I think Stevie had a very poor choice of songs. She sent them while on tour and only was at the studio a few times. Christine really spent time on her songs. I love all of them. I don't like the 80's sound and programmed songs like Caroline. To not let Mick play his drums while Lindsey programs the computer drums is nails down a chalk board for me. Family Man has great guitar but is too programed for my tastes. A better group effort and one more Stevie song would have definitely made a better album IMHO. Welcome to the Room Sara and When I see you again are definitely 2 of my least favorite Mac songs. You can tell not much time was spent on recording them. Neither of them have any catchy choruses or anything that make them memorable. Of all the Mac albums, this is in the middle and in the second tier for me.

Yes!

I can understand and in some cases agree with criticisms of Welcome to the Room, Sara. But that doesn't mean I would change anything about it because I've grown to love it just the way it is.

It is lyrically clumsy and vague in the same way much of Rock A Little is; incoherent, really; but it reflects the truth of Stevie at the time. It is also interesting to me to think that it was perhaps chosen by the others over alternate tracks that might have been considered. After all, Stevie said for years that she always let Fleetwood Mac pick the songs they liked best...so there's that, I guess.

There are times where Stevie gets really passionate about something (war, terrorism, hurricanes) on an level different from her other passions (dim lighting, moons, affairs and severe weather), and at times, the results are less than spectacular, but the song is moved forward anyway. Examples for me would include Desert Angel, Soldier's Angel and maybe even Illume - like, she is determined to get a song out there about the subject matter regardless of how it fits the rest of the material, or her overall style, or the quality level, because the message matters more than those things. In light of ALL the other songs at her disposal in 1986, the words in Welcome to the Room, Sara must have been *incredibly* important to Stevie at the time for the song to be chosen over all the other things she could have chosen.

My God, how great would a Tango version of Running Through The Garden have been, instead of Welcome to the Room, Sara? But, Sara is what we got and despite what might be described as flaws, it's all part of the vast Stevie canon and I've come to love it.

I suppose Lindsey may be referencing the family construct he grew up with. He has a brother; he doesn't have a sister. What you read was likely just someone's opinion. I don't think Lindsey ever referred to Stevie as his sister. It's a rather silly notion that he left "sister" out of the lyric because of a beef with Stevie.

Seven Wonders I really like.

Welcome To The Room Sara. I still like this song
all these years later. Although I'd prefer it to be sung
instead of talked-through. Kind of a precursor of what
she does today.

When I See You Again. When new I liked this song.
But now It's a hard listen with all those "baby, baby, baby's".

You And I, 1 & 2 shouldn't have made the album
or a B-side at all. Horrible. Almost as bad as Ricky.

This was definitely a low point for Stevie. Honestly, the album would have been much better if it had skipped WISYA and WTTRS, leaving 7W as her only contribution, and included Christine's "Ricky" (an offbeat tribute to Richard Dashut which I've always considered to be the bastard child of "The Chain" and Tusk") and Lindsey's "Down Endless Street" (perhaps as an album closer). I would have tried to squeeze in "You And I, Part I" as well.

Tango in the Night is a testament to the amazing chemistry between Buckingham and McVie, how their vocals play off one another's and harmonize together so beautifully. But also amazing is their musical chemistry in several songs.

Lindsey contributes one of his strongest Mac songs, "Caroline," which has a terrific jungle like beat and a catchy chorus. In fact, all of his songs on the album are good, yes even "Family Man." "Little Lies" is a strong song as well, and Stevie's "Seven Wonders" and "Welcome to the Room...Sara" are pretty good, too.

So, the nitpicks? First and foremost, "When I See You Again," with its horrible vocal delivery and lyrics, should never have seen the light of day. "Joan of Arc" or a revamped "Running Through the Garden" should have been included instead. Even though "Seven Wonders" is a good song, another self-penned tune would have been better. "Big Love" is a great opener to the album, but book-ending with both parts of "You and I" would have been interesting.

Christine's songs are her weakest batch on any Mac album. "Everywhere" and "Little Lies," although catchy, are fairly trite, and "Mystified" is a snoozer. "Isn't It Midnight" is strong but still doesn't stand out in particular.

The production is very much of its time and sounds a bit dated today. It can also be a bit heavy handed at times, with "Family Man" being an example of that. Drum machines on a band album are a big NO NO! That's why you have Mick. The album needed more of an organic sound in a lot of spots, and real drums would have helped with that tremendously. The album doesn't really sound like it's a band album because of this and also probably because Lindsey's songs were meant for a solo album, save for "You and I, Pt. II."

So Tango is probably the weakest one of the five albums from the Five Fireflies.

I completely agree about Buckingham/McVie. They have such a beautiful chemistry together. I'm so glad to see it continue.

They both know how to arrange and produce. Plus, they both play instruments and know how to work off each other. It will be so amazing to hear the new creations that they have put together for the new album. I read that some of the tunes were actually written together in the studio.

I think they Buckingham/McVie chemistry is what helped Fleetwood Mac survive all these years. It's a very important ingredient to the mix of this band.

One of the missed opportunities, IMO, for TITN was "Book Of Miracles". I loved the instrumental track. With proper vocals, this could have been a stand out track for Stevie on the album. Her 3 tracks could have been "Seven Wonders", "Book of Miracles" (or "Juliet"), and "When I See You Again".

Although we ended up with "BOM" later as "Juliet" in 1989, a proper TITN release might have been better overall.

There is always going to be songs that we like better than others and it's going to be all over the place. When this album was finally released I was so ready for it. The five years since the Mirage release seemed like forever. My one and only issue would be that Stevie wasn't more present. That's it!

I was really excited when Tango in the Night first came out. I bought the cassette, record, and "Big Love" 45 all at once. I played "You and I, Part I" repeatedly, but not so much "Big Love." I actually loved all of the other b-sides..."Book of Miracles," "Ricky," and "Down Endless Street"...more than anything on the album. So I would love a reissue for just those tracks. I also loved all of the whimsical artwork for the the singles.

You and I part 1 would be my choice for an album closer.

That is for sure!

I actually agree - the You and I pair serve as perfect bookends for this album.

I get a bit nostalgic though listening to Down Endless Street since it was not released until shortly after he quit the band and I always thought of it as Lindsey's farewell song to Fleetwood Mac, given the song's lyrics.

Well you say you'll be fine
When you walk out that door
Oh will it be that easy
To see me no more?

Well, will you be fine?
Are you complete?
Say you'll survive
Down Endless Street
Down Endless Street
Down Endless Street

Well say you'll be fine
When you walk out that door
Oh, will it be that easy
To see me no more?

Will you survive?
Are you complete?
Say you'll be fine
Down Endless Street
Down Endless Street
Down Endless Street

Dr. Brown, that's an interesting take on "Down Endless Street." I'd always assumed it was about Stevie or Carol Ann. But now that you mention this, I think your view fits much better, especially given the time the song was put out as a B-side.