Behind the Mask - Mix Magazine Article
 

I recently came across an article that goes into considerable detail about the making of Behind the Mask. Mick, John, Christine, Stevie, and Greg Ladanyi are all interviewed for this article. All of the members are resoundingly positive on the album, with Stevie calling it "her favorite Fleetwood Mac album". As we know, the band would later become more ambivalent about the album once it became apparent that it was not another colossal success. Stevie has a very ditzy quote where she likens the recording sessions to "being in the greatest eighth grade class in school."

We also get some insight from the producer Greg Ladanyi, who describes his approach in recording the album. He mentioned that the album was more of an ensemble piece where several tracks were recorded live as a band. There's also an entire section of the article where he discusses in great detail the miking of Mick's drums. He mentioned that the Synclavier was also used for certain songs by sampling the demos into the device "and re-recording layer after layer, eventually replacing all the old demo tracks".

Christine contrasted Lindsey's production techniques with the approach that they took on Behind the Mask, saying "I think that Lindsey used to go the long way around all the time. Now we chop corners by using samples, rather than having Lindsey go in and overdub ten guitars, speed them all up and slow them all down. That would take three days." There's also a great deal of time spent on Stephen Croes, who did much of the programming on the album. The keyboards were loaded into a Synclavier, which Croes would then manipulate to create a richer atmosphere.

It's certainly a worthwhile read and I'm curious to hear your thoughts.

https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Ar...ix-1990-03.pdf

(pages 32-42)

This was interesting. Funny how much they seemed to like that album at the time, and years later chris said it was awful! she did sound like she was enjoying the ability to have more freedom, in terms of maybe contributing a bit more in the studio and not being so under lindsey's thumb. and stevie said something like, 'there are no arguments anymore,' which basically means all previous arguments were related to lindsey lol. and it's cool that they did some tracks just live, as a band... it seems like LB's obsessive tinkering with everything took up so much time, and maybe left them feeling like they hadn't contributed as much of their own ideas and creativity as they would have liked to.

--Lis

And yet look at what we consider to be their classic albums. BTM ain't one of them! That said, SYW ain't, either. BUT, BuckVie is!
Hmm, so what's in common, here? Lindsey and Christine. I'd say that FM success requires BOTH of their presence. Take either one or of the equation, and it's a sub par result.

True but Chris also bashed her 2004 solo album which is really good. She did not say great things about Mirage either. I think because the album was a disappointment at a pivotal time for the band left a bad taste in their mouth. However, one should never judge music or an album by commercial success or charts.
BTM was hugely successful in the UK and went platinum there. It went to #1 in the UK and #1 in Greece but it flopped in the USA. The name of the band is why its lead single barely cracked the top 40. Most on the board don't like the album. But there was a premonition of this lineup during the Greatest Hits album. It seems everyone loves As Long As You Follow. It is a great song and it could not even crack the top 40. Strange times indeed.

I never saw this article before. Nice. I think at the time they were probably scared to go on without Lindsey. They found out that they could and make decent music without him. I personally like the album a lot. It's a shame it didn't do better. So when it didn't sell, they probably thought, I guess we do need him to be successful. Those had to be roller coaster days for them in the late 80's, early 90's.

I remember reading that article back in the day. Thanks for posting it. I still love Behind the Mask to this day. I actually gave it a spin last week.

One thing that stood out to me in the article explains why I like this album. Chris explains there are far more keys she uses than previous Mac albums. Yes! Electric guitars and Chris playing all sorts of keys, solos, etc. It's something that I cherish about the album and was missing from Tango. It's dark for sure which is polar opposite from Tango which is chirpy, bright, and light.

It reads like a band-santioned puff piece to me, but it's interesting despite or maybe because of that. It's perhaps noticeable that the writer doesn't offer much of an opinion on anything that he's heard whilst interacting with them, but there's the odd comment here or there:

"On another day in the studio, the
band is hard at work on a song that
features vocals by Billy and Christine,
called " In the Back of My Mind." Built
on a pulsating rhythm and driven by
a powerful wall of electric guitars, the
song is likely to remind fans of the
classic " Oh, Well" era of the band.
"That song is very reminiscent of
the old ` Manalishi' days," Christine
McVie notes. " I don't mean the song
'Green Manalishi,' but rather, that era
when Peter [ Green] was starting to
change and write all those kind of
things. We've got four or five very
heavy guitars in it. It isn't typical of all
the songs on the album, but it is very
typical of the variety that will be
offered."

That's a bit of a stretch, to put it mildly.

It is not unsual that a band that a band praises their work at the time of its release and throughout the duration of its momentum. And that they make agreements with media to promote an album. Christine wouldn't say BTM is awful while the songs being heard on the radio. I even remember Mick saying Say You Will is one of the best Fleetwood Mac albums. I heard those kind of phrases from many artists. So reading that BTM may be their strongest album since 1977, it's no surprise to me. It's a cliché phrase. Besides, they had to tell people "Hey, we are still a great band".

And Stevie's words about becoming much fun her, it's anything but credible. It's known she wasn't there enough, similar to Tango sessions. Besides she still was addicted to klonopin.

It would be interesting to read an interview with Greg 10 or 15 years later, to know his opinion about the album, of the band, without the pressure of the promotion. Unfortunately, he passed away in 2009, so I don't know if that question was ever asked. Does anybody know?

PS: I don't relate ITBOMM with Oh Well in any way. I read they mention the "Oh Well" era but still i don't see it. If anyone agree with it, please explain.

True and had the album been super successful many would not be trashing it today. Is BTM the band's best album? Of course not. But I like the Mac's rhythm section was humming again after a 12 year hiatus. Hearing Mick, John, and Chris play together with some new guitarists was good to hear at times. I also find that people tend to like positive songs more. BTM is very dark and I admire them for not gunning for a total pop album.

Having said that it still was funny Stevie saying BTM was her favorite Fleetwood Mac album. Her pills must of just kicked in :eek:
Second Time and Affairs of the Heart are drowing in klonopin vocals.

Another quote from this article that really stands out today was Stevie saying "I am only here for 2 days" before jetting off to Europe to finish her solo tour.
With very little input and submitting crappy songs she calls it her favorite Mac album :lol:

:laugh: Yes! And 2 days is the shortest eight grade ever!!!