BTM: Your favorite songs, grouped by singer
 

Because you asked for it, here's the poll of Behind the Mask.

It may be complicated since many songs are co-written, so let focus on the singer. Err... some songs are kind of duets. Well, to avoid brain damages :) let say it's up to you who is the lead singer.

Maaan, this is a very hard one! :lol: Everyone has at least a good one, but it's true that there's some duets that change plans!
I would go with Chris for Behind The Mask, but Billy's work is so good, so I think I would go with him on this one!

I've tried very hard to forget the overwhelming feeling of embarrassment I felt for a very long time after first listening to this record.

I exaggarete slightly for comic effect (the title track is pretty good, in my opinion) but maybe we should have an option for the second or so's silence between each track.

Christine by a landslide LOL! But I agree with moon that Billy Burnette is the unsung hero of BTM. He and Christine sound so good on Do You Know, and In the Back of My Mind is phenomenal. Hearing all three (Billy, Christine, and Stevie) on this song blows me away. Save Me is so damn good, with Rick’s blistering guitar work. Skies the Limit is better than Only Over You, Wish You Were Here, and Mystified, IMO. And I like Mystified LOL. Poor Stevie, her material is forgettable- not necessarily bad but not memorable. I remember listening to BTM and thinking “I can’t picture any one of Stevie’s songs getting airplay,” with the exception of maybe Love is Dangerous, and even that one would have bombed. Behind the Mask is also incredible.

Christine songs sound more like “FLeetwood Mac” to me anything with her vocals on it. Stevie’s tracks sound like they can be on a solo album except for maybe Love is Dangerous. I do still love this album. Ricks, Billy’s and Stevie’s songs are all tied for second place.

I voted for Chris. However Billy has the best song on the album (Back of my mind). He also has the worst song on the album (Hard Feelings). Chris has the best album single track (Save Me). She always brings great songs. Rick is fine but Stand On The Rock almost seems like padding. I dont like Second Time or Affairs of the Heart at all. You can hear the klonopin in Stevie's voice on those songs and its sad. By 1990 I was tired of hearing of these stairs and hallways from Stevie. Also that line about its better to have loved and lost then never have loved before.....has this not been a recycled line from her? Freedom is good but it could have been better. It should have been a rocked out song but it seems they are holding back.
While not successful in the States, I love the music even on songs I dont care for like Stand On The Rock. The album shines because you can hear that great Mac rhythm section humming again. Good grief Chris is playing keyboards again. All those things mostly missing from Tango. The band is really sounding really good on this album. I like the title track BTM but I can never understand why I dont love it. I think it has great lyrics. But something about the tempo of the song drags it. Maybe thats not it either. Its a good song but I can never understand why I dont love it like the other Chris songs. Love is Dangerous is a great song with Rick. So I guess each singer had at least 1 good song including the new guys. Chris just runs away with it though.

Christine wins this one. The guys really made the album too, and most tracks are really well done. Stevie is pretty weak on this album. I guess Freedom is OK, Affairs of the Heart is crap, Love is Dangerous is OK, and I am the only person in the universe who loves The Second Time.

I hate Second Time, but love WISYA.

The Second Time is 2 minutes and it's still too long.:laugh: I do like the "dream come true" line. But Cheaper Than Free is a way better song than The Second Time. And Show Them the Way too.

Snooze.

By far the weakest she has ever been on any Mac album. I think the shakeup in the personnel really zapped her strengths right out of her. She seems like a deer caught in the headlights.

LOL. Unconvincing, uninvolving crap. Sounds like something AI cooks up when you ask it to write a song like Stevie Nicks.

It’s a genuine sentiment and I completely believe it. I love this song: the lyrics, the very touching melody. I just wish a good producer had built the track (or the bad producer had built a good track).

I like Affairs of the Heart (though not as much as the oft-maligned My Heart).
Other than that, Stevie and Rick's tracks don't do it for me.

I really like the following Billy tracks and agree that Billy pretty much defines the album:
In The Back Of My Mind
Hard Feelings
Do You Know

"Skies" The Limit and Save Me are okay, but I think the later Love Shines and Heart of Stone are better.

Billy gets my vote.

Christine because her songs were consistent, if uninspiring.

Stevie’s songs were filler and Rick had better songs that didn’t make the album.

Billy had one good song and two good duets, but also a filler duet (WICTL) and a clunker (Hard Feelings). Like Rick, he had better songs that didn’t make the album.

Overall, it felt like a very bland, corporate album. That said, love the solo on “Save Me.”

