MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: FLEETWOOD MAC - TANGO IN THE NIGHT

The latest in the Fleetwood Mac remasters series, Tango In The Night is the last album from the glory-years lineup, as Lindsey Buckingham quit right after album was finished, blowing off a booked tour. That's when the guitar combo of Rick Zito and Billy Burnette came in, and the wilderness years began. Even this album was in doubt at first, as the band had been on hiatus since 1982's Mirage, an underachieving effort at least in Buckingham's eyes. The band had all gone off to make solo projects and have personal crises, most notably Nicks' entertaining the Betty Ford Clinic, with the rest of them in various states of disrepair. At least Nicks was now a huge solo star as well, but she was still open to the band's future.

It was Buckingham who pulled the strings though, and after starting another solo album, agreed to through in his lot with the bunch of them once more. It's easy to hear why, as the other writers (C. McVie, Nicks) had some major hits waiting. McVie's "Little Lies" was one of her catchiest, while "Everywhere" was a dreamy and bouncy cut. Nicks came in with "Seven Wonders", from her pal Sandy Stewart, who contributed songs to Nicks' solo albums. Buckingham himself had one of his quirky little gems to lead things off as well, "Big Love".

Buckingham was able to craft all these into memorable hits, continuing the glossy charm of Fleetwood Mac numbers, and brought the band back to their huge sales figures, especially back in England where they had been originally formed in the '60's. But there were more noticeable holes in the non-single tracks. There are some 80's moments in the production, especially in the McVie/Buckingham cut Isn't It Midnight, way too shiny. You and I, Part II has some cool vocals bouncing around but that drum machine and synth hook got tired fast. This set had plenty of pop, but needed some guts too. Props to the delicious remastering job though, you can really here the work Buckingham did on the vocals especially. It sounds like candy.