Poll: best song from 1988-1995

[BLY]

Originally Posted by Macfan4life

That made me laugh out loud. Sad but true. Not a coincidence almost all the songs listed are from Chris.

ALAYF is a great song but I went with Nights in Estoril. Its one of my all time favorite songs. Its everything that defined Chris. Its a crazy romantic rocker with a melody that is vintage Chris. She even arranged the song. It stands out on Time as an over achiever song with a different guitarist. Clearly it was written when she was still madly in love with Eddy which was years before Time's release.


Paper Doll and Save Me were both big top 10 hits in Canada.

I picked ALAYF as my favorite but Nights in Estoril is a close second. Paper Doll is a great tune mostly because of the return of Lindsey on the track. All of Christine’s songs during this time are stellar.

[WalkAThinLine.]

Originally Posted by Mr Scarrott

I accept this criticism in good heart, which is why I left the 10th option as an open one. I have read comments from some people who really like Paper Doll although it's a bit of a minority taste.

I will happily go to bat for "Paper Doll". I'm a sucker for songs that use the train beat.

[aleuzzi]

I’m surprised “Heart of Stone” isn’t leading the pack. So many fans mention this as a favorite.

For me, it’s tied with “Love Shines” as the best FM between 1987-98. And those songs are, in my opinion, better than anything on Tango.

I chose “Sooner or Later” (or “Hollywood”) because Christine’s voice is so direct, clear, and up-front in them, and their melodies mesmerize.

Still, “Heart” and “Love Shines” are better produced and more creatively arranged.

I think “Paper Doll,” “No Questions Asked,” and “Make Me a Mask” are pretty awful. “Skies” is awful, too.

[Macfan4life]

Originally Posted by BLY

I picked ALAYF as my favorite but Nights in Estoril is a close second. Paper Doll is a great tune mostly because of the return of Lindsey on the track. All of Christine’s songs during this time are stellar.

I am with you until Paper Doll. Never liked that song. I tend to hate songs where Stevie sounds like she's talking instead of singing. Paper Doll and Welcome To The Room Sara are 2 examples. It just feels and sounds cheap like the video. The whole thing feels mailed in by the band and Stevie. Lindsey may have played but he may have had nothing to do with the arrangements.

[Mr Scarrott]

Re Aleuzzi's comment Skies the limit (sic) is just dreadful, a rare utter misjudgement by Christine. I just watched the video of it on youtube and it felt that I was descending into ever lower Dantean circles of cringe. At one point John pretends to choke on something in his seat on a plane, and it can only be of embarrassment. Just to add insult to injury why isn't it "Sky's the limit"?

I added Save me me as an option against my better judgement. It's a better song than Skies the limit but it's bland and too derivative of Christine's other songs.

[Macfan4life]

The sky's the limit is an idiom that means there are no limits and that anything is possible.
However if you are talking about the atmosphere above earth its skies. The plural of sky is skies.
The skies above London were ablaze with a spectacular firework display. Air traffic control needs to keep our skies safe.

One could say Skies the limit meaning way way up there or talking about plural skies. In music composers often don't take the most literal meaning.
Was it a mistake? I don't care. It still makes sense because when astronauts reach the skies that's quite a limit

You can definitely tell the song was thrown together relatively fast. But IMHO that showcases the talents of Chris, Mick, and John, Billy, and Rick because even a quick thrown together song that may not even had a demo is still pretty good. Love the cracking of Mick's drums and Chris's playing is so vintage. Its one of the few songs on BTM that showcases real harmonies of 4 singers which is another reason is stands out. Stevie's voice was layered in so many places on BTM its silly. But not on this song. She was back from her tour and in the studio.

[moon]

Originally Posted by HomerMcvie

It's a tie between ALAYF and Love Shines. I went with Love Shines. I've always had a soft spot for it.

I truly love both!! They were my choices but I have another one...

In fact, I have two, Hollywood (Another Kind Of Town) and Sooner Or Later. Don't know what I should choose! But if there's only one, I will choose Sooner Or Later, just for a little bit! Highlights from the last FM works of Christine...

[Mr Scarrott]

Originally Posted by Macfan4life

The sky's the limit is an idiom that means there are no limits and that anything is possible.
However if you are talking about the atmosphere above earth its skies. The plural of sky is skies.
The skies above London were ablaze with a spectacular firework display. Air traffic control needs to keep our skies safe.

One could say Skies the limit meaning way way up there or talking about plural skies. In music composers often don't take the most literal meaning.
Was it a mistake? I don't care. It still makes sense because when astronauts reach the skies that's quite a limit

You can definitely tell the song was thrown together relatively fast. But IMHO that showcases the talents of Chris, Mick, and John, Billy, and Rick because even a quick thrown together song that may not even had a demo is still pretty good. Love the cracking of Mick's drums and Chris's playing is so vintage. Its one of the few songs on BTM that showcases real harmonies of 4 singers which is another reason is stands out. Stevie's voice was layered in so many places on BTM its silly. But not on this song. She was back from her tour and in the studio.

