Tango In The Night

Fans had to wait a full five years after Mirage before Tango in the night, its follow-up was released in April 1987 and became the band's fourteenth studio album to date. During those five years they had all except John released at least one solo album, with the only band offering being a seven track Live in Boston which was recorded in 1970 when Peter Green was still at the forefront. (I have decided to wait and review the full three volume version which was released in 1998 with much better sound quality).

Tango in the night was the fifth and final album to feature the line-up of Lindsey, Stevie, Christine, John and Mick, and the band were soon to be turned upside down once more as Lindsey decided to quit in the same year as its release. He was subsequently replaced on the tour by musicians Rick Vito and Billy Burnette. In fact Lindsey's tracks on this album were originally intended for a new solo project but he was persuaded to use them as part of the new Fleetwood Mac album, which went on to become their second biggest selling studio album ever and spawned six single releases, three of which made the UK top ten. The album itself reached the #1 position no less than three separate times and remains one of the biggest sellers of all-time. Impressive stuff.

This album was the first Fleetwood Mac album I ever owned, and I almost wore the cassette out (I didn't have a CD player in those days) through playing it constantly at home and also when I was allowed to have it playing on the school bus. It has remained very special to me to this day, so let's get on with talking about the tracks.

Big love is the first track and was the first single to be released, reaching as high as #9 in the UK charts, which is impressive when you consider that their singles hadn't very often done great and the song wasn't at all commercial. In fact in 1987 it sounded decidedly fresh and different to anything else around at that time, and it hasn't aged badly at all. This is the kind of thing you get when you give Lindsey a free rein and perhaps the band had finally realised that.

Stevie Nicks was having a bit of a troubled time during the recording of this album, although she still managed to complete three tracks, the first of which, Seven wonders, is an absolute diamond studded classic. It's one of the best songs she's ever sung in my opinion, despite her not having actually wrote it (Sandy Stewart wrote the song but Stevie added extra lyrics) and I'll never understand why it wasn't a big hit despite only being the second single from the album and being one of the most radio friendly and endearing songs the band ever recorded, and it's catchy as hell too.

Once the first two tracks are done then the rest of the album bows down to the brilliance of Christine McVie's songs on here. It really is her finest hour and contains some of the most genius tracks she has ever produced, starting with Everywhere, a world-class piece of pop that is also a love song which immediately has you hooked from the first listen. No wonder it reached as high as #4 in the charts despite being the fifth single to be released from the album. It remains just as popular today and is regularly played at wedding disco's.

That's not to say that the rest of the band don't play their part in making this album as great as it is. Lindsey's Caroline has plenty of drums, like Big love, and continues his new-found style which runs a thread through the album. The title track, Tango in the night, carries the theme on but is moodier, building up from the hauntingly mellow verses to a thumping chorus and a fantastic guitar solo throughout and Lindsey manages to take you off somewhere far away on this epic track. He shares the songwriting with Christine on Mystified, with her singing the vocals on this gorgeous little ballad. It says something about the quality of her tracks on here when I say that this is easily the weakest of the four that she sings.

And then we come to the best. Little lies is the first track on side two (if you are listening on vinyl or cassette) and was written and sung by Christine, although she does share songwriting credit with her then husband, Eddy Quintela. The song is an absolute timeless classic and never fails to touch the heartstrings even now. In fact I would say it's the best song she ever sung, as is reflected on its chart performance (it reached #5 in the UK and was the third single), and it has probably been featured on many a power ballad compilation.

The fourth single release was Family man, although this failed to do big things chart-wise, which was written by Lindsey Buckingham and Richard Dashut. It is poppier and catchier than his songs on side one, although it still has the same exotic feel to it and deserved to be a much bigger hit than it was.

Stevie takes a bit of a back seat for most of this album so she's almost been forgotten about by the time it comes to Welcome to the room...Sara, which may not be one of the highlights of the album, or her career, but it's still a reasonably strong track and deserves its place. Christine and Lindsey team up again on the magnificent Isn't it midnight, sung by Christine and the final single from the album in the UK. It's a track that's always overlooked on best of compilations and that is a travesty as the song is a breath of fresh air, despite being darker and more haunting than usual. In fact it almost sounds indie and is totally underrated in my view.

When I see you again is Stevie's third and final track, a lovely little ballad that is a heartbreaker which gives me goosebumps. Then You and I (part II) closes the show (part I is featured on the B-side of the Big love single and is definitely worth hearing). Again Lindsey and Christine have joint songwriting credit, although this one is sung by Lindsey, and they close the album on a high with the poppiest track here. And there's not much more to be said really about this album, except if you haven't already - buy it!!