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  #1  
Old 04-10-2020, 05:28 AM
Dragon Dragon is offline
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Default Behind the Mask: 30th Anniversary

Thirty years ago, on Tuesday, 10 April 1990, Fleetwood Mac released their fifteenth studio album, Behind the Mask.

Behind the Mask remains a great album.

Last edited by Dragon; 04-10-2020 at 05:32 AM..
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  #2  
Old 04-10-2020, 09:17 AM
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Macfan4life Macfan4life is offline
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You beat me to the punch. I still remember buying my BTM cassette tape in late April 1990 at the Greengate Mall, Record Mart, Greensburg, PA. I was 20 and working at a grocery store. I LOVED how unpop it was compared to Tango. I loved the bluesy feel some of the songs had and how we all heard Christine's playing again. In The Back Of My Mind was an early favorite and loved how all 3 singers were featured in the song. The only dud on the album is Hard Feelings IMHO. Half the album is outstanding while the other half pretty good. I prefer Lindsey in the band of course but there is something about this era that really appeals to me. I think maybe because maybe Christine was more of a focus than she normally was especially in concert. Mick and Billy were drinking themselves blind while Stevie was zonked out of her mind. She seemed to be the capable captain navigating the ship. The 1990 Farewell Concert still racks up as one of my all time favorite concerts ever. As crazy as this sounds, I preferred it to the Dance. The Dance was so scripted and studio like. While it was great having Lindsey back, the 1990 shows were arena rock days when anything could happen and technology was not taking over sound (yet).
Was disappointed how poorly the album sold and to barely have a top 30 hit from the Mac was shocking. No Stevie songs even good enough to release or chart...another first for the band. Although we can celebrate the album's big success in the UK #1 and in Canada Save Me peaked at #7.
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  #3  
Old 04-10-2020, 12:08 PM
svnwndrs svnwndrs is offline
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This album just might be my second favorite Mac album in general. I know that’s an extremely unpopular opinion, but it doesn’t bother me. Even after the “genius” Lindsey had left, you have to admire the band’s effort as a whole to keep going and doing something slightly different while still holding onto their sound AND at the same time navigating the new sound of the late 80s and early 90s. They even managed to tap into their older blues sound, while still sounding pop/rock. Like I said in the other thread for When It Comes To Love, Love Is Dangerous is funky blues-rock, In The Back Of My Mind is experimental and trippy and shows off the whole group very well. Save Me and Skies The Limit are classic Christine and were commercial as heck. It’s a mystery why these singles didn’t get more attention. But I suspect it’s because of the changing musical trends, the fact everyone knew Lindsey was gone, and the public’s view towards the band as being “old”. All members (except Billy) were over 40 years old by this point and let’s face it, ageism is unfortunately a thing within the music industry and a factor in radio reception. Nonetheless, I personally love the majority of the songs, and even some of the songs that didn’t make the final cut (especially Got No Home and Paper Doll).
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Old 04-10-2020, 10:15 PM
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Haha I've been searching about this album before I came to the forum, and I saw the thread open!!
Personally, I don't find myself with this album yet. And I have the cassette!! If I heard it once, it was too much...
I've been searching about the album not only because of the 30th anniversary, but also because of and extended version of Behind The Mask. Is it a crazy idea??
Of course it depends on how important Warner/Rhino can see the chance, but I think it would be really interesting for us the fans to hear also demo versions of this album.

Mark.
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Old 04-11-2020, 12:36 AM
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HomerMcvie HomerMcvie is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by moon View Post
Haha I've been searching about this album before I came to the forum, and I saw the thread open!!
Personally, I don't find myself with this album yet. And I have the cassette!! If I heard it once, it was too much...
I've been searching about the album not only because of the 30th anniversary, but also because of and extended version of Behind The Mask. Is it a crazy idea??
Of course it depends on how important Warner/Rhino can see the chance, but I think it would be really interesting for us the fans to hear also demo versions of this album.

Mark.
I'll bet $100 that they'll never reissue BTM. It just wasn't big enough.

At the time, I listened to the whole thing at first, but eventually cut several songs out of my playlist. There are some decent songs on there, but it's not a classic album.

