Behind the Mask turns 34
 

Its past the official release date but today is Earth Day and I will always remember I drove to the mall on Earth day in 1990 and bought the new BTM cassette tape. I was so excited. Not only was the album released but the summer tour was sweeping the country. But it would soon all be postponed until the late fall because of Chris's dad passing.
I did not know the 1991 Grammy Awards nominated BTM for best album package. Does anyone have information on this? Who won that year? I could not find information. I saw that Tusk was nominated for best album package too. However it was a double album with interesting photos. Did I miss something by buying the cassette? What kind of package did BTM have?
I am in the minority but the album cover for BTM is one of my favorites. I think the cover captures the band perfectly. So much symbolism and makes you think. This is what the old classic and vintage album covers were like.
Here we are 34 year later. The album barely cracked the top 20 in the states but went right to #1 in the UK.

The winner was a Suzanne Vega album (Len Peltier, Jeff Gold, and Suzanne Vega).

No idea of the album package, I also got just the cassette whose package wasn't big deal.

But months later I found a Save Me CD single, that contained live versions of Everywhere and Another Woman from the 1987 tour. I think it was an european CD edition. I actually bought it because of those live songs.

This was the cover:

https://www.music-pleasuredome.de/im...ges/7850_0.jpg

The cool thing was that the cd book contained a "genealogic tree" of the band at that moment. I think the link doesn't visualize the pic so I attach it, sorry it's pretty small.

My favorite thing about the Tusk tour book was the family tree of the band. A flood a couple of years ago killed it(it wasn't covered in flood water, but managed to absorb it upwards, and glued it together. I still couldn't bear to throw it away... imma dork).

In 1990 most record stores were not even selling albums. It was mostly CDs and cassettes. I bought a cassette because I was living in the stone age in 1990 and did not have a CD player yet. Our 1983 car did have a nice tape player though.
I went to Ebay and was looking at BTM vinyl records. I did not see anything special except the album sleeve with some photos and lyrics. Perhaps there was a special edition? Or the Grammys were so impressed with the album cover and theme of Masks they nominated the album.
Unopened/sealed BTM albums are selling up to $40 each!
I miss the days of buying albums. Rippling off the cellophane and that fresh cardboard and vinyl smell. It was an object you could hold in both hands and spend hours dissecting the front, back, and lyrics sheet. I can remember the last album that I bought (new release). It was Stevie's RAL. From then on I bought cassettes unless it was a vintage Mac album and I bought the album. I did not get a bloody CD player until 1994 and then replaced all of my Mac/solo albums except RAL. RAL was truly a benchmark and turning poing in my life :lol:

I got the limited edition box CD with picture disc.

https://images.eil.com/large_image/F...BOX-95017b.jpg

I have this same "box set". I'd guess this is what the Grammy nomination was for but maybe it was for the rather large CD booklet.

Isn't it the same that was used on the 1995's Rock Family Trees documentary?

Personally, I have a copy of BTM on cassette and CD. The cassette has a simple booklet, only with the names of the songs, and credits. It's an original one, from 1990.
The CD has the booklet with those famous pics of the band members with the masks, and it's original too, I mean, from 1990, and made in Germany.

And of course the same doubt and discussion, why they never released a very very double album, with bonus tracks and stuff!!!! 34 years of the same thing, unfortunately...

Well, 34 years ago I was really bummed. The album, imo, is their worst.

My usual two pennyworth on this subject.

A third of a century has not dimmed the sense of despondency I felt when I first listened to it. I first became a fan when Tango came out, and whilst that was a flawed gem, it captivated my interest and I explored the band's history.

And then this. Someone on Rolling Stone in his review had the nerve to say "what's really funny, though, is that the addition of Rick Vito and Billy Burnette is the best thing to ever happen to Fleetwood Mac." I suppose in the sense that they didn't suffer from schizophrenia, join a cult, or sleep with Mick's wife or descend into a spiral of drink and drugs that might be true. Stevie was terrible on this album, Christine was sub-par and occasionally embarassingly so and seemed to know it.

I didn't know whether to laugh or just stare at the wall to see if doing that was more fulfilling. Out of the Cradle a couple of years later was a cathartic moment and a hint at what could have been...

I remember thinking: the arrangements are awful. Some of the songs had beautiful bones. Without all of the bloat and gloss, maybe three or four of the songs would have been very nice. But once Lindsey had left in 87, I lost a lot of interest.

Always loved Love Shines and Heart of Stone, though.

