| Behind the Mask | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 10 April 1990[1] | |||
| Recorded | 1989–90 | |||
| Studio | The Complex (Los Angeles, California); Vintage Recorders (Phoenix, Arizona). | |||
| Genre | Pop rock | |||
| Length | 54:26 | |||
| Label | Warner Bros. | |||
| Producer | Greg Ladanyi, Fleetwood Mac | |||
| Fleetwood Mac chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Behind the Mask | ||||
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Behind the Mask is the fifteenth studio album by British-American rock bandFleetwood Mac, released on 10 April 1990. It was the first album released by the band after the departure of guitaristLindsey Buckingham (although he did play acoustic guitar on the album's title track). He was replaced byBilly Burnette andRick Vito, both guitar players, singers and songwriters. Fleetwood Mac thus became a six-piece band with four singer/songwriters.
The album was not as successful as its predecessor,Tango in the Night, nor did it spawn any big hit singles, although "Save Me" made both American and Canadian Top 40, while "Love Is Dangerous" and "Skies the Limit" enjoyed some airplay.[4] ThoughBehind the Mask barely reached the US Top 20, the album entered theUK Albums Chart at number 1[5] and achieved platinum status there.[6] In August 1990, the album was certified Gold in the United States, becoming the band's tenth album to do so.[7] Following the album's release and subsequent world tour, band membersStevie Nicks and Rick Vito left the band, though Nicks would rejoin in 1997. The song "Freedom" was written by Stevie Nicks withTom Petty and the Heartbreakers guitaristMike Campbell. Campbell would join Fleetwood Mac in 2018.[8]
The cover for the album was created by photographer Dave Gorton. He stated that the band did not wish to appear on a front picture andMick Fleetwood himself suggested that he create an image that "spiritually symbolised" the band instead.[9] The cover earned aGrammy nomination in 1991 for "Best Album Package".[10]
The original CD release for the album was one of the first to be encoded with theCD+G format, which allows graphics to be shown on a TV screen in time with the music, such as pictures and lyrics.[11]
In 1987, shortly after the release ofTango in the Night, long-time guitarist/vocalist/producer Lindsey Buckingham had left the band. For theaccompanying tour, the band recruitedBilly Burnette andRick Vito to replace him. Once the tour concluded, Fleetwood Mac went into the studio to record two new songs for theirGreatest Hits compilation album, released in 1988. The new members got the opportunity to record a full album in 1989 when the band began theBehind the Mask sessions.[12]
In need of a new producer, the band first selectedDon Gehman, who had produced forJohn Mellencamp andR.E.M.. The initial sessions did not work out because "the chemistry was not right" according to Christine McVie, so the band instead hiredGreg Ladanyi, who previously worked withDon Henley on his solo albums. Ladanyi was suggested byGeorge Hawkins, who played and sang on Mick Fleetwood's first two solo records.[13][14] Ladanyi described his role producing the band in a March 1990 interview withMix magazine.
As a producer with the band, there are things that I am very careful with. One of them is to let them express themselves as a group a lot more. From what I was told, a lot of the organizing came from Lindsey and the way he wanted to do things. This time, they're all collectively putting in their thoughts, and I just kind of shove them all together.
— Greg Ladanyi[15]
Behind the Mask deviated from the ornate production found on earlier Fleetwood Mac albums in favor of adult-oriented rock. As noted by Nicks, the album was easier to record compared to their other work. "It's not that we didn't take as much time, it's more that the time that we did take was quality time. So it therefore did not seem to take nearly as long."[12] She explained that the dynamics in the band were more positive due to the lack of serious arguments and disagreements and that the experience was the equivalent of "being in the greatest eighth grade class in school."[15]
Several songs onBehind the Mask feature co-writers, both from members of Fleetwood Mac and outside members. Burnette and Vito set aside an afternoon to write "When the Sun Goes Down" and later recorded the song after the rest of the band expressed their willingness to complete it. "When It Comes to Love" stemmed from a collaboration with Burnette,Dennis Morgan andSimon Climie. Burnette met Morgan in Los Angeles and later befriended Climie, who had also co-written the song "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)" with Morgan forAretha Franklin andGeorge Michael.[16]Lindsey Buckingham stopped by the recording studio to play acoustic guitar on the title track, which was penned by Christine McVie.[17] Vito said that he was not present at the recording studio when Buckingham overdubbed his guitar part; he attributed Buckingham's appearance on the album to Fleetwood's willingness to make amends with Buckingham.[18]
