Fleetwood Mac

Mirage

Not Essential (Unless You're a Fleetwood Mac Nut)

Review Score:

(6/10)
As much as I would like to support this album more, it seems clear to me that "Mirage" is below the standard set by the group's late 70s releases and the beginning of their slide into mediocrity. This is not to say that the album is not pleasurable--even though the songs are largely uninspired, the production touches, group harmonies and playing keep things listenable. And each writer manages to come up with at least one gem: Nicks' sublime "Gypsy", McVie's lilting "Only Over You" and Buckingham's sharp "Eyes Of The World" remind one of what these people are actually capable of. The rest of the platter is diverse but mostly minor; the jaunty country-pop "That's Alright" (actually a song written way back in '74) sits next to the 50s throwbacks "Can't Go Back" and "Oh Diane", and then there's two catchy/fluffy McVie hits ("Love In Store", "Hold Me") to round things out. This album has most of the ingredients which made "Fleetwood

Mac" and "Rumours" essential, except the two most important-- the emotional and lyrical edge. So what one gets instead is a by-the-numbers FM work, which proved that the group could still entertain under these circumstances but was not an encouraging harbinger of things to come. Thus, while aspects of the album remain underrated--and there are always those three top-drawer tracks to mull over--"Mirage" deserves most of the underwhelmed reaction of its critics.

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