Mirage Update From Ken

[shackin'up]

Originally Posted by jbrownsjr

I loved on that album, as Love in Store was ending.

....... he got away......... can't fight it.........

then silence... little record hiss.. .. and.....

... do do do do do... Standing in the shadows.. man I used to be... wanna go back.. can't go baccccccccccccck can't go back...

such a sweet melody and beautiful keyboards and backing vocals...

......... a tear in a cloud's eye.. wanna go back.. can't go back.. can't go back...


It gave me chills it was so good on record album.
Why that song was cut without a bridge is beyond me.. Lindsey undersells his work on this.

I remember listening to side one when it came out and was totally overwhelmed by the hopeful yet melancholic feel of the songs. It still is only really enjoyable on vinyl. The shytty digital mix is aweful. Especially the simple deep pumping bassparts are killed on the CD version. And on the spotifytracks too.

[mitzo]

Looking at this story about Mirage I cannot help but feel a rising sense of despair. This band has produced nothing new in 16 full years and we are clutching at a reissue of something from 34 years ago. I guess I really do not give a damn. Anymore.

[Macfan4life]

Originally Posted by mitzo

Looking at this story about Mirage I cannot help but feel a rising sense of despair. This band has produced nothing new in 16 full years and we are clutching at a reissue of something from 34 years ago. I guess I really do not give a damn. Anymore.

Say You Will 2003
In the Meantime 2004 (McVie solo)
In Your Dreams 2011 (Nicks solo)
Extended play 2013
24k Gold 2014 (Nicks solo)

I may have left something out. If you add in the long tours, this band has been quite busy producing new material despite being a classic rock band who lost a pivotal member for 16 years. It was daring to do albums without Lindsey and then Christine. But they pulled through with new material
I value quality over quantity. I hope the Mac takes their time recording the new album.
I LOVE Mirage and most very early 80s music. To have out takes, demos, unleashed tracks, or re-mastered tracks is just as exciting as new material. The short Mirage era is probably my favorite era in Mac history. That is when I became a fan.

[aleuzzi]

Originally Posted by mitzo

Looking at this story about Mirage I cannot help but feel a rising sense of despair. This band has produced nothing new in 16 full years and we are clutching at a reissue of something from 34 years ago. I guess I really do not give a damn. Anymore.

I hear ya. We should be celebrating the new music that isn't getting issued. I'm glad to hear there's a Mirage reissue, but that should be a side course, not the entree.

[elle]

Originally Posted by Macfan4life

Say You Will 2003
In the Meantime 2004 (McVie solo)
In Your Dreams 2011 (Nicks solo)
Extended play 2013
24k Gold 2014 (Nicks solo)

I may have left something out.

yeah, something!

Under the Skin 2006 (Buckingham solo)
Gift of Screws 2008 (Buckingham solo)
Seeds We Sow 2011 (Buckingham solo)

Songs from the Small Machine 2011 (live, Buckingham solo)
One Man Show 2012 (live, Buckingham solo)

[mitzo]

Originally Posted by Macfan4life

Say You Will 2003
In the Meantime 2004 (McVie solo)
In Your Dreams 2011 (Nicks solo)
Extended play 2013
24k Gold 2014 (Nicks solo)

I may have left something out. If you add in the long tours, this band has been quite busy producing new material despite being a classic rock band who lost a pivotal member for 16 years. It was daring to do albums without Lindsey and then Christine. But they pulled through with new material
I value quality over quantity. I hope the Mac takes their time recording the new album.
I LOVE Mirage and most very early 80s music. To have out takes, demos, unleashed tracks, or re-mastered tracks is just as exciting as new material. The short Mirage era is probably my favorite era in Mac history. That is when I became a fan.

Ok nothing new in 13 years from FM. Stevie has given us two good full albums in the past five years but the band as a whole is a dinosaur now. I await solo things from Stevie but have given up on FM for now.

[MikeVielhaber]

Originally Posted by Macfan4life

Say You Will 2003
In the Meantime 2004 (McVie solo)
In Your Dreams 2011 (Nicks solo)
Extended play 2013
24k Gold 2014 (Nicks solo)

I may have left something out. If you add in the long tours, this band has been quite busy producing new material despite being a classic rock band who lost a pivotal member for 16 years. It was daring to do albums without Lindsey and then Christine. But they pulled through with new material
I value quality over quantity. I hope the Mac takes their time recording the new album.
I LOVE Mirage and most very early 80s music. To have out takes, demos, unleashed tracks, or re-mastered tracks is just as exciting as new material. The short Mirage era is probably my favorite era in Mac history. That is when I became a fan.

