Gypsy Rules...
amazon. Watch Video Here: http://www. amazon. com/review/R22RS46UZGKH70 My name is Jeremy Gloff. I am a musician (check me out on Amazon!) and retro music enthusiast. If you enjoyed this review make sure to check out my Amazon user profile to check out my other reviews. I am always up for making new friends and discussing the music I love!!! .
Reunion With an Treasured Song from the Past
It's always mp3-this, mp3-that. It's been a long time since I listened to music from an audio CD. This audio CD is like a breeze of fresh cool air. If I can give more than 5 stars I would.
Here's how I came to know about this album, Mirage. Back in 1986 (how long ago was that?) I recorded on tape a music I heard on the radio. I loved it. But I didnt know the title nor the artist. All I remembered were the words, wish you were here and the fine melody. Soon after I lost that tape and never seem to hear the song played on the radio again. But I never forgot how beautiful and relaxing it was even with my crappy recording.
Fast forward to 2008, I decided to seriously look for it using the magic of Google. I searched for "wish you were here. " Google returned mostly with a rock band Pink Floyd. I knew it wasnt the one. Finally I got a link to a band called Fleetwood Mac and with the aid of Amazon preview I confirmed that my song was in their album, Mirage! Wish You Were Here is still so beautiful! It is as captivating today as it was before. The other songs are all very good too!
I don't know much about Fleetwood Mac, but if this album is any indication, I think they are a talented gifted band. Their music is clean and neat sounding. Disciplined even. I highly recommend Mirage!
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Fleetwood Mac's hit-filled Mirage!
After success with FLEETWOOD MAC,the Grammy-winning RUMOURS and TUSK,the band would perform hits like HOLD ME,GYPSY and LOVE IN STORE in music videos during the early days of MTV. This is the first Fleetwood Mac album of the 1980's and the fourth with American latecomers Lindsey Buckingham and Stephanie Lynn "Stevie" Nicks still in the band. The aforementioned songs later appeared on GREATEST HITS(LIS was not part of GH) and THE VERY BEST OF FLEETWOOD MAC. After this album,FM did not disband but did take a five-year hiatus,giving Nicks,Buckingham and bassist John's now-ex-wife Christine Perfect McVie the opportunity to carry on with solo careers. Before this album,Nicks' and Buckingham's began,but afterward CPM scored with her 1984 solo debut hit GOT A HOLD ON ME.
The Mac can turn out high-gloss pop as well as anyone
Commercially, the album was a big success, shooting straight to much-covenanted #1 position on the Hot 200 and spinning off a couple of classic singles. After the ambitious yet commercially disappointing double album TUSK, Fleetwood Mac retreated from the avant garde rock of that previous album and released MIRAGE, a comparatively traditional pop album. While the assessable approach of the disc is neither as intriguing nor as musically stimulating as TUSK, the MOR stylings of MIRAGE is nonetheless as appealing and as well-crafted a piece of pop product as one could hope for. However, the album also works musically - and that is something that has unfortunately gone unacknowledged by many fans and critics.
All three of the Mac's principal songwriters turn in material that is top-notch. Christine McVie penned the smash hit "Hold Me" (#4 Pop, #7 Adult Contemporary, #3 Mainstream Rock), with a unique pseudo-oriental arrangement, gorgeous duet vocals from Christine and Lindsey, and killer refrain. It remains a classic single in the Fleetwood Mac canon. McVie also contributes the hit "Love In Store" (#22 Pop, #11 Adult Contemporary), a bouncy mid-tempo love song, fleshed out with lovely harmony vocals that recall the very best of the Beach Boys and the Mamas and the Papas. McVie's other two compositions are completely solid as well. Her wistful "Only Over You" is dreamy and sensual, and her "Wishing You Were Here" is a lovely, delicate ballad that manages to avoid cliche and achieve genuine poignancy.
Lindsey Buckingham is apparently the only one of the three writers who was still in an experimental frame of mine. The somewhat gloomy "Empire State" and the revved-up rocker "Eyes of the World" are perfect showcases for Buckingham's remarkably inventive production, and "Eyes" features a blistering guitar solo that would make Hendrix proud. The sputtering "Can't Go Back" is a reflective number in the same vein as RUMOURS' "Never Going Back Again," while "Book of Love" and Oh Diane" (#35 Adult Contemporary) are old fashioned rock songs that pay homage to Buckingham's own musical influences. Somehow they succeed at the amazing feat of sounding both new and familiar at the same time. All of Buckingham's tracks are expertly-crafted and intriguing, his voice has rarely sounded better, and "Can't Go Back," "Oh Diane," and "Eyes of World" all rank among his finest compositions.