Funny you should mention Out of the Cradle, which I loved. I ended up getting it the same day I bought Time. Naturally, LB's album is a classic, but Time is misunderstood, underrated, and on the whole much better than Mask. "Sooner or Later" alone was worth the admission. And if you skip the Dave Mason tunes, and the last one...

I'm pretty much with you on this. I don't think Greg Ladanyi did the band any favours with his production and it's noticeable that he wasn't brought back for the later two Chris songs you mentioned. The title track is the best of an otherwise poor set: it has an element of mystery to it that reminds me of HAHTF or MTM. Christine once said the 90s Mac albums were terrible, but as you point out, Time was a better body of work. Yes, BTM wen straight to no 1 in the UK but that was due to a post- Tango/GH momentum. It dropped down the charts soon enough and the singles were duds.

As Long As You Follow, No Questions Asked, Save Me, Behind the Mask, In the Back of My Mind, Do You Know, When It Comes to Love, Love is Dangerous, Freedom, Skies the Limit, all of these are some of my favorite FM songs. Plus the outtakes Intuition and Game of Love, two incredible songs that I still don’t understand how they didn’t make it on the record. And Love Shines and Heart of Stone showed that Christine, Mick, John, and Billy could have made more great music together, especially when teamed with the right producer.

I don’t think Christine had anything to be embarrassed about on this album or of this era- she shined during this time, more than fulfilling what she started on Tango with Little Lies, Everywhere, and Isn’t It Midnight.

Stevie was terrible, Rick’s guitar tone did nothing for me, and Billy was too tame even though he arguably had the “edgiest” song on the album.

It was corporate schlock at its most corporate. Not bad, not satisfying, just there.

Perfectly phrased. At least a terrible album is memorable. This is mostly beige wallpaper and mauve carpeting in the dermatologist’s office.

I agree. Chris yet again brought some great songs. Her voice meshed with Billy really good on their duet.
The album is a mixed bag for me but I tend to appreciate it more than Tango. If you call BTM corporate rock then you must call Tango corporate synth pop. I'll take the corporate rock category any day.
Stevie's songs are sad and bad. Freedom is ok. But Second Time and Affairs Of The Heart are some of the worst songs she ever recorded.
I dont care for Billy's singing and I cant stand Hard Feelings but he's got the best song on the album - go figure that one out.
I really like the title track and its nice to get a dark Chris song but I can never explain why I dont like the song more. I cant put my finger on it but the song does not grab you like a Chris track should. The tempo or the beat or something.
I just like hearing the classic Mac again. None on the songs on Tango sound like Fleetwood Mac if you strip all vocals. BTM has many classic Mac elements and Chris plays so much on the album. Besides the OWTS tour with Chris, the 1990 tour is my favorite. The band was on fire and poured their energy into every song. It was the last of their arena rock before a more tame and neutered Dance would happen 7 years later. Stevie was just drugged out and danced. Chris and the guys took control of the show.


Winner circle:
Back of My Mind
Love Is Dangerous
When It Comes To Love
Save Me
Skies The Limit

Meh:
Behind The Mask
Freedom
Do You Know
Stand On The Rock
When The Sun Goes Down

Horrible:
Second Time
Affairs of the heart
Hard Feelings

Do I love this album, no. But, I do like it very much. Took me so long, but now I like Skies. I feel like the playing and performances on this album are solid, too.

I like this album better than Time and SYW... but, that's as far as I'll go.

{walks off singing..."one set of doors was the colour of honey... one set of doors was pink and greyyyyy. Well I wonder which set is mine said she....."

That's my least favorite song on the album. Its nails down the chalkboard. There are a few songs you can hear the klonopin in her voice and this is one of them. I also hate songs where the back up chorus answers back the singer. I also hate songs with cliches sung over and over. "Its better to have loved and lost then never to have loved before"
There are many reasons to hate this song besides the honey, pink and grey doors.
"I wonder which set of mine says she" OMG who talks like that. She does not even sing like that. YES, I would say that to Bob Dylan too.

Personally, I think it has almost no comparison with TITN, not only for Lindsey's production, songs and stuff, but also for the style and the age it was released, more far away from the synth-pop you say...

I like it less than Time, I think Time is better -specially Chris' songs-, but I respect it a bit more than SYW. Well of course if we erase some songs!

Those last tries to make the band a commercial one, really failed, and are very weak songs...I mean, Skies The Limit and Save Me. I can't stand them! I like them, but please NO! Don't force the try to have another commercial success!!