I love When It Comes to Love, Billy sounds so good on it. It was years before I appreciated Hard Feelings, in fact I used to dislike it a lot. The song resonates with me now, not sure why. Game of Love is one of my favorite songs from Billy and I have a really hard time understanding why they didn’t record it and put it on the album. All the more reason I hope BTM gets the Deluxe Edition treatment soon.

Ain't gonna happen. FIVE people buying it isn't worth it.

What an awful pile of sh!t of an album. I will ech Mr Scarrotts sentiment of feeling a genuine sense of embarrassment when it first came out. I played it and played it, wanting to love it in the same was as all the preceding albums…..but no. I eventually had to give up and concede. It’s sh!t.

Maybe Christine’s songs are slightly better than Billy’s (???!!!!?????) and yet I’m not voting for her for the simple reason these are by a long way her worst collection of songs and I’m annoyed with her for creating such banal tripe. So instead my vote goes to billy. The least stinky collection of turds.

Um, really?
It’s great that we all have our own views, feelings and thoughts. That’s what helps to contribute to healthy discussion and debate.
With that said, I’m afraid you are quite wrong sir. This is nonsense.

I only agree about OOY, I like far more Skies than OOY.

OOY could be a nice song but, the I'm ooooooout of my mind... Oh no I have never been able to bear those meows. Sorry Christine I love your songs but in this case you ruined a nice melody. My personal opinion.

Care to comment, Fuzzy Plum? :laugh:

Seriously, as you said, it’s all subjective anyway. I like Skies the Limit because of the incredible harmonies. There’s something reassuring to me when a FM album opens with a Christine McVie song, and Skies the Limit makes me feel good. And I agree completely with Villavic regarding OOY. Could be a good song, but “I’m ooooooout of my mind” makes me cringe every time I hear it. Although not as much as “Whassa matter baby…. baby… BAA-BY.”

My beef with Wish You Were Here is how the opening is lifted directly from Silver Springs. I’m sure it was unintentional but still.

I’m glad Billy got a vote!

Sorry you dislike all of Christine’s songs here. I was thrilled when I heard Save Me for the first time on the radio. I don’t find Rick’s guitar playing banal at all, I think it’s incredible. Do you hate As Long As You Follow, too?

I believe you got that backwards. I never heard the piano into to Silver Springs UNTIL The Dance, which came 15 years after Wish You Were Here.

I almost picked Burnette, but I ultimately went with McVie. If it hadn't been for "When the Sun Goes Down", Burnette would probably claim the win. His duet with McVie on "Do You Know" works surprisingly well; if the song was even 5% cheesier, I would probably dislike it, but Greg Ladanyi struck a fine balance here. "In the Back of My Mind" is arguably the most unique song on the album and fairly adventurous with its intro, and "Hard Feelings" is a very solid ballad. A great showing for Burnette, but I really enjoy "Save Me", "Skies the Limit", and the title track.

Nope. Absolutely love As Long As You Follow and Love Shines and Heart of Stone.
But Skies the Limit was knocked up particularly quickly and it shows. It’s her most bubble gum single…ever. And it suffers from bad production. That opening is sooooo cheesy!!!!! That said, I think the award for her worst ever single release goes to Save Me. Sorry, but it’s just so uninspired. Said it before and I’ll say it again. I have plenty of love and respect for Rick but his guitar soloing is really quite generic.
Behind the Mask as a song is okay. As somebody else has said, it’s not bad, but there’s just something about it that stops it from being really good. I think it’s the silly effects that have been added. Again, a potentially great song (think Carnival Begin) ruined by awful production.

And as far as the ‘I’m ouuuut of my mind….’ Parts……well, I love those bits. That’s the hook. And I love it.

Christine wins on BTM over the others, Stevie didn't bring her A-Game and Rick and Billy just aren't at the same calibre writing wise. That said, both brought at least one great song- Billy In the Back of My Mind and Rick with his co-write on Love is Dangerous. Save Me is a great pop song with some wonderful guitar although admittedly it loses some steam about 1/2 way through, the title track is great although marred by annoying tinny production sound in spots, her duets with Billy are pretty good and Skies is a Just Crazy Love kind of pop tune. She would get much better songs though with As Long as You Follow, Love Shines and Heart of Stone. Stevie just didn't have a killer tune for BTM and only parts of her songs are great. Freedom doesn't kick in until near the end where she lets her voice soar. Second Time has potential but kind of plods along. Affairs is just very generic with a sub par vocal. She does well on Love is Dangerous, but hearing the much better Intuition and the smoking' duet on Vito's solo album, Desiree shows that she still has the voice. She was in awesome voice on the tour for this album though.