Review Summary: Fleetwood Mac embrace the sound of the 80's, but do not go under by it. Instead, they release their best album since Rumours.
Fleetwood Mac finally took the necessary break after the disappointing
Mirage, during which Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Nicks and Christine McVie all took that time to release more of their solo work. The quintet fully resurfaced in 1987. Five years had passed since
Mirage, the 80’s had really become what we associate them with, and Fleetwood Mac was ready to give it another go. This came in the form of
Tango in the Night, which, despite being another great effort by the
Rumours line-up, would also be their last. Buckingham would quit the band afterwards, but the album would eventually became almost as successful as
Rumours.
It is easy to see why that happened.
Rumours was not only a brilliant record in itself, but also had massive hit potential. The likes of
Dreams and
Go Your Own Way are still classic rock staples today, and a similar thing happened with this album. Hooks were always one of the strong points of this quintet, and
Tango in the Night has plenty of them. The album spawned no less than six hit singles, and nearly all of these a true classics in the group’s catalogue.
Otherwise mostly standing in the shadow of Nicks and Buckingham, the album was also a chance for Christine McVie to step forward. Composing five of the twelve tracks, nearly half of the album,
Tango is a more dominant moment for her, and that is a very positive thing. Before, she already penned classics such as
Don’t Stop and
You Make Loving Fun, and
Everywhere and
Little Lies off this record leave no doubt as to whether she can still create material of that calibre. It is Buckingham who really fails to stand out as much as he did before. Opener
Big Love, one of the album’s best tracks and easily one his best contributions to Fleetwood Mac, features some of his most powerful vocals, but the title track,
Carolina and the slightly annoying
Family Man fall pale in comparison. Stevie Nicks sadly appears on only three tracks, but
Welcome to the Room...Sara (a reprisal of the
Tusk track
Sara) and especially
Seven Wonders are nevertheless highlights.
One of the most notable features about
Tango in the Night other than the renewed quality songwriting is that it’s the first Fleetwood Mac album to sound distinctly 80’s. We’ve never heard the group made a transition from the 70's, as
Mirage was released in ’82 and the sound of the new decade had yet to develop itself. Five years later, the sound of this band is suddenly full of one of the signature instruments of the time: synthesizers. Played by Christine McVie (further cementing her position as creative leader on this album), they do not at all annoy, but rather introduce a Fleetwood Mac that stays true to the sound it pioneered during the days of
Rumours and absorbs elements of a changing musical scenery with them as well.
This keeps Tango in the Night fresh enough to keep working for Fleetwood Mac in this formation and style of pop rock. Coming just after
Rumours and ‘75’s self-titled, it is easily one of the group’s more essential records, and features some of their signature songs. It was however also the end of an era, and with the departure of Buckingham and eventually also Nicks, the band went through a bad period with their next two records. Their most recent 2003 effort
Say You Will brought back the two, only to see Christine McVie depart, making this record still the final entry in the classic Fleetwood Mac formation. At least they did go out with a bang.
Mac Classics:
Big Love
Seven Wonders
Everywhere
Little Lies
Welcome to the Room...Sara
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