Solo albums actually are the band NOT producing. I don't consider Stevie, Lindsey or Christine albums to be Fleetwood Mac albums and I wouldn't be clamoring so hard for something from this band if they had actually been producing new music over those years. They can go on doing solo stuff for the rest of their lives if they wish, that doesn't mean anything for the band.

Also long tours is them also not producing new music. It's them wanting to do something (and make the monies) but not actually have to be creative together. I saw them in 2004 on the SYW tour and skipped the subsequent tours in 2009 and 2013 because, unless the tickets were cheap and they weren't, I didn't need to see them again playing mostly the same show with no new music. I skipped the OWTS tour (they came here twice) because, one, the tickets were way too high, two, I assume they would be touring again except promoting a new album. OWTS was basically The Dance part 2 except nearly 20 years older and no new songs. I don't need the nostalgia/greatest hits tours unless the tickets are cheap and they never are. I'll support them if they're giving me something new.

[mitzo]

Originally Posted by MikeVielhaber

Solo albums actually are the band NOT producing. I don't consider Stevie, Lindsey or Christine albums to be Fleetwood Mac albums and I wouldn't be clamoring so hard for something from this band if they had actually been producing new music over those years. They can go on doing solo stuff for the rest of their lives if they wish, that doesn't mean anything for the band.

Also long tours is them also not producing new music. It's them wanting to do something (and make the monies) but not actually have to be creative together. I saw them in 2004 on the SYW tour and skipped the subsequent tours in 2009 and 2013 because, unless the tickets were cheap and they weren't, I didn't need to see them again playing mostly the same show with no new music. I skipped the OWTS tour (they came here twice) because, one, the tickets were way too high, two, I assume they would be touring again except promoting a new album. OWTS was basically The Dance part 2 except nearly 20 years older and no new songs. I don't need the nostalgia/greatest hits tours unless the tickets are cheap and they never are. I'll support them if they're giving me something new.

This exactly. The band is totally moribund to me despite rereleases of ancient albums and oldies tours. I am checking in only to see if any new material appears. I have totally lost interest about reliving the late seventies.

[elle]

Originally Posted by mitzo

Ok nothing new in 13 years from FM. Stevie has given us two good full albums in the past five years but the band as a whole is a dinosaur now. I await solo things from Stevie but have given up on FM for now.

yup. since Stevie is stifling the band.

she's also indirectly stifling solo work of other songwriters in the band. Lindsey has given us 3 great full length solo albums and 2 live albums in the last 10 years, but he put solo albums on back burner after 2012, when it started to look like FM album actually had some chance of going forward creatively. putting the band first (while not every songwriter in the band did!) is stifling Lindsey's solo productivity.

[Macfan4life]

Originally Posted by MikeVielhaber

Solo albums actually are the band NOT producing. I don't consider Stevie, Lindsey or Christine albums to be Fleetwood Mac albums and I wouldn't be clamoring so hard for something from this band if they had actually been producing new music over those years. They can go on doing solo stuff for the rest of their lives if they wish, that doesn't mean anything for the band.

Also long tours is them also not producing new music. It's them wanting to do something (and make the monies) but not actually have to be creative together. I saw them in 2004 on the SYW tour and skipped the subsequent tours in 2009 and 2013 because, unless the tickets were cheap and they weren't, I didn't need to see them again playing mostly the same show with no new music. I skipped the OWTS tour (they came here twice) because, one, the tickets were way too high, two, I assume they would be touring again except promoting a new album. OWTS was basically The Dance part 2 except nearly 20 years older and no new songs. I don't need the nostalgia/greatest hits tours unless the tickets are cheap and they never are. I'll support them if they're giving me something new.