Behind The Mask -the song- has a very special meaning for me after a very personal situation I live 2 years ago...The part of "There will never be a second chance for you...Oh, no...Not for you", fits perfectly. So it's one of the highest points for me.
Nicks songs are weird, but I can live with Affairs Of The Heart. It's like a song that kept itself waiting for a release after TITN or TOSOTM, sounds REALLY like an 1987 song!

Billy and Rick's efforts are not bad, specially Billy's, as he sings a lot and has a good work with Chris. Stand On The Rock and WTSGD are, well...I don't want to sound boring, but they don't sound like FM, not like the TITN's Fleetwood Mac. I'm talking about Fleetwood Mac the band, not the 1987 band only. Anyway, they sounded good.

One thing I must say, the beginning of ITBOMM is needlessly LONG!! I must skip it to hear what we really wanted to hear!! :shrug:

And of course I must say this, since the situation warrants it. The Second Time sucks. It simply sucks. If When I See You Again was trash, this one definitely wins all the prizes. :sorry:

Yes. Both songs look like wines from the same bad harvest.

The Second Time was inspired by Rick Vito sharing a dream he had with Stevie. She interpreted his dream through the song. Definitely is filler.
(its not in the book)

Did you feel like it was the second time with yOoOOOoOOOOooooOOOOoOOOoOooooo?

There is a great Japan TV live version, of 'Freedom' on YouTube called 'Soundgig'.:wavey:

