Tango in the Night - Dark Publications

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Thanks to the long shadow cast by the group's blockbuster Rumours, this 1987 effort was inevitably regarded as something of a letdown. That's too bad, since it's an underrated set that contains plenty of inventively catchy tunes, with a quirky sonic edge that gives the songs added sonic and emotional depth. Lindsey Buckingham's eccentric, vaguely menacing "Big Love" is a standout, as is Christine McVie's brightly bittersweet "Little Lies," along with such dark-horse winners as "Seven Wonders," "Caroline," "Mystified," and Stevie Nicks's typically mystical "Welcome to the Room ... Sara." --Scott Schinder

Customer Reviews: Read 81 more reviews...

4 out of 5 stars

quite flawed, and embarassing in places... but lots of great stuff anyway August 4, 2005
8 out of 15 found this review helpful

Released in April of 1987, "Tango In The Night" was another smash hit album for Fleetwood Mac. It's been reported that this was originally a Lindsey Buckingham solo album and that it morphed into a Fleetwood Mac album, which makes sense--the album was produced by Lindsey and Richard Dashut, and Lindsey is clearly in the driver's seat here.

Sonically, "Tango..." sounds a lot like Lindsey's "Go Insane" album--his trademark looping synth parts are on heavy display, and his trademark 'speaking-hopping' vocals are also very much in evidence. The key difference is that it sounds significantly more 'commercialized' than "Go Insane", which isn't surprising, not just because this is a Fleetwood Mac album, but also because "Go Insane" was a commercial disappointment (despite being an artistic triumph). You can clearly see Lindsey starting to tumble down the mountain here, a slide that would continue with his "Out Of the Cradle" and the 2003 Fleetwood Mac album "Say You Will", although he is still pretty close to his "Go Insane" peak on "Tango In The Night".

Lindsey has 3 solo compositions here. The album-opening "Big Love" was a big hit--it's arrestingly edgy, with great electric guitar soloing and a great punctuative guitar lick on the chorus, but it's woefully marred by the out of tune chant-like background vocals, the incredibly annoying orgasmic panting (a "trick" he already had used on the "Go Insane" album), and the pompous coda. "Caroline" has him going for his usual sexual intensity--it's catchy, has a cool jungle-ish atmosphere, and overall works quite well, but the song still feels rather unfinished and the verses have minimal, laughably easy-way-out lyrics. It's followed by the title track which is one of the truly terrific tracks here--evocative atmosphere on the quiet verses, a guitar-powered chorus with an exciting ultra-long high note from Lindsey, and a really really good David Gilmour-ish song-ending guitar solo.

Lindsey wrote the music for "Family Man" and shares the writing credit for the lyrics with Richard Dashut, which is kind of bewildering--it really took two people to come up with these lyrics? The song basically wavers back and forth between just a couple chords all the way through, has minimal lyrics, plus dumb caveman-style vocal snippets on the chorus, but it manages to be a great song anyway, thanks to the bracing and catchy chorus, cool arranging details, and the sumptuous flamenco-style acoustic guitar work.

Lindsey co-wrote 3 more songs with Christine McVie. Of these three, Christine sings lead on two of them--the airy "Mystified" is a throwaway with incredibly slight lyrics; but "Isn't It Midnight", additionally co-written by Eddy Quintela, is a driving uptempo song with great Christine vocals, and the only thing really bringing it down is the dishearteningly rote, overlong "climactic" song-ending guitar solo. The weirdly upbeat album-closer "You And I, Part II" is another irresistible tune, an excellently melodic pop-rock confection with great lead vocals from Lindsey.

Of course, there are the pair of Christine McVie spotlights that were both big hits. Her lightweight solo composition "Everywhere" is an infectious, neatly-arranged feel-good tune, although it is marred a bit by the embarassingly tentative-sounding 'speaking hopping' vocals on the fade (come on Lindsey--this should have been executed much better). The minor-keyed "Little Lies", co-written by Quintela, is a gem, with a transcendant synth intro and a great vocal arrangement.

That leaves us with the trio of Stevie Nicks spotlights. The hit "Seven Wonders" is the only one that isn't a Nicks solo composition--it was written by Sandy Stewart with Nicks credited for additional lyrics--and it's the best of the lot with a nice ringing synth part, although it's a rather generic and sugary pop-rocker, and you can hear Stevie's voice faltering on it. Nicks sounds downright laughable on the unintentionally hilarious ballad "When I See You Again" with its corny wordplay and the endlessly-repeated "what's the matter baby" chorus. "Welcome To The Room...Sara" just kinda rambles along, lacking strong hooks, and has pompous Nicks vocals.

So, admittedly, it's not the smoothest of sailing on "Tango In The Night", but this is a very interesting album with lots of great stuff. Even "When I See You Again", as embarassing as it is, has definite camp value, as do a number of the other songs.