Hmmm... one problem is that there is no verb in "skies the limit". Admittedly, song titles don't need to make sense or even (hush my mouth) be grammatical, or indeed have a verb- clearly "the skies are the limit" or "skies are the limit" might sound clunky in a way that "skies the limit" doesn't. The other problem is that in the lyrics, they are clearly singing "the sky is the limit" (over and over and over again to the point of tedium) and that is in the lyric sheet and "sky's the limit" is a contraction of that. Why have one sky in the lyrics and more than one in the title. That, m'lud is the case for the prosecution.

It's just such a weak and anaemic opener to the album. I suppose if they had started with the title track, average listeners might have thought "oh, this album might be an interesting listen" before each succeeding track slowly made a mockery of their hopes and crushed them quickly to dust

[SteveMacD]

The cynic in me thinks it was “Skies the Limit” because United Airlines was a major sponsor of the BTM tour.

[Mr Scarrott]

Originally Posted by SteveMacD

The cynic in me thinks it was “Skies the Limit” because United Airlines was a major sponsor of the BTM tour.

They never actually played it live, did they? They filmed the video for it at one of the shows, but presumably they were miming and it was done after the main show had ended.

[Macfan4life]

Originally Posted by Mr Scarrott

Hmmm... one problem is that there is no verb in "skies the limit". Admittedly, song titles don't need to make sense or even (hush my mouth) be grammatical, or indeed have a verb- clearly "the skies are the limit" or "skies are the limit" might sound clunky in a way that "skies the limit" doesn't. The other problem is that in the lyrics, they are clearly singing "the sky is the limit" (over and over and over again to the point of tedium) and that is in the lyric sheet and "sky's the limit" is a contraction of that. Why have one sky in the lyrics and more than one in the title. That, m'lud is the case for the prosecution.

It's just such a weak and anaemic opener to the album. I suppose if they had started with the title track, average listeners might have thought "oh, this album might be an interesting listen" before each succeeding track slowly made a mockery of their hopes and crushed them quickly to dust

Skies had an unusual birth. BTM was finished and the band felt the music was too dark. Christine called it "suicide music" in an interview. The album was missing that perky, head over heals love song that Chris is famous for. So Skies was written rather quickly and slapped as the lead song to give the album some perkiness.
I try and imagine what BTM would be like without it. Imagine the title track followed by In The Back Of My Mind. There is a darkness there. I think it has a cool vibe because it is unusual.

[bwboy]

Originally Posted by Mr Scarrott

Hmmm... one problem is that there is no verb in "skies the limit". Admittedly, song titles don't need to make sense or even (hush my mouth) be grammatical, or indeed have a verb- clearly "the skies are the limit" or "skies are the limit" might sound clunky in a way that "skies the limit" doesn't. The other problem is that in the lyrics, they are clearly singing "the sky is the limit" (over and over and over again to the point of tedium) and that is in the lyric sheet and "sky's the limit" is a contraction of that. Why have one sky in the lyrics and more than one in the title. That, m'lud is the case for the prosecution.

I just wanted to point out that, as you allude to, nowhere in the song does anyone actually say “skies the limit;” I imagine they thought Skies the Limit was less clunky than The Sky is the Limit.

Like Macfan4life, I love that all four voices are present, and they sound great.

[WalkAThinLine.]

Originally Posted by Mr Scarrott

Re Aleuzzi's comment Skies the limit (sic) is just dreadful, a rare utter misjudgement by Christine. I just watched the video of it on youtube and it felt that I was descending into ever lower Dantean circles of cringe. At one point John pretends to choke on something in his seat on a plane, and it can only be of embarrassment. Just to add insult to injury why isn't it "Sky's the limit"?

I added Save me me as an option against my better judgement. It's a better song than Skies the limit but it's bland and too derivative of Christine's other songs.

Other than the grammatically incorrect song title, "Skies the Limit" is another fine song with a very perky and catchy chorus and great vocals. The intro is very early 90s, but I find this more endearing than obnoxious. Vito also has a very competent guitar solo on this song. "Save Me" is even better and might actually be one of my favorite McVie songs, although there are a lot to choose from. Of this batch, "Heart of Stone" and "As Long as You Follow" might be my least favorite, but even these are high quality tunes. "Love is Dangerous" is the real stinker from this era. Uninspired blues rock with vapid lyrics.

[HomerMcvie]

Love Is Dangerous was one of my favorites, because those guitar locks fukcing ROCK.

That. Is. All.

[aleuzzi]

If I could remove one album from the FM catalog, it would be Behind the Mask. When it came out, I was first crestfallen, then embarrassed.

Its Supermarket charms depress me.