Behind The Mask--Any good?

[EricBliss12345]

Originally posted by louielouie2000
Behind the Mask to me is just plain blah. There's nothing exceptionally horrible about it, but there's also nothing exceptionally great about it either... if you know what I mean. It's got some great songs on it, such as Save Me, Behind The Mask, and Freedom... but the rest of the album is just plain forgettable .

I'm not sure what pre Rumours albums you have, so I'll just list off in order what my fav's are.

1) Mystery to Me. This is pop perfection... every track is worth it's weight in gold!

2) Heroes Are Hard To Find. This is a really cool album. It's very ethereal, and well crafted.

3) Bare Trees. This album has a fun vibe to it. If you like Cream, you'll love this album.

4) Penguin. This is the Behind the Mask of Pre-Rumours Mac. It's got some terrific tunes... Remember Me, Dissatisfied, Did You Ever Love Me, and Caught In the Rain. But the rest of the album is forgettable... or really really aweful, as in the case of Roadrunner, and Derelict .

I think Mystery To Me is my favorite out of all of them, every song on it is a winner except the Yardbirds song. Believe Me, Hypnotised, Emerald Eyes, and The City whip your horse's ass. Wasn't Hypnotised the For Your Love B-side? What a crock of ****! I also really like Bare Trees and the tunes from The Chain that were on Heroes and Penguin (which were what? 2 and 1 respectively? No love for that era of the band obviously!) You forgot to mention Future Games, which has some great tunes and in my opinion, Chris's best, Morning Rain.

Thanks Sorcerer386 for tipping off that those songs I mentioned weren't on the album. It's my dad's Chain boxset I have, and every booklet that was in the jewel cases are missing so I really dont know what's on what. And that picture booklet is no help whatsoever. LOL

Then what album was Paper Doll on or was that specifically for the boxset? I love that song!

[SmthngOfADreamr]

Originally posted by EricBliss12345

Then what album was Paper Doll on or was that specifically for the boxset? I love that song!

It and Love Shines were both new tracks for the boxed set. There were a few more too but I can't think off hand what they are. I think Paper Doll is a lot of fun, and Love Shines is among Christine's best IMO.

[macfan 57]

Originally posted by SmthngOfADreamr
It and Love Shines were both new tracks for the boxed set. There were a few more too but I can't think off hand what they are. I think Paper Doll is a lot of fun, and Love Shines is among Christine's best IMO.

The 4 new songs on the Chain box set are "Love Shines" & "Heart Of Stone" from Christine plus "Paper Doll" & "Make Me A Mask". Lindsey's song, "Make Me A Mask" was an outtake from "Out Of The Cradle". I think both of Christine's songs are terrific and other 2 are good songs, also.

[Smokin Joe]

The only reason I bought the cd of BTM is so that my collection is all there. It really isn't FM as I know and expect to hear. Even the early FM is a ton better, especialy the PG era. Out of all 24 albums, this ranks at the bottom. The only thing I aplaud BTM for is it kept FM alive to sing another day.

[Nicks Fan]

Am I the only one who thinks this album is GOOD. I admit without Lindsey it lacks the energy of previous albums, bu the majority of the album is good. My favourite track is Skies The Limit. I also like Save Me, Love is Dangerous, Affairs of The Heart, Behind The Mask, The Second Time and Freedom. In The Back of My Mindis ok but it goes on too long. I say it's better then Time by a long shot.

[The Tower]

"Paper Doll" just plain sucks....

However...

I really like Behind the Mask. "Freedom", "Skies the Limit", "In the Back of My Mind", and, particularly, "The Second Time" (I still to this day don't understand why FM/Stevie fans don't like this song) are pretty good.

Let's face it.... "Stand on the Rock" and "When the Sun Goes Down" are really, really bad.....

I really like this album. I think it's HIGHLY underrated.... It's certainly better than Tango in the Night, which is pretty stanky....

[CarneVaca]

Is it just me or is the riff to Love Is Dangerous suspiciously similar to that of Johnny Stew?

[chiliD]

Is BTM any good?

Is it a Fleetwood Mac album? YES

therefore: IT'S GOOD....end of story.

[Cristian]

I think that Lindsey's departure sort of made the band realize that they had no one but themselves to help them make music. Therefore you kind of feel lots of cohesive elements in the album, even though it's a 4 songwriter/singers act now. But the fact that you can hear a great mix of Rick Vito's intense bluesy rock with Stevie Nicks's intriguing lyrics in "Love Is Dangerous"; or Billy Burnette and Christine McVie joining efforts in the very poppy tune "Do You Know" really shows that collaboration feeling. I feel that this album has great guitar playing, good arrangements and somehow one feels that the band was much more into it than they were in Tango In The Night, which to me still sounds like a Lindsey solo project, with help from Christine.