You are missing my point.
Classic rock bands from the same era that have toured over the past 20 years have put out much less new material than Fleetwood Mac. The Eagles, Journey, Rolling Stones, etc. I could go on forever. Records do not sell anymore and the Mac lost key members but they have still done recordings. I included some of the solo work because it is icing on the cake. During half a decade in the mid 80s all we were able to get was solo work. I love the solo projects in the early/mid 80s. They kept the band together allowing the members to explore musically away from the band. I LOVE Say You Will. Its one of the band's best albums. But I equally love In the Meantime. Christine has the knack of creating perfect songs and I will take them however I can get them..... solo or with the Mac. In a nutshell....the Mac and its members are not a typical classic rock touring band. They still create songs. That is not the typical super group of the 70's for sure.

[estranged4life]

Originally Posted by mitzo

This exactly. The band is totally moribund to me despite rereleases of ancient albums and oldies tours. I am checking in only to see if any new material appears. I have totally lost interest about reliving the late seventies.

sad to say.

[tabruns]

Originally Posted by jbrownsjr

I do, too. She's telling a story a little more straightforward than usual.

"Meet me down by the railway station, I've been a waiting, I'm through waiting, for you."

I immediately know what's going and and want to know what happened. I thought it was a nice compliment to Gypsy which reminisces of her NOCAL days. Now she's moving on with her career and love life. I'm not a country fan, but the music is so fitting to the lyrics. The harmonies of CM and LB are sublime as well.

Thing about "That's Alright" is that I think it needed some pizzazz production wise. There is a nice counterpoint woodblock percussion in the song but its mixed so far down that you barely hear it. Had that been more prominent, I think it would have given the song more of a hook than it has.

[FuzzyPlum]

While Mirage is topical...
...I wonder whether anyone can offer me a theory as to why Gypsy wasn't a smash hit single. Don't get me wrong- it did okay to claw its way to US #12 but it wasn't the big hit it should have been.

Stevie was a big star on the back of Bella Donna and they made one of the all-time great videos to accompany the song. The video had heavy play on MTV. The previous single Hold Me had just been a big hit spending about two months in the top 10 so they were in the public eye/consciousness at the time of it's release.

And yet it debuted at US #69 on 4th Sept and then went #57, #46, #35, #27, #21, #15, #12, #12, #12. Clearly a slow burner.
Gypsy only reached #46 in the UK (admittedly only Oh Diane did well in the UK) and didn't break the top 10 in any major music buying country.

It's a shame and a bit odd it's chart placings didn't reflect it's true glory.

[James89]

Originally Posted by FuzzyPlum

While Mirage is topical...
...I wonder whether anyone can offer me a theory as to why Gypsy wasn't a smash hit single. Don't get me wrong- it did okay to claw its way to US #12 but it wasn't the big hit it should have been.

Stevie was a big star on the back of Bella Donna and they made one of the all-time great videos to accompany the song. The video had heavy play on MTV. The previous single Hold Me had just been a big hit spending about two months in the top 10 so they were in the public eye/consciousness at the time of it's release.

And yet it debuted at US #69 on 4th Sept and then went #57, #46, #35, #27, #21, #15, #12, #12, #12. Clearly a slow burner.
Gypsy only reached #46 in the UK (admittedly only Oh Diane did well in the UK) and didn't break the top 10 in any major music buying country.

It's a shame and a bit odd it's chart placings didn't reflect it's true glory.

I've never understood why Gypsy only ever reached #12 but I can understand why it didn't in other places, especially here in the UK, because the Mac had decreased in popularity and Stevie was not huge as a solo artist.

The only comparison I can make is to Edge of Seventeen. That song is Stevie's most popular, most iconic and famous and yet it wasn't her most successful in terms of chart positions or sales. If you told people that Edge of Seventeen reached #1 they probably wouldn't bat an eyelid but it only reached #11. So did Rhiannon! It's all very weird...

[FuzzyPlum]

Originally Posted by tabruns

Thing about "That's Alright" is that I think it needed some pizzazz production wise. There is a nice counterpoint woodblock percussion in the song but its mixed so far down that you barely hear it. Had that been more prominent, I think it would have given the song more of a hook than it has.

Each to their own...
...but noooooooooooo waaaaaayyyyyyyy.

I don't think it needed any pizzazz- its just great as it is. In fact I love the demo that's even more basic.
I can hear the wood block very clearly- its a nice little touch and adds something a bit different but I don't see any advantage in it being any more prominent than it is.

I like the line '...I must have been crazy, crazy to wait on you baby'. I wonder if that's a link to her waitressing job and doing everything for Lindsey in the BN days (at which time this was written)?