Mirage nit picks

[bobwelchera]

Originally Posted by Wdm6789

Don't get me wrong, I love all their music, they're amazing artists, but I'm enjoying these discussions.


Mirage:

1. Love in Store could be a little longer and rearranged a little bit. Put the chorus after the first verse instead of going right into the second verse. So it would be: verse one, chorus, verse two, chorus, instrumental break, chorus, instrumental outro. The keyboards should be slightly more prominent also. What can I say? I like pianos.

2. Can't Go Back is good but it's too light. I liked the darkness of Lindsey's songs on Tusk. His songs on Mirage are pretty light and poppy. I like that he was trying to get back to traditional Fleetwood Mac for Mirage but his songs on this album need more of an edge. Can't Go Back is also too short. I don't like when songs are less than three minutes.

3. That's Alright could be longer as well. It should have an instrumental between the two verses and they should sing the chorus twice after the second verse. That's Alright is really underrated, in my opinion. It's a great song. It's an epitome of a Rumours era Fleetwood Mac song. I wish they performed it on the Mirage tour. It would have sounded so good live in 1982.

4. Book of Love, it just needs some Stevie and Christine on it.

5. It would have been awesome if the five and a half minute version of Gypsy was on the album. I also think Lindsey and Christine should sing "lightening strikes maybe once maybe twice" and "she was just a wish." It sounds like only Lindsey singing those lines. They just made it look like they were both singing in the music video.

6. I love Only Over You. I just don't like the line "angel please don't go." I think "baby please don't go" would sound better. We all know Dennis Wilson was no angel. This song would have also sounded awesome live in 1982.

7. I also love Empire State. It just needs to be a little longer, it could also use some Stevie and Christine on backup vocals. A music video for this song would have been cool. They needed a music video for one of Lindsey's songs from Mirage. I guess they kinda killed two birds with the Hold Me video because it's both Lindsey and Christine. A music video with the band wandering around New York City or something for Empire State. I'm sure they could have made a cool video. The Gypsy and Hold Me videos were awesome.

8. Hold Me is my favorite song of all time, but there are some change I would make. I love Christine and Lindsey singing in unison, but Christine's voice should be a little bit more prominent than Lindsey's. Secondly, they should have used better grammar. "You and me have plenty of time" instead of "you and me got plenty of time" and "I don't want any damage" instead of "I don't want no damage."

9. Oh Diane is filler. It's kinda catchy, but kind of a waste of space. I would have cut it to enhance the other songs on the album.

10. I like the 1982 live version of Eyes of the World better. The album version should be more like that. Except it doesn't need Stevie and Christine sharing most of the vocals with Lindsey, I like that just for the live version

11. Wish You Were Here is a great Christine love song, but it's kinda boring.

Certainly an interesting take. Here's my response to them!

1. I think Love In Store's arrangement is fine - the somewhat-abnormal setup adds to it, in my opinion.

2. You're a fan of longer tunes, I see. Here, Can't Go Back's succinctness does leave you wanting a bit more, but I think it's great too. Classic pop songs (see Motown, 50s, and 60s in general,) rarely went beyond the three-minute mark. That being said, I'm a huge fan of the original prog rock songs of six minutes-plus.

3. I friggin' love "That's Alright." Not a fan of your length suggestion on this one either. How crazy would it have been if someone thought, just randomly, to submit that song to country stations at the time? There easily would've been another hit single.

4. Lindsey's pulling a Tusk, Part II with his songs on this one, hence the lack of backing on most of his tunes, methinks.

5. *Definitely* agree about using the long version of Gypsy here, though. It's one of those songs you don't want to end, and I'm rather surprised the single-like version found its way to the album.

6. "Only Over You" is a cute song, but not Christine's strongest. Her contribution at the sixth spot on the upcoming "Tango" was much stronger.

7. Grr. Grr. Grr. "Empire State" is the worst Fleetwood Mac song. Although a video for the tune would've been interesting, it should've been on Lindsey's Law and Order, and replaced with "Goodbye Angel" - a far prettier song.

8. "Straight Back" is okay. This is where I am kind of bummed Stevie had the urge to record a full solo album - she saved some of her best material for it...perhaps some for '83 as well.

9. I would sing "Hold Me" all the friggin' time in ninth grade, 13 years ago. Why change the grammar, though? The song is playful, and one of the relative few times I'm open to improper phrasing, lol. Also, "I don't want any damage" adds another syllable to the melody, causing an unnecessary rush in the lyric. Moreover, the subsequent line is sung "but how'm I gonna manage you?" versus "but how am I gonna manage you?" because it's the same situation.

10. Most folks seem to dislike "Oh Diane" tremendously on here. I don't fully understand why. Perhaps it could be replaced with "Cool Water," but I like the 1950s feel of it. Maybe that's the reason - it sticks out like a sore thumb?

11. "Eyes Of The World" is fun, and would've been an excellent closing tune.

12. "Wish You Were Here" is sweet, but unnecessary - basically "Only Over You" Part II. Christine's my favorite, but I feel like she doubled-up here. I wonder what other songs were at her disposal at this time.