They then realized how much they needed Lindsey.
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Old 04-11-2020, 09:44 AM
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The symbolism or irony that 30 years to the day that Behind the Mask was released we all would be living (literally) behind a mask

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Old 04-12-2020, 07:13 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HomerMcvie View Post
I'll bet $100 that they'll never reissue BTM. It just wasn't big enough.

At the time, I listened to the whole thing at first, but eventually cut several songs out of my playlist. There are some decent songs on there, but it's not a classic album.

They then realized how much they needed Lindsey.
And you will win, for sure!! It wasn't big enough, you're totally right. There's some good songs, but well...there's 30 years since its release! At least a re-remastered edition would be nice.
And yes, I agree with the last you said...
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Old 04-13-2020, 06:40 AM
guillamene guillamene is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Macfan4life View Post
You beat me to the punch. I still remember buying my BTM cassette tape in late April 1990 at the Greengate Mall, Record Mart, Greensburg, PA. I was 20 and working at a grocery store. I LOVED how unpop it was compared to Tango. I loved the bluesy feel some of the songs had and how we all heard Christine's playing again. In The Back Of My Mind was an early favorite and loved how all 3 singers were featured in the song. The only dud on the album is Hard Feelings IMHO. Half the album is outstanding while the other half pretty good. I prefer Lindsey in the band of course but there is something about this era that really appeals to me. I think maybe because maybe Christine was more of a focus than she normally was especially in concert. Mick and Billy were drinking themselves blind while Stevie was zonked out of her mind. She seemed to be the capable captain navigating the ship. The 1990 Farewell Concert still racks up as one of my all time favorite concerts ever. As crazy as this sounds, I preferred it to the Dance. The Dance was so scripted and studio like. While it was great having Lindsey back, the 1990 shows were arena rock days when anything could happen and technology was not taking over sound (yet).
Was disappointed how poorly the album sold and to barely have a top 30 hit from the Mac was shocking. No Stevie songs even good enough to release or chart...another first for the band. Although we can celebrate the album's big success in the UK #1 and in Canada Save Me peaked at #7.
Agree with every thing you say! Behind the Mask was the first Fleetwood Mac release that I bought the day it came out on CD. Loved-and love- the sound ! Give me this album instead of Tango any day! Among other things, it showed how well the band could cope with LB's leaving. And yes, it is more 'natural' than 'The Dance'. Loved the 1990 shows. Really feel that this line-up should have lasted longer, but, then again, that's another story....
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  #9  
Old 04-13-2020, 08:43 AM
mitzo mitzo is offline
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The group worked very well as a team and had a distinctive sound still FM but different from the LB work. The harmonies on almost everything are grand. BTM is great, not a dud among the songs, and mostly teamwork, nobody plugged solo work into the mix. This era also gave us As Long as you Follow, No Questions Asked, Paper Doll, Love Shines, Heart of Stone. I think the album did as well as an album with LB would have, it was a time when the music business and tastes changed rapidly and FM were going to be passe and dinosaurs no matter what.
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Old 04-13-2020, 11:23 AM
jmn3 jmn3 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mitzo View Post
The group worked very well as a team and had a distinctive sound still FM but different from the LB work. The harmonies on almost everything are grand. BTM is great, not a dud among the songs, and mostly teamwork, nobody plugged solo work into the mix. This era also gave us As Long as you Follow, No Questions Asked, Paper Doll, Love Shines, Heart of Stone. I think the album did as well as an album with LB would have, it was a time when the music business and tastes changed rapidly and FM were going to be passe and dinosaurs no matter what.
As Long as You Follow is one of the best things Fleetwood Mac ever released. It is truly one of Christine's greatest songs and a shame that it sort of gets forgotten about on the Greatest Hits album.
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Old 04-13-2020, 12:04 PM
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As Long as You Follow is one of the best things Fleetwood Mac ever released. It is truly one of Christine's greatest songs and a shame that it sort of gets forgotten about on the Greatest Hits album.
I think ALAYF and Love Shines are two of the best things she's ever done, and both should have been big hits. They both make every FM greatest hits I've ever made.
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