Surprise! Guess what I did? A few weeks ago when this discussion started about the Grammy nomination for "best album package" I went on Ebay looking to try and find what sort of package came with the album. I was looking at the albums and CDs that were for sale. I never updated my BTM cassette to CD. I suppose I never thought it worthy. I got a great deal on a CD and bought it on Ebay. Over the last 2 weeks, I have listened to the album front to back (or as Stevie would say, back to front) at least 7 times. I have played these songs many times over the years from youtube but when was the last time anyone listened to BTM in its duration? It sounded really good. Tango has more sparkle and is perfected in areas but I prefer the overall sound of BTM. For example, Tango shines better than anything on BTM on the title track, Isn't It Midnight, Little Lies and the acoustic guitar on Family Man. Nothing that good is on BTM. But if I had to listen to one in its duration, I prefer the BTM sound. I dont think the band went out of its way to impress anyone. They all were skilled and experienced musicians that all wrote some good songs and recorded them. It sounds good but no one went out of their way to make it extra poppy. I think they thought their name alone would bring it success. But the music industry was changing. Even Stevie just came off her flop album OSOTM and for the first time too these albums did not go platinum. Little known fact is George Hawkins is the one that suggested the producer to Mick after the first one did not work out. I love that Lindsey was asked and performed acoustic guitar on the title track. Sort of reminds me of when Peter Green was asked to perform some guitar on Tusk (Brown Eyes).
I laugh at Chris when she called it a "suicide album" because it was so dark. It definitely is a very dark album. Rolling Stone actually loved this and said "not since Bare Trees or Rumours has the band recorded pain so unwaveringly and sounded so good." IMHO there are no home runs on this album. If you did not know who they were and listened you would say the band is good and sounds good and deserves a record contract. I love the fact that in the entire Fleetwood Mac catalog Stevie Nicks sings on at least one bluesy rocker (Love is Dangerous). That really is cool.
The band really had some unfortunate issues to deal with recording this album and touring to support it. There is one issue that was similar to making Tango and that was Stevie was seldom there. She was recording and then touring to support OSOTM and would only pop in a few days. She also was tranquilized which really hurt her ability to write and perform good songs on the album. I think her songs here are just as bad as Tango. It sounds like Stevie was edited and layered in songs because of her absence. Her voice shows up at the strangest times which is why I think they layered her voice in similar to Tango. She comes in one time with "ooooos" on Do You Know and she is not no the chorus of Save Me. She only appears at the end. She again appears strangely for one backup on When The Sun Goes Down "Take good care" and is never heard again on the song. She appears again for a groan right before the bridge on Behind The Mask. I think this is why Skies The Limit stands out because its the only song she is truly singing back up with the band. It was a late recording after the album was finished and she was done with OSOTM and was back with the Mac.
This album is all Chris. Besides her own songs, she is singing lead, or, verses or dueting on tracks 1, 3, 4, 5, 8, 12. Plus she is playing keyboard solos even on acoustic songs like Second Time and singing back up extensively through the album. Its a very intensive Chris album which really appeals to me. While I dont care for Billy's singing, it merges with Chris's voice perfectly.
Now here are some fun facts about this era. The 1987/1988 Shake The Cage tour was cancelled in Australia because of Stevie's illness. The band promised Australia to start their new tour there and they kept their promise. The band instantly kicked off its BTM tour in Australia which dragged the album to #9 there. Instead of flying over Japan, they stopped and did promo there which did not work. The album was not successful there at all. The band makes 2 concert dates in Japan. From Japan the band goes to Canada while Save Me breaks into the top 40 in the states. The album makes it to #14 in Canada and Save Me is a top then hit there. As soon as the gets to the States in late May 1990, Save Me is already dropping out of the top 40 and the album dropping from the charts. That must have been devastating for the band to get to the states with a new album and its already sinking. It makes you wonder if the band started touring the states, could that have pushed Save Me into the top 20. IMHO starting promotion and touring outside the states hurt sales in the USA. But you must admire the Mac for keeping its word to Australian fans.
The album goes to #1 in the UK and Greece. Who would have ever thought a Fleetwood Mac album would go to #1 in Greece. The album also goes top 5 in Germany, Ireland, Sweeden, Norway, and Iceland. Yet it barely cracked the top 20 in the United States.
This is also the only Fleetwood Mac album that never released a Stevie song as a single.
Listening to this album so much lately brought back many memories. I remember waiting in line for concert tickets and hearing fans talk about the new album. Some were saying the song Back Of My Mind, Mick was saying....what's in Stevie's mind lol. In the summer of 1990 those outdoor sheds were popping up all over the country. I remember I snagged 2 really good seats mid theater for mid July. But sadly this was cancelled along with a bunch of dates because of Chris's dad passing. The band did make up all those dates starting in late October, November, and December. The Farewell tour was actually dropping Save Me for Say You Love Me. Besides her singing with Rick on Love Is Dangerous, Stevie never performed any of her new songs on the tour except that Japan promo show? Lindsey joins the band for their last few nights and its an end of an era. Stevie and Chris announce they will no longer tour with the band. This big summer delay causes Stevie's Timespace project to get majorly delayed. Stevie also in 1990 publicly stated her beef with Mick about all the long European dates.
Makes you wonder. What if the album was successful in the states and had hits. Would that have changed anything?
During the early 80s Heart had an album produced by Keith Olsen. The band went full mainstream rock instead of hippy and hard rock. Yet the album tanked and was not successful. Their record company dropped them and a new label would only sign them if they agreed to have professional song writers write pop songs for them. In 1984 Jefferson Starship released Nuclear Furniture. It also was not that successful. The record company forced changes and they ended up changing their name to Starship and ended up with 3 #1 pop hits. But the pop music was too much for Grace Slick to take and she left. I see Behind The Mask as the band's Passionworks and Nuclear Furniture. Its good music but panned by critics because the lack of poppy songs. Passionworks and Nuclear Furniture are both decent albums though but they are forgotten from those band's catalog.
Finally I would add that the 1990 tour is one of my favorite concerts ever. I felt guilty after leaving the Dance concert for preferring the 1990 concert. I did not like the neutered Chain and everything was so robotic. Lindsey was mumbling to the audience and saying the same exact words as the recorded concert we all taped from MTV. It was great to have Lindsey back but I felt Chris's sad vibes and I missed the unscripted big arena rock sound from earlier years.

There are some good songs from this era. If I had to build my perfect BTM album, it would look like this. Warner probably did not want a new guy leading off the album but since Billy has the best and most edgy song on the album, I say give him the lead off track. Stevie's Freedom is her best track yet its hidden late on the second side.
This would be my BTM album;

Back of My Mind
Save Me
Freedom
Do You Know
Love Is Dangerous
As Long As You Follow

Behind The Mask
When It Comes To Love
No Questions Asked
Skies The Limit
Paper Doll
When The Sun Goes Down

I dont care for Paper Doll but many people like it. I was shocked to find out it was a Top 10 hit in Canada. It was supposed to go on the Greatest Hits album but Mick hated it and picked No Questions Asked. Paper Doll was left over and made the 25th collection years later which it was released as a single and became a hit in Canada.

One last thing. My one peeve about the Dance era was when people started to fawn about Landslide and it became a sing a long song. So many would say, "its great they put Landslide back in the set." Bitch please! If you were there in 1990 or 1991 on Stevie's solo tour it was performed. It just showed that the BTM era was sort of forgotten that no one acknowledged or was aware it happened. Stevie was sort of a backdrop for the BTM era which sometimes can be seen as a good thing.