The band spent between eight months and a year makingBehind the Mask, which they recorded and mixed at The Complex inLos Angeles.[15][19] Most of the songs were recorded on asound stage within the facility to achieve a larger drum sound. Ladanyi placed aNeumann M 50 microphone six feet away from the drum kit to capture the room ambiance. According to Ladanyi, this microphone provided him with "50 percent of the sound" that he wanted. He used various other microphones to capture individual components of Fleetwood's drums, including Sanken CU-31s for his fivetom drums, which Landanyi selected to minimiseaudio leakage from thecymbals andsnare drum[15]
The band consulted withWarner Bros. when determining which song to release as the first single fromBehind the Mask. The record label suggested "Skies the Limit" as the first single, but the rest of the band recommended two different songs; with the exception of Vito, who wanted "Love Is Dangerous" to be lifted as the album's first single, the band favoured "Save Me", which was ultimately selected as the album's first single. "Skies the Limit" was later lifted as the album's second single, which received an accompanying music video along with "Save Me".[17] Vito recalled that Warner Bros. was "only interested in the songs that Stevie and Chris brought to the table" and that it was "obvious they didn't really want to release any or Billy's songs."[18]
In a 2022 interview withRolling Stone, Burnette commented that he was disappointed that the album did not achieve the same amount of success as the previous albums and that he "just wanted to have hits and be loved by the masses like they were."[16] Vito reflected that "there were so many great things about the whole unit, but we didn't have a super-duper hit like they had onTango in the Night."[18] Buckingham felt that the album adhered to closely to the band's previous work, saying "it seemed as though they were trying to sort of pick up the ball from where I left it instead of trying to wipe the slate clean."[20]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [21] |
| Entertainment Weekly | C[22] |
| Los Angeles Times | [23] |
| Rolling Stone | [24] |
The album received mixed to negative reviews.Entertainment Weekly called the album "pretty bland" and likened it to a "an anthology of miscellaneous solo projects."[22]AllMusic retrospectively gave the album 1.5/5 stars, their lowest rating of any Fleetwood Mac album, calling Buckingham's departure "a severe blow" for the band and saying that "the songs are among the least inspired the band ever recorded."[25]
Other critics, however, praised the new line-up. TheLos Angeles Times gave the album 3.5/5 stars, commenting that "[w]ithout Buckingham's obsessively unique vision, the group has embraced an all-for-one, one-for-all attitude for what sounds like the most truly group effort sinceRumours, or perhaps even since 1972'sBare Trees."[23]Billboard thought that the lineup marked a return to the blues-oriented music from whenPeter Green was a member of the band. They also felt that the inclusion of Burnette and Vito prompted Nicks and Christine McVie to contribute their "strongest performances and material in recent years."[26]Rolling Stone rated it as 4/5 stars, claiming that "the addition of Rick Vito and Billy Burnette is the best thing to ever happen to Fleetwood Mac" and that "[n]ot sinceRumours has Fleetwood Mac recorded pain so unwaveringly and sounded this together."[24]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Lead vocals | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Skies the Limit" | Christine McVie, Eddy Quintela | C. McVie | 3:45 |
| 2. | "Love Is Dangerous" | Rick Vito,Stevie Nicks | Nicks, Vito | 3:18 |
| 3. | "In the Back of My Mind" | Billy Burnette,David Malloy | Burnette, C. McVie | 7:02 |
| 4. | "Do You Know" | Burnette, C. McVie | Burnette, C. McVie | 4:19 |
| 5. | "Save Me" | C. McVie, Quintela | C. McVie | 4:15 |
| 6. | "Affairs of the Heart" | Nicks | Nicks | 4:22 |
| 7. | "When the Sun Goes Down" | Vito, Burnette | Burnette, Vito | 3:18 |
| 8. | "Behind the Mask" | C. McVie | C. McVie | 4:18 |
| 9. | "Stand on the Rock" | Vito | Vito | 3:59 |
| 10. | "Hard Feelings" | Burnette,Jeff Silbar | Burnette | 4:54 |
| 11. | "Freedom" | Nicks,Mike Campbell | Nicks | 4:12 |
| 12. | "When It Comes to Love" | Burnette,Dennis Morgan,Simon Climie | Burnette, C. McVie | 4:08 |
| 13. | "The Second Time" | Nicks, Vito | Nicks | 2:31 |
| Total length: | 54:26 | |||
Fleetwood Mac
Additional musicians
Weekly charts[edit]
| Year-end charts[edit]
|
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA)[48] | Gold | 35,000^ |
| Germany (BVMI)[54] | Gold | 250,000^ |
| Netherlands (NVPI)[55] | Gold | 50,000^ |
| Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[56] | Gold | 25,000^ |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[57] | Platinum | 300,000^ |
| United States (RIAA)[58] | Gold | 500,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