4 out of 5 stars

Highly Underrated May 26, 2001
7 out of 7 found this review helpful

A decade after RUMOURS, Fleetwood Mac released what would be there last studio record with Lindsay Buckingham, TANGO IN THE NIGHT. The streak begun with RUMOURS continued here, and while it was highly undervalued by critics, all in all it's quite a good record. The first distinguishing mark here is the immaculate production, co-handled by Buckingham, which relied alot on synthesizers and other production tics often found in '80s music. The record begins with Buckingham's sterling 'Big Love'(probably his best contribution to the group during the 80's), and the aforementioned production is immediately noticeable, sounding not unlike something you would hear on a Kate Bush album--'Big Love', in particular, sounds alot like the Bush classic 'Running Up That Hill'. The second distinguishing factor is the general absence of Stevie Nicks, who contributes two serviceable but not particularly great songs and gets a credit on a third(and best of the three),'Seven Wonders'. As is generally the case(particularly during the 80's), Christine McVie is the saving grace of the group, supplying the albums's two best cuts, 'Everywhere' and 'Little Lies', and also writing in tandem with Buckingham on several others good ones. The third factor is the absence, for the first time, of any sense of this group working as a band. The harmonies usually present among the three leads are barely discernable on many of the tracks, making it sound like they came in to the studio, sang their part, and left. It makes the group sound like a collective with rotating vocalists rather than the cohesive unit we know them to be. These are just observations rather than gripes, because,again, overall, this is a great record, and unjustly dismissed by many at the time of its' release.

5 out of 5 stars

This is a fantastic album! March 18, 2003
6 out of 7 found this review helpful

Having first noticed Fleetwood Mac on British television in 1983 performing "Oh Diane", I was intrigued when this group returned in 1987. They were obviously very different from everything else I was into at the time. I got into the singles, especially the two Christine McVie tracks which were huge hits in the UK. I didn't actually buy the album until 1989, when I was captivated by Stevie Nicks' "Rooms on Fire", and I have never looked back. This is an incredible record, and although many regard the late 1970s as the Mac's classic era, this remains their most intriguing and engaging work of the 1980s. It began as a Lindsey Buckingham solo album, but he was persuaded to turn the tracks he had already completed into a Mac album. The opener "Big Love" remains the great track it has always been. It is dark, brooding and powerful. It moves into the wonderful "Seven Wonders", on which Stevie Nicks turns in a real tour de force on a wonderful Sandie Stewart song. At the time, the individual members of the Mac were not in good shape, and although there are flashes of pain throughout this album, it is testament to Lindsey Buckingham's skill as a producer and arranger that the album holds together so well. "Everywhere" is without doubt one of the best songs Christine McVie has ever written. Her talent in the band is still underrated, and she held them together through many a turbulent period. "Caroline" is catchy, but vapid, and contains some of Lindsey's less powerful lyrical statements. Side One (as it was originally) concludes with the balm of Christine McVie's tender "Mystified", before taking flight again with "Little Lies". Christine surely wrote the strongest songs on this record. The plaintive introduction to this pop ballad is haunting. Stevie Nicks' backing vocals are prominent, but that was not always the case. Stevie was absent for much of the recording of Tango, thanks to a cocaine habit which sent her to the Betty Ford clinic. She writes frankly of her experiences on "Welcome to the Room...Sara". Christine rocks on "Isn't it Midnight", before the album hits its most tender moment with Stevie's ballad "When I see you again". When I first heard this out of context as the B Side to "Everywhere", I thought it was awful. Who was this croaky woman with the raspy voice? Now it makes much more sense. It is the sound of a desperately sad woman, wondering how it will be to be reunited with the band on which her dreams were founded. Stevie was on a path to self-destruction, and you can hear that in every note of this wonderful song. Lyrically it it stark and utterly effective: "And she stares at the stairs../well, there are many things to stare at these days". Lindsey's response at the end of the track only adds to its poignancy. The album ends on a bright, poppy note with "You and I Part Two". However, rather like a great Smiths song. the bounciness of the melody masks lyrical uncertainty. History has shown us that Lindsey was preparing to leave the band. "Hoping tomorrow will never come...". This was to be his swansong, and the (artistically)disastrous "Behind The Mask" confirmed that there can be no Fleetwood Mac without Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham. Happily, the fairy tale is not over and the band (sadly without Christine) is about to release a new record, "Say you will". In the meantime, you have to listen to this wonderful album with its 12 magnificent chapters. The sooner it is remixed for DVD-A, the better.

