The album Stevie Nicks called a beautiful piece of work: “Some songs I love”
Stevie Nicks has seen more than her fair share of ugly episodes throughout every bit of Fleetwood Mac’s history.
Their records could sound absolutely pristine, but when you look at the background behind getting tunes like ‘Dreams’ and ‘Go Your Own Way’ off the ground, you start to realise how much hard work and damaged nerves go into making something sound absolutely seamless. And while Nicks needed to break free from the band after a while, she could always admit when they made music that shone brighter than anything else they had ever made.
But if we’re talking about raw numbers, there’s no way anything is going to be able to compete with Rumours. The record is still one of the highest-selling records of all time for a reason, and when you listen to the songs, it’s easy to see why so many people relate to that material. Each member was dealing with real heartache, and while they managed to stick it out to finish the record, the after-effects weren’t really felt until one album later, when Lindsey Buckingham started calling the shots a little more.
Buckingham had a clear idea for what he wanted Fleetwood Mac to be, and he wasn’t about to start making the sequel to Rumours on Tusk. The album is practically the band making their own version of The Beatles’ White Album, and while the results do have some interesting moments, it’s no secret why Nicks needed to launch a solo career. She was going to do everything she could for the band, but she also wasn’t going to sit back and watch ‘Think About It’ get left on the cutting room floor.
And while Buckingham may have been a little bit annoyed to see her songs doing so well on the charts, more bands should take cues from what Nicks was doing. Any band is going to reach a point where they need a break from each other, and by the time they started working on Mirage, it felt like they had finally reached a point where they had started to get back to the magic that had started on Rumours.
The 1980s sheen was a bit more palpable on this record, but it’s also the most solid Fleetwood Mac record they would make since their masterpiece. Tango in the Night already had its own set of problems when Nicks started not showing up for sessions, but even if she didn’t get as many songs on the record as she wanted to, she could admit that they had put together one of the better pop albums that they had ever made.
It was a long way from their bluesy origins, but Nicks felt that the record had a much better sheen on it than she remembered, saying, “Looking back it’s a beautiful piece of work with some songs I love. I do notice Lindsey has five songs, Christine has four and I have three. For me, ‘Gypsy’ was my standout. Chris’s songs are always so great — she’s always been our true hitmaker as ‘Hold Me’ proved again. I remember ‘Oh Diane’ was a huge hit in Europe too — though we never do it [in concert]. On the other hand, ‘Eyes of the World’ is a really choice song, and it’s one we have done onstage, like, every other tour.”
If nothing else, the album should get points for having one of the highlights of Nicks and Buckingham’s creative partnership. Buckingham was usually getting to the point where he wanted to stop working with her altogether, but even he had to admit that ‘Gypsy’ was one of the greatest collaborative moments that they ever had in the studio once the songs were all finished.
Mirage does feel like a bit of a blur when you go back to it, but compared to the avalanche of drama that was enveloping the last few records, having this kind of album was as good a sign as any that things were looking up. It only took a couple of months before things started popping off again, but it’s better to take the good times where you can find them with a band like this.
