Fleetwood Mac

Tango In The Night

Yah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Muy Bien!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Review Score:

(10/10)
Following 1982's release of "Mirage", the core members of Fleetwood Mac would take a hiatus. This would be a hiatus that would about five years in which during this time many of the members would explore solo efforts. One did not know what to expect when the band would reconvene for their fifth studio album with the current lineup. The two follow-up albums that followed the mega-album "Rumours" had failed to recapture the magic of that album. The first follow-up, "Tusk" was an experimental effort and didn't have the commercial success. The second album, "Mirage" still had some experimentation, but still didn't have the emotion (or commercial success) of "Rumours". While "Tango in the Night", still doesn't measure up to the emotions that surrounded "Rumours", it does provide a fresh perspective to the core members of the band. It would also be the last studio album for the core members of Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Nicks, Christine McVie, John McVie, and Mick Fleetwood as Buckingham would depart the band to pursue his own solo career.

While "Mirage" did have its moments and continued to show an experimental side to Fleetwood Mac (i.e. Retro style songs, a Country-Western feel), one problem it had was that outside songwriters were brought in collaborate with the core members. For Mirage. although either Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Nicks, or Christine McVie had a songwriting credit, many of the songs were co-written with outsiders. While the use of outsiders may have contributed to some of the innovative experimentation, it did take away from the emotion. On "Tango", the use of collaborating with the outside songwriters is a lot less. Only three songs are collaborations: "Seven Wonders" (Stevie Nicks with Sandy Stewart), "Little Lies" (Christine McVie with Eddy Quintela) and "Family Man" (Lindsey Buckingham with Richard Dashut). Another point on "Mirage" was that Buckingham, Nicks, and McVie would do no songwriting between each other. The good news is on "Tango in the Night", there are collaborations with Christine McVie and Lindsey Buckingham ("Mystified", "Isn't It Midnight", and "You and I Part II"). Perhaps less of the use of outsiders is why "Tango in the Night" is a lot less experimental, but the good news is that the effort of "Tango in the Night" more fresh and a lot less forced than "Mirage".

On "Tango", I do think the Lindsey Buckingham tunes that feature Lindsey on lead vocals and have him as the primary songwriter are the weakest. It might seem like I'm picking on Lindsey on this album, but I think Lindsey's strength is in his guitar work and background vocals - not his lead vocals or songwriting. This is an album where Stevie Nicks really shines.

Here is a song by song review of this album:

"Big Love" is the opening track and a Lindsey Buckingham track in terms of songwriting and vocals. I'm not a big fan of this track and think its very overrated for a Fleetwood Mac tune. However, it was the first song released from "Tango" and helped solidfy Fleetwood Mac's comeback. I also don't like the background vocals.

"Seven Wonders" is probably the strongest track of the album. This is a Stevie Nicks track as she co-wrote the song and has lead vocals. Stevie draws a parallel between the Seven Wonders of the World and a relationship. Perhaps the person with the "intensity" she is referring to is Lindsey Buckingham? Usually a Stevie tune has great Lindsey Buckingham background vocals and although they are on this track - it's Christine's background vocals that shine.

"Everywhere" is a Christine McVie track in terms of songwriting and vocals. Good bass work by John McVie on this song. This is another solid song - Stevie and Lindsey do a great job on background vocals.

"Caroline" is a Lindsey Buckingham track in terms of songwriting and vocal. It's a weak track, but the intro does take you back to the "Tusk" days with some good Mick Fleetwood percussion.

"Tango in the Night" has a slight "Tango" music feel to it. It's another Lindsey track. It probably is the weakest song of the collection. Other than the "Tango" feel, it doesn't do much for me.

"Mystified" is a McVie/Buckingham track. Christine handles the lion's share of the vocals. Still not one of my favorite tracks - but it does have some nice harmonies.

"Little Lies" was probably one of the biggest hits off the album. Great melody and beat to this song. This is a complete effort by the band - from Christine's vocals and keyboards, to Lindsey's guitar work, Stevie's background harmonies, John McVie's bass, and Mick Fleetwood's drumming.

"Family Man" is another Lindsey song and it doesn't impress.

"Welcome to the Room...Sara" is a Stevie Nicks track. In this song, you hear the classic Lindsey Buckingham background vocals that Stevie almost always seems to be able to blend in. Great lyrics as well.

"Isn't' it Midnight" is another underrated track. It's a Christine track and has a very 80s beat to it. The song has a lot of intensity and some very good music to it.

"When I See You Again" is anothe Stevie Nicks track. It has a slower beat to it. Stevie has some powerful vocals to support the lyrics. Once again Stevie blends Lindsey's vocals in beautifully.

"You and I Part II" is another solid track - in some ways takes you back to the sound from "Rumours". This is a track where Lindsey does a good job on lead vocals.

The liner notes include all of the lyrics and songwriting credits. The production credits are also listed. Despite some of the shortcomings, I do think this is a pretty good effort by Fleetwood Mac and might be the second strongest of the five studio albums done by the core members from 1975 through 1987. This is an album that should keep both the Fleetwood Mac fan happy as well as the fan looking to build a Fleetwood Mac collection.

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