5 out of 5 stars

The classic Fleetwood Mac line-up's swan song. March 26, 2004
6 out of 7 found this review helpful

After the uneventful "Mirage", released in 1982, Fleetwood Mac went on a long hiatus. Stevie Nicks kept on enjoying tremendous solo success, while Christine McVie and Lindsey Buckingham did just fine on their own solo albums. Mick Fleetwood and John McVie, however, both went off the deep end; Fleetwood encountered financial difficulties, while John McVie almost died from alcohol abuse. In other words, some of the band members didn't seem to need Fleetwood Mac that much, but some others did. "Tango in the Night" was born from the tension of trying to answer the eternal question : was it worth all the heartache and trauma to keep Fleetwood Mac alive ?

The answer came in the form of a brilliant album which proved that all personal differences asides, these five people were meant to make music together. The album was a decidedly 80's sonic adventure - which I mean in a good way - and the production featured Fleetwood Mac at its most polished and gorgeous. It's obivous that Lindsey Buckingham gave the album its edge, and not just because of his guitar playing and top production skills : "Caroline" and the title track were particularly impressive, and the first single ("Big Love") was an instantly distinctive diversion from the mid-80's radio diet of Bon Jovi and Europe. Yet it's Christine McVie who unexpectedly turned out to be the album's strongest card, with beautiful vocal performances, strong keyboard arrangements, and most of all, great songs : "Little Lies" is one of the catchiest, most elegant pop songs of the 80's, while "Everywhere" was simply a gorgeous song that featured the Mac's trademark vocal harmonies as if it was still 1977. Her other songs were the hard-rocking, impressive "Isn't it midnight" - not your typical Christine McVie song at all, yet it became a favourite in their 1987-88 tour - and the sublime "Mystified", a longing ballad where Lindsey's production skills were at their best. There were even a couple of songwriting collaborations between McVie and Buckingham, most notably the album's ultra-melodic closer "You and I (part 2)". Those lucky enough to put their hands on "You and I (part 1)", not available on the album, discovered that it was just as brilliant, and should have been on the album too.

As for Stevie Nicks, her songs from this album have often been harshly criticized. All she got was three songs, and none of them are well-remembered today. For sure, there wasn't a "Landslide" or a "Gold Dust Woman" in the lot; however, it doesn't mean that they don't have any artistic merit - on the contrary. "Seven Wonders", the catchy second single, was a cool midtempo rocker where Stevie's voice was well complimented by the band's harmonies. "Welcome to the room... Sara" had to be understood in the context of her stint in rehab, and I always felt it was a highlight of the album. As for the touching "When I See You Again", Stevie wrote about some universal feelings of confusion, longing, and fear, best expressed through the line "If she sees him again / Will your very best friend / Have been replaced by some other ?". Her voice on that song was expressive, and it embodied the whole ambivalence of the song.

All in all, the only minor moment of the album is "Family Man", sounding like an average pop-dance song and featuring some shaky vocal arrangements that bubbled away in the bridge. The album "Tango in the Night" is a superbly produced album that proved Fleetwood Mac was as contemporary as anybody; it featured gorgeous arrangements, first-rate material, and it did open up the ears of a whole new generation of fans - including this writer, who discovered Fleetwood Mac's music with this album. The fact that it was the last full studio album recorded by these five people, only gives it the additional poignancy that comes with knowing that it was sort of their swan song. I consider it an essential in Fleetwood Mac's long, rich history of rock and roll legacy.

5 out of 5 stars The Tango goes on forever in the Night September 2, 2004
6 out of 8 found this review helpful

In my book, Fleetwood Mac`s best. Might be one of their most commercial ones, but it was loaded with big hits, and it was the album that grabbed me. My first, My favorite, and even after going thru about all of their other albums, Tango in the Night represents the cream of Fleetwood Mac. Many people swear to Rumours, My heart lies with Tango in the Night.

Some of Fleetwood Mac`s biggest hits ever are on this Album. "Little Lies" is a classic. Chances are, if you ever play it to someone who have never heard of Fleetwood Mac, they will melt totally and tell you how they have heard this song so many times before. Then we got "Seven Wonders", "Everywhere" and "Big Love", really big hits, and good, recognizable songs. "Seven Wonders" and "Everywhere" are one of my other favorite songs.

"Caroline", "Tango in the Night", "Family Man", "Welcome to the Room - Sara", "Isnt it Midnight" and "When I see you again" are all superb songs, while though my personal favorites are "When I see you again" and "Welcome to the Room - Sara", it is so incredibly rare for an album to have so many songs that you can just enjoy on a album. In fact, there are only 2 of 12 songs here I really dont like, "Mystified" and "You and I part II", but they are easily skipped and by the time you have reached any of them, you long for all the other good songs. Its one of those albums where the bad songs are part of making the good even better, and making the overall quality of the album superb.

This album have a very special place with me. No words can describe how much I love this album, and its star songs: "Little Lies", "Everywhere" "When I see you again" and the haunting "Seven Wonders".

I`d dance forever in the night to this album.

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