Therefore, I'm in the minority and I prefer Behind The Mask over Tango In The Night for that reason. Not really a song that I would skip. Billy does a nice songwriting effort in "In The Back Of My Mind" and "Hard Feelings" (both have a couple of excellent lines), and duets with Christine once again in the weaker "When It Comes To Love". Rick writes a good song although he wasn't called in to be a songwriter... but who would reject that rocking oddity called "Stand On The Rock" (he wrote another tune called, I think, "Got No Home" which is on the BTM Rehearsals bootleg, and it's even better!). Chris shines with her obligations - the pop hits: "Skies The Limit", "Save Me"; and that other song that doesn't seem like a song that she would write, the title track. I love all of them. And Stevie also writes the much maligned "Freedom", which I think it's a great, rocky tune; "Affairs Of The Heart", and the nice "The Second Time" ballad, closer of the album, again co-written with Vito.

Lots of continuity, passion and I really would have liked this lineup to go on a little longer. But it was not meant to be I guess.


Song of the moment - Wish You Were Here

[WednesdaysChild]

I agree. I really liked how Billy and Christine paired up and how Stevie and Rick did as well. It's like each guy's voice went superbly with each lady's voice. I think there was a lot more cohesiveness than in Tango. Everyone sang back up on everyone else's songs on BTM and it sounded like they were having fun. I love the harmonies, too. It's the little things like "In the Back of My Mind" where Stevie sings the backing lines like "you can't forget her..." and then the bridge where Chris sings "I remember your eyes burning bright..." Things like that make the record great in my eyes. Did I just say record, LOL? I'm 23! I mean CD! I think the co-writing made it even more special.

[PenguinHead]

Originally posted by louielouie2000
Behind the Mask to me is just plain blah. There's nothing exceptionally horrible about it, but there's also nothing exceptionally great about it either.

Penguin is the Behind the Mask of Pre-Rumours Mac.

I couldn't agree more about your assessment of Behind The Mask. And the Penguin statement is great! It's so dead-on accurate. You'd have to an obsessive fan of all-eras Fleetwood Mac to understand just exactly what that means! I am! I get it. Cool.

[chiliD]

Originally posted by SmthngOfADreamr
It and Love Shines were both new tracks for the boxed set. There were a few more too but I can't think off hand what they are. I think Paper Doll is a lot of fun, and Love Shines is among Christine's best IMO.

"Paper Doll" was originally recorded to be Stevie's new song on the 1988 Greatest Hits album, they chose to use "No Questions Asked" instead.

Originally posted by Cristian
...(he wrote another tune called, I think, "Got No Home" which is on the BTM Rehearsals bootleg, and it's even better...

Yep, "Got No Home" AND "Intuition" were outtakes of BTM...BOTH are MUCH better (and had more "hit potential") than ANYTHING that was released.

He re-recorded "Intuition" for his first solo album King Of Hearts and Stevie sang backgrounds. The Fleetwood Mac version had great harmonies by Christine & Billy.

[Johnny Stew]

I might as well chime in, though I don't really have anything all that insightful to add.

I love 'Behind The Mask,' and when it was first released, I was thrilled that it was a lot more rock-oriented than 'Tango.'

Granted, the production does lack a little bit of the "sparkle" of the Buckingham & Dashut (& Caillat) produced albums, but it's not a bad album by any stretch of the imagination... it's much more "earthy" and "roots-oriented" (one of Vito's favorite phrases while he was in the band) than FM's music had been for a very long time.

I think the biggest detraction for people, is that it lacked the Buckingham/McVie/Nicks 1-2-3 punch that so many people expect from Fleetwood Mac.
Even 'Say You Will' has been criticized for lacking that particular dynamic.

At any rate, it's a great album, with some real gems... "Freedom," "Save Me," "In The Back Of My Mind," "Love Is Dangerous," and the title track, in particular.

[darklinensuit]

Originally posted by Johnny Stew
I might as well chime in, though I don't really have anything all that insightful to add.

I love 'Behind The Mask,' and when it was first released, I was thrilled that it was a lot more rock-oriented than 'Tango.'

I remember a radio interview Stevie did for TOSOTM. A guy called in and said that he noticed that her solo songs rock more than the Mac ones. Stevie responded something like "I think you're going to find that this new Fleetwood Mac album rocks a whole lot more." Upon hearing BTM months later, I felt that Freedom was the only one to deliver on this promise, though I suppose Love is Dangerous comes close.

- Jake

[Sorcerer386]

Originally posted by Cristian
Rick writes a good song although he wasn't called in to be a songwriter... but who would reject that rocking oddity called "Stand On The Rock"

I would. Sorry, I had to say it. I am not a fan of Rick at all personally. I don't want to get flamed so I won't get into exactly what I don't like about him, but I will say that Stand on the Rock is not a very good song, imo.

I just think 4 songwriters is one too many. I also think there's too many voices on a lot of the songs, making it sound muddled. Most notable two are Skies the Limit toward the end with voices coming out of every corner, and Affairs of the Heart during the chorus. The "Ah but it's better not to lose" line should have been yanked. The first time I heard it I thought, DUH! Of course it's better not to lose. But, I have come to like at least a majority of the album, so I have to give it its due.