A small Chris' analysis of her 88-95 work...and that nobody asked to...
 

Hi! Christine left us a few days ago so I tried to undestand what happened. One of the first songs that came to my mind was Hollywood (Some Other Kind Of Town), so it was my clue to write something to try to tribute her, but only from the 1988-1995 period, in which she worked hard, but relaxed, but confused.

1) As Long As You Follow.
The first emblematic song of FM after TITN was written by Christine and Eddy Quintela. Even when it appeared in a greatest hits album, ALAYF appears itself as the start of a new era. Similar to Mystified, it shows a very sweet rythm, with a new team with Rick Vito and Billy Burnette taking the guitars. One of the most remembered songs of Christine, with a very romantic and symbolic music video.

2) Skies The Limit.
This song is the opening of the Behind The Mask album. Following the style of TITN, as it also has a very "80s sound", Skies The Limit has a good backing vocals part, with Stevie Nicks appearing more, on the song and on the rest of Chris' songs. Even when it scored a good ranking, the song is not well remembered, as the entire album was.

3) In The Back Of My Mind.
Even when it's not a Christine's song, it has a very important part sung by her. Replied live, her part of the song is very well known, as it marks a bridge on the song.

4) Do You Know.
Written with Billy Burnette, it shows a good combination of musicians, an it means the start of a collaboration work between them. One of the ballads of the album, it marks again the strongest stly of our songbird.

5) Save Me.
The other "battle horse" for BTM, which failed to be a real hit, even when it had a good promotion and radio broadcast.

6) Behind The Mask.
This one, written by Christine only, without Quintela, is probably the darkest song of the album. It has a very interesting meaning, as the cover of the album shows a girl like Stevie Nicks, the song is written by Christine, and Lindsey Buckingham wrote by the same time a song called Make Me A Mask, and collaborates on the Chris' song on accoustic guitar. A very like-coded tune, probably showing the internal battle of Christine without Lindsey, Nicks more dedicated to her solo career, and the start of the fall of a very successful band...It was?

7) When It Comes To Love.
Even when it was also written by Burnette, McVie's part once again is so important, so the song sometimes is considered as a duet and not as a Burnette's solo song, as ITBOMM. Probably one of the best songs on the album, would be a gem performed live.

8) Love Shines.
Love Shines is probably the biggest song written by Christine McVie in the post Rumours days, and before The Dance ones. As a very sweet and happy song, it sows a seed of hope about love and happiness, with a band reduced to a quartet, without Vito and Nicks. Christine thought it was her last work with Fleetwood Mac, before returning to Europe with her husband and co-writter of this song, Eddy Quintela, in a permament way. Even with that, the band had plans to continue, for contract reasons but also because of Fleetwood's thought on keeping alive the band.

9) Heart Of Stone.
A good one but not so well-known yet. Recorded during the Behind The Mask sessions, it appeared as a new song on 25 Years: The Chain. At that time, the collaborations between Chris and Nicks kept the band's classical sound. This one has the Christine's signature as it remembers to some older songs, specially the TITN ones, or something from her second solo album, released in 1984. Was it a part of a failed solo album?

10) Hollywood (Some Other Kind Of Town).
As it says by itself, the song is a searching for a new place, far away from the flashes and the lights. Christine McVie was in a 6-year-old marriage with Quintela, so she decided to continue with a musical life, but without studios and recordings. She started with a fear about flying, so she didn't wanted to fly anymore. Hollywood (the fame) was eating the moments as a couple, the energy of a very strong woman, and now, without Buckingham and Nicks. After the reunion of the group for Bill Clinton's campaign, the lifestyle of Christine was in Some Other Kind Of Town (Europe), not in the moved America. She needed to feel the rain upon her face...

11) I Do.
The most iconic song from Time, but not the best one. As a contractual move, Christine recorded this song with a strong collaboration of Billy Burnette, but is credited as a McVie-Quintela song. I Do was the single, the way to promote an "empty" (??) album, and it failed, as the album itself. Probably if they chose anothers song, the luck could be better, but not the best one. Even with that, I Do is another of the most remembered songs written by Cristine but, once again, not her best one.

12) Sooner Or Later.
The strongest and best song by Chris on Time, tied with Hollywood..., but even better. In almost six minutes, Christine McVie shows her best work. Leaving the past behind, this Christine talks to something or someone we don't know. Probably, to herself from the past, the life of the rocker one, or probably to the band, in a kind of goodbye, part I...

13) Nights In Estoril.
Like a second part of Hollywood..., it shows a happier woman, now without the pressure of being in a band. Even when she accepted to record the songs, it's a clear fact that she's singing to Warner too, saying that she's happy now, and doesn't need to live in the music world anymore.

14) All Over Again.
The last song on a Fleetwood Mac album, without knowing it could be that one, really. A sad but so reflexive song, at that time, the lyrics had an special meaning as they showed a woman who's quiting the band, who needs to take a breath and a rest. She enjoyed the story with the band, her work there, but she's a 52-year-old woman at that time, so she wants to do something different. This is the goodbye, part II. The definitely one. But not at all, as the song catches a new meaning today, only a few days after her passing. So let's stop, before it's too late...