MIRAGE was also Stevie Nicks' first album with the band after releasing her Multi-Platinum solo debut, 1981's BELLA DONNA. Impressively, Nicks' supplies MIRAGE with three of her best-written offerings, proving that her loyalty to the band was as strong as ever. The hit "Gypsy" (#12 Pop, #9 Adult Contemporary, #4 Mainstream Rock) is perhaps Nicks' best trademark white-lace ballad, and has become one of her most-loved signature songs. Buckingham's intricate production and the song's memorable refrain ("lighting strikes, maybe once, maybe twice) combine to create a aural masterpiece, and Nicks has rarely been in better voice than on this recording. Nicks' country-styled rocker "That's Alright" is also pure fun, and "Straight Back" (#36 Mainstream Rock) is the type "Dreams"-styled mid-tempo rocker that Nicks does better than anyone.
Though it is certainly true that MIRAGE breaks no new ground and finds the band playing it pretty safe, it also cannot be denied that there are few groups who can craft a pop album that is as consistent and intriguing. The group's primary goal was to create a commercially successful recording, and they certainly succeeded (in addition to topping the charts, it also sold a couple million copies). With flawlessly-constructed production and a set tuneful songs, MIRAGE stands as one of the ultimate high gloss pop recordings. On a side note, the MIRAGE album cover is also particularly attractive and enchanting.
Not Their Best But Good Album Nonetheless
Some songs are fantastic and works really fine, but at times it seems they've somehow lost the creative ground they had some years earlier. "Mirage" was the first FM album to be released after the exprimental "Tusk" and listening to this album you can clearly hear that the band still expriments with diffrent styles but tries to go back to the more accesable radio friendly pop music they did with "Fleetwood Mac" and the legendary "Rumours". The album peaked at #1 at the billboard charts just the same and it gave them a few single hits like "Gypsy" "Hold Me" and "Love in Store" aswell but the album is still lacking something and feels less compelling and magic then other albums. For once there are few very good Lindsey Buckingham songs and he isn't in the spotlight either and the bandmembers had also used co-writers on certain songs for an exprimental purpose.
Mcvie co-wrote "Love In Store" with Recor and this is actually one of the best songs of "Mirage". It got some very catchy basic riffs and a meliodic Fleetwood Mac kind of hook. Buckingham's "Can't Go Back" is a little country inspired with a great melody. Nicks sings "That's Alright" which actually sound a little like the hit "Gypsy", also a good song. Lindsey teams up with Dashut in "Book Of Love" that sounds like early 60's romantic pop like Four Seasons. Nicks wrote the best song on this album with "Gypsy" though, the song is mystic, beautiful and fascinating in the same way. It also feautures a great melody and Lindsey singing backround, and ends with a beautiful riff. It was apparently already written in 1979 and was suppost to be part of one of Nicks solo albums, but when a close friend died she decided to add the song on a FM album instead to get better publisity. McVie's "Only Over You" is a beautiful song musically but lacks the chorus. Pop-disco "Empire State" finds Buckingham and Dashut together again, but this is one of the weaker songs of the album. Nicks third contribution "Straight Back" remind me of "Dreams". A typical Stevie Nicks song. Mcvie and Patton wrote "Hold Me" a very strong number that not so surprisingly also was a hit single. A catchy and meliodic midtempo song in typical 80's style. "Oh Diane" got Lindsey back in his 60's style. This song is not so good either and on "Eyes Of The World" he's just going through the motions. Mcvie and Allen wrote "Wish You Were Here" which is a ballad, grows on you but not her best moment.
Overall, A good album but no "Rumours". It took a few listenings for me to truly enjoy it, but if you're a FM fan you probably will like it in the end. It got plenty of great songs but also some less memorable, but apart from "Tusk" it actually got more of the classic FM sound with poppy accesable hooks and meliodic arrangements. For the first time they also used co-songwriters on some songs, but in the end it's still FM all over it. If you're new to the band, get "Rumours" or "Fleetwood Mac" albums, but if you already have them, try this one too.
You can see a complete list of all Fleetwood Mac discography, or go back to the Fleetwood Mac tabs
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