Two questions posed:
If you had to chose Mirage or Tango...
and
Which one is the better album...
Song for song, I think Tango is a better album. It has a more unified sound and only two certifiable duds (Stevie's songs). Little Lies is also one of the band's best songs. By contrast Mirage is far more uneven.
But...what works on Mirage is truly magical in a way that 95% of Tango lacks. There's an energy, a fire in "Gypsy," "Hold Me," "Love in Store," "Eyes of the World," and "Wish You Were Here" that the band has only intermittently captured in the studio since. Those Mirage songs I mentioned, especially the two big hits, stand up to any of the band's best songs and always trigger in me a genuine enthusiasm (as opposed to mere admiration) for FM as a band.
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