Which one is/was your favourite? Do you rediscover one of them? Which are your comments about the songs?

Love Shines is pure pop Christine perfection. My second favorite song behind Think About Me.

“Heart of Stone” was done specifically for the box. It was produced by Patrick Leonard, not Greg Ladanyi.

Many of my favorite Christine songs are from this era, and it makes me sad that they didn't get as much exposure as her 1975-1987 work. I think a lot of them could have been hits on the level of Everywhere and Little Lies if circumstances had been different and they'd ended up on more popular albums.

Heart of Stone is my absolute favorite, and it's such a bummer that it isn't even on Spotify or any streaming services. If you don't have the 25 Years: The Chain CD, pretty much the only way to listen to it is downloading it from a YouTube video. It should have been put on 50 Years: Don't Stop like Love Shines was.

My other favorites are Sooner or Later, Save Me, Love Shines, Nights in Estoril, and the 2 quasi-duet Billy songs.

I never really gave much thought to All Over Again before and it's been off of my playlist for like 15 years. But on Wednesday night when I finally felt ready to listen to her music again after hearing the news, it was the first song I wanted to hear. It has such a special meaning now that I didn't recognize before.

The Sirius XM channel is playing Sooner or Later right now, and played When It Comes to Love earlier! Glad to see this era is getting a bit of representation and they're not just playing the typical big hits.

Your analysis was awesome to read. Thanks for sharing, moon.

More than Stevie or Lindsey, I’ve always said Christine showed the most growth and commercial appeal during this period. What Patrick Leonard did for Christine’s songs was phenomenal. I hate that we weren’t able to get more of their collaboration because I think it would have been stellar.

As Long As You Follow, Save Me, Skies the Limit, Do You Know, Behind the Mask, Heart of Stone, and Love Shines are all just so damn good. And combined with Isn’t It Midnight, Little Lies, Everywhere, and Mystified, and we see a woman at the top of her game. Plus Carnival Begin, Game of Pretend, and the others… how did she hit this new peak so late in the game? If only she could have recorded with FM on Say You Will.

It wouldn't have SUCKED. Because it did suck.

Love this one.

I think I am one of those few weird guys who likes Skies the Limit far more than Save Me :laugh:

Villavic- that is not why we think you’re weird LOL!

I love Save Me and Skies the Limit, but Save Me just seems more intense. Plus it did hit the top 40, so it’s better known, I guess. The backing vocals on both songs are so good! I was always confused they didn’t perform Skies live for their tour. Surely they knew that song might be a single, and it was catchy, so I never understood that.

I prefer Skies of the two. Save Me chorus is a little too cheesy for me.

I also much prefer Sky Is the Limit over Save Me. Save Me is rather…..prosaic?
I don’t think Save Ne was a good choice as a single release but I can understand why they did it.

Curious as to why you feel Save Me wasn’t a good choice for a first single. And what you think might have been a better choice.

By process of elimination, I think a shortened In the Back of My Mind might have been a good choice for a lead single. None of Stevie’s songs would have been hit singles, nor Rick’s, so that left Christine and Billy. Skies imo was too light and poppy for a lead single, and Behind the Mask was too dark. Do You Know is a personal favorite, but too intimate. I love When It Comes to Love and Hard Feelings, but I don’t think they would have been hits.

Save Me and ITBOMM seem like they are very radio friendly and have gravitas to get the attention the first single needs. Save Me is quite a rocker compared to Christine’s other songs. I also love Isn’t It Midnight. Im sure the band and the record label wanted a single that featured Christine or Stevie first, and hoped subsequent singles could come from Billy, but it didn’t work out that way :mad:

I love the music to Save Me. Chris's organ is hot. And YAY we get a guitar solo on a Fleetwood Mac song.

I am in the minority too because I love Skies The Limit. It seems people hate it for dumb reasons i.e. spelling or something. Those opening keyboard drops SCREAM Christine McVie. You can tell everything was written and thrown together rather quickly. The song does not break any new ground or claim to be one of their best songs. What it does demonstrate is the power of Chris. The album needed an upbeat Chris love song and she came up with it rather quickly. I love how the crack of the drum rolls and cracks in the beginning. Some great harmonies too. Its just so organic I cant help but not to like it. Many Mac songs on Tango were so overly polished and overdubbed to death. Skies The Limit is a basic song but IMHO that's the appeal to it. Just old fashioned playing with old fashioned back up singing. No drum machines. No complex bridge or melody either. I love it. I would still say Save Me is the better song though.

Bwboy is always fascinated with the charts. While Save Me bombed on US charts, it rocketed into Canada's top ten. Just another reason to love our neighbors to the north. However, as much as MTV dissed As Long As You Follow, they played the hell out of Save Me. It was a top 10 video of the week. Then they hit the ignore button again for Skies The Limit which I saw once on VH1.

Stevie fans are always numbers people.

"$he's the BEST, because $he sold the most!"